October 31, 2019

OpenPlotter, V1, quick install guide


Updated 2020-01-13 !

OpenPlotter is;
  • A complete boat navigation system
  • Includes OpenCPN, Chart plotter navigation
  • OpenSource, so it's free !
  • Running on Raspberry Pi(RPi)
  • Its hardware is cheap
  • Running on Unix, so its reliable
I really don't recommend this old OP 1, instead check out OP V2, stable, which works very well ! 

October 28, 2019

Razberry backup and restore

There are two ways to take a backup of Your Raspberry Pi:s, (RPi) Razberry(RZ) configuration;
  • Clone the Raspberry boot disk
  • Backup just the Razberry configuration
The first way is a described in this post and here we will use the built in function in the Razberry GUI

September 20, 2019

HomeKit bridge with IKEA Trådfri, Blinds


         Updated 2019-09-20 !

This Blogpost was initially made before the IKEA outlets was enabled in the Apple Home app. They could then just be reached via a Tradfri Homebridge plugin

Since a while blinds are supported by this plugin but not by the IKEA Gateway and app so maybe its time again to install it ?

Another post covers the installation of the Trådfri gateway with a HomeKit approach. (Without Homebridge)

Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg


August 19, 2019

HomeKit bridge with Z-Wave II

In a former post I used Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi, to make Z-wave devices appear in the Apple Home app, but there is a simpler and faster, way.

Start with the install of the Razberry card or upgrade to Z-way V3.0.0

Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg


August 10, 2019

Internet speed measure

Updated 2019-08-10 !

New to Node-Red(NR) and maybe start with a simple application You can benefit direct from ?

This application is measuring Your Internet connection at chosen intervals using Speedtest.net and showing the result in a graph. If the speed is under a set value it will send You an email.

New ! better version !

May 11, 2019

NMEA WiFi gateway II

My thoughts, about NMEA WiFi have finalized ? since my first post in the subject and the Yacht Devices YDWG-02N is now installed in my NMEA2000/ST/NMEA0183 network and works just fine. 

I'm already using Raymarine ST => ST NG converter but otherwise I had bought the YDNR-02 instead which should have done the same job.

Please find some thoughts from the installation below.

May 10, 2019

Mojave on unsupported Mac


Updated 2019-05-11 !

My old Mac Book Air, mid 2011, didn't support the latest MacOS, Mojave. So after some checking I found this brilliant fix which did the job.

This guy have really done a fantastic job with great instructions and even a Youtube video.

April 01, 2019

Weather34 & WeatherLink w/o cronjob

Running Weather 34, W34, using my setup, the program "cumulusdata.php" is fetching data from Davis Weatherlink(WL), and are writing the data to a file, type Cumulus. The old way was to fetch the data via a scheduled cronjob. 

Doing a small change to "windspeeddirection.php", "updater.php, and using the latest version of "cumulusdata.php", will do the update with the built in W34 refresh routine instead of cron job.

Thanks to Ken who gave me the hint.

March 18, 2019

HomeKit bridge with Telldus Live

Updated 2019-03-18 !

Do You have Telldus devices up and running and want them to be visible and used in Apples Home app ?

With some software and a Raspberry Pi(RPi) they will appear in the HomeKit environment.

Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg

February 19, 2019

IKEA Bäve dimmer hack




Dimming not dimmable LED, IKEA Bäve

Inspired by LarsWH and using a Z-Wave controller I got it working with a "standard" component.











Other HomeKit posts 
     on this Blogg        


A new version !! With an IKEA controller and HomeKit enabled is available here !!

February 16, 2019

HomeKit, Trådfri and Gledopto RGB


I bought the Gledopto RGB+CCT LED controller(GO), so I could use RGB LED strips, not just the IKEA ones.


There were some IF:s, which will be scrutinized below, but it worked.


Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg



December 11, 2018

Mac install Apache/PHP WEB-server

Updated 2019-01-07 

!! Note !! Before Monterey !! 

As a part of one of my projects, the ultimate Weather site ?? Weather34(W34), I needed a WEB-host with PHP and started to use a Raspberry Pi.

In this post You will get some short install tips on Apache with PHP on a Mac with Mojave, macOS 10.14.x, and at the end of the post the W34 installation is done.

December 01, 2018

Homekit with broadband speed measure


Updated 2019-09-02 !

If you think it's ok that the broadband speed appears as temperature in Home apps this plugin is very nice.

The plugin, used with Homebridge(HB), measures Your broadband speed at chosen intervals. If You use the free app "Eve for Homekit", besides that it shows the last measured broad band speed, it also shows the speed history in a nice graph.

Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg

November 23, 2018

Weather34 install at WEB hotel


Updated 2019-04-01 !

Prerequisites is listed in the beginning of the post for installation on Raspberry Pi(RPi)

You will find migration information, from WeatherLink 1.0 to WeatherLink 2.0, in this post


October 29, 2018

Router as WiFi extender

Extending Your WiFi via cable have the advantage, compared to extending via WFi, that You keep the bandwidth at max. Extending Your WiFi with products that use the same frequencies, as Your WiFi, will just put through 50% of the data flow.

One way to extend the WiFi is with a cheap router, or maybe an old router You don't use any more.

October 27, 2018

IKEA Trådfri gateway install & HomeKit

Updated 2019-02-05 !

Using Homebridge for a while, getting nice hardware to emulate Apples HomeKit devices, I finally decided to test IKEA:s Trådfri concept.


The actual device that I was interested in is the wireless control outlet. But they have bulbs and other stuff that is really nice priced.



This post will cover an installation of the Trådfri gateway with a HomeKit approach.  


Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg


August 26, 2018

Raspbian Jessie to Stretch upgrade

Upgrading from Jessie to Stretch can break the entire system so ALLWAYS do a backup.

There are several sites/posts with "how to" information but the Raspberry site, the Linuxconfig site and the Superuser site(where You can find more details about the upgrade), made the base for this post. 

June 19, 2018

Davis WeatherLink upgrade to 2.0

During summer 2018 Davis are updating WeatherLink to 2.0 (WL2). So if You have registered devices before 2017-11-28 You must migrate.

This update is changing their website, as shown in picture, and API.

Their API documentation is found here

The following information is sent out in 2018-06 to users who still haven't upgraded to WL2

April 30, 2018

OpenPlotter, updating SignalK Node server


Updated 2018-06-07!

The SignalK server(SK), the engine in OpenPlotter(OP) is coming with new releases pretty often and if You want to update, having used OpenPlotter RPI V0.10.0 NOOBS, the following instructions will help You.

I really recommend to start all over with a new fresh installation with the new OP V1.x.x.

April 18, 2018

TP-Link Deco install with ethernet

TP-Link Deco is a smart Mesh system that extends Your WiFi.

It is pretty easy to install but there is no direct information in the install app, Apple or Android, about how to interconnect the Decos with ethernet. 

Especially if You must keep the old Router.

Connecting via ethernet is faster and more stable and also necessary if the Decos WiFi can't reach each other.

Another post with DECO:s in router mode.

April 17, 2018

Boat navigation network


In a former post a I presented our approach to mix a modern NMEA 2000(N2) network with the older Raymarine ST 1 network, installed 2006.

During the Years it has grown and been added with new functions. The pictures to the right is the actual layout.

The first add on was a N2 GPS described here.

March 07, 2018

Weather34, the production version



Updated 2019-05-12 !

I have got some questions which version we are using for the moment at the site vader.domsten.nu 

The version is from 2019-05-12 and You can get the whole site code from here.

Please note that I have done some modifications so if You want the original code please rename 


menu.php

January 22, 2018

ViewSonic SC-T25 and certificates

ViewSonic SC-T25, VS, handles certificates, cert, for different applications in Base64-encoded DER format.

If You open the certificate file, with a simple text editor, it shall begin with "---- BEGIN CERTIFICATE ----" and end with "---- END CERTIFICATE ----" if it is the right format.

The most simple way to load the cert, is to use "Method 1".
Please note that You log in with the CLIENT, PC/Mac, user/password.

Another method is "Method 3". In this example I will load Citrix Intermediate Certs to the SC-T25 from a USB stick.

January 17, 2018

ViewSonic SC-T25 upgrade VTOS

This cost effective Thin Client is based on Raspberry Pi 3 and together with Stratodesk OS it is very versatile

If You bought, or got, the thin ViewSonic client, VT, produced before date 2017-07, You can upgrade to the better Stratodesk NoTouch OS with out any cost. This OS  is the "standard" OS for new devices.