For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Colonel Panic
#1888085
Wiring up RJ45 plugs

Any Top Tips for making this easier? I increasingly suffer from shaky hands (Benign Essential Tremor) and am finding it exceedingly difficult - much more so than even a year ago. 10 minutes per plug is not unusual and I have another 37 to go.

I have just invested in some of the "slide through" plugs & crimping tool, so at least I can check the wiring before potentially wasting a plug, but I am sure there must be an easier way ...

TIA
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By OCB
#1888112
+1 for what @TheKentishFledgling sed.

I have a reasonably sized bobbin one third full of solid core cat-6e cable taking up far too much space in my basement - but my last two cabling jobs at home have been supplied by amazon.com. Even with good eyesight and steady hands, it's a bit of a job.

I actually typed "miserable" job - but to be fair, I actually enjoyed making cables a few years back - and do kinda still enjoy various troubleshooting aspects of that job at a professional level.

The cost of pre-built cables versus time and grief just isn't worth it - unless you have very tight tolerance and need to squeeze cable through a hole the size of a r*ts erse etc, or are doing exotic stuff like armoured outside IP66+ etc.
By Colonel Panic
#1888170
I am re-wiring my Data Cabinet (ooh, that sounds so posh!) and so I want 15-20 very short (varying between 15 - 20cm) leads, & very ideally colour coded, so I didn't think buying them pre-made was feasible - but now I look on eBay I see such things do exist. So may well take up the idea.

Thank You both!
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By OCB
#1888256
If you are at "data cabinet" level - there is some pretty cool augmented reality wotzits out there.

Jump to about 5 mins into this random video I found on YT.



I wish my current client would put this tech on our tech roadmap - I'd love to play with stuff like this!
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By Colonel Panic
#1888260
That is indeed very cool. Whilst using UniFi equipment already, I only have a 10" wide cabinet so that stuff will have to wait until I out-grow what I have now. But I am feeling the need already 8)
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By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1888267
Colonel Panic wrote:I am re-wiring my Data Cabinet (ooh, that sounds so posh!) and so I want 15-20 very short (varying between 15 - 20cm) leads, & very ideally colour coded, so I didn't think buying them pre-made was feasible - but now I look on eBay I see such things do exist. So may well take up the idea.


I use these. Available in 10cm, 25cm, 50cm I think.

Buy them from BroadbandBuyer but other places stock them.

They are lovely things...

Image
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By Colonel Panic
#1889306
Pi-Hole on a Synology NAS

I am currently running Pi-Hole on a Raspberry Pi, but thought I might move it to a Docker container on my Synology NAS.

Following a How To on YouTube, at Time 06:50 he sets it up on port 8080 (ie his.NAS.local.IP:8080). If I were to do something similar, I know I would need to go round all of my local devices and change the DNS Server IP from the RPi to the NAS, but would I also have to include the port number? ie 192.168.2.xxx:8080 or just 192.168.2.xxx?

Also, where on my network would I check if I am already using Port 8080 (or any other port for that matter)?

TIA x2

By Colonel Panic
#1895654
Breadboard or prototyping board

I'm about to start a new project which is based around an ESP32 chip; whilst I can start this using a breadboard, it could well be a tad chunky for final use.

Whilst I have used breadboard in the past I have never used prototyping board; am I right to think that none of the holes are connected to each other? If so, how does one create a circuit between, say, the ESP32 and an input wire? Is it just a matter of bridging two adjacent holes with a blob of solder?

TIA

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/sourcing-map ... 104&sr=8-7 ,
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By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1895659
There are three types.

Some are just a load of tinned, plated holes, and yes - you need to make all the connections yourself.

Another type has continuous tracks, so you'd need to cut them for example between the legs of ICs or ESP modules etc.

My favourite type is the best of both worlds, and I strongly recommend you go for this variant. Basically it's a hybrid of the above two.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... UTF8&psc=1

The above ones aren't cheap but they are excellent quality. Some of these boards are total carp.
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By Colonel Panic
#1896174
When is a micro-USB cable not a micro-USB cable

Arghhhh - I can begin to say how many hours I have wasted today trying to get my shiny new ESP32 to talk to my laptop - not helped by never having done so before & (not surprisingly) not really knowing what I was doing. But it would appear that the carp micro-USB lead that comes with every IKEA smart device is merely a power lead and not a comms lead. Grrrrrrrrr. Why can't these things be marked as such.

But that is now sorted and I'm now connected!
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By Colonel Panic
#1896566
Smart wall (light) switches

Looking to get a smart wall switch or two to control lights that can't be retrofitted with smart bulbs. Any top tips for which make / platform to go for?

433, wi-fi, zigbee or z-wave?

Needs to work with no neutral wires at the switch, must be compatible with Home Assistant, and in some cases needs to include a dimming function. Happy to use a hub system if necessary.

Aqara, Sonoff and Broadlink look OK / quite nice, but AIUI don't dim. Reluctant to go for some Amazon-Chinesium non-brand.

TIA
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