7 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Drive to the Doc and buy a pillow.

  • 07:00 Up Sipp’n on coffee and talking with the wife.
  • 08:00 Walk down the street and back
  • 09:00 Extend the range of the A/D converter on the NodeMCU in the garage.
  • 10:00 Off to the liquor store and the doctors office for a pillow.
  • 11:00 Home
  • 12:00 Nap
  • 14:00 Blogging.
  • 15:00 Reading about the interaction with BLM and a politician at their home.
  • 17:00 Dinner
  • 18:00 Reading more about BLM visiting homes late at night.

Narrative: Out for a drive today.


NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC

NodeMCU Status: I added a voltage divider so that I could measure up to 48V and not reach the 3.3V maximum on the A/D converter pins. Today I added an 8.2K resistor 82K+8K+10K/10K to make the voltage divider a tenth of the input. The ratio ended being 1/10th or 1/20th (100K+) of the input voltage . To protect the A/D converter I used coils and a capacitor to absorb the 3uS transients when the house gets struck by lightning. (Like every year…)


DC Power generating and Inverter

Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Articles about our current racial climate

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off. Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided

March to officer, Sgt. Alan Van’t Land’s home.

I watched a 40 minute video of the march, as long as they kept moving it would have been ok. What was not ok was when they blocked the street and cars couldn’t get through which raised tempers. To make things even happier there were armed protesters walking the street with them so they could prevent police/home owner’s interaction. Given how often these protests have gotten out of hand AND the many examples of impunity given to these demonstrations, I was very uneasy just watching the video. One last tidbit that was threatening was the protestors confronting the drivers trying to get through to their homes. No mask, yelling profanity at the driver within a foot of his face and the disunity of some of the members banging their hands on the hood of the car in anger. (Exposing risks that things are getting out of hand.) Protesters occupy CSPD officer’s neighborhood on anniversary of De’Von Bailey shooting KRDO Television, an ABC affiliate KTLO/KTLP, Telemundo

March to Police Chief Carmen Best’s home

Roughly 200 individuals, some carrying Black Lives Matter signs, descended Saturday evening on Best’s home in Snohomish County, north of Seattle — and they weren’t just demanding Best resign or anything anodyne.

And no, that’s not just a conservative engaging in hyperbole, trying to cast aspersions on peaceful protesters. Peaceful protesters don’t, for instance, yell profanity at Best’s neighbors. Nor do they write down the license plate numbers of vehicles in the neighborhood. Or take pictures of the homes. Or ask kids in the neighborhood what school they go to. “All we were doing was walking and they met us with guns; I don’t know who the aggressor is at that point, but I don’t think it’s us,” protester Nicole Gitaka told KING “Our main objective, the only thing we’re going to do, was march down to Chief Best’s house, make some noise, ask some questions, and go, that’s what was going to happen.” protester Nicole Gitaka said. Seattle Police Chief Begs City Council To ‘Stand Up for What Is Right’ After BLM Storms Her Neighborhood WJ


Feelings: 50% of today’s youth under the age of 30 is Black, we are in for a major change with all these voters in bed with Black Lives Matter Global Network.

Tomorrow: Saturday.

Retirement: 1st SS check in five days!

Project Engineering: Need to test mom’s golf cart solar charger.

Purchases: Garage door handles and Micro SD cards for my phone which should be delivered today.

Repairs: None.

Religion: We were called to look in our dark corners and bring them into the light on Sunday.

Family News: Mom’s in a rehab center, hopefully she’ll get home soon.

Arts: No movies yet.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Throat: I have had a heavy thick flem for a couple years, I don’t cough per-se but I forcibly exhale to clear my throat pretty often. (Like in the movie Destination Wedding.) It has been green on occasion, but not normally. I have not figured out whether it is from my nasal cavity (Eyes) or my esophagus.
  • Eyes: At the end of the day my eyes are so dry that it is difficult to sleep. The mucus that runs down my sinus makes the back of my throat sticky. The stickiness then prevents me from breathing OUT my nose. My eyes are so uncomfortable by the end of the day I cannot keep them open.
  • Feet: Within the last several week the soles of my feet feel spongy, it’s the weirdest feeling like I am walking on a sponge with the loss of sensitivity of the skin that’s in contact with the floor.
  • Prostate: I am getting warning signs that my prostate is in difficulty. The PSA levels were above normal on my checkup last month. (Previous year was normal.) Over the last three years I have had intermittent difficulty urinating which has been tied to increased blood pressure making the episodes temporary. Over time I realized that romantic encounters with the wife significantly reduce these urinating difficulties. Last week there was a very slight pressure between my buttocks that felt like I was carrying a sponge underneath my tailbone. Today I’ve had an uncomfortable pressure like I have to defecate, but there’s nothing when I try. There is a very minor pain like I’ve fallen on my buttocks right at my tailbone. (Which I’ve done several times.)

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Taxes: I need to look into increasing my payments to State of Georgia.

Pi News: I’ve been working with “Home Assistant” software, the Pi’s themselves are in good shape.

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries: No injuries.

Accomplishments: None.

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

6 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep working on the house and monitoring the Air Conditioner.

  • 07:00 Up having a cup of coffee and chatt’n with the wife.
  • 08:00 making plans
  • 09:00 shopping for 36V dummy loads.
  • 10:00 putting wires on a IR Illuminator to replace the one I burnt up.
  • 11:00 looking for thermostat cable that Jim gave us 10 years ago.
  • 12:00 Nap
  • 14:00 Build A/D cables for garage NodeMCU
  • 17:00 Din Din
  • 18:00 A/D converter is on the two 24V power supplies that run the bench Inverter.
  • 19:00 Changed it to a power supply that I can adjust the voltage.

Narrative: Feeling a little better about our country surviving BLM. We are finding it difficult talking to our friends of color without offending them.


NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC

NodeMCU Status: I added a voltage divider so that I could measure up to 48V and not reach the 3.3V maximum on the A/D converter pins. The ratio ended being 0.05204 per Volt which would be 2.914V with an input of 56 Volts.

(100K+82K+10K/10K)

DC Power generating and Inverter

Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Articles about our current racial climate

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off. Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided

March to officer, Sgt. Alan Van’t Land’s home.

I watched a 40 minute video of the march, as long as they kept moving it would have been ok. What was not ok was when they blocked the street and cars couldn’t get through which raised tempers. To make things even happier there were armed protesters walking the street with them so they could prevent police/home owner’s interaction. Given how often these protests have gotten out of hand AND the many examples of impunity given to these demonstrations I was very uneasy just watching the video. One last tidbit that was threatening was the protestors confronting the drivers trying to get through to their homes. No mask, yelling profanity at the driver within a foot of his face and the disunity of some of the members banging their hands on the hood of the car. (Exposing risks that things are getting out of hand.) Protesters occupy CSPD officer’s neighborhood on anniversary of De’Von Bailey shooting


Feelings: 50% of today’s youth under the age of 30 is Black, we are in for a major change with all these voters in bed with Black Lives Matter Global Network.

Tomorrow: Wednesday, mow the back yard and church service.

Retirement: 1st SS check in seven days!

Project Engineering: Need to test mom’s golf cart solar charger.

Purchases: Garage door handles.

Repairs: Replaced the headlamps on the Blue Ford Focus this morning. (Looks remarkably better.)

Religion: We were called to look in our dark corners and bring them into the light on Sunday.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Arts: No movies yet.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Slept pretty good last night until I forgot to turn on my CPAP.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government: (Social Security)

Pi News:

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries: No injuries.

Pi News: Upgraded the Home Assistant software.

Accomplishments:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

5 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the hurricane headed to Florida.

  • 07:00 Up drinking coffee and making plans.
  • 07:30 Time to walk around the block.
  • 09:00 Blogging, checking the AC unit and reading the news.
  • 10:00 The handle for the garage arrived, 30 minutes and it’s all fixed.
  • 11:00 Located a relay module and troubleshooting why it doesn’t work NodeMCU.
  • 12:00 Nap
  • 13:00 Lunch
  • 14:00 Started car #2 but forgot and left it running a couple hours, LOL.
  • 15:00 Soldering a wire onto four NodeMCU boards so I can use them with relays.
  • 16:00 Dinner
  • 17:00 Tested relay modules and they work (Finally!)
  • 18:00 Getting ready for church
  • 20:00 cleaning up and getting ready for bed.

Narrative: Feeling a little better about our country surviving BLM. It’s a difficult time because we are finding it difficult talking to our friends of color without offending them.


NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC

As you can see from the above picture the NodeMCU V2 fits pretty nicely on a common breadboard leaving one row of pins on each side to attach wires to.

The V3 takes up the entire width of the breadboard making it necessary to connect to the pins directly. Also, it turns out, that the V3 inserted two diodes between the USB 5V and the VIN pin to it’s internal 3V regulator. Those diodes prevent me from using the VIN pin as a 5V power out pin. (Which I had done on the V2)

The jumper wire I added still leaves the reverse voltage protection of the two diodes to the internal power supply. It adds the ability to use the VIN pin as a 5V power OUT pin like the V2 does.

Now that I have 5V available from the VIN pin I can drive 125VAC @ 15A relay modules directly from the NodeMCU and control them from the Home Assistant software.


DC Power generating and Inverter

Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Articles about our current racial climate

The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off. Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Wednesday, mow the back yard and church service.

Retirement: 1st SS check in seven days!

Project Engineering: Need to test mom’s golf cart solar charger.

Purchases: Garage door handles.

Repairs: Replaced the headlamps on the Blue Ford Focus this morning. (Looks remarkably better.)

Religion: We were called to look in our dark corners and bring them into the light on Sunday.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Pi News:

Arts: No movies yet.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Slept pretty good last night until I forgot to turn on my CPAP.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government: (Social Security)

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries: No injuries.

Pi News: Upgraded the Home Assistant software.

Accomplishments:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

4 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the hurricane headed to Florida.

  • 07:00 Up drinking coffee and making plans.
  • 08:00 Three hard boiled eggs for breakfast.
  • 09:00 Replaced car headlamps while it was still cool outside.
  • 11:00 Cleaned up boxes from headlamps.
  • 12:00 Nap
  • 13:00 Research and filling out my ballet.
  • 14:00 Making plans.
  • 16:00 Mow back yard
  • 17:00 Shower and blogging.

Narrative: Feeling a little better about our country surviving BLM. It’s a difficult time because we are finding it difficult talking to our friends of color without offending them.


Replaced weathered car headlamps

It went really well, I only needed a screwdriver and a 10MM socket. The left lamp housing was broken so I bought two new ones a LONG time ago.


NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC

NodeMCU Status: They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to TWO. I have had to change the sensors, I had a couple that the readings were not even close… I am glad they are stable now, it was very aggravating when they went offline! I want to up them to three, I know I cannot do four. *Raspberry Pi’s are rather cheap.

Garage NodeMCU
Closeup of NodeMCU ESP8266

Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer

Pi News: I have three Raspi’s that are “PiHoles to protect DNS calls from our network. I have four Raspi’s that run the Home Automation. I have two Raspi’s that receive the ADSB transmissions from the airplanes near the homestead. One Raspi is being used to browse the web when I am digging for something using search engines, it protects the PC from “Drive By” malware infections.

The 3B draws considerably less power than the 4B which almost has to have some form of additional cooling or it will throttle the CPU.


DC Power generating and Inverter

Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Articles about our current racial climate

The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off. Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Wednesday, mow the back yard and church service.

Retirement: 1st SS check in seven days!

Project Engineering: Need to test mom’s golf cart solar charger.

Purchases: Garage door handles.

Repairs: Replaced the headlamps on the Blue Ford Focus this morning. (Looks remarkably better.)

Religion: We were called to look in our dark corners and bring them into the light on Sunday.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Arts: No movies yet.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Slept pretty good last night until I forgot to turn on my CPAP.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government: (Social Security)

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries: No injuries.

Pi News: Upgraded the Home Assistant software.

Accomplishments:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

3 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the hurricane headed to Florida.

  • 05:00 Up checking the Tropical Storm headed toward mom.
  • 06:00 Coffee and morning meeting.
  • 07:00 Fixing Tricare login
  • 08:00 Generator run
  • 11:00 Generator wrap-up, two are cool and working on the third.
  • 12:00 Generator run complete, getting organized.
  • 13:00 Nap
  • 15:00 Storm passing over us, checking thermometer placed on Bench Diodes
  • 16:00 Troubleshot and fixed bench diode thermometer
  • 17:00 Dinner
  • 18:00 Ordering a part for our screen door and Skimming movies
  • 19:00 Remove old DC light fixtures on porch.
  • 20:00 Order garage door parts with Instant Pot parts.

Narrative: Feeling a little better about our country surviving BLM. It’s a difficult time because we are finding it difficult talking to our friends of color without offending them.


Ran three of my five generators today. I warmed them for a minute or two then ran them at 1/2 power (250W) for about two hours. I then pushed them to 100% power for several minutes. Cool off is run them with the cover off and a fan blowing air into the cowling. *The alternator on the end and muffler seem to be the hottest parts of the engine. By far though, the alternator takes the longest to cool down.


NodeMCU

NodeMCU Status: They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to TWO. I have had to change the sensors, I had a couple that the readings were not even close… I am glad they are stable now, it was very aggravating when they went offline! I want to up them to three, I know I cannot do four. *Raspberry Pi’s are rather cheap.

Garage NodeMCU

Pi News: I have three Raspi’s that are “PiHoles to protect DNS calls from our network. I have four Raspi’s that run the Home Automation. I have two Raspi’s that receive the ADSB transmissions from the airplanes near the homestead. One Raspi is being used to browse the web when I am digging for something using search engines, it protects the PC from “Drive By” malware infections.

The 3B draws considerably less power than the 4B which almost has to have some form of additional cooling or it will throttle the CPU.


Homestead Solar Assist

Solar Assist Status: I am back to one solar charge controller with the three banks of two panels tied in parallel. I am surprised how much intermittent clouds affect the power supplied by my panels.


Homestead Battery Banks

Battery Bank Status: The two 35AH batteries on the primary UPS are getting too warm in the garage, I need to move them. The garage gets over 90 degrees and that’s too warm for active SLA batteries.


Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Home Air Conditioner

Homestead Air Conditioner: The air conditioner evaporator tubing is oil logged and preventing the four sections from cooling evenly. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability to cool our home in the middle of the summer months. The fix is to replace the coils at a cost of $1500 or the entire system for $8000. The current thought is to replace the entire system in September. I’ve adjusted the fan to run slightly faster to try and keep the ice off of the evaporator.

I put an Internet controllable outlet on the air handler, I can monitor how long it runs and cut it off/on remotely.


Homestead Refrigerator: The condenser fan squealed a month or so ago so I ordered a new motor which arrived about a week ago. I currently have a small fan pushing air onto the condenser coils of the fridge fan locks up.


The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off. Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Saturday, mow the back yard.

Retirement: 1st SS check in two weeks!

Project Engineering: Need a PWM for 48V solar panels.

Purchases: I thought I needed lawnmower blades sharpened, turns out I had a new one in the garage. Worked like a champ!

Repairs: Check for leaks in the air conditioning ducts.

Religion: We were called to look in our dark corners and bring them into the light today.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Arts: Watched Rear Window with the wife.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Slept pretty good last night until I laid on my back, woke up startled.
  • I am a bit sleepy this morning.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government: (Social Security)

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries:

Pi News:

Accomplishments:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

2 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the hurricane headed to Florida.

  • 05:00 Up checking the Tropical Storm headed toward mom.
  • 06:00 Nap
  • 07:00 Breakfast with Coffee
  • 08:00 Chatt’n with the wife
  • 09:00 Called mom, hurricane is still to the south.
  • 10:00 Good church service today.
  • 11:00 Checking my solar controllers and inverters.
  • 12:00 Blogging, then a nap.
  • 13:00 Blogging
  • 14:00 Helped make dinner
  • 18:00 Thawing air conditioner and moving thermostat off the wall.
  • 21:00 Bed Time

Narrative: Feeling a little better about our country surviving BLM. It’s a difficult time because we are finding it difficult talking to our friends of color without offending them.


NodeMCU

NodeMCU Status: They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to TWO. I have had to change the sensors, I had a couple that the readings were not even close… I am glad they are stable now, it was very aggravating when they went offline! I want to up them to three, I know I cannot do four. *Raspberry Pi’s are rather cheap.


Homestead Solar Assist

Solar Assist Status: I am back to one solar charge controller with the three banks of two panels tied in parallel. I am surprised how much intermittent clouds affect the power supplied by my panels.


Homestead Battery Banks

Battery Bank Status: The two 35AH batteries on the primary UPS are getting too warm in the garage, I need to move them. The garage gets over 90 degrees and that’s too warm for active SLA batteries.


Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Home Air Conditioner

Homestead Air Conditioner: The air conditioner evaporator tubing is oil logged and preventing the four sections from cooling evenly. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability to cool our home in the middle of the summer months. The fix is to replace the coils at a cost of $1500 or the entire system for $8000. The current thought is to replace the entire system in September. I’ve adjusted the fan to run slightly faster to try and keep the ice off of the evaporator.

I put an Internet controllable outlet on the air handler, I can monitor how long it runs and cut it off/on remotely.


Homestead Refrigerator: The condenser fan squealed a month or so ago so I ordered a new motor which arrived about a week ago. I currently have a small fan pushing air onto the condenser coils of the fridge fan locks up.


The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off. Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Saturday, mow the back yard.

Retirement: 1st SS check in two weeks!

Project Engineering: Need a PWM for 48V solar panels.

Purchases: I thought I needed lawnmower blades sharpened, turns out I had a new one in the garage. Worked like a champ!

Repairs: Check for leaks in the air conditioning ducts.

Religion: We were called to look in our dark corners and bring them into the light today.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Arts: Watched Rear Window with the wife.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Slept pretty good last night until I laid on my back, woke up startled.
  • I am a bit sleepy this morning.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government: (Social Security)

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries:

Pi News:

Accomplishments:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

1 August 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the hurricane headed to Florida.

  • 08:00 up drinking coffee, cereal for breakfast today.
  • 09:00 Charging 48V battery banks and researching using 36V to charge 48V.
  • 10:00 Still charging and researching.
  • 11:00 Nap
  • 13:00 Upgrading my Home Assistant software on my Raspi’s
  • 16:00 Still working on Home Assistant software, I have four instances running.
  • 17:00 Helped get dinner ready.

Narrative: I’ve added sections that a significant amount of resources are invested in almost every day.


NodeMCU

NodeMCU Status: Temperature sensors are dropping out and I don’t know why. They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to three. I have had to change the sensors, I had a couple that the readings were not even close. I spent a great deal of time today upgrading the Home Assistant software that these NodeMCU’s report to.


Homestead Solar Assist

Solar Assist Status: Two solar charge controllers are paralleled into the 300W inverter that runs the computers in my cave. (200W) One controller is a MPPT controller and the other is much smaller but doesn’t drop off completely when a cloud interrupts the sun.


Homestead Battery Banks

Battery Bank Status: The two 35AH batteries on the primary UPS are getting too warm in the garage, I need to move them. The garage gets over 90 degrees and that’s too warm for active SLA batteries.


Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. The system doesn’t make as much power on a partly cloudy day, much less in fact. Today I made 300WH more power than I consumed. (like 4 cents)


Home Air Conditioner

Homestead Air Conditioner: The air conditioner evaporator tubing is oil logged and preventing the four sections from cooling evenly. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability to cool our home in the middle of the summer months. The fix is to replace the coils at a cost of $1500 or the entire system for $8000. The current thought is to replace the entire system in September. I’ve adjusted the fan to run slightly faster to try and keep the ice off of the evaporator.

I put an Internet controllable outlet on the air handler, I can monitor how long it runs and cut it off/on remotely.


Homestead Refrigerator: The condenser fan squealed a month or so ago so I ordered a new motor which arrived about a week ago. I currently have a small fan pushing air onto the condenser coils of the fridge fan locks up.


The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off.

Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Sunday services.

Retirement: 1st SS check in two weeks!

Project Engineering: Need a PWM for 48V solar panels.

Purchases: I thought I needed lawnmower blades sharpened, turns out I had a new one in the garage. Worked like a champ!

Repairs: Check for leaks in the air conditioning ducts.

Religion:

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Arts: Watched the Andromeda Strain with the wife.

  • Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
  • Did not sleep well last night, woke startled.
  • Need dental cleaning, gums occasionally bleed a little.
  • O2 level dropped below 85 last night for about 10 seconds.
  • Feet puffy underneath, I can feel it when walking on hard surface
  • Thick mucus cough occasionally during the day, esp. when exercise.
  • Sleepiness today, took short naps, but need a good night’s sleep.
  • BP really good today HR is normal.
  • Still have trouble with minor yeast infection even when wearing shorts.
  • Eyes can get very dry in the evenings and blurred vision.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government:SS Check arrives in 10 days.

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries: Nope, didn’t get hurt today.

Pi News: I have three Raspi’s that are “PiHoles to protect DNS calls from our network. I have four Raspi’s that run the Home Assistant software. I have two Raspi’s that receive the ADSB transmissions from the airplanes near the homestead. One Raspi is being used to browse the web when I am digging for something using search engines, it protects the PC from “Drive By” malware infections.

Accomplishments: Nope, didn’t do much of that either.

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

31 July 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the air conditioner and the NodeMCU’s

  • 07:00 up drinking coffee.
    • Checked and refreshed mom’s bank account.
  • 08:00 eggs for breakfast
  • 09:00 Made cable for relays on Garage NodeMCU
  • 10:00 Corrected wiring on relays garage NodeMCU.
  • 11:00 changed 2nd solar charge controller to PWM
  • 12:00 Nap
  • 15:00 reading the news
  • 16:00 Mow the front and side lawns.
  • 17:00 Dinner
  • 18:00 News TV
  • 19:00 Watched a movie with the wife.

Narrative: I’ve added sections that a significant amount of resources are invested in almost every day.


NodeMCU

NodeMCU Status: Temperature sensors are dropping out and I don’t know why. They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to three.


Homestead Solar Assist

Solar Assist Status: Two solar charge controllers are paralleled into the 300W inverter that runs the computers in my cave. (200W) One controller is a MPPT controller and the other is much smaller but doesn’t drop off completely when a cloud interrupts the sun.


Homestead Battery Banks

Battery Bank Status: The two 35AH batteries on the primary UPS are getting too warm in the garage, I need to move them. The garage gets over 90 degrees and that’s too warm for active SLA batteries.


Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. I am having trouble with the solar charge controllers dropping the load completely when a cloud blocks the sun.


Home Air Conditioner

Homestead Air Conditioner: The air conditioner evaporator tubing is oil logged and preventing the four sections from cooling evenly. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability to cool our home in the middle of the summer months. The fix is to replace the coils at a cost of $1500 or the entire system for $8000. The current thought is to replace the entire system in September.

I put an Internet controllable outlet on the air handler, I can monitor how long it runs and cut it off/on remotely.


Protests of Racial Inequality: Portland protests are described differently by all parties. The Video’s tell a story that’s not in the newspapers. The Portland police needs to engage the agitators and damage caused after 11PM or the protestors will win the contest.

The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off.

Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Saturday, mow the back yard.

Retirement: 1st SS check in two weeks!

Project Engineering: Need a PWM for 48V solar panels.

Purchases: I thought I needed lawnmower blades sharpened, turns out I had a new one in the garage. Worked like a champ!

Repairs: Check for leaks in the air conditioning ducts.

Religion: Went over the “Discipleship” study to help with the Christian way to deal with the anger and frustration in the news.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she got home yesterday.

Arts: Watched Rear Window with the wife.

Health: Need dental cleaning.

Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.

Government: (Social Security)

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

Injuries:

Pi News:

Accomplishments:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

30 July 2020, a day in progress

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the air conditioner and the NodeMCU’s

  • 08:00 up eating breakfast, waiting on the coffee just a little.
  • 09:00 Not feeling very good, putting away groceries from Instacart
  • 10:00 Cleaning the dining room floor.
  • 11:00 Nap time
  • 12:00 Watched news for a little bit.
  • 13:00 NAP
  • 14:00 Drive to Doc
  • 16:00 Mow da lawn
  • 17:00 It’s raining… Boo.
  • 18:00 Watching the Facebook story.
  • 21:00 Blogging.

Narrative: I’ve added sections that a significant amount of resources are invested in almost every day.


NodeMCU

NodeMCU Status: Temperature sensors are dropping out and I don’t know why. They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to three.


Homestead Solar Assist

Solar Assist Status: Two solar charge controllers are paralleled into the 300W inverter that runs the computers in my cave. (200W) One controller is a MPPT controller and the other is much smaller but doesn’t drop off completely when a cloud interrupts the sun.


Homestead Battery Banks

Battery Bank Status: The two 35AH batteries on the primary UPS are getting too warm in the garage, I need to move them. The garage gets over 90 degrees and that’s too warm for active SLA batteries.


Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter and run them on the solar power. I am having trouble with the solar charge controllers dropping the load completely when a cloud blocks the sun.


Home Air Conditioner

Homestead Air Conditioner: The air conditioner evaporator tubing is oil logged and preventing the four sections from cooling evenly. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability to cool our home in the middle of the summer months. The fix is to replace the coils at a cost of $1500 or the entire system for $8000. The current thought is to replace the entire system in September.


Protests of Racial Inequality: Portland protests are described differently by all parties. The Video’s tell a story that’s not in the newspapers. The Portland police needs to engage the agitators and damage caused after 11PM or the protestors will win the contest.

The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]

Historians such as Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee cited social cannibalism to explain why once-successful states, institutions and cultures simply died off.

Their common explanation was that the arrogance of success ensures lethal consequences. Once elites became pampered and arrogant, they feel exempt from their ancestors’ respect for moral and spiritual laws like thrift, moderation and transcendence. Victor Davis Hanson: America Has Chance To Save Itself Thanks to 3 Woke Industries (NBA, MLB, NFL) That Just Suicided


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Thursday and Instacart!

Retirement: 1st SS check in three weeks!

Project Engineering: Need shunt regulatore for solar panels.

Purchases: Need to buy some 32GB micro memory cards.

Repairs: Check for leaks in the air conditioning ducts.

Religion: Went over the “Discipleship” study to help with the Christian way to deal with the anger and frustration in the news.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she’ll be home today.

Arts: Watched the Facebook story with the wife.

Health: Need dental cleaning.

Travel: Florida looks within reach.

Pi News:

Accomplishments:

Government: (Social Security)

Injuries:

Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

29 July 2020, a day in progress.

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Keep an eye on the air conditioner and the NodeMCU’s

  • 07:00 up eating eggs and sipp’n coffee while getting a plan together with the wife.
  • 08:00 Checking air conditioner that froze up last night.
  • 09:00 Sent some battery data to our son in Florida.
  • 10:00 reading the news about the protests in Oregon.
  • 11:00 Nap
  • 13:00 Lunch and reading scripture about our role with BLM.
  • 16:00 Dinner
  • 17:00 Blogging and listening to a church class.
  • 17:30 Turned off compressor to check evaporator if frozen.
  • 18:00 Writing prayers and listening to a class.
  • 19:00 Getting ready for church.

Narrative: I’ve added sections that a significant amount of resources are invested in almost every day.


NodeMCU

NodeMCU Status: Temperature sensors are dropping out and I don’t know why. They’ve been working perfectly since I dropped the number of NodeMCU’s on Home Assistant to three.


Homestead Solar Assist

Solar Assist Status: Two solar charge controllers are paralleled into the 300W inverter that runs the computers in my cave. (200W) One controller is a MPPT controller and the other is much smaller but doesn’t drop off completely when a cloud interrupts the sun. Today was a cloudy day, so they were not enabled and no data was collected.


Homestead Battery Banks

Battery Bank Status: The two 35AH batteries on the primary UPS are getting too warm in the garage, I need to move them. The garage gets over 90 degrees and that’s too warm for active SLA batteries.


Homestead DC Power

Homestead DC Power: The bottom section of the above picture is two 15A 24V power supplies that work alongside the solar panels and provide power for the 300W inverters on the right side. The idea is that during the day a relay connects my computers to the 300W inverter. I am having trouble with the solar charge controllers dropping the load completely when a cloud blocks the sun.


Home Air Conditioner

Homestead Air Conditioner: The air conditioner evaporator tubing is oil logged and preventing the four sections from cooling evenly. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability to cool our home in the middle of the summer months. The fix is to replace the coils at a cost of $1500 or the entire system for $8000. The current thought is to replace the entire system in September.

Last night: The evaporator froze up and had to be thawed by running the blower for about an hour. The air was cold enough to keep the house cool while the ice melted. The temperature rose pretty quickly once the ice had melted.

As you can see the NodeMCU’s are recording the temperature and the home assistant software is charting it for me. The thermostat may be sensitive to moisture since it over cooled the house this morning at 04:00. I raised the temperature one degree just before 05:00 because it was too cold, then I went back to bed. I had to change it back at 11:00 AM since it was getting a little warm in here. I left the fan on “Circulate” to help keep the evaporator from freezing. I checked the evaporator at 17:30 and it was not iced up, it quickly rose in temperature without the compressor running.


Protests of Racial Inequality: Portland protests are described differently by all parties. The Video’s tell a story that’s not in the newspapers. The Portland police needs to engage the agitators and damage caused after 11PM or the protestors will win the contest.

The current riots across the country are American terrorism — violence for strictly political ends, aimed at frightening a nation into obedience.” Seattle Radio Host Gives Narrative-Busting Account of What’s Happening in City: ‘Evil People’

“Federal officers protecting federal property are now the targets of demonstrators, not the instigators of violence. The real blame lies with progressive city leaders, who have all but promised violent protesters that they can act with impunity.” [WSJ]


Feelings:

Tomorrow: Thursday and Instacart!

Retirement: 1st SS check in three weeks!

Project Engineering: Need shunt for solar panels.

Purchases: Buy some 32GB micro memory cards.

Repairs: Check for leaks in the air conditioning ducts.

Religion: Went over the “Discipleship” study to help with the Christian way to deal with the anger and frustration in the news.

Family News: Mom’s in the hospital, hopefully she’ll be home today.

Arts: Watched pandemic.

Health: Need dental cleaning.

Travel: Florida looks within reach.

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To