Blogger Downtime

No, I am not moving my blog to WordPress... I have been very pleased with this free service that Google provides.  Also having spent my share of all-nighters (one of which was on Christmas Eve) trying to pull a changeset from a server and restoring the data... it is not fun and my heart goes out to those guys.

To my knowledge the content was never unavailable - authors just couldn't post new content.  Posts from yesterday had to be manually moved from one copy of the database to another when they made the decision to revert.

I watched Twitter for @Blogger matches yesterday - in case you missed those it was pretty hilarious.

Completed SMD kit mod works great!

Inner-C SMD Ribbon Installed

This is the prototype of the SMD version but I am extremely confident in the electronics package because of previous work I have done.  The kit only comes out to $19.99!  It is simpler for DIY (minimal soldering) and much brighter but not animated.  The blade is operated independently from the inner C rings using the factory pushbutton.  The factory power switch location is used to turn on the whole thing.

Using a cutting wheel and respirator I cut the top of the inner C ring at a 30° angle towards the inside of the disc so that they pick up more light from the LEDs.  This leaves it slightly more diffused/frosted for a very soft but bright light.

Virtual Rain Sensor

A little side project this weekend... the wife left the sprinkler on all day for our garden by mistake so she asked me to automate it.  We already have the X10 CK11A Computer Control Active Home System, an X10 PUM01 Pro Universal Module, and a Rain Bird JTV075-ASV 3/4-Inch Jar Top Anti-Siphon Valve.  The only thing missing was a rain sensor like the Rain Bird RSD Rain Sensor which we have used in the past.  Then it hit me!  There are shortcomings of these hard-wired rain sensors...

• Mounted to the house they won't be accurate from all directions
• No output of dryness level (only a water or don't water switch)
• No input of sprinkler water received (unless you mount it where it gets hit)
• They will allow the sprinkler to run even during rainfall 
• No input of weather forecast data (percentage) or per-storm rainfall totals
• Decent brand with freeze sensor and adjustable soil permeability is over $30.

So I set out to create a Virtual Rain Sensor.  A program that gathers information from a database regarding the weather observations for the past 3-7 days (configurable interval and weather location).  It then runs the CIMIS algorithm to calculate losses through transpiration and evaporation based on sunlight, wind, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and elevation.  We then apply the gains through rainfall from mother nature.  It also pulls the forecast for the next day and the average per-storm rainfall total for the current day and calculates a predicted rainfall total for the next day. 

Taking all this into consideration (and whether the current observation or forecast low is at or below freezing) we calculate the duration of our watering based on our inches per hour calibration (using a coffee can in your garden you run the sprinklers for an hour and then measure how many inches of water you collected).

The application runs as a service on any Windows operating system (XP or 2003 Server minimum).  Every 3 to 7 days it will download a small packet of weather data from our servers and make a decision.  The details of this decision will be recorded and viewable on a dedicated website.

Holler if you are interested in trying this out.  I will send you an application customized to your location.

Refer to my earlier post, regarding Zentia

Refer to my other post, using Loctite