The Blog is Twenty Years Old
11 September 2026 3 min read
This year has two website anniversaries. It's twenty years since the first post went up on this blog, and thirty years since I built Virtual Swanage, the community site for my home town
Electronics, Smart Home & Projects
Latest Posts
DIY Pick and Place software and hardware upgrades
17 August 2026 16 min read
It’s been nine years running our DIY pick and place machine using the same software and it’s time for some upgrades to the software as well as changes to the hardware with an Elgato Stream Deck and new picker nozzles
ModBus to MQTT Ethernet Bridge for a Solis 1.5kW Inverter
10 August 2026 13 min read
Using a Microchip/Atmel ATmega32U4 to create a ModBus to MQTT Ethernet Bridge for a Solis 1.5kW Solar PV Inverter to log data with Home Assistant
Building a custom network rack from steel box section
09 May 2026 10 min read
Upgrading Our Home Network Rack: Custom Steel Frame Build, 10Gb Switching & UniFi Setup
30 year Windows user switches to Mac
18 February 2026 14 min read
After using Windows as my primary computer operating system for over 30 years, I am finally switching to Apple Mac as my daily driver computer and operating system.
3D printed PCB assembly jig
16 February 2026 7 min read
Building an adjustable 3D printed PCB assembly jig to hold circuit boards when soldering