• 5 Posts
  • 202 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 20th, 2023

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  • It’s a novelty vehicle.

    It’s too big for many people. It’s not as functional (in terms of towing and hauling) as a regular pickup. People who buy pickups for business uses are, for the most part, are going to be very nervous about buying an electric vehicle from a relatively new manufacturer.

    Even if you put aside the issues with Elon: The issue with the Cybertruck is that Elon never understood it was a novelty vehicle. The traditional auto manufacturers make these novelty vehicles from time to time, but the difference is that they understand what they’re building and know they’re only going to sell 10,000 or something per year, and probably for a short run.

    Elon’s so far up his own ass that he doesn’t understand why everyone isn’t buying one.




  • I mean, are there any cars available in the US for just $20k? I’m pretty sure a base Mazda 3 was more than that when we bought ours five years ago (before the pandemic, and ours is a higher trim model). I don’t think they’re making the really small cars any more (like the Toyota Yaris).

    Short version, I’m skeptical of this price point for even a small pickup. Great if they can do it.


  • You actually can nearly do that. Facebook inexplicably showed me how a few weeks ago. If a friend reshares something, you’ll see it, but it removes all groups, etc. It was stunning how little content actually comes from friends.

    On the Facebook site (I’m sure it can be done via app, too, but I didn’t look), click on the menu near the top right, then click Feeds (under Social). Then click on Friends on the left.











  • I have two thoughts on the pellet level - both measuring from the top. I have a few OpenGarage devices and a SaltSentry. Both essentially do the same thing, measure the distance between the sensor and the next object it encounters, but they are different methods - the SaltSentry uses a time of flight sensor, and from what I can tell from the pictures, it’s just that small little thing at the point of the device. The OpenGarage uses a larger ultrasonic sensor.

    Look how small and cheap those time of flight sensors are on a small breadboard (I literally just found those). Mount that on the underside of the top of the hopper, run some wires to an esp32 or similar, config it, and boom, I think.

    Our detached garage has a propane furnace (one of those that hangs in the corner of the room). I just recently put a Shelly 1 into the thermostat circuit to control it, then I tried to attach a temperature sensor to it, so it can act as a thermostat…then I found that you need the Shelly Add-on to actually attach a sensor to it… So I got the Shelly Plus Add-On…but that’s for a later generation of Shelly 1 than I currently have…so my next purchase will be a newer generation Shelly 1 to replace the Shelly 1 I already…yeah, this has been a frustrating experience. And I’m not a huge fan of Shelly after they took an order and my money and never delivered the product in 2023. So, if I buy Shelly, it’s only via Amazon now.


  • We should start a “home automation pellet stove” community, now that there are at least two of us.

    Mine has all electronic controls. I use a power monitoring plug to detect if it’s running and turn on a nearby ceiling fan if so. It also counts how long it has been running to let me know when to clean it (~150 hours of run time). I have a Shelly 1 connected to the thermostat wires, and a temperature sensor elsewhere the room tied together in HA to make a thermostat to control the stove. I have a fairly complex script that sets the pellet stove’s temperature based on various factors like time of day, outdoor temperature, etc. If the thermostat doesn’t call for heat for half an hour, the pellet stove automatically shuts down and will restart if heat is called for (this functionality is built into the stove).

    I’d like to monitor the level of pellets, and I’d like to have control of the level - it can run on levels 1-5, controlled by a push button. I normally keep it on 2, but on a really cold morning, jacking it up to 4 or 5 would be helpful - and make it even more critical I monitor the level of pellets.


  • Hmmm that is really odd. Since I addressed the interference issue, the only major issue I’ve had with any Aqara device (including door sensors, temperature sensors, one vibration sensor, one water presence sensor, and a few wall switches) is the vibration sensor, which I damaged the battery cover, so it doesn’t close properly and keep the battery in place correctly. So that one is my fault. I have had a door sensor and water presence sensor drop off the network occasionally, but that’s rare.

    Heck I even have a second network set up in my RV (sensors only) and it seems to be reliable as well. But the metal shell keeps much of the signal contained, I’m sure.

    I wonder if there’s something else in your area that’s interfering with it.