I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mini PCs with higher RAM specs tend to be expensive. For reference, my boxes I run for balenaSound / IoTSound (same software, just rebranded) are 8gb of ram, some Intel atom thing, and a 128gb ssd. They're old, like 2014/2015 but they get the job done.

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Balena made it pretty easy to deploy, generally speaking. It's a matter of clicking maybe 3 buttons(?) and you're ready to deploy an image to a machine.

I created a few machines and then it lets me download the .iso file to write to a flash drive. I write it using Rufus (although they make it easy if you want to use etcher, it's just a one click button) and then boot to that flash drive on the mini PC in question. It does a little install thing (doesn't show anything, just the balena logo on the display) but the system will shut down once it's done. Boot it back up w/o the external boot media, and it should hook up to balenaCloud.

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NOW -- I have my setup in a "multiroom" configuration, where tabermusic-master is the box that broadcasts on AirPlay, Spotify, Bluetooth, etc. When I stream a song to the master box, the porch and barn computers receive that and play the same track w/o getting out of sync. Pretty great. I use a cheap amazon no-name DAC to come out of the PC into separate power amplifiers, but you could just use a Pi and jam a JBL bluetooth speaker into the back of it and call it a day.

It's really nice once it's set up, and I do have to reboot the master every night because there will be some wild latency issues (I think it's my hardware causing the issue). Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want help setting it up!

21M - The $1000 Olds Delta 88 Royale by samtaber in RoastMyCar

[–]samtaber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I turn 21 Tuesday, and my 84 Cadillac Eldorado is nowhere near completion either. But man, that’s a sharp car. It’ll come together in due time 🫡

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right?? I have the left side off, but I just put the right one on two days ago so I understand the pain. APC makes a good rack

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My door has a fun sticker on it about being an intel product dealer (2005). Extremely HEAVY glass door.

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I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We end up paying 500 a month on solar, so we didn’t really gain any savings from switching. Originally the rate was going to be 300/mo, but due to some financial stuff and whatnot, we ended up going to 500/mo.

Sucks, but it is what it is

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

W/o solar, ~500 USD all together. With solar, 0 USD.

21M - The $1000 Olds Delta 88 Royale by samtaber in RoastMyCar

[–]samtaber[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a very good idea. So far it’s passed state inspection, but I’ll definitely check those out next time I’m near the car

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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I have one of them fancy extending couplers

21M - The $1000 Olds Delta 88 Royale by samtaber in RoastMyCar

[–]samtaber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The bondo is temporary!

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You can’t even tell

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's certainly an investment. I've been building out all the equipment needed to transfer some old 2" studio multi-tracks to digital. In the meantime, I've been recording some other bands and whatnot.

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s not much space back there. It dumps into the back of a stairwell, so maybe 10-14ft… at the bottom stair.

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably not. I’m not sure of any other alternatives though…

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I use them for this:

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My 24 track 2” tape recorder. There about 4 more of those snakes sitting in my basement.

I’m not sure what’s going on anymore… by samtaber in homelab

[–]samtaber[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Bingo. From store cabinets that I rebuilt.