Category Archives: Tutorials
HA – setting automations/events/color/conditions, without fiddling around in HA settings
My wife likes to set/change colors/brightness of our lights, based on certain conditions/events, butshe doesn’t want to fiddle around in the HA interface or yaml itself. I created some buttons on dashboards, so she can set the colors/brightness of every … Continue reading
RPI Zero W – DMX/OLA
The RPI Zero W is the little brother of the RPI(4). This does have a less powerful processor and only 512KB Rams. Due to its very low power-consumption, it’s ideal to do some smaller (sub)automations.You can also attach a screen … Continue reading
*Article in progress: Converting the A500 Mini to an Amiga 4000 (with WB 3.1)
Because a real Amiga 4000 is way to expensive, I bought “The A500 Mini” from RetroGames.This can be easily modified, to run as an A4000 (with WB 3.1), it can even connect to the internet (via WiFi) with little effort, … Continue reading
*Article in progress: HA – custom notifications via Browser_mod to IOS and various devices
I have some “nice” notifications:– Showing cameras on our google nest devices, based on motion and/or other triggers.– Let google nest speak the number and name of people that are calling on our landline or outgoing calls.– Even show pictures … Continue reading
HA – record video when doorbell rings + recording gallery + auto-delete old recordings
I have an EUFY video doorbell (but this should work with any HA supported doorbell) and also several Tapo C310 and EzViz cams.Whenever these camera’s trigger a motion (or button push from the doorbell), it starts recording video for about … Continue reading
HA – switching from Conbee II to SkyConnect USB stick
I previously used a Conbee II USB stick, and switched to SkyConnect recently.“Switching” was very easy 🙂 Conbee II USB stick: https://phoscon.de/en/conbee2SkyConnect USB Stick: https://www.home-assistant.io/skyconnect 1. Make a full backup of your system.2. Download a separate backup of your ZigBee … Continue reading
HA – using 1 “custom:my-slider” to control volume on several devices
I have several devices to play my radio-stream. (A (windows) laptop from work, an HP Pavilion, a GigaByte mini PC with AMD Ryzen 7 …)Depending on the work I do, the mood I’m in, one of these devices is playing … Continue reading
HA – control “things” on a remote (linux) device
Sometimes it’s necessary to control “things” on a remote linux device. (possible a RPI, and certainly NOT your device that is running HA)In this posting, you will learn how to perform these tasks on the remote device:* Control the volume* … Continue reading
HA – shell commands to RPI or other Linux machines, without the need to enter passwords !
Sometimes you just one to run a remote command from HA, on another machine. (RPI or other Linux machine)When using shell_command within HA, you get confronted with the fact that you need to enter a password on this remote machine … Continue reading
HA – control/read entities via Restful API
1. JQ and Curl are needed for this tutorial !Note for windows users: Make sure Curl is installed ! It should be installed on newer windows versions,in case you don’t have it, head over to https://curl.se/windows (On linux / MacOS, it is installed by … Continue reading
HA – communication between MQTT and Arduino
MQTT stands for Message Queuing Telemetry Transport.It’s a lightweight protocol where a small code footprint is needed, and the connection uses a small bandwidth. It is mainly used for “machine-to-machine” communication or IOT (Internet-Of-Things).It’s an ideal solution to exchange data … Continue reading
HA – PAJ7620 gesture sensor
I have a “magic mirror” in our bath-room, to watch news/videos/house overview.When the screen is on, it “shines” trough this mirror, making the screen visible.When turned off, the mirror is just a regular mirror.This is done with a “one-way” mirror … Continue reading
HA – good to know & snippets
Format date/timeWith the now().strftime(‘XXX’), you can output the current date/time, in a certain format.Replacing the XXX with a combination of “Format”, allows you to get a timestamp in the format your prefer. You can add multiple format tags, and also … Continue reading
HA – using a 1480×320 display with a baremetal OS (RPI with Chromium)
I’m still working from home … I made a switch from our local (Benelux) department, to the global (worldwide) IT department. (still within the same company, for more then 20 years …)Because this switch requires lots and lots of teams-calls, … Continue reading
HA – use ChatGPT (3.0) in automations to show data
Most people know by now what ChatGPT is. If not, check it out at https://www.openai.com and https://chat.openai.com/Most people use it to help them out with some HA automation.I use it “IN” automations, to get data and represent it in HA … Continue reading
HA – Fix for images-issue with FeedParser / custom:list-card
I see lots of people struggling with showing images in RSS feeds.Some posts on different HA forums, suggest changes in sensor.py in /custom_components/feedparser/but this seems no longer to work. The issue is the way those images are placed inside the … Continue reading
Time for a new year and a lot of new postings !
2022 has been a very busy year at work. 2023 may be even more busy !But this will not prevent me from posting lots of new topics 🙂2023 will be the year of my new hobby-room / music-room / modelrailroad-room … Continue reading
LocoMotion – the secret revealed :-)
Today I want to announce a major modelrailroad project ! Last Christmas, I got an Esu Ecos II as a present. Because I do own a lot of MFX locomotives, I needed a central command station that could handle MFX,MM-I,MM-II,MM-FX, … Continue reading
Converting a Trix 22941 to Märklin 39241
A few years ago, Märklin released model of Serie 241-A, SNCF, one of the biggest steam-locomotives in Europe. At the time of release, I was ill for a long time (in hospital, in a coma, re-animated 3 times etc … … Continue reading
uPyCraft on the Raspberry Pi (Ubuntu Buster)
Because I’m used to uPyCraft on my mac machines, to do some python coding on my ESP board (Lilygo ttgo T8 for example), I wanted uPyCraft also on my Raspberry Pi 4.As I suspected, it was not available, but that … Continue reading
Use Elgato Stream Deck with QLC+
This is my “proof-of-concept”, that it’s possible to use an Elgato Stream Deck, together with QLC+, no need for the official Elgato software.This POC is written in Python, and communicates with QLC+ via a websocket.If your OS does support Python … Continue reading
Ableton Live: Output audio to multiple outputs
It seems like some people are struggling with the ability to output audio to multiple outputs at once. I for example, have an audio interface with 6 outputs, normally you choose your default output-pair in your OS (even Mac !)But … Continue reading
Yamaha MODX: Multi-track recording/editing with Ableton
While the Yamaha MODX comes with a Cubase license, I still prefer to use Ableton Live. (A fox never gets rid of his old tricks) All info on the internet, youtube and the Yamaha website and forum, all relates to … Continue reading
Yamaha MODX: making screenshots to USB stick
Don’t know if anyone is aware of this, but I was looking for a way to make actual screenshots of my Yamaha ModX, just for storing my settings “visually” … This is another fine easter-egg, I think Yamaha don’t want … Continue reading
New Mac Mini – DIY memory-upgrade + 3x 4K screens
After year of reliable service, it was time for a new Mac Mini. The 2020 edition is the same as the 2018 edition, except that it comes with double the storage space. Because RAM memory is expensive in those Apple … Continue reading
Yamaha MODX: Connecting an external touch screen
This week, I began my adventure to connect an external touch screen to my Yamaha MODX. Yamaha does not support this,so, we are on our own on this …After looking on several websites, I noticed that there are 3 touch … Continue reading
Modifying the Velleman K8200 3D printer
My first 3D printer was a Velleman K8200 (DIY kit). I already have this 3D printer for 2 year now, and in the beginning, I was not happy with the results. One of the first things I did, was improving … Continue reading
ESP8266 – cheap Wifi/Serial module !
I recently purchased a few of those ESP 8266 modules ! They are really small, only needs a few pins to connect to an MCU, and are also very cheap.(about 2,30 euro a piece !) I have lots of ideas … Continue reading
Arduino environment with ATTiny + Arduino Mini Pro programming *UPDATED, December 7th – 2014*
While I picked up my own car-system for the H0 modelrailroad again, I started with the ATTiny IC’s to control the cars. I’m currently switching from RF to IR. I normally use Microchip PICs in my projects, but because the … Continue reading
Intel NUC – D54250WYK OSX + Win 2012 R2 Server *UPDATED, August 13th – 2014*
It’s been a long time since I posted something on our website, this was mainly due to illness. (I now also have Sarcoïdose besides my HHC (HyperHomeCystenemie)) Due to my 3D printed addiction, I’m now a “full-blown” Solidworks user. (I … Continue reading
The building of Diorama “The cargo dock” (scale 1/35)
In our new cabinet, we have about 3 large glass shelves, each 90 cm x 90 cm (35,43 inch x 35,43 inch), on each shelve we are going to put a diorama. The central theme of each diorama, will be … Continue reading
Amerigo Vespucci – Deagostini version (scale 1/84)
Today, I received a “shipwreck” of the Amerigo Vespucci … For those who don’t know the Amerigo Vespucci, check out this wikipedia link Actual image of the Amerigo Vespucci, docked in Venice (Italy) A few years ago, Deagostini published a … Continue reading
Building another BR52 Steam locomotive *EXTRA* (scale 1/35)
We currently have 2 Trumpeter BR52 sets laying around (don’t ask !) … So, Christel also started to build one ! Today, she completed building steps 1 & 2, before she can continue on step 3, the extra LionRoar PE … Continue reading
Building closed-shelf cabinets (for H0 models)
Due to some illness, I was not able to work on my modelrailroad layout for some months. So, I did spent a lot of time (and money) on Ebay, which results in the fact that I now own more trains … Continue reading
Building a BR52 Steam locomotive *ORIGINAL* (scale 1/35)
In our new cabinet, we have about 3 large glass shelves, each 90 cm x 90 cm. The idea came to mind to put some “big” locomotives on these shelves. So, I started looking around, and noticed that “gauge 1” … Continue reading
Building a gondola (scale 1/35)
The WR360 will be part of a diorama (number 2 in a set of 3 diorama’s), and so I needed 2 extra gondola’s to put behind the WR360. Here you can follow the building of those gondola’s. Due to my … Continue reading
The building of Diorama “The loc shed” (scale 1/35)
In our new cabinet, we have about 3 large glass shelves, each 90 cm x 90 cm (35,43 inch x 35,43 inch), on each shelve we are going to put a diorama. The central theme of each diorama, will be … Continue reading
The building of Diorama “Crossroads” (scale 1/35)
In our new cabinet, we have about 3 large glass shelves, each 90 cm x 90 cm (35,43 inch x 35,43 inch), on each shelve we are going to put a diorama. The central theme of each diorama, will be … Continue reading
Building a WR360 C12 Diesel locomotive (scale 1/35)
In our new cabinet, we have about 3 large glass shelves, each 90 cm x 90 cm. The idea came to mind to put some “big” locomotives on these shelves. So, I started looking around, and noticed that “gauge 1” … Continue reading
Short-coupler on Märklin Hogwarts Express
I do own the Marklin Hogwarts Express, aka the Harry Potter train. (which is actually a Hornby set, but who cares) Because the coaches were to far apart, I decided to put Ribu shortcouplings underneath it, do minimize the distance … Continue reading
Lego Mindstorms Vision Command ActiveX
This is one of those 3 exception postings, that do exist way longer then this website 🙂 Back in the year 2000, I was selected as a preview member by the Lego company, for the release of the Vision Command. … Continue reading
Lego Mindstorms enhanced CD wall
This is one of those exception postings (there are three of them) Because the old website where this belongs, does no longer exists, I decided to add these to our blog, dated before the start of digitalplayground.be in 2008 … … Continue reading