drew – Kerlee blogs

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024

tacoma.meshtastic.org-5a92 solar

Finished up my first solar build. It went decent. I based if off Austin Mesh post.

Here’s the dude! There were several challenges that I had to deal with, and some decision I made as well.

General hardware I used:

solar panel 12w $30 Soshine amazon
battery Voltaic V75 $80 here
8 dBi antenna $11 aliexpress
RAK Wireless meshtastic board $35
IPEX to n-type 12in pigtail amazon

Some build notes as I was going along:

I’m referring to these pics I snapped as I was going through this process. I wanted the box to be able to breath. Finding some reasonable vents was harder than I thought. I ended up with a handful of these overpriced buggers at $5 a pop from polycase.com.

I got this cable gland, also too expensive, $8 amazon, that would accommodate 6 real small wires. I found out immediately the heavy plastic enclosure I snapped up at Home Depot (too expensive), was too thick for the threaded part on the gland. So I had to get creative, and very careful, with some of my wood forstner bits to make it work.

After that I promptly drilled holes in both the side and the top! Damn it. I used roofing screws on the top, scooted their rubber washer plus some hot glue to be in immediate contact with the plastic case. On the side, I just left those stainless screws alone <shrug>.

I chose a long pigtail off amazon so there were minimal connections between the RAK radio and the exterior antenna. I’m sure that little 0.6mm wire isn’t rated for outdoor use. It may have been better to use one of these short ones, pass that through the plastic case, slam that down with the metal washer, then point the antenna down. Box on top. The idea of putting a hole in the top of your box so you can mount the antenna upwards and gain 1.5ft more from where ever you’re at seems a bit silly. So I used a drip loop type where my poorly guarded holes were on the bottom: the gland nut.

Of course the full USB head from the solar panel wouldn’t fit through a glad nut that can accommodate 0.6mm wires. So I cut the usb wire, passed the four wires through two of the available gland nut openings, and re-soldered the connections with shrink wrap on the inside. The recent freestyle drone hobby really came through there with soldering and shrink wrapping stuff.

The mounting hardware that came with the solar panel seemed decent, but also dissimilar metals, generally as cheap as possible. I used this 45 deg pvc pipe and a bolt. I had read that these boxes can get hot, and that kind of stuff will kill a battery. So I wanted the solar panel to shade the box when the sun was directly overhead: the most solar-hot part of the day (seems like it’s actually hottest around here in the afternoon evening).

The battery barely fit in the enclosure. I’ve seen many people with that issue. Now that I know the general dimensions of solar node #2 I can be a little pickier with the enclosure dimensions and see if I can realize my dreams of only a hole or two, all on the bottom.

I think those are about all the note I have for this one. Hope some of this helps inform you for your build and reminds you to check for compatibility.

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024

meshtastic radios

I found these funny little radio things called Meshtastic. There’s no real … like actual daily usage for them, except they are fun, and do neat stuff. In My Opinion.

Here’s what they do: the devices have two sides. One side is a radio that send (Tx transmit) and receive (Rx receive) on the 902-928MHz range. The other side will be Bluetooth or wifi for you to connect with your phone and communicate with the radio. That’s really all there is at the most basic level.

Why is it called “LoRa?” Apparently it’s Long Range, but I’m not sure what makes 928MHz any longer than say other stuff (all frequency allocations USA pdf). T-mobile cell phones also talk over radio transmissions. A couple of frequencies they use are 600MHz, 1900MHz, 2.5GHz. I think, generally, the higher the frequency: more data, less distance. Apparently cell phones will vary their Tx power between 0.6 watts, up to 3 watts if you’re deep in the country. I think meshtastic tops out at 0.6 watts. But: we can put big fun antennas on them!

The software that’s becoming popular (source needed) is called Meshtastic. They’ve chosen to make a slick app, offer their firmware for free, use encrypted text messages, and mesh the radios. This has some really cool side effects.

Slick app. You generally use your phone and a Bluetooth or wifi connection to connect to a radio that’s withing 30 feet or so. We’re all used to phones. We have them with us most of the time, and this software and hardware ecosystem doesn’t discount that.

Free firmware. The folks at meshtastic.org are volunteers. I don’t know why they do what they do, but I appreciate those that know how to do it, do it. There aren’t too many hardware radios that use this stuff, so it isn’t too complicated yet.

Encrypted messages. Similar to other encrypted messaging apps (signal) no body can read your messages; only you and the person you’re sending to. This is cool, but also makes for a few more authentication steps when trying to send messages from several devices at once (phone, work computer, laptop).

Meshing. I saved the best for last. For you to send someone a message, your little radio doesn’t have to be able to hit them directly. Other devices around will forward your messages. I’m able to send a message past Seattle. Here’s a map that I had after leaving a radio in a window at work for a couple of days. My radio could only reach one other guy across the water, MSHT. That radio, however, was able to get all the way to Seattle.

So right, kinda neat. Kinda nerdy.

What you really need is a use case; a real world scenario where you can use this stuff. Here are a few:

ATAK “Android Team Awareness Kit.” Developed by the feds for military stuff. It’s been released to the public, and folks are using it. Here’s wilderness firefighters using it. The radios simply broadcast their position over LoRa. Those pings of GPS coords mesh together, and each person gets a full picture of where other people are at. The coolest hardware version I’ve seen of these are the (difficult to find) Lilygo T-echos. The information and connectivity really shines when there is no cell service around. These little things send their own signal and don’t depend on the number of Verizon bars to function.

See how it’s also a little covert, anarchist, and subversive?: Cool!

I used the Find My app on our Apple phones while we were at Disneyland. It was so great to be able to find friends with live dots on a map. It also depended on cell service for each person. Same thing with Tiles, or Airtags: they’re only Bluetooth. They talk to any iphone within reach of Bluetooth. Then the iphone sends that to the cloud: so-and-so airtag was within 30 feet of that location at that time. Works great when many people have: iPhones, data service, and a paid up plan.

What if loads of phones had this tech? It is free. It is low power. Phones could text one another without cell towers. It could be a “disaster proof” technology.

So ya, it’s more than a little quirky. But that’s never stopped me before.

September 12, 2023September 28, 2023

Finding music, enjoying music

I’m always on the hunt for new music and new places to find the goods. In no particular order, here are my favorite stops around www for tunage.

Spotify DJ
https://support.spotify.com/us/article/dj/

Reddit spotify playlists
https://www.reddit.com/r/SpotifyPlaylists/

Plug in your playlist, get matched with other people https://playlost.fm

Save your playlists incase your preferred music service folds, or you wanna switch and copy playlists over https://soundiiz.com/

Roon is some spendy software ($14/mo or $800 lifetime), but it does a great job of cataloging and streaming all your music files at home, your digital music library: all those mp3 and flac. https://roon.app/en/

If you have a home collection, Media Monkey does a great job of picking up where iTunes got stupid https://www.mediamonkey.com/

If you just wanna play a track or two, you can’t go wrong with foobar2000 https://www.foobar2000.org/

If you don’t want to shell out the $800 above, but still want to stream your music, Subsonic is a long time no brainer: it just works http://www.subsonic.org/pages/index.jsp

Slightly more expensive than $0, Plex also is worth a look. I dabble with its music features from time to time, it’s pretty, but just doesn’t scratch my itch quite right. $5/mo or $120 lifetime https://www.plex.tv/

Plex came from a for-profit splinter off home theater software XBMC, now MLK own as Kodi. https://kodi.tv/

NPR New Music Friday https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/606254804/new-music-friday

NPR Tiny Desk Concerts https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/

What are your top 5 Blue Note albums?
byu/DrKewlKat inJazz

Streaming services

Most platforms offer Family Plans. If you can find a couple buddies to split a plan with you, it’s the cheapest way to get ad free. I’ve spent time with Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Tidal. Only a short dabble with Amazon Music, they offer many tracks free, but it doesn’t take long to find something you want that’s behind that paywall.

Lossless is becoming a thing. If you have expensive gear ($1000+ home system, $500+ headphones) you’ll want to learn about it. Big dollar amounts! It works out nice because if you aren’t in audio at that level, you probably won’t notice an appreciable difference between “high-def” vs lossless music quality. Lossless streamers, at this moment are: Tidal, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited. If you have Bluetooth anywhere in your audio stream, it’s not lossless.

March 7, 2021August 19, 2023

Minecraft NEVERLAND

Birthday world is saved, should we ever want to revisit it… but we’re going to create a new world moving forward. And it shall be called … NEVERLAND. Players shall be knows as THE LOST. The world will be difficult, and unforgiving. Great riches and adventure await the bold.

Use the tools at your disposal. Want to make an automatic farm?: It’s been done, check youtube, and build it. Want diamond armor? Check out mining pointers on Google. Want to enchant stuff? You’ll need level 30 experience, and there’s no easier way to get that than a Spider Spawner. Youtube that, and see what you come up with.

Please continue to chat in our Discord! I’m not cutting anyone off from some help here and there. However, I will NOT SULLY NEVERLAND with teleportation, or save game roll-backs without serious merit.

NEVERLAND details

Server address:	asdf.net (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) *
Gamemode:	Survival
Difficulty:	Normal
Force Gamemode:	true
PvP:	false
Hell world:	true
Allow Nether:	true
Allow Flying:	false
Keep Inventory:	false

* As before, the server will be compatible with both Java and Bedrock Minecraft versions. Let me know if you have issues connecting. Whitelist has been enabled to combat griefing. It’s like an enforced guest list for the server. If you get an error message about a whitelist, shoot me a note, and I’ll get your Minecraft username added.

For THE LOST players, I recommend a headset with microphone. This improves quality, and irritating echoes. You can get an upgrade mic for headphones you already have for $35, or a whole new pair of headphones for $40. Reputable article for gaming headsets 2021 at Tomsguide.com.

Alison said she was interested in hearing what was going on as well. Put Discord on your phone, connect (lurk) the channel the kiddos are in, and leave the phone on speaker where ever you happen to be.

Some general times in PST:

Monday-Friday 3-5PM
Saturday and Sunday 10AM-2PM

There are many ways to make Minecraft easy. But, take it from your parents: easy things aren’t worth much. Trying failing, trying again and succeeding is the sweetest feeling.

For the adventurous, for the persistent, for the brave: your adventure awaits in NEVERLAND!

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021

iPhone Minecraft how to

Getting Minecraft for iPhone was about $7. Bear with me for this setup.

The process is a combination of signing out and back into your Microsoft Account via the Minecraft app – and changing a couple of settings on your iPhone. Let’s start with those settings.

Add DNS server to iPhone. You need to be in wifi for this piece to work. This youtube video outlines this process, as well as my words and pic here.

iPhone > Settings > Wi-Fi > blue “i” next to the wifi you’re connected to

scroll down to DNS: Configure DNS. Check Manual. Add:

8.8.8.8, and 8.8.4.4

Save.

Next, add the custom birthday server. Open Minecraft on your phone.

Play > Servers > (scroll down on left) Add Server

server name: <anything is OK>
Server Address: minecraft.kerlee.com (or 51.81.182.31)
Port: 19132

That should do it! If that doesn’t work: try signing in and out of your Microsoft Account via Minecraft app > Settings > Profile > “Sign out of your Microsoft Account.” Then sign back in and see if that helps.

As another test, you should be able to connect to other servers that show up under that Server tab. CubeCraft should work fine.

Drew 3/2/21

February 25, 2021March 2, 2021

Connect Nintendo Switch to JAVA Minecraft Server

This work-around is a little hacky. Take a look at the steps below, and decide you’re going to go through these steps instead of purchasing (another?) copy of Minecraft Java edition that will work on the laptop or computer.

For me, I usually prefer typed instructions with pictures. But for those that like videos, I found one that details all the steps perfectly. And quickly. youtube

Start by hitting settings in bottom right. It’s a gear, looks like a sun

Select Internet on bottom left

Under “Internet” select Internet Settings, top right

Select the wifi that you’re currently connected to. For me that’s “band-5G”

Scroll down to DNS Settings. Change DNS settings to Manual. Change Primary DNS to “104.238.130.180” Then change Secondary DNS to “8.8.8.8”

Exit out of there, applying all changes if you need to.

Run Minecraft. Hit PLAY. Choose either CubeCraft or Hive Net or something.

Hit Join Server. Then, oddly, after you hit connect, you can “Edit Server List.” Select that.

Type a new server in there.

Server: minecraft.kerlee.com (or 51.81.182.31)Port: 19132
Check Add Server to List, then Submit.

(yes, I definitely photoshopped the server and port in there. The pic was taken during version 1.0 )

And that’s it. I know it’s a little hacky – but I warned ya! Alison and I tested this this afternoon, it worked. I was amazed. I’ve always been told “bedrock doesn’t work with java,” but I made it work.

Let me know if you have questions. If I have time, I’ll try and help. Please don’t wait until last minute. I’m sure I’ll have other things going on. Good luck!

Drew

November 9, 2020November 14, 2020

A Career in Maritime

11/14/2020

I want more diversity in my field. I want to work with black/brown people, queer people, immigrants, and people of different mindsets from different backgrounds. I want my entire work community to be more inclusive. We can jumpstart this process through sharing our own stories and information with people who want to hear it. We can be better operators in a better industry by making this effort in bringing diverse perspectives and contributions to our workplace.

Madeleine is helping me (@madeleine) with the video and presentation.

Some suggestions for a video:

What position do you currently hold? How did you come to be in this field
Advantages of maritime (family, free time, “see the world”)
Hitch length location, other time commitments, holidays, vacation
Advice for someone looking to learn more, where to start
Favor us with a fun sea story!
Is there anything else you’d like to tell high school kids watching this video?

Some other pointers:

Don’t have private company stuff in the shot with you; you may have to deal with your companies legal department.
Upload your videos to Google Photos and share a link to the video to my gmail mrdrewk@gmail.com. There are Google Photo apps for both iPhone and Android.

I will involve you in the ongoing project so your contribution remains accurate. I will submit the final video and presentation-outline to you for approval.

July 25, 2020July 25, 2020

Upgrading Elekit TU-8500

Read an article (wallofsound.ca) about parts that could be upgraded on the Elekit Tu-8500. I am specifically interested in the Phono Pre-amp part.

I’ll be replacing four film capacitors (C11-C12, C15-C16), and two op-amps (IC1-IC2 2068DD).

Elekit TU-8500 English manual 02 revised Download

I am an audio enthusiast, but I don’t have words like the youtube audio reviewers that I’ve seen. I think this thing sounds great, and after I complete these upgrades and turn it on, I’m sure it will also sound great. I just don’t have enough practice with words, or critical listening, to nail down what kind of changes I experience because of these upgrades. I love to tinker! And rather than buying an Ortofon 2M Bronze for $400, I thought I’d throw $100 and a tinker project at it.

Bill Of Materials

2x Mundorf Supreme 0.47µF 600VDC film capacitors $16ea, matched. soniccraft.com
2x Mundor MCap EVO Oil 0.47µF 450VDC film capacitor $9ea. soniccraft.com
2x Texas Instruments OPA2227P Operational Amplifier/op-amps, $10ea. mouser.com

(To type a “mu” google “ascii code mu” and you’ll find #230. Hold down alt, then hit 2-3-0, let up alt, boom: mu µ)

First thing you’re going to do is take apart the pre-amp. I followed the directions backwards, leaving out a few steps. All you need to do is get the board out of the chassis. Using a solder wick, or something similar, remove the solder from the underside of the capacitors. Give them a wiggle and they should fall out.

I was happy to find Elekit had included larger holes for this upgrade right into the board: so thoughtful. Even these capacitors I was using are larger than the bigger holes. Bend them about a bit and stick ’em in there. I added some shrink wrap to the exposed leads, but it probably isn’t necessary. The white EVO Oil caps fit in perfectly no fuss no muss.

Upgrade is complete, plugged back in, works great. I feel like it has a larger dynamic range? I was hearing some thumps on this album that I don’t think I’d ever heard before. Getting up close to the speaker, nothing was lost in the high end either. So?: success.

March 9, 2020July 25, 2020

Speedsters

I’ve made several speakers through my little DIY career. This is the first pair of speakers that I’m making entirely from someone else’s actual plans – rather than only shooting for an internal sealed volume.

I chose “Speedsters,” a design by speaker DIYer Paul Carmody. From all the reviews I’ve read, people have loved them; and are surprised with their sound despite small size.

I’ve been starting out projects with a Sketchup drawing, and these Speedsters are no exception. I’ve been getting much better at it, and I think it falls squarely under the Measure Twice Cut Once dogma.

The built up boxes. I used 3/4in MDF, and managed to put some dado counter sinks in the side. Pro-tip here: leave the outside edge just a little proud (hanging over a bit). Then you can come by with a flush-cut router bit and make them perfect.

Above you can see the rest of the gallery pics. Cross-over, the varnish job, and final product. I had some little name plates made from some outfit on Etsy, they turned out great. I used 1/4 cut wine corks to screw the cross-overs down to the enclosure and hold them off a bit. And you can see the padding I put in there too.

Overall I’m super impressed with these little guys. They’re sitting on my desk at the moment as near-field computer speakers. I had a woofer hooked up earlier, but turns out they don’t need it. The tweeter is amazing, and I’m hearing new levels of depth in all my music that I hadn’t heard before. While they were a bit spendy to build, I gotta say, I’m really impressed with the quality they crank out.

I’ve heard these $90 isolation stands make a noticeable difference. So a pair of those, and upgrading the amp/dac to a PS Audio Sprout 100 is next on my list!

September 12, 2019September 12, 2019

Subscribe to Tacoma school calendar

This was cool enough of a trick that I thought I’d write it up and share it. Hope it helps! This must initially be setup in a web browser.

Log into your Google account, head over to Calendars https://calendar.google.com

On the bottom left, under Other Calendars, hit the +, then Subscribe To Calendar

Then on the left side select From URL
Paste in your URL, ending in .ics from the list below**
Hit Add Calendar

Scroll to the bottom of of your screen, and you’ll see your newly added, automatically updating, calendar in the bottom left.

I change the name of the calendar here, and leave everything else default.

Top left hit the left arrow to get back to your normal Calendar view. Scroll down again and there’s your new calendar under Other Calendars.

Mouse over the new calendar, hit the dot-dot-dot, and change the color to make it pretty
the newly added calendar should also sync up with your phone auto-magically

I have enough calendars in there for Work, Robin, Chicken Rotation, etc, that several of my calendars aren’t even displayed. But when they are, I want to make sure the colors are different so I don’t mix them up. I purposely chose the same color for Robin and the Bryant calendar. Robin is where I add my own stuff, whereas Bryant calendar is the one that I’m subscribed to.

Now on your phone. I have an android. I suspect that if you install or use the Google Calendar app on your iPhone, the instructions will be similar or the same.

Hit the hamburger menu (three stacked horizontal lines) in the top left. Scroll down to Settings, select that.

Under your gmail account, there will be a Show More button, select that.

You should see the calendar you created and renamed.

Select it, and you can change the color here too on your phone. Same guidelines from above apply here.

Make sense? Clear as mud? Email me any suggestions and I’ll rewrite it to make it easier. Hope this helps someone! drew@kerlee.com

A few other pointers from the tech guy I emailed with:

Any questions should go to info@tacoma.k12.wa.us.

Any calendar suggestions could also go to info@tacoma.k12.wa.us. You could probably also contact the office coordinator at the school and ask them to have the webmaster add specific events to the calendar. Some of our schools are better than others about updating content on their sites.

** all the ICS calendar links for Tacoma Schools. Wow, lots of them.