Archive for the ‘Home Improvement’ Category

Autonomous SmartDesk with TiMotion TC15 controller doesn’t move

Sunday, April 19th, 2020

Okay, this will be a short post.  If your adjustable desk won’t move and it has the TiMotion controller, do this:

  1. Unplug the controller until the green LED goes out.
  2. Plug the controller back in.
  3. Hold the up and down buttons on the front panel simultaneously for 3 seconds, or until the motor relocates the base to the bottom and beeps once.

Then your desk will work again!

Here are the specifications and user manual.  For reference, I verified the power supply board provides 32VDC to the controller board, and the controller board provides 5VDC to the motion base motors.

Setup Chromecast With Transcoding UPnP Media Server Located On A Different Network

Saturday, August 30th, 2014

Here are some notes on my configuration that allows the following:

  • Chromecast on wireless subnet to play video
  • Smartphone(s) on wireless subnet using Avia/BubbleUPnP to select video and control Chromecast
  • Mediatomb Linux server, on a different network segment, transcoding any video format to Chromecast format in realtime
  • Linux router at the center with wired and wireless connections

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Mailbox post “Adapter”

Friday, May 18th, 2007

If your curbside mailbox is beat up and it’s time to replace it, you might be elated to find that a replacement plastic mailbox is less than $5 at the local home improvement megastore. You might be not so elated to find that the replacement mailbox does not fit onto the post that is left behind.

A cheap solution is to make an “adapter” using a 1×6 board. The cheapest 1×6 board I have found is a fence picket, believe it or not. It costs less than two dollars at the same home improvement megastore. I marked and sawed off a piece that fit flush into the bottom of the new mailbox. I then took my hole saw kit and matched a 1 3/4″ hole saw that fit just over the end of the old mailbox post. After cutting the hole, I placed the board onto the mailbox post, and marked the two other screw holes that were on my post. Your post will be different so do what makes sense. I drilled those out with a 5/16″ drill. I also took the drill and sort of hogged out a shallow recess into each hole that the bolt head could go down into, so the bolt head would be flush with the board when attached and the mailbox would be able to sit flat on the adapter board. Attached the adapter board to the post with some 1/4″ screws and nuts. Marked and drilled the holes that would attach the mailbox to the adapter board, and then attached the mailbox using 1/4″ screws, nuts, and large washers. Put the nuts on the inside of the mailbox so that if you need to replace the mailbox later, they won’t be corroded and force you to cut them off. Then again, if you have had problems with your mailbox being stolen, maybe you want to JB Weld those nuts on there instead…

Ta-da! New mailbox. And it only cost me 5 bucks if some kids decide to smash it…