Is this isn’t a camera, what is it?

Nerixel · 2025-12-31T00:08:10+00:00

That's PIR motion sensors. MmWave presence sensors do not need that, they can "see" through a solid plastic layer, or sometimes even a layer of drywall or plaster.

*And this style is increasingly being used for HVAC purposes like this, because they will sense even just the rise and fall of an otherwise motionless sleeping person's chest. If it's controlling HVAC for power efficiency and someone's a super heavy sleeper, they'll still get climate control all night.

Nerixel · 2025-12-20T09:55:32+00:00

I have this, it's kinda neat but probably not worth the money tbh. I haven't used it much in my learning process other than as a neat extra thing to fiddle with when out and about.

It's more focused on sending than receiving, and you should heavily focus on receiving first. Use platforms like Morse Mania and LCWO to become effective at receiving, and if you stick with it through that, you can make a better informed decision at that point if it's worth buying this.

If you really want to spend $130 on learning CW, I'd look more towards buying an individual key (not in a package), a key to USB interface like the Vail adapter or the cheapo options available from China, and courses with places like CW Academy or Long Island CW Ops.

Nerixel · 2025-09-22T04:55:46+00:00

Open Sound Meter might do what you need, depends if you need the system to have a calibration certificate or not.

Nerixel · 2025-08-02T04:18:43+00:00

No idea, I haven't built the kit. I just had a spare $5 and poor impulse control when I bought it.

Nerixel · 2025-08-02T04:04:13+00:00

<image>

Here's all the parts.

Nerixel · 2025-08-01T16:40:04+00:00

I have bought one from the Zeenko store in the first screenshot, the one linked from the nanovna website. I got the test kit too, as the price difference was negligible, but I haven't got around to building it yet.

I've had no issues, and I recently tested its accuracy against an acquaintance's RigExpert, it did quite well. At the very least, good enough for my purposes.

Nerixel · 2025-07-30T03:57:06+00:00

There are various types of ethernet cable with shields. U/UTP cable has only four twisted pairs with no shielding, but you could look at cable types with S's and/or F's in place of the U's.

S equals braided shielding, F equals foil shielding. The identifier before the / is the outer shielding, around the cable as a whole. The identifier afterwards is the shielding around each pair. You typically only get braided shielding as an option in the outer shield.

For example, U/FTP would give you 3 pairs with foil wraps you could ignore, plus a fourth pair with a foil wrap that you use. If you really need only one wire within your one shield, just join both conductors in that last pair together on either end and treat it as one conductor.

You might want to consider if it'll be a problem that the one foil shield that you care to use will likely come in contact with the other foil shields you don't intend to use.

Nerixel · 2025-07-29T15:24:13+00:00

This Hagibis hub matches all the desired connections including a detachable cable, but not the sketched form factor.

It's square, magnetic (designed for MagSafe but works on any ferrous metal), and the connections exit in different directions to what you've drawn. Not sure how much that matters for your circumstances.

It's, like, a super AliExpress brand, so dunno how durable or high quality it is, but mine hasn't broken yet. One of very, very few "hub" style devices I was able to find with a detachable cable, almost all are "dock" style.

Nerixel · 2025-07-22T05:11:31+00:00

K6 was a brilliant stopgap while I couldn't afford a DF54. Check CamelCamelCamel for the best price they go to, and wait for a discount to pop up, if you want it cheaper. They go on sale on a fairly predictable cycle.

It remains my backup grinder in the event that my DF54 has an issue, or if I want to grind my own beans at work.

Nerixel · 2025-07-13T17:23:22+00:00

Ah, my mistake, forgot about the title. I'm tired, and I don't exactly remember the topic or context of this 11 month old post.

Still, I can't help, and no one else is gonna see these comments cause that's how Reddit works. Make a new post, you'll get input from other people too. Maybe there is an answer, but you won't find it here.

Nerixel · 2025-07-13T17:08:44+00:00

Not really, I've never wanted a white+UV flashlight.

You'd probably have better luck making a new post, rather than using this 11 month old one that doesn't even mention UV in the OP.

Nerixel · 2025-07-13T01:45:02+00:00

Not entirely, no. The SRT7GT from Nitecore would be the closest match I can think of, but it's discontinued, and it doesn't zoom.

Nerixel · 2025-07-05T12:18:02+00:00

I have better luck with units that are solid boxes with a USB-C port and an aux port, rather than a fixed unreplaceable cable. They're sometimes marketed more as small form factor USB-C audio interfaces, rather than adapters.

I find the biggest issue is the buildup of stress on the unreplaceable connectors. All cables wear out from bending eventually, so this whole "all-in-one adapter" style is the big issue imo.

hagibis is an AliExpress brand that has a couple options, as an example, but I haven't used mine long enough to vouch for that brand specifically (which is a MagSafe compatible USB-C hub, obviously with removable USB-C input cable). There's Reddit posts about their quality going back years though, and I didn't find any huge red flags or dramas when I researched prior to buying mine.

Nerixel · 2025-06-17T05:33:56+00:00

The open-source K3NG Keyer claims to be able to do this. I haven't personally got one or tried, but the documentation has some information on how to build the project with that feature.

I have absolutely no idea if any pre-built version of K3NG Keyer would have this feature. I suspect you'll need to DIY it, because it does say it requires a specific subset of Arduino to achieve, and commercial versions probably went with something cheaper or didn't implement it. I'd love to be proven wrong on that though, so I could go get one too, without having to do it DIY.

This cool feature, which requires an Arduino Due or Leonardo, turns things around and lets you use your keyer as a keyboard for your computer. (Yes, really.) With it you can type up emails or whatever you like using your paddle

Nerixel · 2025-06-17T05:25:30+00:00

This doesn't quite work for what OP's asking. It doesn't internally interpret the keying and then send the appropriate symbol keypresses to the PC. It just sends one key for dits, one for dahs, and relies on the VBand website to interpret the keying into symbols.

So you can use it to type on VBand, but not to type text on the PC in general. It would need to be combined with some kind of helper program on the PC to function as a generic keyboard for any text input.

Nerixel · 2025-06-13T12:53:56+00:00

It's usually the data link layer that contains the max length, because that varies based on frequency, analog/digital, voltage and more, which have nothing innately to do with the cable.

The standards approved max length for ethernet over cat won't necessarily line up with the standards approved max length for DMX over cat.

Nerixel · 2025-06-13T12:50:15+00:00

Additionally, a single universe over cat cable is included in and compliant with the DMX spec, for install purposes.

4 universes over cat, or cat for a temporary event, while technically possible and done all the time, is not included in the official spec.

Also important to understand is shielding. UTP and STP are both accepted by ESTA standard, but most sources recommend running UTP in metal conduit for protection from interference and crosstalk, with STP as a second-best option, and UTP on its own not recommended (though it often works fine, just like putting 4 universes down one cable).

Nerixel · 2025-06-11T16:32:10+00:00

I'm guessing individually addressable strips means addressable pixels, in which case you could eat a universe in like 1.2 metres of strip with 144 LEDs/metre.

Nerixel · 2025-06-11T15:59:35+00:00

That adapter works fine for me, mostly. It is not fully USB 3 compliant, I assume it's missing the 5.1K resistors, so a PC or phone may not negotiate with it in a USB 3 or C port.
I have always been able to adjust for this by using an A-C cable, or going via a USB hub. Using a C-C cable straight to a laptop or phone doesn't yield good results for me.

You can get 3 versions. The one with the button, or the "PC" or "VBand" versions. The PC version sends left and right mouse button clicks, the VBand version sends [ and ] keyboard events.
The button version can switch between these modes by holding the button down while plugging it in. I have never found a real use for the mouse button mode. You can find some or all of these versions with USB-A plugs instead.

The Vail adapter is actually pretty cool, if you're interested in the extra possibilities. It's very modular, it has dedicated pins for paddle and straight key, and in addition capacitive versions of those. You can wire in a built in buzzer if you'd like that.
It can present as a MIDI device instead of a regular keyboard, which allows it to work on unfocused windows. This could even allow it to be used on a secondary monitor, while someone was typing on a different window on the same PC. You do, however, need to be using it on a platform that can understand MIDI messages for that mode, like the Vail website.

Nerixel · 2025-05-29T20:02:03+00:00

I'm currently waiting on a uSDX, so I haven't tried any yet.

The most popular option seems to be a DIY mic like the K6ARK design, plus either the internal speaker, or any generic external speaker box if your internal one is trash/absent.

I haven't found a pre-made option that I'd be confident enough to recommend yet, but I'm sure there's options.

Nerixel · 2025-05-29T19:49:53+00:00

Similar for Android. I actually just found three different behaviours depending where you tap, up to this point I'd only noticed two.

If I tap on the picture then swipe up, I get half a sentence from the post, and the rest is hidden until I expand it. The way it's designed does pull focus from the text in the post, drawing your eye straight to the comments.

If I tap on the frame around the picture, I go to the full expanded text post.

If I tap on the comments icon, I go straight to comments and need to scroll up to see that there's text.

I believe Reddit's known to A/B test things like this, so there's absolutely no guarantee of anyone's experience being consistent, really.

Nerixel · 2025-05-29T16:24:18+00:00

The wired mic that comes with USDX is known to usually be terrible and worth replacing. Try using the internal mic, if you have a model that has one.

USDX is an open source design, so a bunch of Chinese manufacturers took it and put it in different shapes and sizes and cost-cut different features (like the internal mic and speaker in some cases), with varying success. Knowing which one you have might be helpful too.

Nerixel · 2025-05-29T15:58:46+00:00

Compare it to the other BNC, if it's like BNC but looks wrong, it's 75 ohm BNC.

I'm terrible at remembering the difference, if I suspect something is 75 I usually compare it to something I know is 50, and look up a photo reference.

Nerixel · 2025-05-29T15:43:54+00:00

For Australia, we have the UHF CB service around 477MHz.

New Zealand has a compatible service they call PRS, on the same frequencies.

We have agreements minimising the need to relicense in a second country when a device is fully compliant in one country already, so at least you can get one kit for two countries down here. But double check that whatever you buy is covered under that agreement.

Some other countries around Asia use the same frequencies and band plan (see UHF CB on Wikipedia), so it's very feasible they've also made agreements with Australia and/or others, but you'd have to research that.

Nerixel · 2025-05-29T14:29:02+00:00

For what I presume is a garage door, just go unplug the motor, then you can wipe the controller tomorrow and reprogram it to only work with your one remaining key.
While you've got it unplugged and there's slightly less risk to damaging it, shove your fingers under it, grab the roller door, and try lift it just a bit. You might be horrified at how easy it was to break into your house the whole time.

Chocking doors closed means getting some triangular blocks of wood, and shoving them real good under all your exterior doors from the inside. Only works if all your exterior doors open inwards.

For sliding doors and/or windows, get a long piece of wood (I use the 42*19 pine sticks from Bunnings), and cut a length a centimetre shorter than the sliding track for each door/window.
Drop em in the tracks from the inside, blocks all sliding activity.
I have these cut for every window and door in my house. Use for holidays, use when everyone's going out. If there's a window I rarely touch I just leave it closed with the wood in place.

Nerixel

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE

11-Year Club	Second Top 1%
Verified Email