February 12, 2018

Sonoff Smart WiFi Switches Tasmota External Sensor 5V PIR Mod

Following on from this guide about flashing the Sonoff ESP8266 based wifi switches with custom firmware (Tasmota), this guide deals with how to use them with external sensors on one of the free GPIO pins as a secondary trigger. I wanted to use a PIR to create a motion sensor. The sensor I used was a HC-SR501, a cheap and...

Categories Home Automation Comments: 0
February 9, 2018

Flashing Tasmota Firmware on Wifi Smart Switches Sonoff Basic S20 SV

The Sonoff devices by https://www.itead.cc/ are an excellent little range of modules for building your own Smart Home setup. They are pretty well built, CE and RoHS marked and implement what is essentially a WiFi operated switch/relay circuit based on the extremely versatile ESP8266. See here for a full circuit schematic. It can handle up to 10A load so could be used for...

Categories Home Automation Comments: 0
May 3, 2017

Mercedes W211 E Class W219 CLS Alarm Siren Replacement

A common (ish) fault on these cars is the alarm siren backup battery leaking or suffering corrosion over time and damaging the unit. Symptoms include random, fast flashing of indicator lights when the car is locked or the alarm siren randomly going off or making strange noises. The fix is to replace the alarm siren. Mercedes actually updated the part...

Categories Cars/Guides Comments: 3
April 27, 2017

Strong and Stable Drinking Games

With the upcoming GE2017, I thought it’d be interesting to have a drinking bingo game that could be used at any TV event/conference/speech/debate etc. So I created this bingo card: Whenever you hear one of these phrases = have a drink and cross it off. First to call any line = have a drink and top up. First to call Full House =...

Categories Blog Comment: 1
April 24, 2017

UK Flooring Direct and the Perpetual Sale Event

I was recently looking for some engineered wood flooring as part of a home renovation project. I needed a reasonable quantity and the associated accessories (DPM underlay, scotia etc). So I set about researching and signed up to some e-newsletters for deals and stuff from the main online stores. One that seemed pretty good value across the board was UK...

Categories Blog Comments: 0
September 15, 2016

Windows 7 / Server 2008 Installation Disk Issues with USB 3.0

I came across this annoyance when attempting to install Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 from a USB 3.0 stick. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s the fact that the OS doesn’t natively support the controller or whether it’s just the fact that the USB stick I am using is 3.0 but the issue seems to occur whether...

Categories Computers/Guides Comments: 0
August 2, 2016

Writing Embedded Image Resource to Disk (C# .NET)

I was writing an application using the .NET 2.0 platform in C# with some embedded resources to perform a simple automated update. The resource files included some plain text files, some binary files and some image files which were to be copied to a given location on disk. After adding all the files as resources to the Visual Studio project and using System.IO: Writing...

Categories Blog/Computers Comments: 0
June 9, 2016

Middle Lane Drivers

Back in 2011 (yes, it really was that long ago), I posted about the commonly misunderstood term ‘Merge In Turn’ and the frustration it causes many drivers every day because people don’t know how to follow the rules. I thought I’d write about another bad habit I see far too often on the roads that has relatively recently, been subject to...

Categories Blog Comments: 0
March 30, 2016

Mercedes CLS55 AMG Air Intake Upgrade DIY E55 AMG 55K M113

This is a brief guide on how to modify the air intake assembly on the M113K/55K AMG series engines found in the CLS55 (W219/C219) and E55 (W211) to name a couple. Reasons for doing this include better air flow, looks and induction noise. You can buy some kits (Fabtech Performance (FTP) or NeedsWings) that achieve the same end result but they...

Categories Cars/Guides Comments: 13
December 9, 2015

Lionel! Get Out of My House!

So, I bought a life size Lionel Richie cardboard cut out. Why? Because reasons.     Now he stands in the corner. Watching me. Get your very own Lionel Richie Life Size Cutout and we can create an army.

Categories Blog Comments: 0
October 30, 2015

Mercedes DAB Tuner NTG2.5 Retrofit Upgrade with Existing TV Antenna W219 CLS

I recently retrofitted a full NTG 2.5 entertainment system to my W219 CLS (see this post). Among other things, this system has the ability to receive DAB radio broadcast here in the UK by using an additional DAB Tuner module. I managed to source the genuine Mercedes part (A204 870 54 90) and fitted this into the car. This guide outlines the steps...

Categories NTG 2.5 Upgrade/Projects Comments: 8
July 18, 2015

Mercedes CLS55 Engine Valve Cover Gasket Replacement W219 W211 E55 M113K 55K

This DIY guide is applicable to all M113 Kompressor and NA engines. The process is also the same for M112 engines but with different part numbers for gaskets applicable to the V6 rather than the V8. These engines have a known problem that develops over time where the valve covers (particularly the breather case attachments to the top of the...

Categories Cars/Guides Comment: 1