Articles

ABB is pleased to announce its participation in this year's Smart Home Expo 2026, one of the most important events dedicated to modern smart home and building technologies. The event will take place from 24-26 February 2026 at Ptak Warsaw Expo in Nadarzyn. Visitors will be able to... [Read more]

I really like the cutting off of devices from the ubiquitous cloud, and at the same time the simplicity of use and professionalism of the OpenBeken project. I had a need to use a remote on/off switch for a USB-connected device, so I bought two pieces of cheap adapters. I was guided... [Read more]

Another interesting piece of equipment from the liquidation - an 868 MHz ISM modem. Also badly battered this time, but perhaps worth a look inside anyway? Already from the casing it is interesting - I don't see a power connector, there is only an RJ45 socket. Could we have PoE here,... [Read more]

The IT job market is undergoing one of the most interesting transformations of recent years. What matters today is not trendy technologies, but the ability to deploy to production and maintain a working application. Let's analyse the job offers from Hacker News February 2026 with... [Read more]

How do you install the intelligent (?) OpenClaw/Moltbot/Clawdbot helper on your own computer? Does running the helper really come down to a single command in the console, as the project's homepage promises? What can OpenClaw do, what difficulties can be encountered during installation?... [Read more]

Teardown of 3-Pack LSC GU10 Smart LED Bulbs (3208076.1) This is a Teardown and some findings on the "new" 3-Pack LSC GU10 bulbs. Also some general findings on LSC bulbs. !! WARNING !! If you attempt to disassemble these bulbs be aware that it won't be easy. Not only because the whole... [Read more]

I made myself a two-digit thermometer with a red ELD-515SURWA seven-segment display (soldered out of a Euroster 1100E thermostat) and a DS18B20 sensor. The electronics fit on a 2x8 cm cutout of a 6x17 mesh universal board. The housing is a white 2xRJ11 6P4C surface-mounted telephone... [Read more]

I invite you to test the boisterously advertised welcome gadget offered to us by AliExpress for just 1$ with free shipping. Here I will check what performance this power supply has in practice, whether it really supports QC and reaches 65 watts, and whether the voltage at its output... [Read more]

Fairly capable unit, only downside is the screen that is not that readable. Good things about the unit: Meter IC is Renergy RN8302B with some great specs. Unit comes with 3 CT clamps, it can accommodate an additional clamp for current leakage. I suspect that the same input can be... [Read more]

Something contemporary this time. I've already shown some old tuners, so it's time for a change. As standard, first a presentation of the interior and then an analysis of the Flash memory along with a Linux file system extract. Maybe we can also find a program to change the batch?... [Read more]

This is another WiFi temperature sensor that works with the Tuya/Smart Life system as standard. It is an IP65-rated version for outdoor placement. The sensor is powered by two AAA batteries and is based on the CB3S module and the TuyaMCU microcontroller - here, as usual, the sensor... [Read more]

Open source projects such as curl, ghostty and tldraw are fed up with ubiquitous code-generating AI tools. Curl shuts down bounty programmes for vulnerability reports, ghostty bans outsiders from using AI, and tldraw goes one step further - blocking all PRs (change proposals) from... [Read more]

I present the inside of a temperature and humidity sensor on Zigbee. The idea to present the inside came to me after it stopped working properly. An offset appeared on my temperature reading. When it was 20 degrees it was showing 3 degrees. I ordered a new one of the same kind and... [Read more]

Here's the inside of another 'railway' equipment after decommissioning. This time the casing is pretty much squashed, but it's still worth a look inside - what is the so-called 'technical measurement module'? The English name is Universal I/O Unit MPT, which suggests it's an expansion... [Read more]

Hello :) I recently bought some Tuya modules to play with, with a view to playing with OpenBK. Among them the TH08(??? E ???) and TH08C modules mentioned in the title. The TH08C version has the ability to switch with a button (the number of clicks of the button that normally turns... [Read more]

Time to present the interior of another slightly older piece of equipment. This time it will be even more interesting, because I received two copies. I will see if anything from the inside can be useful to a hobbyist electronics technician, I will focus mainly on programmable circuits.... [Read more]

This relay with Wi-Fi control does not need to be programmed - everything can be connected to Home Assistant from the factory, and even additional sensors are supported. I invite you to a short test of the Shelly Plus 1PM, which offers single-receiver control, one-button operation,... [Read more]

I got a bit of 'railway' equipment after liquidation, the whole thing rather qualifies as scrap, but you can still take a look inside and satisfy your curiosity. The case is all the more interesting as the item presented here appears to be our domestic product. The module shown here... [Read more]

I have made myself a transformer rectifier to charge my car battery, with automatic charge control - on an on/off basis - so that charging can be left unattended for long periods. The circuit has two basic tasks: - enable charging when the battery is connected - switch off charging... [Read more]

Here I will show my first attempt at building an emulator for the ALI M3801 microprocessor based on off-the-shelf Unicorn and Capstone modules. The developed program will load the contents of the Flash memory and execute it similarly to a real physical CPU, although it will not be... [Read more]

Is it sensible to buy a touchscreen monitor for the workshop? What is the configuration of a touchscreen monitor? How much power does such a 15.6" monitor consume? Is Windows able to support an additional touch monitor when the main screen has no touch support? I will try to check... [Read more]

Today we're testing the W300 dual inspection camera/endoscope offering an IP67 rating, a two-metre cable, two viewing angles (side/front) and Wi-Fi connectivity. I'll also be checking to see if it can actually record video in the promised 1080p full HD quality. Let's start with the... [Read more]

Do IoT manufacturers want to help us change firmware? The Refoss Switch R10 is a single relay module capable of controlling both a classic switch and from the Refoss mobile app. The device is based on the ESP8266 chip and is distinguished by an easily accessible programming connector... [Read more]

I've been trying to figure out why we cannot decrypt the key vault on some Tuya flash backups and why this seems to be the case for certain, typically older, platforms. BK7252U, TR6260, W800 to name a few. The decryption method for BK7231N/T (and some RTLs) is known , though the Tuya... [Read more]

How to flash the RTL8710CM (Ameba Z2) with our Tasmota/ESPHome-style multiplatform firmware? Welcome to this step-by-step guide for the Meross MSS810 Apple Home smart switch. With this guide, you will be able to regain your privacy and run the device independently of the manufacturer’s... [Read more]

Hello to all the skinny roosters :) I bought on AliExpress and on Allegro CH341 programmers for my rooster so that it would lather well :) and it turned out that they required modifications. I will therefore describe what I reworked and how. The first one from AliExpress did not feed... [Read more]

From Display to Complete System: How the Solution Team Creates Value at Unisystem At Unisystem, a “solution” is not just a catchy slogan, but a concrete approach to creating complete modules in which the display becomes the starting point for building a fully integrated solution.... [Read more]

The Sonoff MINIR4M is a small, in-box relay that allows you to easily turn a simple lighting or electrical device into a Wi-Fi-controlled building automation component. With Matter support, it can work with different ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa) without being locked... [Read more]

After designing two power supplies - the first of which was not entirely successful and the second of which proved to be of little use - I decided to design a third. This is because, as it turned out, in my practice there is no need for current limitation, especially as in the previous... [Read more]

I invite you to a short presentation showing the process of creating a simple 3D printable item. I will design and print a lamp-mounted phone holder that allows you to use your phone vertically. I will show the step by step design process along with test prints. In a way, this topic... [Read more]