tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922503085503427986.post3220416460410143857..comments2024-03-28T08:13:43.922-07:00Comments on Desert Home: Battery Charging - Part 6davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11608589214882334649noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922503085503427986.post-30733710093049370152013-02-21T18:55:44.890-07:002013-02-21T18:55:44.890-07:00I got the boards done at batchpcb.com. They'r...I got the boards done at batchpcb.com. They're pretty reasonable (subjectively) for small orders, like one or two. I could have done it cheaper, but I didn't want to learn all about pcbs in order to get my feet wet. <br /><br />I love the idea of lights that sense when you're coming and turn on. Especially when they dim automatically as it gets darker so you don't go blind at night.<br /><br />I've been looking at my fridge for three years now. My objective is to sample the temperature (of course) and also track the compressor. I want to actually turn the compressor off during peak usage times when my electricity costs go way up, then kick it back on when the cost goes back to normal. You'll see that project on this site in a month or so because I finally figured out how to do most of it. The cool part is that an XBee can do the sensing and even control a relay to shut things down without a processor in the box. This could get to be fun.<br /><br />By the way, I had problems with stuff freezing up and it wasn't a misadjustment. Seems the darn air flow was bad and the bottom got super cold and the top just normal. I had to fix a fan switch to fix it. This most likely isn't your problem, but keep it in mind.davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11608589214882334649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922503085503427986.post-34627375911900657772013-02-21T18:09:12.620-07:002013-02-21T18:09:12.620-07:00That is so cool! Back in the day, (80's) it c...That is so cool! Back in the day, (80's) it cost around $2000 for small boards like this. It was as cheap to do 1 as it was to do 20 because of set up charges. That was fine for my job, but far too expensive for my hobby. <br /><br />I take it you found somewhere reasonable to get boards done? I agree with you, doing this by hand is hard, especially with older eyes. I would love to get some PCBs for some of my ideas if it is affordable!<br /><br />I finally got my first XBee doings something useful. I have a ribbon of LEDs on tape attached to the bottom of my stairway banister. A Teensy controls the light level via PWM. Included are a motion detector and photo cell with an Xbee for communications.<br /><br />On the other end I have a Linux box and a Raspberry pi with XBees and code written in Perl. The Linux box is mostly for debugging my code. <br /><br />The lights are commanded to turn on or off based on time of day or because of motion detected.<br /><br />My next project, is a refrigerator temperature sensor. Every once in a while, someone bumps one of the controls and my vegetables freeze. Anyway, that is the excuse I am using to monitor it. I am still trying to decide the best way for notification in the event things are getting too cold, but it will most likely involve an XBee.<br /><br />Chrisbadhairdayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09741910097113504530noreply@blogger.com