Okay, I think I've reached a stopping point for this #projects. (Are they ever really done?) Rigged up the necessary cabling hooking it to my 100 watt portable solar panel that I made a while ago and got it tidied up. Even if I use it only intermittently for powering the #aredn node, if we have a power outage, it will at least be capable of recharging phones and provide some basic LED lighting. I learned a bunch and may do a larger version at some point.

Okay, it's not a perfect #projects but it's functional. I have a Harbor Freight ammo box containing a 12v 6A LiFePo4 battery, a solar charge controller, and the necessary 12->24V upconverter with a POE injector. It powers a TPLink CPE210 (or 510) over the POE port, and can run it for hours (haven't timed it) with a charge, and can be hooked to a solar panel with a SAE adapter to recharge. If I do it again, I'll probably make it bigger and with more capabilities, but it's good for a first try

A couple of days ago, I noticed that my 1Gbps nominal Comcast service was down to ~90Mbps. I spent an hour with them on their automated chat, and then did a couple of things, and it bouced back up to closer to 900Mbps. But then, this morning, it has slipped back down to sub 100Mbps again. Sigh. And they reset my cable modem out of bridge mode. Anyone have any experience with this?

So, this morning I woke up about an hour ahead of my alarm. I don't always get a lot of sleep, so I tried to go back to it, but it was hopeless. For some reason, I'm thinking about my upcoming work anniversary. I passed 30 years working for Pixar/Disney, and so will get new bit of hardware to accompany Buzz, Woody, this Martian, and Tinkerbell. I started thinking about how I could summarize my career. This is not something you should attempt before coffee.

Today's #projects not quite finished: still need to reorganize cables and wires and tidy up, but I added 12 feet of extra shelf space in the garage. Tomorrow will be for tidying. And trying to find the new 20mm Forstner bit that I JUST got and somehow misplaced already because I didn't have a place for it.

Dusting off one of my old #projects I got bored during COVID and one day did a brief project creating anthotypes: a photographic process using emulsions derived from plants. I printed a picture of myself onto a clear transparency to serve as a negative. I then prepared a solution of turmeric and water, brushed it onto paper and let it dry. I then contact printed it using the sun, and "developed" the resulting print in a solution of borax. Prints are impermanent, but interesting.

Tinkering together a mobile #arednmesh go box. Harbor Freight ammo box, cheap 6Ah LiFEPo4 battery, a $20 solar charge controller, a 12->24v converter, 4 port POE injector and some ethernet bulkhead connectors. Will add fuses, switches, buttons, a USB charger, and a hookup for solar panel (I have a small 10W and a larger 100W). Pictured with my budget TPLINK CPE210. #projects

I was curious as to what the distribution of hardware on the SF #aredn mesh network was. I have some inexpensive TP-LINK and GL.iNet equipment which are very uncommon. Ubiquiti and Mikrotik dominate the landscape.

I went through a phase a while ago where I embarked upon building some digital clocks as one of my #projects. They are based upon the WEMOS D1 Mini controllers, and use Wifi/NTP sync up, which means I never have to bother setting them. And, this morning they were smart enough to adapt for the change to PST.

A couple of months ago, I was gifted this rather unusual telescope: a Schiefspiegler that was constructed by John Cooper at the Chabot Telescope Maker's workshop. He did it in tandem with Kevin Medlock, who also built one that was tragically lost in the Oakland fire in 1991. Kevin had John's telescope, and knowing of my interest in them, passed it to me. One of my #projects is to get it up and used again. First step: a tripod dolly.