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Topic:

Project Logs

Build logs/journals of projects I’ve done involving software, electronics, 3D printing, and more.

18 posts
Oct 2011 – Sep 2024

Faking the fan rotor lock signal in a Tripp Lite SU1000RTXLCD2U UPS

For Reasons[1], I needed[2] to connect my refrigerator to a double-conversion UPS so it receives good, clean power regardless of what’s coming from the wall outlet. In my case, this power could be from the local electric utility or from an onsite natural gas generator. I found …

Improved low-battery shutoff for my DIY Ego-powered 12V supply

I fixed an issue with the low-battery shutoff circuit in my DIY Ego 12v power supply by replacing discrete logic with latching logic in an Arduino.

The 12v portable power supply Ego needs to make

Part of the Project Logs series. I'm fully invested in the Ego line of power tools for everything from my lawnmower to hedge trimmer. I also have a need for a portable, long-lasting, rechargeable, power-outage-resistant, 12 volt power supply.[1] Ego sells several inverters/converters, but they all …

Making 3D-printed end caps for sharp aluminum extrusions

My table saw — a portable Hitachi C10RA2 I bought from a friend — features two aluminum extrusions along the table top. These extrusions stick out a bit on each side of the saw, and they have sharp corners, and they hurt when you bump into them: I chose to take a …

Reliable WiFi for the Bambu X1C 3D printer

How to set up a Raspberry Pi WiFi access point that the Bambu X1C can stay connected to.

Automated generator load-shedding for the house

Another recent house-related problem, and a solution. My house has an old 7 kW natural gas generator. During a power outage, it makes sure the house still has heat and running water, and it also powers some lights and outlets in the bedroom, office, and kitchen. The "office" …

Recycling a pallet into an Adirondack-ish-style footrest

A brief project log for today. I was taking in some sun last weekend when I decided the chair I was sitting in needed a matching footrest. I briefly looked at Amazon, but I wanted instant gratification, and everything that looked halfway decent and was made of actual wood seemed …

Setting up a secondary Pi-Hole on my home network

I run Pi-Hole as the DNS server for my home network. It provides ad and nuisance blocking for a subset of the systems in the house. Having a single DNS server for your network is very stressful; it’s a single point of failure, so even routine maintenance feels touch-and-go. …

TDS220 Oscilloscope Refurbishment: Rotary Encoders & Backlight

Part of the Project Logs series. For years, my oscilloscope has been a Tektronix TDS220 (2-channel, 100 MHz) scope. I bought it used, fairly inexpensively, a little while after graduating from college. (You'll see some photos of this scope's screen in my atomic clock project post. …

Building the atomic clock I’ve always wanted

For years & years, I have wanted to own an actual atomic clock. So I built one.

3D Printing Project: Tiny Trays for Screws, etc.

Part of the Project Logs series. When working on electronics and similar projects, I often end up with a couple piles of small screws or other tiny hardware littering my workspace. I have a few magnetic trays like these, but most of them live in the garage, and they mostly …

PiKVM Build

Part of the Project Logs series. For the past few years, every once in a while I'd search something like "IP KVM," look at the prices, and remember why I always quickly abandoned this search. Until sometime earlier this year, that is, when I stumbled across …

Expanding the Ubiquiti Cloud Key Gen 2+ with a 3.5” Hard Drive

Part of the Project Logs series. This post walks through my successful expansion of Ubiquiti’s Cloud Key Gen2+ to use a 3.5” hard drive instead of a 2.5” drive. Motivation In January 2021, I upgraded my Cloud Key to a 5TB hard drive, which is the maximum …

Replacing iTunes, Music.app, iTunes Match, and iCloud Music Library

Part of the Project Logs series. More follow-up from my recent “Now” post: I’ve finally (mostly) extricated my music library from the entirety of Apple’s music ecosystem. This post documents how and why I did that. The Problems A long, long time ago, I used iTunes to play …

Securing my personal SSH infrastructure with Yubikeys

One recently-completed project I mentioned in January’s “Now” post was locking down SSH in my personal computing infrastructure using Yubikeys. In this post, I’ll outline my goals, the strategy I took, and the problems and solutions I ran into along the way.