iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

#HomeAssistant and especially #ESPhome make so many useful projects possible. Instead of taking a week to stand-up a new embedded development board, I installed ESPhome on an ESP32 relay board in about 15 minutes using the new IDE and build server! The […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Home Assistant interface screen shot showing a drop-down list of heat pump SmartGrid modes, currently set to Free Running.

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026

#ActiveTravel in action - #Brompton personal teleport cycle, then a train to #MakerSpace Newcastle. Around here, 1950s cycling infrastructure seems better than 2020s, likely as designers still rode, wheeled, and walked.

Green folding bicycle on a railway station platform, with a Hitachi 80x set approaching at high speed on the ECML.

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/04/2026

What a difference when you use a proper ESP-WROOM-32. Flashed and connected immediately - no wasted two days of wondering what was going wrong. On the bright side; I now know how to use a wire-wrap gun, and v2 #ESPsomfy will be a neater job for […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Android connection dialogue showing a good WLAN connection to a ESPSomfyRTS captive portal SSID for initial configuration. (Hence no Internet - that comes next.)

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2025

For #OpenStreetMap mappers in the #UK seeing #LoRaWAN back-haul transceivers appear on utility_pole and street_light infra apparently, they are apparently operated by #ConnexinLTD and used by several water utilities for remote metering. I've according added […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

LoRaWAN communications kit boxes with a solar panel and antenna on top of a 6m high wooden pole in a street scene.

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/07/2025

@WilliamNB Testing a new 3d-printed helmet mount for a WillCam. This means a standard GoPro stick-on shoe works with both a WillCam (carist monitoring) and a GoPro ( #OpenStreetMap survey).

Cylindrical action camera mounted on a 3D-printed arm clipped to a cycle helmet.

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2025

#OSM tagging conundrum for LoRaWAN remote utility meter reading base stations (Part 2) Add-on to an existing street light pole. This is a bit harder as it is both a street light, AND a base station: highway=street_lamp lamp_mount=straight_mast lamp_type=LED […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Metal LED street-light pole with a radio antenna, equipment box, and mains power connection in a residential street.

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2025

#OSM tagging conundrum for LoRaWAN remote utility meter reading base stations (Part 1) Dedicated wooden pole, radio base station, solar power. Best I can come up with is: height=5m man_made=utility_pole material=wood utility=water communication:lorawan=yes […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Wooden utility pole with a radio aerial, solar panel, and equipment box on a residential street.

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James Derrick @jamesderrick.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/04/2025

The combination of a #Brompton #bike and the #NorthumberlandLine train is rather good. Personal teleport that runs on fat, and a £1.60 train journey for the longer section. Almost perfect - just need active travel links to Ashington Station, and […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A green Brompton bicycle partially folded, resting on Newsham NWS train station with a two-car train in the background.

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