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Navit GPS on Raspberry Pi
I've got a USB GPS dongle working with my Raspberry Pi, so I started exploring mapping software that I could run on it if I were to mount the RPi in my car with a little screen - the simple low...
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TomTom Bluetooth Remote & Raspberry Pi
A while back I bought a TomTom Bluetooth remote control (here's a good review) with a view to using it with a Linux home theatre computer (HTPC) running XBMC or similar. As far as the computer is...
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Mouse in the house!
I've been working on using a Raspberry Pi using passive power over ethernet to monitor webcams in the birdboxes at the bottom of the garden, using the software Motion to capture images or stream video....
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Webcam telescope image of Jupiter & Moons
It is winter again, and the upside to it getting dark before 5pm is many more chances for astronomy. This week I had my SkyWatcher telescope out again, and captured a few images of Jupiter and its...
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Tasco 1603EF focus motor on SkyWatcher SK1309EQ2 telescope
Since I was having trouble with astrophotography focussing my telescope via the webcam, I decided to try out a motorised focus control - sometimes misleading called an automatic focuser. I found the...
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Raspberry Pi down the Garden
I'm now installed a Raspberry Pi with two webcams at the bottom of the garden using passive power over ethernet with a 40m cable. In the autumn I tested this indoors to catch invading mice, but now the...
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Mouse recorded by Raspberry Pi Compost-cam
The compost-cam (my Raspberry Pi powered webcam in a compost heap) has confirmed there are regular mouse (or mice) visits, I've even spotted a visitor via the live webcam feed from motion.Mouse eating...
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SkyWatcher Explorer 130M with Canon EOS DSLR
This weekend I borrowed a Canon EOS 1000D to try out for prime-focus astrophotography when connected directly to my SkyWatcher Explorer 130M (SK1309EQ2) telescope using a T-ring adapter.Moon using...
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SkyWatcher Explorer 130M with Canon EOS (Take 2)
I borrowed a Canon EOS 1000D for the weekend, and was lucky to get some clear sky both on Friday and again tonight (Sunday). On Friday I was mostly working out focus travel issues, what modifications...
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Trapezium (Orion Nebula) using Xbox Webcam
I first tried imaging the Orion Nebula (M42) with the Xbox webcam on my SkyWatcher 130M telescope last year, and managed to resolve the Trapezium star cluster. Sadly I can't find the original images,...
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PS3 Eye Camera for astrophotography
I was inspired to try out the PlayStation 3 Eye camera for astrophotogaphy after seeing this amazing Orion M42 nebula image taken using a PS3 webcam on a SkyWatcher 130P (an hours worth of 4s exposures...
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Raspberry Pi motion sensitive Trail-Cam
My Raspberry Pi at the bottom of the garden is now monitoring an unmodified XBox webcam pointing at a fence break, rather than the mice visiting the compost heap. This uses the Motion software to...
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Installing Canon EOS Utility on Mac without the CD
My second hand Canon EOS 1000D has arrived (intended for astrophotography), but without the manual or software CD. Canon provide this stuff to download on their website which is great, except that the...
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Moving the mirror on the SkyWatcher 130M
My SkyWatcher 130M telescope needs a little help to reach prime focus with a DSLR camera (see also this great blog post). So I decided to move the primary mirror up the tube to allow my Canon EOS to...
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Raspberry Pi Trail Cam - Update
Its been two months since I posted the first set of photos captured by my Raspberry Pi trail-cam. Since the UK had some unexpected snow in March 2013 - during which the garden based Raspberry Pi...
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Blue Tit eggs
In addition to automatically monitoring my TrailCam, the garden based Raspberry Pi has continued to watch the Blue Tits in Bird Box III which have this year laid a clutch of seven eggs, averaging one a...
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Blue Tit chicks hatched
Photos from Friday, six of the seven Blue Tit eggs have clearly hatched. Food!Broken egg shell to recycleOne egg unhatchedTwo open mouths, one eggBoth parents squeezed into the boxFive open mouths, one...
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Raspberry Pi XBMC infrared remote control
I've added an infrared receiver to my Raspberry Pi, tucked inside a PiBow case with its clear top layer letting it receive the signals. This lets me re-use an old DVD player IR remote to control XBMC...
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Roomba 620 infrared signals
Having been pondering it for a while, I recently bought an iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner - the Roomba 620 which is the current entry model. For fun I took some photos with an infrared sensitive webcam...
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Raspberry Pi IR blaster and Roomba IR codes
When I finally bought an iRobot vacuum cleaner, I went for the Roomba 620 which is the current entry model. This version doesn't come with any accessories like the "Virtual Walls" (infrared barriers),...
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A Japanese-style kotatsu made in Scotland
Traditional Japanese wooden houses don't have central heating - instead some rooms have air conditioning (イアコン), the toilet seat is usually heated, while the living room often has a kotatsu heated...
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GY-80 orientation sensor on a Raspberry Pi
As I don't yet have a "Goto Mount" for my telescope, I've spent a frustrating amount of time trying and failing to find objects of interest by star hopping. Perhaps I just need more practice, but if...
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Instrumented Telescope with Raspberry Pi and orientation sensor
A "Push To" telescope mount is like a fully automated "Go To" telescope mount, but without the motors. You must manually move the telescope, but because the telescope knows where it is pointed, you get...
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Curious Rover Tracks at Space Expo 2014
This week I enjoyed visiting the Space Expo 2014 "The Great Challenge of NASA/JAXA" which is being held 19 July to 23 September at Makuhari Messe (幕張メッセ) in Chiba, Japan.1/10 size Saturn V model at...
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Ikea ZAISU - Floor chairs for our kotatsu
A year ago I setup a DIY kotatsu using an Ikea LACK coffee table, but never got a proper futon-mat, nor any Japanese style floor chairs to go with it: 座椅子 (ざいす, or zaisu). I'd been seriously pondering...
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