Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category
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Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
REVIEW: Microwave Leakage/EMF Detector (CEM DT-2G)
The responsible folks over at LESS EMF INC. sent me the new version of the Microwave Leakage/EMF Detector that I blogged about last year. The CEM DT-2G offers a backlit LCD display and an even higher sensitivity meter that…
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
Myro Control Releases 8″ In-Wall Touchpanel and v1.5 of Myro:Home
Myro Control has announced the availability of their 8″ in-wall touchscreen panel and version 1.5 of the Myro:Home interface control software. The in-wall touchscreen panel features a fan-less design that is both energy efficient and elegant looking while the…
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
DIY: Water Flow Meter For Monitoring Water Usage
I’m currently investigating what I need to get Water & Gas (Natural) monitoring added to my home. I already have Power via Energy Inc’s TED 1001 & Myro:Home. However, it would be nice to add Water &…
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Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
OLIMEX PIC-WEB – Compact Webserver For Your Projects
I’ve been testing an Olimex PIC-WEB Ethernet Web PIC Development Board for a bit now and this little board comes in handy for projects that need quick web access. The PIC-WEB offers a very small but powerful…
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Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Challenges Working With Embedded Devices
I’ve been busy working with on the new version of Myro:Home which will run on the 8″ in-wall touchscreen panels. My original plan was to have the same “downloadable” software being able to run on these types…
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Sd-10 by Gilderfluke & Co.
If you have been looking for a small stereo audio playback system for use in home automation or pretty much for anything you should check out the Sd-10 by Gilderfluke & Co. This miniature…
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Samsung Q1b Hacked with SSD and XP Embedded
I had an old Samsung Q1b laying around, I ripped out the 1.8″ Hitachi HD, replaced it with a 1gb SSD by Apacer. Then I created a custom build of XPe which boots up into Myro:Home. Here’s a video of the results.
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Friday, February 22nd, 2008
DIY: Checking You Home Drinking Water Quality
Recently my brother-in-law had a reverse osmosis system installed for their drinking water. The installer left him a water quality meter which is a digital TDS meter that measures the Total Dissolved Solids in the water. What this means is that it measures the total amount of substances in the water other than the pure H2O. He joked that this was the first time ever that he had a gadget that I didn’t… so to keep with my reputation, that night I ordered my very own TDS Meter. Today, the unit arrived and I checked our water quality… it’s 34.0 — which is good! My sisters water through reverse osmosis is 0.06 (really, really, good!) and their normal water was at 60. The ideal drinking water range is 0-50. I do have a simple water filter installed but when testing the water non-filtered I didn’t notice much difference (maybe it’s time to get a new one?). I highly recommend you check your water quality since the EPA Secondary Regulations advise a maximum contamination level (MCL) of 500mg/liter (500 parts per million (ppm)) for TDS… that’s really high if recommended drinking water is 0-50.
“A high level of TDS is an indicator of potential concerns, and warrants further investigation… most often, high levels of TDS are caused by the presence of potassium, chlorides and sodium. These ions have little or no short-term effects, but toxic ions (lead arsenic, cadmium, nitrate and others) may also be dissolved in the water. “
So if there is a problem with your water supply you can get to it before it gets you… the unit I bought is the HM COM-100
($65), but can get a lesser version
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Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
VIDEO REVIEW: Nobu N8 In-wall Touchscreen Computer
Here is the video review of the Nobu N8WTS10 (I know it’s a long name, try memorizing it!). Overall, this is a great product. I know a lot of people have suggested a Tablet PC or a UMPC over the Nobu, however, those units are not design to be used 24/7 and are not rated for in-wall use. The Nobu unit also has Windows XP embedded OS which makes it much more stable. Also, since this unit has all the I/O you’ll need, it can act as your whole house control server, plus user interface controller making it worth the price alone. You will need to bring-your-own-software and the UI should be designed for touchscreen use since it’s a bit hard to use otherwise.
For more information and pricing visit www.nobu-usa.com
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Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
VIDEO REVIEW: Planet Waves Cabling System
If you are a musician you’ve probably heard of D’Addario & Company, Inc. They acquired the Planet Waves line in 1998 and I think it was a smart investment. Planet Waves really revolutionizes the way one terminates audio/video cables… I have a full video review, so check it out! For more information check out Planet Waves website.
About the archives
Welcome to the archives here at MAVROMATIC.
These are a collection of our previous posts. If you'd like to read about the latest and greatest, click here.
Welcome to mavromatic! My goal is to bring to your attention the latest DIY projects, the greatest home automation and home theater products. As well as, the occasional offbeat entry, to spice things up a bit.
