Items Tagged With hardware

Recently got emailed a release for this new product. Unfortunately funds and swmbo do not allow me to test but it certainly looks a good alternative to some of the HA focused kit for environmental monitoring especially as you can connect magnetic and single wire sensors. I'll be getting one when circumstances change for sure! Hope to see a report in due course.

Came across this link for reasonably cheap networked MP3 player which may be of interest, especially to those of you proficient with a soldering iron. As the site says...

"The entire design is available under open source BSD License - you can download all the design documentation, source code, and circuit board layouts for free, and build your own!"...

"Next step is probably to get it running with the voltage regulator, so I can revert to using the 15V supply proposed for xAP devices. the mythical Hub will have to become reality soon, and I expect to make the PCB myself for the prototype at least (that being said, PCB Pool delivered 17 boards to me for about 48 quid. It's hard to justify the time and heartache, when they could maybe make five or six hubs for that price..)

I have a code update too, and it's a major one, but hey, the PCBs are enough excitement for one day!"...

A smart alarm clock that will allow you a lie-in or wake you up early depending on traffic conditions has been invented by researchers at Brunel University in southern England....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2269144.stm

Just though your readers would be interested in the following products from Audon Electronics, see www.audon.co.uk

1) Relay Boards. Audon Electronics offer low cost relay boards controlled from your PC. The PPO-RL8 simply plugs in to the printer port and has 8 250V 7A relays for switching on/off lights/pumps etc. Cost only £59. The SPO-RL8 conects to the PC's serial port and has 8 relays outputs and 4 opto-isolated inputs. The SPO-RL8 may be located up t 50M or more away from the PC. Cost £99. Both products come with software and programming examples. see www.audon.co.uk/relay.html

2) The LabJack - a low cost USB based data acquisition and control device. The LabJack simply plugs into the USB port and offers 8 analogue inputs, 2 analogue outputs and 20 digital I/O pins. Option extras include temperature probes and relay output boards. Price only £95. see www.audon.co.uk/labjack.html

3) DAQLab - low cost data acquisition and control software package. With DAQLAb you can meaure and record data, construct user screens using animated text, graphs and bit-map images and you can construct automation sequesnces without any knowledge of programming. DAQLab is low cost too - a version that works with the LabJack is only £89! see www.audon.co.uk/daqlab.html

4) Keyboard Encoders - Audon Electronics can offer a range of keyboard encoders whci allow any contact or swich generate a PC keyboard character. The entry level KBE-98 is only £45 whilst the user programmable KBE-16P is £69. All encosers come with an external keyboard connector so that you can operate a standard keyboard at the same time. see www.audon.co.uk/keyboard_encoders.html