New Tech you didn't know you needed or even wanted

[Joe13]

I had toyed with having exterior cameras' for quite a while. Wife kept poo pooing the idea until she forgot to lock her car one night and someone got in and went through it. After I had the first ones? They are now the first thing I hook up when I move.

I think that the flood lights have kept anyone from deciding to do anything on my property but what they do not know, is that so talked to my neighbors and asked them if they wanted me to record parts of their property or if they would rather I digitally mask it out. Every single one was on board with some free security and I have since then helped 2 of them recover some stolen property so it has been a real benefit for both myself and my neighbors.

 

[Alexx1401]

I think that the flood lights have kept anyone from deciding to do anything on my property but what they do not know, is that so talked to my neighbors and asked them if they wanted me to record parts of their property or if they would rather I digitally mask it out. Every single one was on board with some free security and I have since then helped 2 of them recover some stolen property so it has been a real benefit for both myself and my neighbors.

One of the best things for me was ammo delivery. Back when we had that panic after Sandy hook I had ammo coming weekly. Place used FedEx. Several times I would get the notification that the ammo was delivered and they had not been to my house. Those cameras were great for fixing that. Another is of course working nights, if dogs tell me someone is here I can see what's going on without getting out of bed. If it's a delivery I can get up and bring it in. Wife of course LOVES them at night when I am working. If dogs say something is outside she can see if its just some critter or if its a problem.

 

[Flopsweat]

My daughter is driving my old 2003 Nissan Maxima (coincidentally the car I brought here home from the hospital in when she was born) and the radio only powered one of the speakers. We installed an ATOTO S8 Android head unit (radio). She absolutely loves it! It will download and run most any Android app and the custom ""automotive" interface is well done making it easy to operate. For only $200 it was a lot easier than "rolling my own" which I had considered several years ago. The rear and front facing cameras just needed to be plugged in and they were automatically recognized and activated with the base install. Some day I will install one in my 2006 Duramax (It REALLY needs a rear camera!!!!). The ATOTO also has a steering wheel controls decoder built in so the Maxima steering wheel controls were easy to integrate.

The Raspberry Pi3 didn't have enough cahoonas to power my Plex server so I am using old PC hardware under TrueNAS (Desbian based). I do want to migrate my HomeAssistant install from my TrueNAS server to the Pi 3 someday, when I have the time. HA has more options when run on its own dedicated box instead of as a virtual. I find it utterly reprehensible to have to get up off my butt to walk over and turn on/off a light switch these days when I can just Tell HomeAssistant to do it through Alexa! I can't understand why most people still insist on living in the dark ages these days. Yes, I had to change all my light switches out to Z-Wave smart switches but it is definitely worth it!

For a DSP (Digital Sound Processor) these boards kick butt!

WONDOM OFFICIAL SHOP - ADAU1701 - Sure Electronics - 200 Watt Class D Amplifier Board - 18650 charger - Sigmastudio

Sure Electronics is a professional audio amplifier supplier that provides electronics hobbyists and business partners the middleware which can help reduce customers' development difficulties and save their precious time-to-market by making the products directly released in the market.

store.sure-electronics.com

They have a "Analogue Devices" ADAU1701 programmable DSP integrated with four good Class-D amps. Parts-Express sells the same exact boards under their own name which means community support is pretty good:

Dayton Audio KABD-4100 4 x 100W All-in-one Amplifier Board with DSP and Bluetooth 5.0 aptX HD

Dayton Audio KABD-4100 4 x 100W All-in-one Amplifier Board with DSP and Bluetooth 5.0 aptX HD Dayton Audio KABD-4100 Amp Board The Next Level of DSP Amplification Leverage the convivence of Bluetooth 5.0 and powerful DSP to truly create customizable audio projects with the accessibility of...

www.parts-express.com

Personally I think this is much easier than rolling my own Linux based DSP.

$50 to $90 and the software is free. Thanks!

 

[MikeInOr]

$50 to $90 and the software is free. Thanks!

If you are referring to the DSP board?... make sure you buy the programming board too! I think it is like $20 and you need it to connect the DSP/amp board to a USB port on your computer.

 

[Flopsweat]

If you are referring to the DSP board?... make sure you buy the programming board too! I think it is like $20 and you need it to connect the DSP/amp board to a USB port on your computer.

Oops. Yeah, it's up to $30 now so no big deal. Bookmarked and I'll verify that channels are separately programmable. Not a huge deal at that price. Got an oscope and a flat mic but I haven't tried hooking them together yet.

 

[MikeInOr]

Oops. Yeah, it's up to $30 now so no big deal. Bookmarked and I'll verify that channels are separately programmable. Not a huge deal at that price. Got an oscope and a flat mic but I haven't tried hooking them together yet.

The channels are separately programmable. I can guarantee that. The programming software allows you to link channels together so programs/parameters applied to one channel will be applied to the others while still keeping the audio data separate. But the default is each channel is independently configured and programmed. You can also link multiple boards together for 8 or even 12 (I believe) separate "output" channels. There are always only 2 input audio channels (left and right).

The "Analogue Devices" software has a tuning function that you can use with your flat mic and adjust your crossover curves real time and see the results in the software. The DSP has 2 programming modes. Mode 1 if for configuring the signal paths and filters / processors. Mode 2 allows you to change parameters for the Mode 1 program. Kind of unintuitive at first.

They also sell a DSP board with no amps... you probably discovered that already. I think they have a DSP board where you can change the Mode 2 parameters via a separate bluetooth connection without the USB programming board. The mode 1 program still needs the USB programming board though.

I am using the JAB5 in a 2.1 (2 x 100w + 200w sub) configuration, which is the default program that comes on the DSP.

 

[Alexx1401]

The channels are separately programmable. I can guarantee that. The programming software allows you to link channels together so programs/parameters applied to one channel will be applied to the others while still keeping the audio data separate. But the default is each channel is independently configured and programmed. You can also link multiple boards together for 8 or even 12 (I believe) separate "output" channels. There are always only 2 input audio channels (left and right).

The "Analogue Devices" software has a tuning function that you can use with your flat mic and adjust your crossover curves real time and see the results in the software. The DSP has 2 programming modes. Mode 1 if for configuring the signal paths and filters / processors. Mode 2 allows you to change parameters for the Mode 1 program. Kind of unintuitive at first.

They also sell a DSP board with no amps... you probably discovered that already. I think they have a DSP board where you can change the Mode 2 parameters via a separate bluetooth connection without the USB programming board. The mode 1 program still needs the USB programming board though.

I am using the JAB5 in a 2.1 (2 x 100w + 200w sub) configuration, which is the default program that comes on the DSP.

I read threads like this and think this must be how it feels for people who wander past Engineers having lunch. Understand the words but having no clue WTF they are saying to each other.

 

[Flopsweat]

The channels are separately programmable. I can guarantee that. The programming software allows you to link channels together so programs/parameters applied to one channel will be applied to the others while still keeping the audio data separate. But the default is each channel is independently configured and programmed. You can also link multiple boards together for 8 or even 12 (I believe) separate "output" channels. There are always only 2 input audio channels (left and right).

The "Analogue Devices" software has a tuning function that you can use with your flat mic and adjust your crossover curves real time and see the results in the software. The DSP has 2 programming modes. Mode 1 if for configuring the signal paths and filters / processors. Mode 2 allows you to change parameters for the Mode 1 program. Kind of unintuitive at first.

They also sell a DSP board with no amps... you probably discovered that already. I think they have a DSP board where you can change the Mode 2 parameters via a separate bluetooth connection without the USB programming board. The mode 1 program still needs the USB programming board though.

I am using the JAB5 in a 2.1 (2 x 100w + 200w sub) configuration, which is the default program that comes on the DSP.

This is going to be fun!

 

[Mikej]

I read threads like this and think this must be how it feels for people who wander past Engineers having lunch. Understand the words but having no clue WTF they are saying to each other.

I usually just....

"Geeks"

With ALL due respect of course.

 

[bradsteen]

Well, it's fairly low tech, but I just got a mini ceiling fan that plugs into a normal light socket. Gives you a 3-setting fan and a 3-brightnrss LED ceiling light with a remote control for like $40. I was kinda blown away (pun intended) by how good it was. Get a handful of those and put em up when the summer heat rolls around.

 

[orygun]

Well, it's fairly low tech, but I just got a mini ceiling fan that plugs into a normal light socket. Gives you a 3-setting fan and a 3-brightnrss LED ceiling light with a remote control for like $40. I was kinda blown away (pun intended) by how good it was. Get a handful of those and put em up when the summer heat rolls around.

Hey, now! I'm going to have to get the wife to check into that. She's the Amazon-er in this house.

 

[bradsteen]

Hey, now! I'm going to have to get the wife to check into that. She's the Amazon-er in this house.

This is the one: https://a.co/d/iqOMWEE

 

[MikeInOr]

I usually just....

"Geeks"

With ALL due respect of course.

We prefer "NERDS!!!"

 

[Mikej]

We prefer "NERDS!!!"

I'll make a note of that.

 

[Alexx1401]

This is the one: https://a.co/d/iqOMWEE

Well they sold me one. The room I sleep in during the day is upstairs and still can get hot enough that the AC is working hard. Looks like just the ticket. If the first one works well I will order a couple more. Looks like great little idea.

 

[Alexx1401]

This is the one: https://a.co/d/iqOMWEE

Well color me impressed. Got it today and after trying it out ordered a couple more. Neat little gadgets. Put out a LOT of light at high setting and little fan moves some air quietly. Not sure how long they will last but I had to buy a couple more.

 

[orygun]

This is the one: https://a.co/d/iqOMWEE

Thanks for the tip, @bradsteen . My wife bought three and I put one up in our bedroom yesterday. It works very well, and the fan is pretty quiet.

 

[Alexx1401]

Thanks for the tip, @bradsteen . My wife bought three and I put one up in our bedroom yesterday. It works very well, and the fan is pretty quiet.

I now have 5 of the little things in our home. Will be seen how long they last. We are having summer giving us one last gasp here and these things are great in every room. One problem was one in living room some buttons on the TV remote are changing the fan / light
Still really cool little gadget's.

 

[Mike_M57]

We should've stopped when we achieved perfection.

 

[Member 90849]

I don't think most new tech is useful or even desirable anymore, but I do enjoy reading on my Kindle.