Know How... (Video)

In part 2 of our vlogging studio, we introduce the Blackmagic Video Assist 4k, a Blackmagic Design Arduino Shield, and a 4 input video switcher called Skreens!

BM Assist

Blackmagic Video Assist 4K ~$900
* 7" 1920 x 1080 Touch screen
* Integrated Mono speaker
* Dual SD Slots (SDHC * SDXC)
* Inputs
- HDMI
- SDI (270MB, 1.5G, 3G, 6G)
- 2 x Balanced mini XLR
- 2 channel audio via HDMI
* Outputs
- HDMI
- SDI (270MB, 1.5G, 3G, 6G)
- SDI Audio Output
* LANC Sync
* Dual Battery Slots

* Will control SDI connected cameras

Format Support

* NTSC & PAL
* SDI/HDMI
- 720p 50 / 59.94
- 1080p 23.98 / 24 / 25 / 29.97 / 30 / 50 / 59.94 / 60
- 1080i 50 / 59.94 / 60
- 4k 23.98 / 24 / 25 / 29.97 / 30

* Records in ProRes 422HQ / ProRes 422 / ProRes 422 LT

Blackmagic Design 3G-SDI Arduino Shield ~$95

Skreens

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

What is ASLR, and the perfect cameras for your own studio.

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

For full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/know-how/episodes/287

We invite Jason Howell onto KnowHow to show how he built his MAME cabinet, how he plans to upgrade it and what he would change. Bryan reintroduces his NES Case mod with a Raspberry Pi console emulator, and Padre brings his TouchScreen mobile Pi for gaming or video on the go!

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

We bring Mark "Smitty" Smith back on to cover the finer points of soldering while Padre and Bryan attempt to assemble a digital oscilloscope.

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

ChatSIM allows you to travel without worrying about cell networks, why the OnePlus 3t is Padre's do it all phone, and the Feiyu Tech handheld gimbal.

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

We go over the basic operation of our Growduino system, what is an RTC and why we need one for this project, and learn how to program an Arduino to schedule when to turn on and off the watering system.

Problem:
An Arduino's memory is wiped when it loses power. For most of our projects, that doesn't matter b/c we're only using the Arduino as a momentary I/O controller. However, when we have a project that needs to be persistent, we need a way to keep time even when the Arduino is powered off.

Segment Summary:
We're going to connect a Tiny RTC to an Arduino.

Parts:
1. Tiny RTC I2C DS1307 Real Time Clock ~$1.50
2. Arduino
3. Jumper Wires

Tools:
1. Soldering Kit


What is I2C?
* I2C (Pronounced "I Squared C") can communicate with multiple devices over short distances with just two wires: SDA (Data Line) & SCL (Clock Line)
* Technically, it's a "Multi-Master, Multi-Slave, Single-Ended, Serial bus"

You need to know what are the SCL and SDA pins on your arduino
* Uno, Nano or clone (SDA = A4 // SCL = A5)
* Mega (SDA = 20 // SCL = 21)
* Leonardo (SDA = 2 // SCL = 3)
* Due (SDA = 20 // SCL = 21)

Segment Agenda:
1. Explain I2C
2. Solder pins onto the TinyRTC
3. Connect TinyRTC to Breadboard
4. Show Output
5. Set Time
6. Trigger Relay

The Code for today's episode can be found HERE

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

We go over the different models of AeroGarden and what models we've been using, how to diagnose your WiFi connectivity issues, and how to repair the Syma X5 Quadcopter!

Starting and Moving my Grow
-- Michael B
"I live just outside of Dallas, Tx and it is time to start my Tomato seeds. You have talked about the Miracle-Grow AeroGarden product on your show and I plan to purchase one. There seem to be several choices, Sprout, Harvest Bounty, Elite, Ultra and Bounty Elite + WIFI, I plan to purchase the Elite and need to know if the WIFI feature is worth the extra cost?"

We've shown off two AeroGardens on Know How

AeroGarden Harvest ~$120
* 6 Pods
* 20 Watt LED Lighting system (100 full-spectrum LED Grow lights) on an adjustable arm that can give 12" of growing height
* Automated lighting, irrigation and nutrient delivery
* Hydroponic
* Can grow crops up to 5x faster


AeroGarden Bounty Elite ~$370
* 45 Watt LED Lighting system
* 9-pods
* Touch-Screen


AeroGarden Bouty Elite Wi-Fi ~$360
* Same as Bouty Elite + WiFi
* Adds an App

WiFi Issues
-- Robert Short
"Ok i got one for you all. Need a little help or at least your thoughts. Got a issue with WIFI. on my laptop dell R4110 it will drop WiFi for no reason. I have a Asus RT-N66R router and using the WiFi from the Comcast router. I can switch between routers and reconnect with no issues, i have reloaded drivers and even changed out the pci-e card. Anyone run into this before."

Intermittent problems SUCK! (So let's do some differential diagnosis)
1. Try with a different AP (Comcast routers SUCK)
2. Try with a USB Wireless adapter
3. Remove all third-party wireless connection management tools

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

Continuing with our Growduino project we go over what relays are and why we need them and begin the basics of coding your Arduino so you can remotely access or schedule automation!

Relays!
* A relay is a switch that is toggled electrically
** It gives us the ability to turn on and off a circuit with a different circuit
-- So a 120AC circuit could toggle a 12V DC circuit
-- A 5V circuit could toggle a 24V circuit

There are several different TYPES of Relays
-- Electromagnetic (the most popular)
-- Optomechanical (Much like EM, but the circuits are COMPLETELY isolated from each other)
-- Solid State (No moving parts. All switching is done in a semiconductor)

We're going to be using electromagnetic Relays
* In the most basic version: a switch is toggled between "on" and "off" by an electromagnetic that physically moves the switch between the two positions

uxcell HH54P D 12V Coil Relay ~$8
-- They can be normally open or normally closed, some, like the UXCELL can throw multiple circuits simul

For our projects, we can use something a little more simple

Uxcell 12V 5-pin Mini Power Relay ~$7
* The side of the relay with three pins
-- The OUTSIDE pins power the electro magnet
-- The INSIDE pin is the NO/NC pin that links to the other side of the relay
* The side of the relay with two pins
-- One is the normally open pin
-- One is the normally closed pin

The important part is that we can use a 5-volt circuit to toggle a circuit up to 30v (or 120v AC)

Demo 1:
* Relay that is toggled by a simple switch

Demo 2:
* Relay that is toggled by an Arduino

Code for today's project is found here.

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

We go to the KnowHow community and answer your questions! Time to upgrade you NAS? What is the Raspberry Pi compute module and why would you want it. What's the best way to exhaust hot air, and more!

Synology NAS Question
-- Alex Martinez
"Im thinking of getting a synology ds1515+ but im debating if i should wait a bit that maybe its about time synology will release a newer model? Should i just buy or wait a bit?"

1515+ Specs:
* 5 Hot-swap bays (maximum of 10TB each)
* Supports SSD Caching on Bay 1 (Install an SSD into bay 1 and the rest of the array is cached onto it)
* Quad-core 2.4Ghz Intel Atom CPU
* 2GB of DDR3 (Expandable to 6GB) (One empty slot)
* Dedicated HARDWARE encryption engine
* 4 GigE ports with failover and link aggregation (bonding)
* Scalable with up to 2 expansion units (through the eSATA port)
* 4x USB 3.0 ports on the back
* 2 eSATA Ports

* 450.77MB/s read /// 395MB/s Write
(NB: That's 3.6GBps read // 3.16Gbps write :: That means it's FASTER than a single GigE interface can handle. You'll be WASTING that speed unless you got a switch/computer than can bind multiple GigE pipes OR if you're in a workgroup w/multiple computers accessing the NAS as the same time)

* Dedicated HARDWARE encryption engine (Drops throughput to 448/191)
* Supports wireless dongle support (to act as AP)


Fan Direction
-- Dennis Millican
"I am building a LED array of 3W LEDs mounted on a .25 inch aluminum plate for a grow light. To cool it, I plan to mount a couple of fans on the back side. My question is should I mount the fans to blow cool air toward the aluminum or to exhaust warm air away from the LEDs? I am leaning toward blowing cool air toward the aluminum plate."

* This is an issue that system builders have been playing with for decades
* Should I blow air INTO the case, or suck it out?
* We've more or less agreed that it's always good to have BOTH positive and negative pressure

NB:
* In an "OPEN" system, it's better to blow air over the heat diffusion surface
* In a "CLOSED" system, you could get away with using it as an exhaust fan ASSUMING that the incoming air will flow over the heat diffusion surface

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.

If you grow plants indoors, at some point you'll be faced with the choice of going on vacation and letting your plants die, or becoming a shut-in. You COULD purchase an automated drip-watering system, but if you've got even a little maker knowledge, you can make yourself a low-cost, super-flexible automated watering system.

Adafruit 1/2" Water Solenoid Valve ~$8

• Normally closed valve (Requires 12v to open the valve)
• Minimum pressure of 3PSI
• Liquid can only flow in one direction (marked on the casing)

Live Demo:

• We're going to install a solenoid valve into the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket

Parts:

1. 5 Gallon Bucket
2. Adafruit 1/2" Solenoid
3. 3/4" - 1/2" Bulkhead Fitting
4. Teflon Tape

Tools

1. Drill (3/4" or Dremel)
2. Sealant

3D Printed Files

• Interior and Exterior Sealing plates

Claber 8053 Oasis 4-Program/20 Plant Garden Automatic Drip Watering System ~$94

• Gravity fed dripper with a timer
• Opens the valves twice a day
  • How long it opens the valves depends on the setting

uxcell HH54P D 12V Coil Relay ~$8

• Relays are electromagnetically controlled switches
• Most use the same design: a higher power/current circuit can be thrown by a lower power/current circuit
  • They can be normally open or normally close, some, like the UXCELL can throw multiple circuits simul

Uxcell 12V 5-pin Mini Power Relay ~$7

Hosts: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ and Bryan Burnett

Connect with us!

• Don't forget to check out our large library of projects at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
• Join our Google+ Community.
• Tweet at us at @PadreSJ, @Cranky_Hippo, and @Anelf3.

Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.