Back in 2019 I reviewed the Sonoff POWR2 unit – an upgraded mains controller which, as against typical power controllers which handle 10A MAX (good for lighting, not so good for heating controls such as immersion heaters), handles 15A MAX along with power monitoring (at a push and for non-inductive…
GL iNET MT300N V2 (Mango) Travel Router Revisited
Update July 2022 Well, I never thought I’d be writing more about this router, but in the last couple of years I’ve become a firm fan of OpenWrt because of it’s ability to be administrated from the web interface LUCI or the command line. In particular I’ve been making great…
Banana Pi M5 SBC – Lots of Possibilities?
I rarely write about new SBCs (single board computers) these days, having covered LOTS of them in the past, then having pretty much settled on the Raspberry Pi 4. With the current inflated price and availability issues with the RPi, I’ve been asked to talk about other boards and the…
Momax SmartEye SL1S Internal IP WiFi Camera and more!
This is probably starting to look like camera week already – I just received some Momax products in the mail including a pair of internal WiFi IP cameras – ok, so who are Momax? I must admit I’d not heard of them until I heard from someone I’ve dealt with…
FriendlyElec NanoPi R5S for Geeks
Long-term readers of this blog will know I’ve reviewed MANY FriendlyArm/FriendlyElec boards in the past but things have been quiet for some time now (Covid won’t have helped). Well, it looks like they are back in action – new WiKi site and a new board. I have the boxed version…
Imou Cruiser 4MP Full Colour Night Vision Pan-Tilt Camera
Regular readers will know that I’ve written about lots of different IP security cameras over the years including some winners from Instar GMBH and LOTS from China including various Imou models. Back in September 2021 I wrote about the Imou Cruiser pan and tilt 1080p camera. At the time it…
Raspberry Pi PICO W – worth the bother NOW?
This article was originally written when the RPi PICO came out. I was not impressed. But things change and the RPi Foundation have now (late June 2022) released the Raspberry Pi Pico W complete with 2.4Ghz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.2 while being a drop-in replacement for the RP2040 chip used…
Sonoff Monday – New Products
POWR320D Here we have the POW Elite (POWR32OD), handling 20A max non-inductive load. Both of the controllers in this blog entry support Bluetooth pairing with the Sonoff eWeLink APP and have detachable DIN RAIL mounts on the back. It is worth noting for better or worse that as usual we…
UGREEN Nexode Gan X Fast 65W Charger – Very Nice
You may have seen me blog about the UGREEN T3 HiTune Earbuds and before that, the UGREEN X6 Active HiTune buds – both excellent. And before anyone says “who on earth is UGREEN”… I’d not heard of them before the X6 and was suitably impressed so I’m expecting much out…
The CubeTouch X1 BLE 4.2 Button Presser
Remember this blog entry about Switchbot S1? (photo below right) Great little Bluetooth device, sent to me by ZBanx Marketing, for machines which have an on-off pushbuton but no ability to handle timers. Switchbot could even make use of the company’s SwitchBot Mini-Hub to allow WiFi control of the Switchbot…
Mustool MDS120M 120Mhz Oscilloscope
This neat pocket-size Oscilloscope is currently on sale at Banggood for €63.09 (inc VAT and Duty – plus post) and by all accounts, their customers love it. Smaller than a typical mobile phone yet with 120Mhz bandwith – the device is USB-chargeable and comes complete with USB and *1, *10…
BeeLink GTR5, WebP, AVIF and More
A busy couple of weeks it has been. I’m finally finished setting up my new PC, a Beelink GTR5 Mini-PC (update June 9, 2022). Ok, so what is that? I usually write about tech and review gadgets sent to be by various companies including Banggood but this week, after talking…
Sonoff DW2-Wi-Fi Door Sensor and Node-Red
Ok, first things first, the DW2-Wi-Wi door sensor is as it says, WiFi, not RF or Bluetooth (though it does use BT to setup with the eWeLink APP in the first place). I looked here on Amazon and read someone saying the device was almost impossible to pair – mine…
OBSBOT Tiny 4K Webcam – a winner and Now the REMOTE
This is an update to my latest original OBSBOT post – as you’ll see below the company Remotech. Co. Ltd (marketed as www.obsbot.com) sent me firstly their OBSBOT TINY webcam and then the OBSBOT Tiny 4K Webcam. They’re both so good that I immediately sold my Logitech webcam setup and…
The Wednesday Banggood Round-Up
I came home yesterday to more goodies from Banggood – the first being a new Blitzwolf smartplug. As it happens I’ve a need for a new one with power monitoring. If you’ve seen my blog about Spanish electricity and putting everything on “cheap” rate where practical, I recently put my…
UGREEN T3 HiTune Earbuds
Regular readers will recall I wrote about Ugreen X6 Hybrid Earbuds a while ago. Ok, so you have the link to the original article – you may recall me raving about them – then nothing. That’s because I just wear them every day – they simply work, sound good, charge…
Meross Home Control – Revisited – Again
In March 2020, just about the time the term “Covid” became a thing, I received several IOT units from a company called Meross (designed in California, made in China as I noted on one of the boxes) including the UK version of their MSS310 power-monitoring Smart Plug, their Smart Radiator…
Sculpfun S6 Pro High Precision Laser Engraver
Or how to assemble a new laser engraver when your only workbench is already full… Here’s Banggood’s link (no commission as usual – I do this for fun, not to run a business) and a variation on their description. SCULPFUN S6 Pro laser engraving machine, ultra-thin focus wood and acrylic…
UGOOS UT8 Pro Android TV Box – The Long Haul
I’ve had many TV boxes over the years and learned lots of things to watch for – like different versions of Android some of which have the full Play store, some don’t. Some last, others don’t. Some have hardwired Ethernet available, some don’t etc. I just discovered something early April…
More Mi – the Redmi Buds 3 Pro Earbuds
I’ve been impressed by and stuck with my UGREEN HiTune X6 Hybrid Active noise-cancelling earbuds for some time now – but yesterday, a set of Redmi Buds 3 Pro arrived in the post – so – firstly what do these Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Pro earbuds look and sound like?…