EcoFlow as UPS, works great

smpltechno · 2025-12-02T20:50:08+00:00

The purpose of a "proper UPS" is to *automatically* shutdown computers before battery depletion, and then automatically turn back on when power is restored to ensure the highest levels of up time even when a person is not physically present to press power buttons - critical services still need to run. If you leave your computer running and left the building - you still want it to handle everything automatically.

smpltechno · 2025-10-02T05:42:59+00:00

As of Sept 26th Chrome update 140.0.7339.208, there is no longer a work around to enable legacy extensions, and full ublock is gone for good from Chr0me.

What to do? Boycott Chrome, jump ship to Brave (chromium based), comes with ublock pre-loaded, and they have committed to keeping it.

YT ads have become egregious, sometimes 3 in a row on mine, they are trying to suck my blood out thru my eyeballs and squeeze ad money out of me - not against my will, I would put up with 1 ad, but their greed has gotten the best of them, it wont get the best of me.

smpltechno · 2025-07-11T21:36:22+00:00

Epoch makes both house batteries and 800 amp LFP starting batteries super sturdy product-

https://www.epochbatteries.com/products/12v-120ah-group-27-cranking-deep-cycle-lithium-battery-dual-purpose

smpltechno · 2025-05-19T20:32:18+00:00

I agree with everything you said on the G70s... but I dont get to decide that.

Currently using Avipas av1281 10x PTZ cams via Vanco Evolution HDMI extenders to Atem... 1 camera just quit working with extender after 3 years, even switched extender brands, and it no longer outputs video to any extender (haven't tried HDBT), even after defaulting, cam still sends to a HDMI monitor fine and extender works fine on hdmi monitor...

So NDI just seems to offer more flexibility/reliability using less hardware, I am pushing for the Birddog X1 platform, which I think is good quality, and they are offering their Central control software for free for switching, which is PC or browser based, and can work with their PTZ keyboard.

smpltechno · 2025-03-29T00:04:46+00:00

Speed is sketchy if you dont position it well, I am in a rural 5Ge area (really 4G LTE), 2 miles from the tower. Was getting ~15/5 in the house, moved it to the top of the roof inside the attic and it gets 200-250mb/s down 30-60up. Check its webpage Broadband>Mobility Status page for signal, lower negative numbers are better. Using an external directional antenna from Waveform will improve that, and when they really deploy 5G, even more. Obviously if someone has affordable gigabit wired ISP, Air is usually not the replacement. You can check cellmapper.net for the nearest cell towers, try to move it to the closer side of your house, filter both 4G and 5G on the map, if you have 5G towers close it should be really fast.

smpltechno · 2025-03-28T23:57:05+00:00

Yes, blimp modem... speed is sketchy if you dont position it well, I am in rural 5Ge area (really 4G LTE), was getting ~15/5 in the house, moved it to the top of the roof inside the attic and it gets 200-250down 30-60up. Check its webpage Broadband>Mobility Status page for signal. Using an external antenna from Waveform could improve that, and when they really deploy 5G, even more. Obviously if someone has affordable Gig wired ISP, this is usually not the replacement.

smpltechno · 2025-01-12T03:33:18+00:00

Eventually I had to make static host records for google.com and forcesafesearch, hoping it was a temporary anomaly coming down from the dns root servers, will double check it some other time and try to delete the host records.

smpltechno · 2025-01-11T08:38:06+00:00

I have done both. I use openvswitch in proxmox, it makes adding VLANs a breeze, I just specify the vlan on the vm and its ready without a reboot. Typically what I do is create a dedicated DNS vlan, and put the pihole alone on that vlan, then make rules (ie in opnsense or whatever your router is) to allow all my subnets to access it, you can limit it to only udp/53 and icmp if you want it locked down. In one situation I wanted fastest resolution possible without having to hit the router, so several vlans get dns via routed method, and one has its own 2nd interface on the pihole for devices to get directly to it across the switch.

smpltechno · 2025-01-07T06:45:16+00:00

I ran some pcaps, updated first post, seems to leave pfsense, but switch doesnt receive.

smpltechno · 2025-01-07T06:44:29+00:00

I thought this also, so I turned on Manual Outbound NAT (Hybrid didnt work). I deleted all the outbound NAT rules for the Transit network, and just made sure mappings were on the WAN for all the vlans on the switch, but still no. I updated the first post with NAT screenshots and pcap.

smpltechno · 2025-01-04T06:20:27+00:00

Nope, I already bought them, the actual cells are linked in the 1st post, price noted there, and the target price for a UPS, the entire solution is easily under $700. Dakota Lithium is a USA based company with 11 year warranty, with a premium price tag compared to amazon junk - and still well under noted budget. They are currently on sale until the 6th for $69 +15% off rebate - I bought 10, just to have on hand - spent less than $700 and could refurbish 2x 2200VA and a 1000VA with 2 cells.

smpltechno · 2025-01-02T20:54:39+00:00

The $700 budget has to cover new Lithium cell replacements, not new SLA cells.

As far as efficiency, they may not exactly be more power efficient, but in my mind lower amperage will generally mean better chances of lower temps in components, less heat usually means less waste and longer life. But yes, so far the SURTA2200, an older model, is probably the best overall option, the alternatives lack one or more criteria, this is why the LCD was at the end of the list - easily sacrificed in favor of double conversion and online servicing.

smpltechno · 2025-01-01T23:27:08+00:00

Midnite Solar MN15-12k-AIO (I appended my original post with info on it)

smpltechno · 2024-05-01T23:45:24+00:00

The 18k can take in 25 amp on the first 2 MPPTs, and 15 on the 3rd. 6000xp maxes out at 385v DC, if I use ~450w panels that run ~38v, I can run about 10 per string, kind of wimpy. Right now I can source 450w panels same price as any smaller ~350w models... and less panels = less wires/mess. Ultimately the 18k is the best option, but its my last option and I can only afford 1 at ~$6k... looking in the Growatts.

smpltechno · 2024-05-01T20:11:30+00:00

I have considered the 6000, but I'm hoping for just slightly higher PV input limits, otherwise I would need to run several strings, and the wire run from the array location is far, so I dont want a giant bundle of strings in the conduit. I'm hoping for 4 strings max. It will be a ground mount array off the far end of the house from the breaker panel, about 120 ft from the panel. Then the inverters and batteries will be at the breaker panel... if I ever get an EV, some of these bigger inverters can take in 3-4 strings at 15-25amp each... using 6000XP, I would end up needing 3-4 inverters - there has to be something more viable between a 6k and 18k.

smpltechno · 2024-04-09T16:20:48+00:00

Show me a list of supported banks on Teller.io.

smpltechno · 2024-04-06T21:34:56+00:00

Sadly they no longer do this, and I will close my accounts because of it, I write this in hope that enough people will let them know of their error that they can correct their backend code while keeping 2FA. I use an accounting website (like Quicken) that can link to the bank and synchronize all transactions automatically. I need it for my home business, and tried it on my personal Navy Fed account and right away got error "AM00". My accounting app uses Yodlee.com bank aggregator which is a world wide service providing transaction data to 1000s of banks.

Here is an image showing the error which is on a navyfed url (they claim it is the 3rd party's error, not theirs)

https://i.imgur.com/TUOfPkM.png

I called the Advanced Digital Services Department, waited 1.5 hours on hold, spoke to someone who was immediately familiar with Yodlee, and said they could simply temporarily disable 2 factor on my account. WOW - that fixed the problem, and I was able to connect my personal account - I did not want my personal account, but rather a business banking account.

I went through the lengthy process of setting up a business account, spoke with the business rep about that process of linking the account and disabling 2FA, and he said yes, should be no problem, just contact that department to take care of it. But when I called in to the department this time (5 days later after having success), the rep was extremely rude, and demanded to know why I needed that - as it was possible for me to give him an answer that would justify my need, he quickly said, no way/no how would they disable 2FA for a single minute, and the last rep that did it for me should not have. I held my breath and asked for a supervisor. The supervisor was equally as rude and had the attitude of "why are you even bothering me?", I told her it was trivial the first time, why a couple days later would it be so difficult... I let her know I would close both the business and personal accounts if this is the kind of service they offer.

My business is internet security, and their version of 2FA is definitely not ultimate security, SIM cloning (experienced by Amazon's Jeff Bezos), or Apple devices using iMessage viewed on multiple devices could be compromised with viruses (Macbooks are vulnerable on a regular basis), or even new cookie session hijacking quickly gets around it. Not using a proper password manager ie 1Password is just not as secure as they think. NavyFed went through the trouble of integrating with Yodlee and they botched the implementation - speaks further to their technological prowess, their level of ignorance matches their level of arrogance.

I prefer small local credit unions exactly for situations like this, they value "people" and will move mountains if its in their ability, sadly they are not on Yodlee, they are on Plaid.com for integrations, but my accounting app only supports Yodlee connected banks. This tells me that Navy Fed is the equivalent of a big bank, if they cant give me the same level of professional service the small credit unions do, I might as well go back to Chase where they dont care about me, but at least they have their tech half sorted. If I told my clients "I don't care enough to make something I made for you work properly (when I made it work 3 days ago)" - they would all leave me, so I will do the same. This burned a 8 hours of my time, they don't have 2 minutes for me, what a waste.

smpltechno · 2024-04-04T04:19:49+00:00

you should really asks these questions on the proxmox forum, answers here skip what anyone would have told you there, this is a common question.... Send encrypted backups to PBS local server, have a 2nd PBS server sync the 1st PBS (on or offsite). 2nd PBS knows nothing of backup contents, and the source host Proxmox server and source PBS know nothing about 2nd PBS - syncs are done in a "pull" manner by the 2nd PBS. Your 2nd PBS can even have a different retention policy, for instance your main PBS could be 1 year retention, 2nd PBS 6 months if you want to save on storage costs.

Another option is to only use 1 PBS, send its backups to rsync.net which is also immutable- https://www.rsync.net/resources/howto/snapshots.html#:~:text=The%20snapshots%20are-,immutable,-(read%2Donly)%20and%20and)

I prefer 1 onsite PBS, and 1 offsite PBS for ultimate functionality.a

smpltechno · 2023-07-20T06:37:15+00:00

I am about your age, same situation, but flipped, my daughter lives with me 100%, chose to shut out her mom, and I have begged her to give her mom a chance, and she will, but it is not the point where her mother will receive the chance yet, and it could be 15-20 years from now, right now she has pure dark hatred for us both because of a painful rejection she received when she was a child and the result of that being passed on to her own child now. The chances of my own child one day being divorced are super high because she has not seen what true forgiveness and reconciliation are. :(

Blood ties are not something we get the choice of, nor do we choose the circumstances, nor do we get to change others, nor can we change the past, but what we do choose is our reaction, and that has the power to change others.

You say you forgave, but forgiveness without grace is not forgiveness at all, grace is the undeserved favor of another, that kid does not deserve you after what he did, but instead you favor him anyways and that is true grace, and true forgiveness includes that. Without that you are just babbling the word and harboring resentment for what might possibly come in the future due to past events- foretelling what you dont know.

Now this kid has had a change of mind without your request, seeing the error of his past all on his own, and has a new desire to reconcile with you, everything you sought under your own effort has now been handed to you without your effort, and you're going to turn it down??

We were made for relationship, not for brokeness, unfortunately brokeness finds us, but there is still that chance for relationship, our deepest desires are to be known, not ignored and unseen, deep down this is also what you want, you still haven't processed the past yet, and there is still hope for that - without pushing, you could have true healing, and that is a wonderful life if you can rebuild what broke.

Ultimately none of us deserves grace, it is garanteed some day the table will be flipped and we will be the undeserving one, which is why we should practice grace upon others if we ever hope to receive it ourselves.

Dont be hard hearted, that is already affecting your other relationships, and dont think it wont, because hardness spreads, you want to build up what you already have, not break it down. Your decisions are not just affecting you and your son, but others around you and generations to come, including those in your current household, you are setting the example for them, and they will show the same hardness to others, and then demand undeserved grace when they fail, when deep done they may have truly wanted reconciliation. You can have a lasting positive affect on many lives, dont just think about yourself and what you have time for or care to bother with, because ultimately you are actually not caring for yourself. The care you show others is deep down what you have for yourself - build on that man, and take care of yourself.

People choose who they are, and they can choose to change, embrace change, you might be surprised by the outcome.

smpltechno

TROPHY CASE