HVAC Efficiency Monitoring

"I wonder how the air conditioning is doing, it seems to run all the time." I was asking myself that question and thought about checking the temperature at the vents... maybe comparing it to the return duct. It would also be dependent on the outside air temperature (at least for air conditioning).

Now I know.

Results:

AVRISP mkII & Arduino 1.0.5

It has been nearly two years since I wrote out the instructions to getting the mkII to work with the Arduio IDE.  After putting a new SSD into my computer, I had to do it over and things are very different but much easier.

So, here's the update:

There are plenty of reasons why you would want to use your AVRISP programmer to upload sketches to the Arduino board if you own one. In fact, it might be worth spending the $35.

• No bootloader delay when booting.
• Can use the serial port for something else without having to disconnect it to upload.
• Faster.
• Don't have to worry about which bootloader (OPTIBOOT?) and version (today v4.4) to install.
• Can use all of the flash space on the ATmega.

12V Corrosion Checker

When testing anything electrical in a car (or boat), you need to test everything under load.That simply means that if a connection is loose or a wire is nearly corroded though, it will read a solid 12 volts until you try to pass some current through it.

This projects makes it simple load 100 ohms onto anything reading 12 volts.  If the voltage reading changes when you switch this device on, you have something else causing a resistance.

ZAGG invisibleSHIELDs + Xacto = Happy Instruments

Happy New Year!

I've installed invisibleSHIELDs on my cell phones and the stuff works great. Even keys rubbing against the glass don't cause a problem.  I was excited to find out that they have then specifically for Fluke 80 series and the Fluke 189.  So I ended up buying a couple but at $15 each. That seemed a little high for a small piece of plastic for the 87s...

DSO Nano AC & DC Coupling Adapter to Shielded Banana

Merry Christmas!

I love the DSO Nano. It is perfect for so many quick uses. You never need an isolation transformer. It works fine in the field because it is so portable. Rechargeable batteries via standard USB. The list goes on and on...

Two issues with the DSO:

1. It does not have AC coupling
2. It does not have 4mm banana sockets

Both of these are solved with a little adapter I built.

AVRISP mkII & Arduino 1.0

There are plenty of reasons why you would want to use your AVRISP programmer to upload sketches to the Arduino board if you own one. In fact, it might be worth spending the $35.

• No bootloader delay when booting.
• Can use the serial port for something else without having to disconnect it to upload.
• Faster.
• Don't have to worry about which bootloader (OPTIBOOT?) and version (today v4.4) to install.
• Can use all of the flash space on the ATmega.

Pill Reminder

Remembering to take a vitamin daily is simple enough. Remember to take a vitamin every three days is nearly impossible (for me). I wanted a solution which will remind me to take the pill and require zero effort. This small project holds two bottles in a fairly nice looking box and flashes red until you take the pill. The act of picking up the bottle (the pill ingestion is assumed) is the entire interface.