I could have most of the ideas that I have come up with resident in this setup. In addition, I would still like to have a selection switch that would give me some different options, like TOR, w/wo OpenVPN, etc. The bubble chart would look like:
This is a blog mostly about techie things, what I am doing to my apartment network on the cheap, IOT, 3D Printing, Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, ESP32, ESP8266, Home Automation, Personal Weather Stations, Things That Go Bump in the Night, and some side issues that need discussing. Remember, sometimes the journey to an end is as much fun as the goal achieved!
Friday, May 29, 2015
Thinking of Setting Up an OpenVPN Server with 1-Port Capability for External Connections
I was thinking back to the 1-Port router idea and now I am thinking of adding an OpenVPN to the mix. I could have an encryption key on both sides of the connection to give my setup a little extra protection. So that would mean: (1) have an RPi running an OpenVPN server (allowing connection from the outside); (2) have a second RPi running an OpenVPN client/OpenWRT; and (3) let a connection go through the second RPi to my WorkNet Guest wireless to my home network.
I could have most of the ideas that I have come up with resident in this setup. In addition, I would still like to have a selection switch that would give me some different options, like TOR, w/wo OpenVPN, etc. The bubble chart would look like:
I could have most of the ideas that I have come up with resident in this setup. In addition, I would still like to have a selection switch that would give me some different options, like TOR, w/wo OpenVPN, etc. The bubble chart would look like:
Weather Station Project #19 - Thinking of Switching to a USB over IP Solution for the Console
I have been having some issues with weewx over the last couple of days. It has been almost a year (July 2014) since I installed the Vantage Vue Weather Station and weewx on a Raspberry Pi. Everything has been going real well except for the last couple of days. It is looking like maybe the SD card is starting to give way because the RPi has been crashing? or weewx has been crashing? I don't know at this stage. I need to meter the RPi to get a crash dump if weewx stops working. I have the RPi setup to start weewx when it reboots, therefore it is more likely that weewx has stopped and the RPi remains running. I would only know that if the crash dump says so.
In the process of thinking about setting up something here, it occurred to me to split out the USB interface on the console to a different RPi. If I run a virtualhere USB server on an RPi, for $39, I can access the console USB from multiple clients on my network. In particular, I can access the USB information from my MacMini, and from additional RPis in the house. So slipping an additional RPi into the mix gives:
This does not limit my ability to use RPi2 for other USB tasks either. Since it would be physically located in the living room (and I might be able to run both the client and the server on the same RPi) it would be convenient to have other USB devices connected as well.
Update: This might not be as smooth as I would like. I currently have the RPi5 separated in its own VLAN in order to throttle the output (so Verizon will be happy). Gotta think that one over.
In the process of thinking about setting up something here, it occurred to me to split out the USB interface on the console to a different RPi. If I run a virtualhere USB server on an RPi, for $39, I can access the console USB from multiple clients on my network. In particular, I can access the USB information from my MacMini, and from additional RPis in the house. So slipping an additional RPi into the mix gives:
This does not limit my ability to use RPi2 for other USB tasks either. Since it would be physically located in the living room (and I might be able to run both the client and the server on the same RPi) it would be convenient to have other USB devices connected as well.
Update: This might not be as smooth as I would like. I currently have the RPi5 separated in its own VLAN in order to throttle the output (so Verizon will be happy). Gotta think that one over.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Weather Station Project #18 - Obtained a Weather Underground API Key
I have been in the process of coming up with a way of (1) calibrating the upcoming Solar Radiation and UV sensors for my Weather Station; and (2) determining how I can display the Weather Underground information for my Weather Station on a convenient interactive home display. So the first thing that needed to be done was to obtain an API key to Weather Underground. They have made this extremely easy to do, especially for a developer.
I will first use the key to build a data extraction tool to gather solar radiation and UV readings from stations near me so that I can come up with an equation for my sensors that will put me in the ballpark of the more costly ones. This will allow me to modify the weewx routines on my RPi to accept the new sensor information and then send it on to Weather Underground.
I will then use the key to put together a touchscreen style display controlled via a RPi that will display the current and forecast weather for my Weather Station. I intend to do this as discussed in weather-station-project-9-building a weather and general info display. The key is necessary to pull the Weather Underground information. Of course, it could be used to display the information from any Weather Underground station, but let me build it first.
The general sequencing will be as follows for the RPi Weather Display:
I will first use the key to build a data extraction tool to gather solar radiation and UV readings from stations near me so that I can come up with an equation for my sensors that will put me in the ballpark of the more costly ones. This will allow me to modify the weewx routines on my RPi to accept the new sensor information and then send it on to Weather Underground.
I will then use the key to put together a touchscreen style display controlled via a RPi that will display the current and forecast weather for my Weather Station. I intend to do this as discussed in weather-station-project-9-building a weather and general info display. The key is necessary to pull the Weather Underground information. Of course, it could be used to display the information from any Weather Underground station, but let me build it first.
The general sequencing will be as follows for the RPi Weather Display:
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Weather Station Project #17 - Waiting for some parts to Start on the Solar Radiation/UV Sensor
I just purchased a TP-Link TL-POE150S PoE Injector and a TL-POE10R PoE Splitter over the weekend. What intrigued me was that the TL-POE150S came with a 48 volt power supply to inject power through the Ethernet cable. The TL-POE10R had a selection switch to convert down to 12, 9, or 5 volts prior to splitting the output via a 5.5mm x 2.1mm connector (cable included). I also picked up a clear sandwich box to put the equipment into.
I ordered a power splitter, power adapter plugs, and power to micro USB adapters from Amazon.
The parts list looks like this so far:
Update: I have the power splitter cables in, still waiting on the power plug to micro USB cable to come in. They were supposed to be delivered on Monday and it is Thursday already. I can't complain because the adapters were only about a buck apiece. Somehow they are tied up in Indianapolis, IN under a "Processing Exception", whatever that means. I may end up ordering the cables from a different source. Ok, put in another order in case this one doesn't come through. These cables are apparently tough to find.
I added the picture below to show the new setup with the two sensors on top, on an Arduino breadboard, Gertduino, on top of a Raspberry Pi B+. There is also a No-IR RPi camera peeking out from between the Gertduino and the RPi.
I am also wondering if I should make the unit multi-tasking. If so, I could setup my own web service API so that the unit would respond with values from the sensors, pictures from the camera, and potentially other information gleaned from Weather Underground for my weather station. That way I could minimize the kiosk nature of my RPi Weather Display and use unit as the main source for the display. That also simplifies the interface with my weewx software connected to the Davis Console.
I ordered a power splitter, power adapter plugs, and power to micro USB adapters from Amazon.
The parts list looks like this so far:
- Raspberry Pi B+
- Gertduino
- Arduino Proto Board
- Raspberry Pi No-IR camera
- TP-Link TL-POE150S PoE Injector w/power supply
- TP-Link TL-POE10R PoE Splitter w/power connector cable
- Power splitter cable (1 female to 4 males - 5.5mm x 2.1mm)
- Power adapter plug (1 female 5.5mm x 2.1mm to ISO block)
- Power plug 5.5mm x 2.1mm to micro USB cable
- Ethernet socket adapter (for mounting on wall of sandwich box)
- Clear sandwich box (see-through for RPi camera)
- RTV to pot up the holes so that water can't get in
- Mounting platform and hardware to mount sandwich box on outside
Update: I have the power splitter cables in, still waiting on the power plug to micro USB cable to come in. They were supposed to be delivered on Monday and it is Thursday already. I can't complain because the adapters were only about a buck apiece. Somehow they are tied up in Indianapolis, IN under a "Processing Exception", whatever that means. I may end up ordering the cables from a different source. Ok, put in another order in case this one doesn't come through. These cables are apparently tough to find.
I added the picture below to show the new setup with the two sensors on top, on an Arduino breadboard, Gertduino, on top of a Raspberry Pi B+. There is also a No-IR RPi camera peeking out from between the Gertduino and the RPi.
I am also wondering if I should make the unit multi-tasking. If so, I could setup my own web service API so that the unit would respond with values from the sensors, pictures from the camera, and potentially other information gleaned from Weather Underground for my weather station. That way I could minimize the kiosk nature of my RPi Weather Display and use unit as the main source for the display. That also simplifies the interface with my weewx software connected to the Davis Console.
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