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TCL Roku 4k
The TCL Roku 4k is back on top as my recommended Smart TV for using an antenna. You can purchase this brand in various sizes (28 – 65 inches) from amazon, walmart, and target. Bestbuy has their own brand, Insignia Roku 4k. The 4k model has faster hardware than the 1080p model. Even if you don’t use 4k, you will benefit from the better picture and faster menu navigation. Features: – HD Antenna Tuner – See my other antenna guides for more info on what Antennas work in the low signals areas (like where I live). – Roku Apps – Roku has been a part of streaming tv since the…
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2018 Comparison of Verizon MVNOs
I live in an area with ZERO att/tmobile coverage. Sprint coverage is sparse. Leaving Verizon and US Cellular as the only towers with consistent coverage. I am a user of Straight Talk. I chose them for their pricing at the time of $45 for unlimited calls and texts with 5GB of high speed data, unlimited low speed data. The coverage was through Verizon and hit 95% of the places I travel. Really good. In the years since I switched to Straight Talk, they have increased that 5GB data allotment to 6GB, then 8Gb, and now 10GB. What a deal~! MVNOs like Straight Talk are able to offer lower prices than larger…
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Idea: Answering Tricky questions with Amazon Mechanical Turk
I know that the Echo gets the bulk of its responses from Alexa, but I think amazon is missing an opportunity with their own mturk service. Each time Echo responds with “sorry”, the transcript of that command is already flagged for staff review. If enough people ask for anything, the appropriate response will eventually be available for Echo. However, what if Amazon could create new responses to tricky questions in less than a day? Using Amazon’s own Mechanical Turk service, Amazon can reduce the threshold for human review. Overall decreasing the turnaround for creating better responses from weeks down to hours or even minutes! For the uninitiated, Mechanical Turk is…
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Volume Control for a Android Head Unit
I gave myself a birthday gift earlier this year. Upgrading my truck’s cd/tape deck with something more modern. I installed an Android Head Unit. For less than $200 and a weekend of work, I gave my 2005 truck modern features such as bluetooth, reverse camera, gps navigation, and mpg gauges. ATOTO 7″HD Touchscreen 2Din Android Car Stereo ATOTO License Plate Rear View Camera ATOTO Bluetooth OBDII Tool I have had the android head unit installed a few month now and am still really impressed. The head unit’s speaker amplifier is a huge upgrade from what I had for sound quality before. The radio receives stations for longer distances. I use…
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Mark 3 Ammo Counter
Nerf, Paintball, Prop Weapons. This is the ammo counter you want~! The Ammo Counter MK3 is a remix of my previous ammo counter design and is now completely reprogrammable by you with no additional tools! There are 10 clip slots in memory, you can easily switch magazine sizes with a single button press. In addition, each clip slot can be reprogrammed by you for any starting value up to 99. Each slot will remember your selected fire mode, semi-auto, full-auto, and count up.Video tutorial: Coming Soon!Features:* Smallest Ammo Counter Circuit!* Selectable Clip Sizes* Programmable Clip Sizes (Default: 35, 25, 22, 18, 15, 12, 10, 6, 32, 99)* Programmable Fire Types…
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Ammo Counter 2017 – New Design
This is a small preview of the new ammo counter design I am working on. There are two buttons on the face of the circuit that will allow you to select from preset modes, or add your own! No more hardcoded starting count values!! More info to follow… The finished circuit will be about the same size as my previous ammo counters.
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OTA Antenna FAQs
Here are some Frequently asked questions I get about TV Antennas in my town: What is the best antenna? Can I go bigger? Can I pick up channels from both Madison and Cedar Rapids? What is the best antenna? The best antenna is the one that fits your budget. Here is my handout I give folks who ask. I have it broken into three budgets. < $50 / $120 / $200 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x113jqeepDhK4VtcKPQecNvcxV7hLQJXG0ZTiL3sqp0 Can I go bigger? Short answer, no. Long answer, it depends but probably is not worth it. You can explore this page which describes running multiple DB8 antennas. Midway down the page you will find “Why this 16-bay…
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[theory] How does a boost converter behave when it receives input voltage above the target output voltage?
What is the boost converter doing when it receives input voltage above the target output voltage? I have a homemade TV remote that I designed with a NCP1402 boost converter so I could power with a single AA and have a 3.3V board voltage. Worked fine in testing, but I wanted more range. So I swapped out the standard 1.5 volt alkaline AA for a 3.7 volt 14500 Li-Ion. The board components can handle the extra voltage. Not worried there. I was curious what the boost converter thinks about the situation. Example schematic: Datasheet: https://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/NCP1402-D.PDF My observations and theory: When I input 3.7 volts and probe the boost converter’s normally…
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OTA Channel List – Aug 2017
I did a scan tonight and found FIVE new channels I wasn’t aware of. If you have an antenna, do a channel scan on your tv to find the new channels. ION, 24/7 PBS Kids, TBD TV, American Sports Network, and QVC. Here is an updated list of stations from Madison that we can receive in Platteville~! All primary channels are broadcast in 1080i or 720p HD, with the exception of CW, all subchannels are 480i. 3.1 CBS channel3000.com3.2 MyN mynetworktv.com3.3 ION iontelevision.com15.1 NBC nbc15.com15.2 CW cwtv.com15.3 Antenna TV antennatv.tv15.4 Weather weathernationtv.com21.1 PBS wpt.org21.2 Wisconsin wpt.org/wisconsinchannel21.3 Create createtv.com21.4 PBS Kids pbskids.org27.1 ABC wkow.com27.2 Me-TV metvnetwork.com27.3 Decades decades.com40.1 Christian kfxb.net47.1 FOX fox47.com47.2 Comet comettv.com47.3 Charge watchcharge.com47.4 TBD tbd.com57.1 Independent wi57.tv57.2 Movies! moviestvnetwork.com57.3 H&I handitvnetwork.com57.4 ASN americansportsnet.com57.5 QVC qvc.com
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DaftMike Clone DIY Electronics Kit
This has been a long time coming! ANNOUNCING AVAILABILITY of a DaftMike Clone DIY Electronics Kit !!!! If you already have a 3D printed case, raspberry pi, arduino, NFC reader, and all you are missing is something to tie them all together. This kit is for you!! I can answer questions here, by PM, or email thatdecade@gmail.com Special thanks to Joshua Kane, Jared Kirchgatter, Jason Victoria, Dave Hicks, Ruud Lok, Jeff Moore, and everyone else who helped me debug the design! This kit fixes several issues with the DaftMike’s original design: broken mosfets, non working controllers, and other assembly difficulties. Assembly Guide is here:http://www.westaby.net/nespi/arduino_electonics_assembly.html
