(For my Texas friends:) Support Texas parks and nature: Vote Yes on Prop. 5 on Nov 5th!
From 1993 to 2017, the state has collected nearly $2.5 billion in revenues from the Sporting Goods Sales Tax that was supposed to go to parks, yet only 40 percent has been spent on state and local parks. Prop. 5 will prevent those funds from being diverted every year.
I recently built a networked PoE (Power over Ethernet) speaker system and installed it in the wall at the top of the stairs. By using PoE, I only had to run one cable to the device – a Cat6A ethernet cable that provided data and power.
I used the following components:
Raspberry Pi 3 B+ or newer SBC (single board computer)
Optional: Remove the internals of the PLANET POE-161S PoE splitter and put it in a custom case along with the Raspberry Pi SBC and the Pi-DigiAmp+ board.
I didn’t find a good way to connect the PoE board to the other boards, so I put an insulator between them and made a case out of LEGO bricks to hold all three components.
Run Cat6A ethernet cable from a 802.3at PoE switch or PoE injector to the PLANET POE-161S PoE splitter – but don’t connect it yet (until the speakers are connected)!
Make sure to use a 803.3at PoE+ switch or injector (or better) since the Pi-DigiAmp+ needs the 25.5W of power (but don’t max the volume output or the Pi will reboot due to lack of enough power – 75% seems okay).
The Pi-DigiAmp+ can actually use 2*40W of power for the amplified speaker output, so a newer 802.3bt Type 3 (55 W) or Type 4 (up to 90-100 W) switch/injector and splitter would be better – but they cost much more currently.
Connect the PoE splitter
Set the PoE splitter for 12V output (which the Pi-DigiAmp+ expects as input)
Connect the PoE splitter’s power output to the Pi-DigiAmp+ (NOT the Raspberry Pi SBC, since the Pi-DigiAmp+ will pass power to the Raspberry Pi SBC)
Connect the PoE splitter’s ethernet output the the Raspberry Pi’s ethernet input.
Install the speakers and connect the speaker outputs of the Pi-DigiAmp+ to the speakers.
Install Raspbian to an SD card and install it into the Pi.
Plug the Cat6A cable into the PoE switch or injector – the device should boot up!
Now configure the device to act as a network speaker:
Install and configure PulseAudio. Run it in system mode, and copy the auth key to any device you want to play audio from via PulseAudio clients
To support AirPlay from iOS devices, install and configure Shairport-Sync.
Configure the firewall to allow the appropriate ports from your network.
Now test and use your new network speakers! We’ve found many uses for the device, including:
Playing music and radio broadcasts (like the news) audible from the whole upstairs (and even downstairs).
Our smart doorbell triggers playback of a doorbell audio file, replacing the old traditional doorbell.
Integrating it into the home security system, playing loud alarms and other sounds when needed.
I went on a home automation improvement kick recently! The changes include:
OpenHAB – I switched from Misterhouse to OpenHAB for home automation. Why? OpenHAB has a cleaner codebase, more active development community, more efficient event-driven model, increasing device support, a better UI, charting, and a functional mobile client. I completed most of the conversion in a few hours, and further lingering issues within few days.
WeeWX – instead of WView for my weather station. WeeWX uses the same DB format as WView so all the historical data is still present. WeeWX has a more active development community, lacks a rainfall bug that was plaguing me in WView, and supports MQTT (see below) allowing me to get weather station data from WeeWX to OpenHAB.
MQTT – an IoT (Internet of Things – another buzzword) message bus becoming more common in home automation. It allows publishing of data and subscription to data channels, decoupling devices enough to make it easier to connect devices lacking explicit support for each other.
DoorBird – a video intercom, motion-sensing doorbell with a documented local (non-cloud) API and hard-wired power (no batteries to worry about). I integrated it into my OpenHAB instance – here are example instructions.
Garage door automation – I added garage door controllers and sensors, so now when I ask “did I remember to close the garage door?” after driving 30 (or 300) miles I can check, and close it if I did forget.
More intelligence – Decorative lights come on at dusk instead of a fixed time, adapting to the season automatically. The container herb garden on the back porch skips drip irrigation if it has rained more than 0.2 inches in the last 24 hours. A reminder is pushed to our phones if the garage door has been left open for more than 30 minutes. If motion is detected on the front porch, a photo is taken by the doorbell camera and archived.
Whew! I have a few more ideas too, but I better wait a little bit and have a burn in period before making more changes – and trying OpenHAB 2.0.
One of our garage door openers died of old age recently – it was an old builder-model (in other words, as cheap as the builder can get) chain drive opener that was incredibly noisy. I took advantage of the opportunity to reduce the noise made by the garage door opener and the door itself especially since there is a room of the house above the garage.
Here’s what I did in order of increasing cost and effort:
Oil the hinges, springs, pulley bolts, etc of the door. I used standard household oil (don’t use WD-40, it is technically not a lubricant). Don’t mess with the springs – it is dangerous, only trained technicians should adjust springs. (more info)
Replace metal door rollers with nylon rollers. I bought two 10-packs of these nylon rulers.
I upgraded our server to Fedora 16 from Fedora 14 recently, so I thought I’d continue my tradition of posting the solutions to the problems I encountered to help others.
Public Drop Off Site: Cycled Plastics maintains a public drop point at it’s facility in Austin (at 10200 McKalla Place). The following items are accepted Monday through Friday, 7am – 5pm. (click here for a map)
Packaging Foams free of dirt or food contamination (EPS #6, PP #5, LDPE #4)
#2 HDPE curbside bottles that have been rinsed with caps removed
#1 PET curbside bottles that have been rinsed with the caps removed
#2 HDPE flower pots that have been lightly washed to remove most of the dirt
#4 LDPE bags that have had no food contact and have no paper contamination (labels, stickers)
I try not to define myself as liberal or conservative – but some of the fear-mongering and end-of-the-world fatalism being used in this election cycle is inappropriate and ultimately destructive, rather than constructive and adding value to the debate.
David Frum has a good opinion article on CNN about it –
We realized the efficiency retrofits to our home were pretty similar to what we saw on the tour, so for fun I thought I’d write up the green feature list of our house in the same format as used by the tour book.
Spangler Home – Northwest Austin
Built as a traditional non-green building, this Austin home has been retrofitted for energy efficiency and simple but high-tech living.
Lawn replaced with native plant and prairie garden which requires almost no supplemental watering. Crushed granite and limestone paths allow water penetration. Mature trees provide shade.
1 gpm low-flow showerheads (from New Braunfels-based Bricor). Shut-off values on showers for optional Navy shower.
Solar screens on all windows.
Energy Star appliances from the highest CEE efficiency tier (dishwasher, refrigerator, clothes washer and dryer). Energy Star electronics.
19 SEER multi-zoned HVAC system with variable speed motor and fan coils, and programmable thermostats.
All lighting is CFL or LED. (LED fishtank and main kitchen lighting reduces energy usage of most-used lights.)
High efficiency aerodynamic ceiling fans with timed remotes throughout. (Gossamer Wind fans)
Masonry and fiber cement siding and trim (Hardiboard).
Ethernet networking (Cat6) and high speed Internet connection enables telecommuting to save energy and reduce emissions. Energy-efficient computers. Notebook and Home theater systems that sleep when not in use.