Latest Posts
Publishing & Subscribing to MQTT Topics Using Mosquitto Client Tools & Microsoft Azure IoT Hub
Public cloud brings a paradigm shift in what can be done, the art of the possible is possible and in the context of this post, I am planning to replicate ~250ish MQTT topics running in a Mosquitto MQTT container in to Azure IoT Hub. From ML (Machine Learning) through to anomaly detection and everything in between, the bells and whistles… read more
Installation and Integration of a Hydreon RG-11 Optical Rain Sensor with a PLC & HomeAssistant
This is an article I have been meaning to write for some time. I guess I haven’t as this sensor has been something that has just worked out of the box and hasn’t skipped a beat in almost 5 years. I use OpenSprinkler to drive my irrigation and I will soon share how I integrate with it in a future… read more
Flashing Tasmota on a Sonoff Dual R3 & Integrating With Home Assistant
PLC based appliance modules have been something of a staple in my house over the last 10 years and at recent count, I had 72 X10 appliance modules. The challenges with X10 are pretty widely known but with the advances in X10, most of these challenges around reliability can be pretty easily solved. Adding in JV Engineering’s excellent XTB-IIR which… read more
TLS 1.3 – Faster, Safer and Just Awesome
Recently I thought it was time to get back to basics, time to get in to the detail and I gave an internal session at Microsoft on (TLS) Transport Layer Security 1.3 and why its such step change for TLS. I am sure you are probably aware TLS is an encryption protocol that protects Internet communications. It is the successor… read more
A Journey in to MQTT With Roller Shutters, Mosquitto, HomeAssistant & Low Powered Micro-Controllers
Its been a journey over the last 10 years in driving heat out of the top story of my house. From double glazing, heavy drapes and window film, keeping temperatures cool and the house dark in summer has been a challenge for our north facing windows (the master bedroom). Near 6 months ago I decided I would install external roller… read more
Controlling A PLC With Amazon Alexa
I recently purchased an Amazon Echo which is a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. Amazon Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly. It’s the ‘more’ this article will explore. Unlike other services, Alexa exposes itself via the Alexa Skills Kit According to Amazon “The Alexa Skills Kit… read more
Reading Exetel Usage Data With PowerShell
The de facto standard for control in house is our PLC, things mainly happen autonomously, but when things don’t happen magically the tool of choice is a smart phone running NetIO. NetIO is a multi platform smartphone application, a generic remote controller for almost everything. It simply sends and reads strings over a network socket. I have a NetIO server… read more
Presentation: Automation and Scale On Azure – An Introduction To ARM Templates
I recently had the pleasure to present an Azure ARM templates 101 to Melbourne Infrastructure Coders. I want to thank all of those who attended, David Lutz (@dlutzy) and Matthew Jones (@geekle) for facilitating and REA for the use of their facilities. My presentation, Automation and Scale On Azure – An Introduction To ARM Templates, covered off an overview of… read more
Managing PoE WiFi Access Points Power State Based On Alarm System Status
It has been almost 5 years of automating our house and during that time most systems have been automated successfully. These days it is about fine tuning and this is what this post is about. Our house is on the largish side and contains three Cisco Aironet AP’s to provide a unified hidden SSID. We leverage our alarm system (Inner… read more
Our Front Yard – Landscaping And Lasers
Landscaping our house has always been something on the cards for our family but it was placed on the back burner due to differing priorities. It wasn’t until our body corporate put this on the agenda did we get pretty serious about it. Whilst technically I find I can learn grasp most things life, design is not something I have… read more