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The original way to interface a TS-50 transceiver to a computer used to be through a serial interface converter. The serial interface has since been replaced with USB ports. Luckily it is even easier …

My old Ham-IV rotator has been in storage for a while, but I’m keen on using it again for satellite tracking. Following moving object such as satellites across the sky requires computer control, so I …

My 1981 vintage rotator control box blew its display backlight. Instead of searching for a suitable replacement bulb, I decided to replace it with a LED strip. The replacement is quite simple. The …

This page describes how to automatically send events on the VSCP bus on specific, pre-determined moments. This is useful for example to every night turn off any lights that might have been left on. …

I plan on using a few spare Nokia Li-Ion batteries for my new quadcopter and was in need of a decent battery charger. This project can charge 5 single cell LiPo or Li-Ion (in my case Nokia BL-5C …

In true eevblog-style we take the REX C100 PID controller and don’t turn it on, but tear it apart. The controller can be found in many different options on eBay for around 10 Euro. I was curious to …

This article describes how to control VSCP events from a web page. It is based on websockets which connects to the VSCP daemon. Web page # Button # To be able to trigger events on the VSCP bus from …

This post describes how I set up my development environment for OpenHAB on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. I followed the tutorial How to set up a development environment for openHAB. Ensure the system is …

This is a quick video tour of my home automation system. .

This article is a check-list for configuring Mespelare nodes as I integrate them into my house’s lighting and power system. It describes the steps to follow to properly configure each node, so that I …

When I tried to start my old Yamaha 9.5A outboard engine the pull-cord broke. Oh well, at least I was still in my driveway and didn’t already have the boat in the water. So I set out to replace the …

I have an old Weck kettle which I occasionally use to boil my wort while brewing. The thermostat on the kettle does not allow fine control of the power input into the wort, so I decided to make a …

While changing the gears on my Hobbymat MD65 lathe, I discovered that I was missing a crucial accessory: a small bushing which in my French manual is affectionately called “le coussinet”. To add …

Since I have started adding fertilizers to my aquarium using the Estimative Index, I’ve found myself dosing 10ml of liquid into the tank 3 times a week. This gets old very soon, so I started thinking …

I’ve always wanted a door bell that could e-mail me a picture whenever someone came to my door. This should be fairly easy using a Raspberry Pi, so I built one. Here’s the build log and code if you …

My indigenous aquarium has been running just fine for a few months, and then developed a problem. The plant growth slowed down a lot, until they dwindled and slowly died. I knew I wasn’t feeding them …

Here’s an overview of how to install vscp_software on a Raspberry Pi. It is based on the tutorial on setting up the VSCP daemon on Unix. I’m not only giving the commands but also the verbose output …

This post documents how I have set up my Raspberry Pi (model B+) for double duty as a VSCP daemon server and a pimped doorbell. This page is mostly for my own reference. Static IP # Find the DHCP …

The Hasselt code uses a non-standard bus speed of 250kbps. In order to stay in sync with the rest of the VSCP development community, I changed it back to the 125kbps which everyone else is using. …

An important design criteria for my home automation is that nodes should be able to continue performing (basic) actions autonomously, even when they loose connectivity to the VSCP bus. Therefore I …

/Frontpage thumb.png) Since version 1.0.0.70, VSCPworks reads registers using CLASS2_LEVEL1_PROTOCOL, EXTENDED_PAGE_READ. In reply to this request, the VSCP node …

The original Hasselt firmware runs a 10ms timer on Timer0 in interrupt isr_low. The code for Mespelare could use a timer that is a bit less granular than 10ms, for example for the new output PWM …

The Hasselt code has defined several actions for its outputs: On, Off, Toggle and PWM. My house’s lighting system uses pulse relays so I couldn’t really use any of these actions, I need the action to …

This article describes the modification of a domestic oven for reflowing printed circuit boards. To avoid re-inventing the wheel I’m using firmware from another project, the Hobbybotics reflow …

VSCP uses registers to read and write information to and from a node. This article describes the way the addressing of these registers works in VSCP. It describes the mapping of registers in the MDF …

So my Siemens WT46W560FG clothesdryer stopped working. It gave an error signalling that the condensation tray was full, while in fact it wasn’t at all. Checking the internet reveals that this is a …

As the C18 compiler is no longer supported by Microchip and the rest of the VSCP group has migrated their code to XC8, I needed to migrate my Mespelare firmware as well. This article describes the …

So I’ve bricked my PICkit3. The PICkit 3 v3 application crashed while loading new firmware into the PICkit3, and it ended up bricked. It still got recognized by the host computer as a PICkit3 USB …

I’m using my Nikon D3000 DSLR camera to document my projects for this web site. Usually it is trailing around somewhere on my cluttered workbench, which isn’t the best idea for a sensitive and …

Before putting the Mespelare board into production, I wanted to do a final proof-of-concept test to make sure the hardware design is 100% correct before ordering the boards and components. I wanted my …

This article describes my roadmap for developing a home automation system based on VSCP. While I generally try to avoid any Project Management in my hobby projects, this roadmap does keep me focussed …

Now that I have the code for the Mespelare module mostly working, it is time to update the VSCP firmware to the latest version. A few years have passed since Kurt has written the firmware for Hasselt …

This is a small PIC-based APRS tracker that supports the OpenTracker firmware. It has a small integrated 300mW transmitter on-board, and a pin header to connect a GPS module. The tracker is controller …

After lots of testing, reading code and checking, I came to the conclusion that the MDF file for the Hasselt module is bad. That statement goes for any version of the MDF that I was able to find …

When you have a hobby like electronics, you quickly find yourself swamped with large numbers of small components which you have to carefully label and store. This goes especially for SMD components; …

Learning the way existing code works is much easier when you can have insight in the code as it runs. While we can’t really look inside a running microcontroller the way we can with programs on a …

In the previous articles we’ve [ran the modified firmware for our Mespelare module for the first time](/posts/Running the Mespelare firmware/). In this article we’ll play with the Decision Matrix so …

The firmware for the Mespelare board will be based on kurtsidekick’s Hasselt firmware. To gain a good understanding of how this firmware works, we will dissect it in detail in this article. We’ll be …

As a kid I used to have a tropical aquarium. When I moved out of my parents house, the aquarium was emptied and stored in the attic. A decade later my parents cleared the attic, and the aquarium had …

This article describes how to use the USB2CAN interface with VSCP on Linux. While I am installing the interface on Ubuntu Linux, there is no reasons why it shouldn’t work on other distributions as …

After happily using Herma labels to label my beer bottles, I also want to use them to label jars in which I keep my SMD electronic components. Instead of printing multiple copies of the same label, I …

The VSCP Daemon is a service that forms an abstraction layer between the application(s) and the hardware interface. We’ll use it to allow multiple applications to connect to the bus through the same …

I have a table saw with a crappy fence. It takes a long time and lots of measuring to set it correctly, and even then it isn’t as stable as it should be. I replaced it with a sliding table. This table …

Conveniently I label my beers on the cap and not on the bottle. This way they are easily readable without removing the bottle from the case, and once the bottle is uncapped and thoroughly rinsed, I …

My cheap pillar drill comes with a standard table with two slots for installing a small vise. Rarely do I need to drill pieces that require tight clamping, so I figured my pillar drill would benefit …

Now this is old-school: I sometimes play Tekken 2 and Tony Hawk 1 with my mates on an old PlayStation 1. I used to have a borrowed PS1 which I had modded, but had to return it. I have since acquired …

De flessenspoeler “Blast”, die verkocht wordt bij Brouwland, is een zeer handig hulpmiddeltje om snel de binnenkant van flessen te spoelen. Het enige nadeel is dat je hem steeds op en af je kraan moet …

I own a Rigol DS1052E oscilloscope. It is a 2-channel 50MHz scope which offers excellent value for its price, and as an unintended bonus can be easily hacked to increase its bandwidth to the 100MHz of …

This article is a collection of links to documents that have good information for people starting with VSCP. Besides reading the complete protocol specification, they explain some of the basic …

In the previous articles we’ve set up our tool chain and compiled source code for the first time. In this article we’ll be modifying the source code we’ve downloaded to fit the Mespelare board. We’ll …

In previous articles we’ve set up our tool chain and developed a new VSCP interface board. Before we start writing firmware for the Mespelare board, we’ll try to compile Kurtsidekick’s code for the …

Here are all the recipes for the beers that I have brewed so far. Not all of them turned out so great, mind you. I like to experiment and sometimes make extreme things. Some of these beers are, mmm, …

I’m experimenting with VSCP. The Very Simple Control Protocol is a simple but clever protocol implementation. Its creator made some of the same design choices I would have made, so it will be …

The Mespelare node is a VSCP board based on the Hasselt board by kurt_sidekick, used to read a Niko 6-way potential-free button set, and control it’s 6 indicator LEDs as well as 6 outputs …

In case you wonder what technologies power this website, here’s the what and how. While I used to run a hosted WordPress blog, I have migrated to a static website that I host on my own server. While …

Thanks for reading my website. No really, I appreciate it. This website is a minimalistic attempt to give something back to the web. As this is a personal website, don’t expect quality content and …

I like brewing beer. This means I have to store a lot of beer. There was an unused space in the basement under the stairs so I set out to build a simple beer rack there. It holds 23 cases, is …

I bottle all of my homebrew. Bottling is one of the more tedious tasks of brewing, and consists of different steps; filling the bottle, capping it, labelling and cleaning. The easier and faster I can …

My two main needs when brewing are small volume and automation, something I couldn’t find in most brewing rigs except for the (+1.500€) Speidel Braumeister. So I decided to build my own picobrewery, …

Crushing malt is an important step in brewing. It is important to crush the malt finely so that all starch is easily accessible for conversion into sugar, but care must be taken not to damage the …

Het Zotte Zomerproject van vorig jaar was een vispeditie van een paar dagen met een vlot op de rivier. Hiervoor heb ik een tweedehands buitenboordmotortje van 2pk gekocht voor 25€, wat nu dus werkloos …

If you want to grow your own yeast, a magnetic stir plate is a great tool. It keeps the wort (and any suspended yeast) in constant motion, improving the access of the yeast to nutrients, and …

One day we were sitting by the waterside, fishing. We contemplated that it would be so comfortable to have a sofa on the bank of the river, no, it needed to be on a platform on the water! With a …

This is a report of the third firing of the Ballistic Evaluation motor constructed by the Vlaamse Raket Organisatie (VRO). During the second firing a number of issues surfaced, which were since …

The previous tests with the Ballistic Evaluation Motor (BEM) failed because the motor failed to ignite. To avoid ignition problems it was decided to increase the throat diameter from 2 or 3mm to 6mm. …

Deze pagina beschrijft de ontwikkeling van een geïntegreerd meetsysteem voor statische motorttesten. Deze electronica interfacet met de Ballistische Evaluatie Motor, leest hier de meetwaarden uit en …

This page describes the construction and operation of a device for testing rocket motors. It allows the recording of the thrust generated by the motor during a static test. The recorded data is then …

This is a compact, programmable 4-channel rocket timer, based on the Microchip PIC 16F88 microcontroller. It features accelerometer or reed switch lift-off detection and 4 pyro channels that can be …

This article describes a homebuilt interface for connecting the TS-50 transceiver to a computer using the serial port. Note: this article is depreciated, for a more modern and easier way to interface …

The picture on the front of my QSL card was taken while departing for a DXpedition to Holmön island (EU-135), off the coast of Umea, Sweden. While preparing for the expedition, I was told that the …

An MDF has a fixed structure as outlined below. Header # The file starts with a header. This tells the software reading the MDF what XML version and encoding to expect, sets the MDF version number and …