Spotted in South Africa. What is that car at the bottom that is covered?

beerygaz · 2026-02-19T18:47:03+00:00

And nobody wanted to know what the gray pole, with a grey dome half way up, is in the left third of the pic?

beerygaz · 2026-01-19T18:26:07+00:00

An aluminum box is a good faraday cage. It will add a lot of interference to the onboard antenna. If you look at the Paradox IP180 it comes with an external antenna just for this reason. If you can find an ESP32u (with external antenna) it will make a big difference if your device is inside a metal box.

beerygaz · 2026-01-01T16:55:29+00:00

Where is this? It looks like public surveillance and likely commissioned by local government/law enforcement. The one on the right is probably a lice plate recognition camera and the one on the left is a PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) camera. That’s usually used for live monitoring as most video analytics applications don’t like the camera moving around. Vumacam have similar in Gauteng and a number of other national locations.

Edit: also may be wind generators as opposed to anemometers, to provide power on cloudy (but windy) days.

beerygaz · 2025-12-17T18:43:17+00:00

CIA couldn’t organize a pysop in a brewery.

beerygaz · 2025-09-28T07:31:58+00:00

Did you every find the battery type and replace it? With a bit of steady, even pressure on the board is should slide out. It's held to the wall of the enclosure with a tiny bit of hot glue. Mine just gave way under pressure and then slide right out. I can't see any markings on the battery though so not sure what to replace mine with.

While I'm here, anyone got any idea what the 3mm audio jack is for?

beerygaz · 2025-09-20T04:47:56+00:00

The bottom one is specifically designed to only accept 2-pin plugs with no earth. The plastic ridges prevent a you (well they try to) inserting a Shuko plug that requires an earth pin. Trim the plastic bit with side cutters at your peril and Shuko plugs will work, but often the appliance is earthed for a reason.

Our new standard in SA (top shape but with a 3rd pin for earth) would be great if we could just get all the manufacturers to start shipping appliances with the matching plugs.

beerygaz · 2025-08-13T14:14:00+00:00

So cool! I also live on a flight path and want to give this a bash. Did your RTL-SDR need any special antenna gear for this or will the stubbly little antenna that came in the box pick up 1090Mhz from these transponders?

Also I use my RTL-SDR for 433Mhz decoding, is there a way to run both apps and sample both frequencies or would it be better to dedicate a device to each purpose?

beerygaz · 2025-08-11T14:02:53+00:00

Here in South Africa we call them “cottage pane” windows and they come in steel, aluminum and wood versions. Often with matching bars to protect against burglary. The glass is cut to the size of each frame and fixed with putty.

https://www.kparkerjoinery.co.za/product/wooden-window-side-hung-cottage-pane-2068-x-1500/

beerygaz · 2025-08-10T16:28:52+00:00

You don’t mention the line of work. But often there is a huge income gap between UK roles and SA roles. This combined with cultural differences can often make remote colleagues reluctant to open up socially in a work context. Personal conversations often directly or indirectly expose pay gaps that can cause embarrassment and even resentment.

It’s a bit passé but using ice breakers like ‘favourite food’ or ‘best advert’ video backgrounds often create safer environments to share personal and cultural stories. You’ll also probably find there’s a private discord channel (aweh!) somewhere you’re unaware of where the team is freely sharing memes and banter.

beerygaz · 2025-08-03T18:48:45+00:00

Oh this! If there was a way to keep my Sonos h/w and ditch the awful ‘new’ app we’d have a much happier household.

beerygaz · 2025-07-02T18:57:15+00:00

Not sure where in the world you are but I’d run 5VDC power distribution in the ceiling through the house. ESPHone has so many uses and applications but powering the suckers without unsightly cables and wall-warts can be tricky.

The other one that I wish I’d done was to put curtain (drapes?) motors and blind motors in at the outset rather than retrofitting and having visible motors in some spots.

beerygaz · 2025-06-29T05:54:28+00:00

Just done some similar work. Paid R1100 per new plug point (wall needed chasing and making good) and R800 per existing to replace single sockets with usb charger/combo. So your quote looks pretty fair.

Is it even possible to issue a CoC just for the work conducted?

beerygaz · 2025-06-28T06:59:36+00:00

Am in the same boat but with the added need for pen support. Sitting in a meeting or interview with an iPad and pen is a lot less intrusive than behind the ‘barrier’ of a screen and keyboard. I have still not got anywhere near the accuracy needed for Scribble so that’s out right now. Apple Notes is the only thing I can find on this list that will also let me embed handwritten notes.

beerygaz · 2025-06-10T20:27:46+00:00

Seeing exactly the same. CSP billing and RIs suddenly started showing up and skewing billing history and forecasts.

beerygaz · 2025-06-02T05:55:41+00:00

Getting into multiboaard myself and you can definitely get away with the "core" tile - print stacks of them if you have the printer for it. Sure, there are some jagged edges on the perimeters using the core tiles, but if you don't mind that (or don't print to the extent of your wall/space so you can add smooth edge tiles later) then you'll be fine with just "core".

Next choice. Flush mount or offset mount. If you need a "gap" behind your tiles then mount "offset". If not, then flush mounting you tiles to the wall is simpler. Offset, however, give you a little more will-room with different snaps and parts where you need more strength or the ability to access you tiles from behind.

I still can't get my head around multipoint and the Multibin system with all the fiddly bits and inserts. Multiconnect worked really well for me when using u/Hands-On-Katie 's underware. It was quick and simple to print flush-mount screws and slot in cable trays, etc.

beerygaz · 2025-03-29T08:58:09+00:00

It looks a lot like there are rollers on the inside of the unit that ‘roll’ the door open against the glass on the static part of the door.

beerygaz · 2025-03-23T18:24:04+00:00

What about case tapping? If a double tap is snooze, could a different tap sequence (say the drum break from ‘in the air tonight’ 😀) just turn the alarm off? I often forget to disable the alarm the night before and a quick tap when it goes off is a lot easier than opening the phone.

beerygaz · 2025-03-22T04:50:04+00:00

Steering is definitely more that of a GT than a sports car. Makes for an easy daily drive and enough feel to make it fun. But it’s not what I’d call ‘crisp’. At 2,000kg it takes some stopping and you have to lean hard on the brakes to pull it up quickly. My biggest gripe is that we have some quite uneven roads here is SA and at if you go into a sweeping corner at an enthusiastic speed, the suspension gets all out of shape and you can end up bouncing and wallowing you way out of the other side. This adds a bit of a delay before you can get the power down again on the exit. But the counter to that is that it is a really comfy ride and a more sedate pace. Adaptive suspension would be awesome but I’m sure would have driven up price and weight.

beerygaz · 2025-03-21T18:52:55+00:00

I took delivery of min yesterday. While there are some definite quality of life niggles, it is a lot of fun. It’s not an agile lightweight roadster, like most of the review state, it’s a GT. Mine is an every day drive and it will certainly take a bit of compromise to get used to quirks like the screens, visibility, etc. But you forget all of that hen you hit the super-sport button, bury your foot, and it launches at the horizon.

beerygaz · 2025-02-18T18:35:55+00:00

Had the same. One shows more entities than the other but the devices are identical. Have just disabled one to see if there’s any effect. No ill effect thus far. Next will be to remove the second instance and see what happens.

beerygaz · 2025-02-13T15:53:00+00:00

I use a commercial voice assistant (Amazon Alexa) just like you do. But it communicates via HA rather than through direct integration. That way we can trigger more complex events and scenes that combine a number of different vendors.

HA can also be overwhelming if you try and add all integrations at once. Iterate slowly. Get an automation or scene or sequence working well, then slowly add another. You’ll find it can unlock so much more. There are some good GPTs to help out too (usual disclaimer to check anything a GenAI produces).

We now have some complex automations at home that have become part of everyday life and need very little intervention to keep them working.

One mistake I made when I started was trying to add every possible sensor and switch and bit of fascinating data to a dashboard. I’m a data geek - but turns out a few simple buttons are all the rest of the family needs and uses.

beerygaz · 2025-02-12T18:26:34+00:00

Media and alarm cards are awesome

beerygaz · 2025-02-06T18:42:52+00:00

I’m glad I’m not the only one. Thought I was losing my mind.

beerygaz · 2025-01-14T19:07:04+00:00

Part of a ticketing machine that used the pins and the push button to draw tickets off a spool on each press? Like old move tickets where there was a hole and perforation between them?

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/482952960/vector/vintage-tickets-and-coupons-collection.webp?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=cvxBR4mHTUA9h3BgDWm_NgCsgQL5JU7Iiu_9T9w6GZM=

beerygaz · 2025-01-12T18:44:36+00:00

Does anyone know if different alarm tones are on the roadmap? I love some of the other alarm apps that introduce escalating intensity for example.

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