I really think a proper Pinball machine KIT would be awesome, but they don't seem to exists.

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AquaPlow said..

Alternately you could get into some of the Raspberry pi stuff..
or dare I say it - some musical instrument...

what musical instrument kits are there?
I've got 3 Pi's lying idle.
They used to run:
hass.io; run it in a container on my nas
moode audio; use a MusicCast appliance bcos it has a 12v trigger
pi-Hole; I now use my router + AB-Solution

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gs12 said..
adopt a child in a 3rd world country?

I only give to animal charities, these include:
www.animalsasia.org/ (They do great work)
thingreenline.org.au/
www.peta.org.au/

I suggest you become a Prime Minister of Australia.

It seems you are aiming to, and trying very hard, to create, fix and make everything work better around you, within your means.

That's what an Australian PM does. Oh hang on, ****.

Flysurfer for PM! (to complete his small, complicated DIY kit)

We need innovative people like you to step up and try to change the system.

Learn to play a musical instrument, unless of course you're Tommy Emmanuel

www.lego.com/en-us/campaigns/technic/bugatti-chiron/build-for-real

Would pass a few weeks and empty your wallet

Make knives .
Its something that you can start off with I bet you already got the tools to do a kit or stock removal with your own design .
Sub out vacuum heat treatment .
Its cheap by the batch or make your own forge ,linisher , anvil etc .
Half the fun .
You probably got some old bike or chainsaws chains around you can forge into Damascus steel ,engraving , eatching , making mikarta scales leather sheaths .
Its pretty endless .
Makes a great gift for people you just cant buy for .
Quality knives are not cheap .
Get good at it & you can sell them .
At worst you could end up with a set of kitchen knives that chefs would be envious of .

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FlySurfer said..

If my employer used my skills (Cloud Solutions Architect), I'd have my fill of building.

Yeah, I know what you mean. The amount of jobs I have had where they don't actually want you to do much is amazing. I much prefer to be doing heaps as it makes the day fly.

Instead, I always seem to end up in jobs where there is little to do. I think that must be my problem. People think I am dumb, so they give me little to do and then don't realise that I am bored because the job is so simple.

At least cloud stuff is current. My specialty is dying, has died, and I am too old/lazy to want to learn anything more technical.

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FlySurfer said..

I've got 3 Pi's lying idle.
They used to run:
hass.io;

thanks for the tip onhass.io.
Any suggestions for easy way of connecting multiple temperature sensors to RPi? I'm not so good with the soldering iron but OK with coding so looking for something that is easy to connect together.

I need to connect 5 sensors, currently looking into 1-wire but I see hass.io has lot of links to wireless sensors & zigbee so that may work just as well.

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gs12 said..

thanks for the tip onhass.io.
Any suggestions for easy way of connecting multiple temperature sensors to RPi? I'm not so good with the soldering iron but OK with coding so looking for something that is easy to connect together.

I need to connect 5 sensors, currently looking into 1-wire but I see hass.io has lot of links to wireless sensors & zigbee so that may work just as well.

github.com/milesburton/Arduino-Temperature-Control-Library
+ arduino
+ several 18x20 sensors
+ serial connection to the RPi

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Windpasser said..
I suggest you become a Prime Minister of Australia.

Thanks buddy, but I'm not sure PM was the kit I had in mind. A) Bcos I'm actively working on the obsolescence of the profession (voteflux.org), politicians are a parasitic relic of the past and should be viewed as such, B) I build to get away from politics and C) as other members will attest, my ideas aren't the most politically sensitive.

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actiomax said..
Make knives

I've got a friend w/ a forge, he makes what appear to be medieval swords and does some kind of knight fighting... swords look totally crap... I've got some SaberForge saber parts waiting to be made... needs LED and electronics... might do it some time but it really needs a lathe and I've only got a drill.

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FormulaNova said..
My specialty is dying, has died, and I am too old/lazy to want to learn anything more technical.

You've got to stay current, and an interest helps... IT is not like politics or some fields of medicine we need to keep learning and not doing anything at work gives you the perfect opportunity to learn while being paid... machine learning, RPA is where the $$$ is now.

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gs12 said..
I need to connect 5 sensors, currently looking into 1-wire but I see hass.io has lot of links to wireless sensors & zigbee so that may work just as well.

Go wireless. I have a passionate dislike for the Arduino IDE from my 3D printing and drone days... I won't even use it for flashing my sonoff's w/ Tasmota, and physically connecting sensors to GPIO ports is just messy and limiting. I think I've seen some Zigbee/Z-Wave Pi hats.
I don't have any practical application for temp. sensors at present, but the dude sitting next to me whom I introduced to home assistant and Xiaomi zigbee products, loves his setup.
He bought: www.ozbargain.com.au/node/347657 and is running hass.io on a 3B Pi, says it all works flawlessly after a couple weeks YAML'ing... he also added a $35 Xiaomi wifi camera w/ custom firmware... he hasn't changed batteries on any of the sensors ~4 months running.
I would investigate the Xiaomi Aqara Temperature Humidity Sensor but you'll need a zigbee hub too.

Btw, I love zigbee... all my lights (Hue) use it and the Hue PIR sensor uses a CR2032 which in 8 months still hasn't needed a change. Also w/ zigbee you don't have 100's of devices on your router, it's super low power so you can reassure your Mrs she isn't being radiated (still might not believe you, but show her the battery and explain there's no way it can cause damage from such low energy discharge).

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FlySurfer said..

FormulaNova said..
My specialty is dying, has died, and I am too old/lazy to want to learn anything more technical.

You've got to stay current, and an interest helps... IT is not like politics or some fields of medicine we need to keep learning and not doing anything at work gives you the perfect opportunity to learn while being paid... machine learning, RPA is where the $$$ is now.

Did I mention the lazy bit?

I think I should have done what some of my former colleagues did. Laid around until everyone else left and hey presto, instant promotion...

I really think I am beyond the stage of wanting to learn much new IT stuff, and would prefer to provide the overall approach. I think I have been spending too much time with sales guys, and it has rubbed off.

Time to start my own business I think....

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FormulaNova said..

FlySurfer said..

FormulaNova said..
My specialty is dying, has died, and I am too old/lazy to want to learn anything more technical.

You've got to stay current, and an interest helps... IT is not like politics or some fields of medicine we need to keep learning and not doing anything at work gives you the perfect opportunity to learn while being paid... machine learning, RPA is where the $$$ is now.

Did I mention the lazy bit?

I think I should have done what some of my former colleagues did. Laid around until everyone else left and hey presto, instant promotion...

I really think I am beyond the stage of wanting to learn much new IT stuff, and would prefer to provide the overall approach. I think I have been spending too much time with sales guys, and it has rubbed off.

Time to start my own business I think....

If your fluent in English and can look somone in the eye and conduct a conversation then perhaps u should be in IT management or sales, because theres plenty of imports that can't to do the lower paid tech stuff? Thats my impression anyway

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myusernam said..

FormulaNova said..

FlySurfer said..

FormulaNova said..
My specialty is dying, has died, and I am too old/lazy to want to learn anything more technical.

You've got to stay current, and an interest helps... IT is not like politics or some fields of medicine we need to keep learning and not doing anything at work gives you the perfect opportunity to learn while being paid... machine learning, RPA is where the $$$ is now.

Did I mention the lazy bit?

I think I should have done what some of my former colleagues did. Laid around until everyone else left and hey presto, instant promotion...

I really think I am beyond the stage of wanting to learn much new IT stuff, and would prefer to provide the overall approach. I think I have been spending too much time with sales guys, and it has rubbed off.

Time to start my own business I think....

If your fluent in English and can look somone in the eye and conduct a conversation then perhaps u should be in IT management or sales, because theres plenty of imports that can't to do the lower paid tech stuff? Thats my impression anyway

I think you are right. Over the last few years, they have pretty much displaced graduates and trainees in the lower payed roles anyway.

I was a bit shocked when I saw the quality of some of these people from an overseas outsourcing company. They seemed to be 'certified' but not much practical problem solving ability and this weird culture of not questioning their manager, which is fine if your manager is a good technician, but that shouldn't be the case anyway.

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FlySurfer said..

Go wireless.

the dude sitting next to me whom I introduced to home assistant and Xiaomi zigbee products, loves his setup.
He bought: www.ozbargain.com.au/node/347657

Good to hear, any chance you could post a parts list (link will do) on what to buy and connect zigbee to RPI?
The link above is to FAQ and I can't really work out what I need. I assume I need Rpi, zigbee sensor (s) and some kind of zigbee hub, which will somehow communicate to rpi (or rpi hat). I can't find much info on HASS, it all assumes these things are already connected. I hope I'm not missing something obvious.

Tx

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gs12 said..
Good to hear, any chance you could post a parts list (link will do) on what to buy and connect zigbee to RPI?

Devices you need:
1.- A 2.4Ghz WiFi network, so router; I use an Asus RTAC68U w/ Merlin FW so I get root and can install stuff.
2.- Either a NAS w/ container service, or a RPi to run home assistant or hass.io; I use a QNAP w/ container station, just download the Home Assistant container, up and running in ~10mins.
3.- A zigbee hub; you can go separate or an RPi hat. I would go w/ a Xiaomi Gateway (DGNWG02LM) ~$39
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Xiaomi-New-Upgrade-Smart-Home-WiFi-Remote-Control-Multi-functional-Switch-ZigBee/162921439324.
4.- Xiaomi Mi Smart Temperature and Humidity Sensor ~$15
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Original-Xiaomi-Mi-Smart-Temperature-and-Humidity-Sensor-Smart-Socket-Plug-WiFi/132109954446

Gearbest, Banggood or AliExpress will also have them and maybe cheaper... remember to use eBay coupons eg: PENNY5 5% off or the frequent 10% off they have running.

You need to follow:
1.- www.snakeoil-os.net/news/home-automation/integrate-xiaomi-gateway-into-home-assistant
2.- www.home-assistant.io/components/#search/xiaomi this will give you the yaml... sometimes their examples don't work, then you need to fit up the forum community.home-assistant.io.

Btw you can also go the RPi + BT route so no zigbee;
github.com/dolezsa/Xiaomi_Hygrothermo
www.home-assistant.io/components/sensor.mitemp_bt/
just buy the sensor and that's it. Range may be an issue.

Also if you want voice notifications, you'll need a Google Home, eg: Zone X temperature is high, turning air con ON.

here is a rabbit hole to go down, maybe never get back from

www.synthesizers.com/begin.html

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Poida said..
here is a rabbit hole to go down, maybe never get back from

www.synthesizers.com/begin.html

^ Wintergaten's frankenstein

Interesting...

... but now I'm thinking the UNO synth will be a shortcut to my Tangerine Dream. New concepts, new terminology, more knowledge... learning is my main objective.

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FlySurfer said..

gs12 said..
Good to hear, any chance you could post a parts list (link will do) on what to buy and connect zigbee to RPI?

Devices you need:
1.- A 2.4Ghz WiFi network, so router; I use an Asus RTAC68U w/ Merlin FW so I get root and can install stuff.
2.- Either a NAS w/ container service, or a RPi to run home assistant or hass.io; I use a QNAP w/ container station, just download the Home Assistant container, up and running in ~10mins.
3.- A zigbee hub; you can go separate or an RPi hat. I would go w/ a Xiaomi Gateway (DGNWG02LM) ~$39
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Xiaomi-New-Upgrade-Smart-Home-WiFi-Remote-Control-Multi-functional-Switch-ZigBee/162921439324.
4.- Xiaomi Mi Smart Temperature and Humidity Sensor ~$15
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Original-Xiaomi-Mi-Smart-Temperature-and-Humidity-Sensor-Smart-Socket-Plug-WiFi/132109954446

thanks for this. exactly what I was after
1 & 2 already have (I also use Asus RTAC68U but with Asus F/W, currently use it as NAS for my CCTV so it's getting a good work out)

These seem ridiculously overpriced and not too difficult to put together if you can work out the ANT+ interface, I'd buy one if you can put it together...as would lots of other lycra nerds...

au.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr-headwind-bluetooth-fan-au

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jackforbes said..
These seem ridiculously overpriced and not too difficult to put together if you can work out the ANT+ interface, I'd buy one if you can put it together...as would lots of other lycra nerds...

au.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr-headwind-bluetooth-fan-au

That's not a fan. This is a fan!

https://www.totaltools.com.au/80788-detroit-750mm-industrial-pedestal-fan-dfs75

I use it, and sure it sounds like a plane taking off, but really cools when I'm sitting on the trainer

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Poida said..
here is a rabbit hole to go down

I fell down the rabbit hole and landed on FM Synthesis (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation_synthesis). I know it's not a kit or something to build, but it has lots of theory and complication w/ the ability to learn how to generate harmonics.

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Poida said..
here is a rabbit hole to go down, maybe never get back from

Eurorack Arturia RackBrute 3U, in the mail.
Still deciding on the modules, thinking Serge Variable Q (VCFQ) /RYO Altered States - Dual SVVCF