Synology BC500 and TC500 Camera Review

Synology tc-500 CameraI have long used Synology’s Network Attached Storage range of devices for both myself and some customers, not only to safeguard our documents but also as a surveillance device via their Surveillance Station plugin that is shipped with each NAS. Recently, Synology announced two cameras to the market that pair nicely with their Surveillance Station system. Considering that these new cameras don’t need an extra licence when used with a Surveillance Station and provide more functionality over the standard cameras I had used in the past, I thought it was time to get a pair to test out.
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Install and Review of Frigate Beta 0.14

frigate beta home screenThis article follows up on my previous discussion about setting up Frigate. For those unfamiliar, Frigate is an open-source network video recorder featuring advanced AI detection for objects like cars, people, pets, and boxes. What attracted me initially was its local AI processing and seamless integration with Home Assistant. Launched in 2019, Frigate is relatively new but has seen consistent improvements with each version. Today, I’ll be installing and exploring the new features in beta version 0.14, particularly focusing on its all-new user interface. Continue reading “Install and Review of Frigate Beta 0.14”

Wenzhi / Tuya human presence sensor WZ-M100 review

tuya wz-m100-w
Not to be confused with PIR sensors, human presence sensors have been available for quite some time but have generally been priced out of reach of the average home user and have mostly been used is commercial settings. Recently, a flood of mmWave human presence sensors have become available at very reasonable prices, ranging from DIY boards for only a few dollars, up to more plug and play Wi-Fi and Zigbee solutions ranging up to the sub $100 mark. In this post I am going to look at a mid-range Zigbee mmWave sensor from Wenzhi / Tuya that I found on AliExpress known as the WZ-M100-W.
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Install and Review of Frigate Beta 0.12

frigate beta 0.12The post is a follow-up to my previous post about my installation of Frigate. In case you missed it, Frigate is an open source network video recorder that has some smart AI detection of cars, people, pets, boxes etc. All the processing of the AI detection is done locally, this and the fact that this was an open source project that integrates well with Home Assistant is what drew me to install it in the first place. The Frigate project is fairly young, having its first release in 2019. Several versions have been released since that time, with each version improving on the last. In this post, I will install and check out what is coming up in version 0.12.

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Yale Unity Screen Door Lock Review

I recently needed to use up some Bunnings gift cards, so I decided to splurge on a smart lock to help beef up my home security. What I ended up buying was Yale’s Unity screen door lock, this lock is designed to retrofit in place of the standard screen door lock like I have had installed at my house since the 1980s.
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SmartThings Vs Home Assistant Review

smartthings vs home assistantRegular readers of my blog will know that my smart home is powered by Home Assistant, what I have not mentioned before is that I have been a closet user of a SmartThings hub. Below, I will document my experiences of using it with Home Assistant and my thoughts about the SmartThings platform. Continue reading “SmartThings Vs Home Assistant Review”

Install and review of a BL Touch to the Ender 3 V2

bl touch kit

Regular readers of my blog may recall I purchased a Creality Ender 3 v2 printer a while back. When purchasing it, I also decided to purchase a BL touch auto bed levelling probe. This add-on probe helps in getting a perfectly level bed and therefore much more accurate prints. Continue reading “Install and review of a BL Touch to the Ender 3 V2”

Kogan LX10 Robot Vacuum Review

I recently acquired a fairly new Kogan LX10 robot vacuum cleaner. How I came to receive it was via a mate who received it as a Christmas present. After a few uses, he decided it was not for him, and he told me if I didn’t take it away it was going in the bin. I took him up on the offer to see if it was as bad as he thought, and to review it for this blog.
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Build and Review of the Ender 3 v2 3D Printer

ender 3 v2

When you get into a hobby like Home Automation or electronics, you inevitably are drawn into the world of 3d Printers. My first experience with one is my friend’s Creality CR10, which I made good use of and have fixed up along the way. I recently had decided to purchase my own printer and decided on the Creality Ender 3 v2. I decided on this model as it was the new kid on the Creality block that improved on the CR10’s shortcomings a fair bit despite its smaller print bed. Continue reading “Build and Review of the Ender 3 v2 3D Printer”

Arlec PC191HA Smart Energy Meter Socket Review

Arlec PC191HA Smart Plug

Since Home Assistant introduced the energy dashboard, I have been playing about with the odd energy monitoring smart plug that I had in use and decided I needed to try a few more. I previously used TP-link sockets, but since this Alert I decided against using this brand again. When browsing the Bunnings website, I saw that they have a new range of cheap Tuya based Arlec Smart Plugs. Known as the Arlec Grid Connect Smart Plug-in socket with energy meter, this seems to be a smaller, upgraded version of a previous Arlec plug. At only $17.50 the price was too good to resist, so after stopping by a few stores, I eventually found one in stock, and proceeded to purchase it to try it out.

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