tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80425690991945363662024-03-18T03:03:05.788+00:00Captain BodgitThings I DoSteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.comBlogger427125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-87999885591214130272024-03-15T13:16:00.002+00:002024-03-17T11:46:51.387+00:00The Hacker RP33 "Autocrat": refurb time<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Hacker brothers were great engineers.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;">But along the way, they built great equipment, and lost 2 companies.</span></h4><p>Seems like the best route to success is to sell rubbish!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>The first major quality brand was Dynatron, which eventually was lost to Eric Cole (EKCO).</p><p>The brothers carried on working for Eric for a few years, then in 1960 they left to form the Hacker Radio Company. They specialised in making quality transistor radios until the firm failed in the mid 1970s, against a background of miners strikes, 3 day working weeks, and a burglary loss of £50k!</p><p>There was a brief period of control under <i>Pullmaflex</i> using the <i>Hacker Sound</i> brand before the factory burnt down! ...<i>Who writes this stuff?</i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Hacker RP33 Autocrat<br /></h3><p>I can't remember where I got this radio. I suspect it was in a house or flat that I bought in the 1980s, but I can no longer pull the details out of my tired old brain!</p><p>The Hacker range from the 1960s was about quality, and although they were rivals to Roberts Radio, many people in the vintage radio world still consider Hacker's to be the better sets.</p><p>Back in the 1960/70s I looked at lots of (mostly Japanese) AM radio circuits and they were usually designed around 3 transistors in the RF/IF stages.</p><p>The RP33 has 4 x AF117 transistors, including a dedicated local oscillator stage (T1);</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXa9AQCMhOEY68LdIZvSu_1bSkedMhfC32Y8QyvgwCeCl5gV3Gf_ReanM7Yoi5IUe3OioUg4MvrvTQvRDs-AyiduL3imWQXhV7RfdLu4RnlfpnVE2MNjEios5XZJYisj-Jh8igfKSLeeG-xwDG1mEVbP_gBXd3G1oOlXmXVQM5T6QeyKQmEJY5fv3qLxhyphenhyphen/s1727/Hacker_RP33_RF_CCT.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1727" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXa9AQCMhOEY68LdIZvSu_1bSkedMhfC32Y8QyvgwCeCl5gV3Gf_ReanM7Yoi5IUe3OioUg4MvrvTQvRDs-AyiduL3imWQXhV7RfdLu4RnlfpnVE2MNjEios5XZJYisj-Jh8igfKSLeeG-xwDG1mEVbP_gBXd3G1oOlXmXVQM5T6QeyKQmEJY5fv3qLxhyphenhyphen/w640-h300/Hacker_RP33_RF_CCT.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Another notable difference is that 2 of the IF stages (T2 & T3) are controlled by the AGC (automatic gain control) signal, rather than the more usual single stage control configuration.<br /></p><p>Despite the nice design, its was a dead set!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">dismantling the radio</h3><p>The back just pulls off (that's how you change the batteries).</p><p>At each end of the carry-handle the small screw covers are carefully levered off, then the screws are removed to release the handle. Now the RF/IF assembly can be lifted out.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCYB7ZtGMhxjf9pmT8mE8YL4xRq4Hr38zlFfdvmhtZ8WEQdzongvdKkBkwuu_TxY2sPCQe8ODD6elcJnWcNDf94bhOdHSQ1VCMaF5s5ophdfMfieo8JH-LhBriY9ESM2AOdXna_enpsVKYo_fnR8IZXVa_khlfYPilqS_c-ymlS0-m_P3idQgrYaoNRG2G/s2580/rp33_dismantle.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2141" data-original-width="2580" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCYB7ZtGMhxjf9pmT8mE8YL4xRq4Hr38zlFfdvmhtZ8WEQdzongvdKkBkwuu_TxY2sPCQe8ODD6elcJnWcNDf94bhOdHSQ1VCMaF5s5ophdfMfieo8JH-LhBriY9ESM2AOdXna_enpsVKYo_fnR8IZXVa_khlfYPilqS_c-ymlS0-m_P3idQgrYaoNRG2G/w400-h333/rp33_dismantle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p><p>There are 3 screws holding the chrome trim on each side. Remove these, then extract to fascia plate. Then remove the small screw holding the IF assembly screening can.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">tin whiskers</h3><p>I used to think semi-conductors should last forever. After all, they form part of a <i>solid-state</i> design ...<i>there are no moving parts</i>. Actually, when constructed properly and not <i>over-run</i> (like l.e.d. lighting) I still believe this could be true.<br /></p><p>However, there is a mysterious effect known as <b><i>tin whiskers</i></b>. Mysterious because even NASA have spent a lot of time looking at it, and still don't fully understand what's happening.</p><p>The basic problem (as it relates to my radio) is that the AF117 transistor is assembled inside a tin container. Over time, little whiskers grow inside the tin case. These whiskers are very thin, maybe 10 to 100 times smaller that a human hair (<i>just who's hair, they don't say</i>).</p><p>As the AF117 tin can forms the screen and is connected to ground, eventually one of these whiskers touches the transistor (i.e. collector, base, emitter ...<i>take your pick</i>). And this is why my radio was dead.</p><p>The whole tin whisker thing is an interesting story. Solder for electronics used to be made from a mixture of tin & lead. When the E.U. decided that lead in solder was a bad thing, manufacturers had to go <i>lead-free</i>. A few year later, there was a spate of unexpected circuit failures; the tin whisker problem (which had first been identified in the 1940s) was re-discovered! How stupid are we?</p><p>In mission critical systems (e.g. space ships, air planes and now cars) tin whiskers must be avoided at all costs. In some cases its back to good-old tin/lead solder, because lead seems to inhibit tin whiskers!</p><p>While lead in petrol is certainly a bad thing (because it gets into the atmosphere and we breathe it in) there is some doubt over whether its a problem on circuit boards. ...<i>just sayin'</i><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">replacing the AF117s</h3><p>Having searched on the net, a few people were saying that you could replace AF117 transistors (which are germanium) with silicon transistors.</p><p><i><b>What?</b></i> The base-emitter voltages are very different between germanium & silicon!</p><p>But I went ahead and bought 200 mixed transistors for no money, and picked out four BC557B <i>silicon</i> transistors and went ahead and fitted them. I checked each AF117 as it was removed and found the oscillator (T1) was the whiskery one!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmwUeNbO-eN0Zwyllwj0xck52MuaEt30xCDzd2LIQWvbJs1RtzLCmMzJs5LaQIGDkfjtkutfqbPEgW7cHGU4p1GHlSY99Bbo7BJm3NbK5NzaRAglGM2DxT-iWYv3oCB3p2i9O-ZlXscsF1CwdApJNxPfdhqpbfYMIOVwiQGoyYfxpeerbPATg0cGfXDWb/s1408/AF117_replace.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="1267" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmwUeNbO-eN0Zwyllwj0xck52MuaEt30xCDzd2LIQWvbJs1RtzLCmMzJs5LaQIGDkfjtkutfqbPEgW7cHGU4p1GHlSY99Bbo7BJm3NbK5NzaRAglGM2DxT-iWYv3oCB3p2i9O-ZlXscsF1CwdApJNxPfdhqpbfYMIOVwiQGoyYfxpeerbPATg0cGfXDWb/w360-h400/AF117_replace.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>I powered up the radio and away it went. It works, and its very sensitive on MW & LW. I can even hear <i>Radio Caroline</i> on 648kHz in amongst the background noise!<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">drive cord</h3><p>I bought some 0.6mm cord from eBay. Didn't notice it was nylon (<i>not recommended</i>) but went ahead and fitted it anyway.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDG3qyRy7EQuqLVsNfZpcqFpa076HethEdJgg0XZLKlfzEbJWx_AxoBlF1_UTqYj3sU-irrfZQEHWHsWTBs03qOHO36m311NL0ki1WUw6GlYSve0Iw_7EzjY1Quu0ZIJCGYjXht_KYaZVKMzWfCtZl_06FToPMmeTzNHpvYYjRl37Ywfm82r0esPWlKDQ/s3248/Hacker_RP33-17_CordDiagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1268" data-original-width="3248" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDG3qyRy7EQuqLVsNfZpcqFpa076HethEdJgg0XZLKlfzEbJWx_AxoBlF1_UTqYj3sU-irrfZQEHWHsWTBs03qOHO36m311NL0ki1WUw6GlYSve0Iw_7EzjY1Quu0ZIJCGYjXht_KYaZVKMzWfCtZl_06FToPMmeTzNHpvYYjRl37Ywfm82r0esPWlKDQ/w640-h250/Hacker_RP33-17_CordDiagram.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Its quite a fiddly job for old fingers.<br /><p></p><p>But as for the nylon; so far, so good!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">new power source</h3><p>I could not justify buying PP9 batteries for this set. It will only be used very occasionally, so decided to convert to AA power. I bought a couple of AA x 6 battery holders.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQitOgWPpbp4CD-Azs2b95oYL1_bLhCmPi_50lvI80YVfpmof9iDeuzW8Y8RxS1F0lo_eevi8B-HAn0C0CZBo8k3a-8UyHQaAkhZXKl3NaFbs8gF7h8wwLw2dRXNxuhR6_CqSW9JbUP0ZXcTX866R4_1MnYJIeOUAVww5yGmSSbwjlaj9GuSBLrn2G7K1y/s1991/Batteries.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="1991" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQitOgWPpbp4CD-Azs2b95oYL1_bLhCmPi_50lvI80YVfpmof9iDeuzW8Y8RxS1F0lo_eevi8B-HAn0C0CZBo8k3a-8UyHQaAkhZXKl3NaFbs8gF7h8wwLw2dRXNxuhR6_CqSW9JbUP0ZXcTX866R4_1MnYJIeOUAVww5yGmSSbwjlaj9GuSBLrn2G7K1y/w400-h301/Batteries.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>These fit inside reasonably well, and I've added a few <i>draft excluder</i> strips so they don't roam too far. The current drain is about 15-20mA, so 2000mAh/20mA should give over 100 hours of use.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">your knobs are too small</h3><p>The control knobs on this radio are only about 22mm in diameter. Judging by the circular score marks around the volume control, I'd say they should be over 30mm (<i>probably an inch and a quarter in old money</i>).</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFHfv_8BLVe3Kc3jt0N62ppu8qPkUlblZrA_rrwd6nWbTmSEBnK3cs-NYFhnb5JYUzMmI6DFdr_dQV2zchL9M6rjQlc8qGZjL5K6zX9J0Mm-w8p4PqSe8Of1XD72yjQGLhJ2s2ybUIW9xy9MTrjl8I8QxlGAaaNGXXF7ckRs4kdGfYMyF12kL9cqGH37m/s3147/WrongKnobs_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2285" data-original-width="3147" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFHfv_8BLVe3Kc3jt0N62ppu8qPkUlblZrA_rrwd6nWbTmSEBnK3cs-NYFhnb5JYUzMmI6DFdr_dQV2zchL9M6rjQlc8qGZjL5K6zX9J0Mm-w8p4PqSe8Of1XD72yjQGLhJ2s2ybUIW9xy9MTrjl8I8QxlGAaaNGXXF7ckRs4kdGfYMyF12kL9cqGH37m/w400-h290/WrongKnobs_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The volume knob should also have a marker line to roughly indicate audio level, and the tuning knob should certainly be large enough to cover the B/33/8 which identifies the fascia plate.</p><p>But this early transistor radio (which is almost certainly over 50 years old) carries around its odd <i>quirks</i> and <i>patina</i> like a personal history. I wonder if it will still be around, 50 years from now?</p><p><br /></p><p><i><b>Many thanks to:-</b></i></p><p> <a href="https://www.markhennessy.co.uk/" target="_blank">Mark Hennessy</a></p><p> <a href="https://www.golbornevintageradio.co.uk/forum/" target="_blank">Golborne Vintage Radio Forum</a> </p><p> the <a href="https://groups.io/g/Hackerradiogroup" target="_blank">Hacker Radio Group</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>================<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisker_%28metallurgy%29" target="_blank">Info on Wikipedia</a></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-88031586346337174792024-02-22T15:55:00.003+00:002024-02-22T16:24:42.803+00:00OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #3 software install & basic config<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">Installing the OpenWRT software should have been easy.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">I don't think it was <i>all</i> my fault that it wasn't.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Once again, the article on LinuxScrew is the one to follow: <a href="https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions" target="_blank">https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions</a><br /></p><p>It basically works but there are a few things to note:-</p><p>1) Communications with the router appears to be a bit flakey. If the router does not appear to respond correctly at any stage, you may have to repeat the instruction or sometimes return to the start and have another go!</p><p>2) I had to add myself to the <i>Dialout</i> group on my Linux laptop using:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">sudo gpasswd -a steve dialout</span></p><p>...because I got <i>Permission Denied</i> from command:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">cat lede-lantiq-bthomehub5a_ram-u-boot.asc > /dev/ttyUSB</span></p><p>(...and you can't simply add sudo to the front of the <i>cat</i> command)</p><p>3) You may lose the <b>#</b> prompt (e.g. when you insert the USB stick). Just hit <<span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">enter</span>> again to restore.</p><p>4) Although you can run the <b><i>sysupgrade</i></b> command with the file on the USB stick, when I was having problems, I found advice suggesting it was more reliable with the file located in the router <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">/tmp</span> folder.</p><p>5) As the software had been upgraded since the LinuxScrew article, I went over to the OpenWRT site and used the latest release, as recommended in their model/software chart. ...<i>big mistake</i>.</p><p>This kept happening...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinULrfypcdGR1LlhypftsA7UPeUelmw8p_07E_Yjuxp1VsUS-nghpn6IfMM9q4xJ13D-3Jmf7Ebvnyrh1ag3GPHbzqNzHMyX8y6xuIoyf47xRh1TNSXWspSvnH7i3Meb1o5GK8JdTJUUj-B0I1kkyG6f6_vHe7H6yuwITBF1Y9JVDZ11FA5Yf7YsPwA6Ze/s1069/Router%20Cannot%20Migrate.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="1069" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinULrfypcdGR1LlhypftsA7UPeUelmw8p_07E_Yjuxp1VsUS-nghpn6IfMM9q4xJ13D-3Jmf7Ebvnyrh1ag3GPHbzqNzHMyX8y6xuIoyf47xRh1TNSXWspSvnH7i3Meb1o5GK8JdTJUUj-B0I1kkyG6f6_vHe7H6yuwITBF1Y9JVDZ11FA5Yf7YsPwA6Ze/w640-h200/Router%20Cannot%20Migrate.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The reason: <i><b><span style="color: #444444;">"Config cannot be migrated from swconfig to DSA"</span></b></i> just made no sense to me. So I tried re-running the process, several times.</p><p>Eventually I found a note saying that the latest version does not work with my router. <i>...brilliant!</i><br /></p><p>I went back one version. Same problem, so then I tried v19.07.7 and the process completed!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">basic configuration</h3><p>When you make changes to OpenWRT via the web browser interface, there is a <i><b>Save & Apply</b></i> button. Most of the time, clicking that button is enough ...<i>but not always!</i></p><p>Sometime it appears that you need to reboot the router for changes to take affect.</p><p>One example was when trying to select high channels on 5GHz. I think channels 36 - 48 were OK, but any from 52 onwards required a reboot.</p><p>I'm not a modem/router <i>fundi</i> so I struggle with the setup. For example in order to get mine working I had to follow some advice I found on a forum:-</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Goto Network>interfaces- then click on "Edit" or click on the "WAN" tab</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">In the "DSL" section enter the following settings</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Annex: Annex A + L + M(all)</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Tone: A43C + J43 + A43</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Encapsulation mode:PTM/EFM(Packet Transfer mode)</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">DSL line mode: VDSL</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Downstream SNR offset: 0.0 dB</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Leave the rest as default and click on "Save and Apply"</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">click on "Edit" or click on the "WAN" tab again</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Click on the "Physical settings tab"</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">From the drop-down scroll to the bottom of the drop-down and in custom enter dsl0.101</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Click on save and apply</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">click on "Edit" or click on the "WAN" tab again</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Select PPPoE protocol from the drop-down...</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">at this point, you may have click on switch protocols to initialise the new protocol</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Enter your user-name and password</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Click on save and apply</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">You should now be able to access the Internet via your router</span></span><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The two frequency bands on my router are called radio0 & radio1.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQD4hSz1AJi7kqF5L5RQEW0IOH2XGhFEO1MM3YOnxOGBK7uOPY4yTWeax2RarbXIB6XOqWb91ve9Jyp1xQo2sL0WN_FvFvLx2ZV-ICUkNm8-Cf9Pf958LYUzh-ebVlFjSsQmk4UeD5pWY9tB9xapuLJW59yfYpm6NrT88o6h7uHatJ9klWAj4UpL5UaZ5/s1318/WirelessOverview1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="1318" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQD4hSz1AJi7kqF5L5RQEW0IOH2XGhFEO1MM3YOnxOGBK7uOPY4yTWeax2RarbXIB6XOqWb91ve9Jyp1xQo2sL0WN_FvFvLx2ZV-ICUkNm8-Cf9Pf958LYUzh-ebVlFjSsQmk4UeD5pWY9tB9xapuLJW59yfYpm6NrT88o6h7uHatJ9klWAj4UpL5UaZ5/w640-h258/WirelessOverview1.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The <span style="color: #274e13;">Add</span> button allows you to set up network access points (e.g. MAIN & GUEST are associated with the 2.4GHz channel in the example above).<br /></p><p>Another thing were I know what it is, but not how to set it up is DNS. So while I can now connect to my scanner/printer or <i>birdnetpi.local</i> via any frequency band, I still have to be associated with the same access point (i.e. the router or the repeater).</p><p>I can access <i>birdnetpi</i> via router or repeater by simple using the IP address.</p><p>So I still have some work to do on this, but quite pleased with the setup so far.</p><p><br /></p><p>See also:-</p><p> <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2024/02/openwrt-plusnet-hub-one-1-my-wifi-layout.html">OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #1</a><br /></p><p> <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2024/02/openwrt-plusnet-hub-one-2-hardware-mods.html">OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #2</a> <br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-56713763999513930522024-02-22T15:54:00.003+00:002024-02-22T16:23:32.185+00:00OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #2 hardware mods<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">The router needs wires soldered to the board.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">Sounds easy!</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>The extra wires provide access to a serial port.</p><p>But first, the case has to be opened.</p><p>Sounds easy! <br /></p><p>This is all explained in the procedure: <a href="https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions" target="_blank">https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions</a></p><p></p><blockquote><i style="color: #20124d;">Note: since this blog is primarily a journal for me, to compensate for my poor memory, I'm only documenting aspects of this project that may be useful to me beyond the LinuxScrew article linked above.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>As the required serial wires needed to be connected to a USB <> serial adapter, I initially chose wire colours to sit side-by-side on the adapter connector.</p><p>This is my adapter...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWDFpJ9s29SijcfSu5vSfmr_KlgZ_olw7QNguHggLUh7jHHhKKKlltgZfXb9iIgUnJX9p-Me3fKLIQREOAv1TNYKCBCsKeOyoL5dXfMKKlNnkD00NuOihKg27U4waxmiONdNqCcP_P9K5khM5iWdpX9e-ynkTSG3YCAQ55JodTESSLtqeOBXh2PefGtt_/s2285/USBserialAdapter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="2285" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWDFpJ9s29SijcfSu5vSfmr_KlgZ_olw7QNguHggLUh7jHHhKKKlltgZfXb9iIgUnJX9p-Me3fKLIQREOAv1TNYKCBCsKeOyoL5dXfMKKlNnkD00NuOihKg27U4waxmiONdNqCcP_P9K5khM5iWdpX9e-ynkTSG3YCAQ55JodTESSLtqeOBXh2PefGtt_/w400-h179/USBserialAdapter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>...which came from Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/DAOKAI-USB-UART-Converter-Adapter-Multifunctional/dp/B0BCKBHQ8Y" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.uk/DAOKAI-USB-UART-Converter-Adapter-Multifunctional/dp/B0BCKBHQ8Y</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The wires are connected to the modem pcb as follows:-</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">TXD<span> orange</span> wire<span> </span>R77: below NAND flash, solder pad to right</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">RXD<span> yellow</span><span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span>R78: directly below R77 to the left, pad to the right</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">GND<span> </span>green<span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span>solder pad for WPS switch closes to NAND flash</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;">Boot<span> blue</span><span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span> </span>R45: below R78 to the right, pad above</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoYaAIDd1YioIvlfBCLRJpXZNVv_UTblq5Qi5Tp3AvvnuwKTG672eEyKYoJRRmNgzKhsFoEdBgFa4B3zbjiTBJ2aQ48OCJlWmKQ7l3LsWYpwRcJcOw-Evt7Zc_Azc6RYA-Z7WVWkbqbMaC2koGyN_ZQcNR8DZB39G___0GaEgooL45EUi4rBQz7MR5zj0/s648/PlusnetOne_SerialPortWiring_crop.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="648" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoYaAIDd1YioIvlfBCLRJpXZNVv_UTblq5Qi5Tp3AvvnuwKTG672eEyKYoJRRmNgzKhsFoEdBgFa4B3zbjiTBJ2aQ48OCJlWmKQ7l3LsWYpwRcJcOw-Evt7Zc_Azc6RYA-Z7WVWkbqbMaC2koGyN_ZQcNR8DZB39G___0GaEgooL45EUi4rBQz7MR5zj0/w400-h351/PlusnetOne_SerialPortWiring_crop.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>However, I forgot that RXD & TXD had to be crossed. So this is how they must be connected to the adapter...<br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag0PnvgGH8v4pB5n18jv4HA0HHYxLI8WWcZy6Iga6wHn9ZtXV80lIQdMLAT-WKka6ab8SweP3nYbcSLPTdwuAX1ufDMJwH3hqsg2qaLIckSP_iJkh3ZCUlPP3yzI8R66RrV2TRGBW_N4p8NOhWfbrLAKgIwWgJvjZQXcNSYDcnfxpstUsb1pCduNaRxPt/s3023/USBserialAdapter_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2349" data-original-width="3023" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag0PnvgGH8v4pB5n18jv4HA0HHYxLI8WWcZy6Iga6wHn9ZtXV80lIQdMLAT-WKka6ab8SweP3nYbcSLPTdwuAX1ufDMJwH3hqsg2qaLIckSP_iJkh3ZCUlPP3yzI8R66RrV2TRGBW_N4p8NOhWfbrLAKgIwWgJvjZQXcNSYDcnfxpstUsb1pCduNaRxPt/w400-h311/USBserialAdapter_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Note the adapter switch positions:-</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QwEghjl3C1IZNZuI16RDgITuTHnzrWjdJS5xqayaW0zDU_WmnyGG4d0ABVY_hPCylNVxbjMLYGcGFvOcI5AOYWnPU6fiYDgrM6geHnyvV0Mb9illPagUwXqLyQ_VgOL02mUHM-RgXM4c88ybMRJ4OGRs6aSeExGU976m2yt9btc78VHW6vjYMXcRMRZJ/s450/USB2TTL.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="450" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QwEghjl3C1IZNZuI16RDgITuTHnzrWjdJS5xqayaW0zDU_WmnyGG4d0ABVY_hPCylNVxbjMLYGcGFvOcI5AOYWnPU6fiYDgrM6geHnyvV0Mb9illPagUwXqLyQ_VgOL02mUHM-RgXM4c88ybMRJ4OGRs6aSeExGU976m2yt9btc78VHW6vjYMXcRMRZJ/w400-h138/USB2TTL.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I drilled a hole in the lower corner of the router for ribbon cable entry...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZG7WK6zmgXYSG4xlYeZf9ipj4CENxA85_gw9wqMvuaS95L8n8wCwriWGWiyY8v8yzIFtFNQp-NLgaXva7BzCqNCjRms2UUApTLsG5_jFUxe5cdNSbEf7Jv72L8egN14tov8EKSHUba7NfkQtzQtHxJdXNIh9m4vdUErH1_jZ-AlL-Y8JgjMi_wkr0snz/s2264/CableHole.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1467" data-original-width="2264" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZG7WK6zmgXYSG4xlYeZf9ipj4CENxA85_gw9wqMvuaS95L8n8wCwriWGWiyY8v8yzIFtFNQp-NLgaXva7BzCqNCjRms2UUApTLsG5_jFUxe5cdNSbEf7Jv72L8egN14tov8EKSHUba7NfkQtzQtHxJdXNIh9m4vdUErH1_jZ-AlL-Y8JgjMi_wkr0snz/w400-h259/CableHole.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The solder pads on the pcb are extremely small, so a bit of a nightmare to solder and I've taped the wires down as recommended and used tie-wraps for strain relief...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnE24RgDZirQaD4WamJhTdl2RtTvRUlP6ukmEM7h-lh5igHaqg3AGfxfoP7NIl0u9fURMii5KHdguBjPeh6Nx3QMpcxL6mxyZsuef07xAWwYCesdyv_G89N7VNsiJnLH5M1pDMNvQZsTSA7fgjnbh-M7fspQ74XCakS847fTML4iEPCszgo-s_4WjqvrT/s2530/WiresTapedDown.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1725" data-original-width="2530" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnE24RgDZirQaD4WamJhTdl2RtTvRUlP6ukmEM7h-lh5igHaqg3AGfxfoP7NIl0u9fURMii5KHdguBjPeh6Nx3QMpcxL6mxyZsuef07xAWwYCesdyv_G89N7VNsiJnLH5M1pDMNvQZsTSA7fgjnbh-M7fspQ74XCakS847fTML4iEPCszgo-s_4WjqvrT/w400-h272/WiresTapedDown.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GAVPlFVQNBLq3QgJ2cJOj5c1AVzyNo1HN1Tfc_wCI5hIHxN2-c2CpkZBLuPZac6Ra0dW_gs4IHm6je9VNk_QMB5OwHY_aRLf1AqkM5X0sE0mZWbre0TavPIRFO4GYqmEhRM2Ge6MLvmeceFAuVT3aYWYopCHZdrmIXaHp2zS0li1SM9UyUkyJm7joxJW/s3068/OutsideTie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1902" data-original-width="3068" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GAVPlFVQNBLq3QgJ2cJOj5c1AVzyNo1HN1Tfc_wCI5hIHxN2-c2CpkZBLuPZac6Ra0dW_gs4IHm6je9VNk_QMB5OwHY_aRLf1AqkM5X0sE0mZWbre0TavPIRFO4GYqmEhRM2Ge6MLvmeceFAuVT3aYWYopCHZdrmIXaHp2zS0li1SM9UyUkyJm7joxJW/w400-h248/OutsideTie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Once the box is back in one piece, that completes the electro-mechancal stuff.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>See also:-</p><p> <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2024/02/openwrt-plusnet-hub-one-1-my-wifi-layout.html">OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #1</a><br /></p><p> <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2024/02/openwrt-plusnet-hub-one-3-software.html">OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #3</a> <br /></p><p><br /><br /></p><p></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-14947676312513555502024-02-22T15:46:00.002+00:002024-02-22T16:19:33.117+00:00OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #1 my wifi layout<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">I've been trying to improve our home wifi</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">So I've embarked on a journey with open source modem/router software</span><span></span></h4><a name='more'></a><p>We have a number of minor issues with our home wifi setup which I hope to overcome by installing OpenWRT.</p><p>My wifi layout consists of a Plusnet Hub One...</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecG-PoW-wgDeQtLxnUSGHeoxXenCwUW2jpvV19DJKjU1iY8P_o4sQhworZcx5GsjFTZIIv8LyWGSZdKZguvhlW7fwkrOe3A86u0bZjyT_qz0uTXs64bCEY5Qcug5UWQBnJsoRkLa-5UuVlgJbbaVK0gdfZpGAmucy-nvfwaNRwTs0-iJRQ-5uYx5G0OYl/s2890/PlusNetHubOne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1803" data-original-width="2890" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecG-PoW-wgDeQtLxnUSGHeoxXenCwUW2jpvV19DJKjU1iY8P_o4sQhworZcx5GsjFTZIIv8LyWGSZdKZguvhlW7fwkrOe3A86u0bZjyT_qz0uTXs64bCEY5Qcug5UWQBnJsoRkLa-5UuVlgJbbaVK0gdfZpGAmucy-nvfwaNRwTs0-iJRQ-5uYx5G0OYl/w400-h250/PlusNetHubOne.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>...and a Joowin repeater...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeEPxNMji3Xst5H4Ph5pju-Tpm3z7kfpj_a5QbTKNrreABkAmTiKfCsu3hHMDkQvfdkvkdmotSdfN6F1B_iV3b9holyJD3wIRx6ngben4MVoF7Cic-zJInCKtQ0ebLBGhhs0Onw5wClPSiKYRxWBXElO5Ia-1X5lrqhW5sgepfN6isj52_ENaRaCRKPCh/s2929/Joowin.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2929" data-original-width="2061" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeEPxNMji3Xst5H4Ph5pju-Tpm3z7kfpj_a5QbTKNrreABkAmTiKfCsu3hHMDkQvfdkvkdmotSdfN6F1B_iV3b9holyJD3wIRx6ngben4MVoF7Cic-zJInCKtQ0ebLBGhhs0Onw5wClPSiKYRxWBXElO5Ia-1X5lrqhW5sgepfN6isj52_ENaRaCRKPCh/w281-h400/Joowin.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Although we don't live in a large house, when the wifi signals have to travel through walls at an angle, the attenuation can be very high...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHJFOMqtKbxXZqWQXe3IjUWgcQbwIitHUMlDkQHAPPmvqPFgLYRmUlw93pN4gn788CqZxqQoxm6fcBI5FAx5Q2RMJfDBUF8Sy5NYFUC-hl9wDrxWEUQfDCUUmA7waifH5_hcDRK_2Be-XmjIJKOqrKDG2DhcNboXtYsNWmygm0-oE6U3LLYZIVAi4Il3A/s546/WifiRange.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="546" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHJFOMqtKbxXZqWQXe3IjUWgcQbwIitHUMlDkQHAPPmvqPFgLYRmUlw93pN4gn788CqZxqQoxm6fcBI5FAx5Q2RMJfDBUF8Sy5NYFUC-hl9wDrxWEUQfDCUUmA7waifH5_hcDRK_2Be-XmjIJKOqrKDG2DhcNboXtYsNWmygm0-oE6U3LLYZIVAi4Il3A/s320/WifiRange.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Simple 2D illustration of effect of walls on signal strength</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br />...and of course we live in a 3D house, so the problem has an extra dimension!<br /></p><p></p><p>The <i>Joowin</i> repeater helps overcome the weak signal that we experience in some areas when just using the router.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">why use OpenWRT?</h3><p>I have a couple of annoying issues with the stock Plusnet software in the Hub One and the newer Plusnet Hub Two;</p><p>1) although I have a common access point name for both 2.4GHz & 5GHz bands, my devices cannot 'see' one another (e.g. can't reach the printer/scanner) if they are on different bands. These Plusnet routers have simplified user interfaces which do not include the ability to enable/disable device isolation.</p><p>2) this problem extends to difficulties in reaching my BirdNet-Pi system using the url: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">http://birdnetpi.local/</span></p><p>3) I can't select the higher 5GHz channels with the newer router.<br /></p><p>So I hope to be able to fix these by installing OpenWRT software to the Plusnet Hub One (a router manufactured by Sagemcom) which is basically the same as the BT Home Hub 5.</p><p>I don't think the newer Hub Two can be flashed with OpenWRT, but its handy to keep that modem as supplied by Plusnet, just in case I have to call out Plusnet/Openreach to investigate some broadband related problem. <br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">procedure</h3><p>I basically followed the instructions here: <a href="https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions" target="_blank">https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions</a></p><p>However, my initial attempts were not successful.</p><p>Then I took a look at these (official instructions) but still no joy: <a href="https://openwrt.org/toh/bt/homehub_v5a?s[]=plusnet&s[]=hub&s[]=one" target="_blank">https://openwrt.org/toh/bt/homehub_v5a?s[]=plusnet&s[]=hub&s[]=one</a><br /></p><p>So this, and my subsequent posts, will [hopefully] fill in some of the gaps that I fell into.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>See also:-</p><p><a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2024/02/openwrt-plusnet-hub-one-2-hardware-mods.html">OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #2</a></p><p><a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2024/02/openwrt-plusnet-hub-one-3-software.html">OpenWRT + Plusnet Hub One: #3</a><br /></p><p><span></span></p><p></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-69441930093481074862024-02-19T14:24:00.001+00:002024-02-19T14:40:21.334+00:00BirdNet-Pi Portable Vs whoBird<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Which one should I take with me the next time I'm away from home?</span></h3><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>My <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2023/11/birdnet-pi-portable-operation-mics-bird.html">BirdNet-Pi Portable</a> is great when I go stay at the house of a friend or relative. I just hook the microphone out through an upstairs window and run the Pi from a mains power supply.</p><p>But when walking around a park or nature reserve, I have to store both the <i>Pi</i> and a <i>power bank</i> in my pockets, and try to attach the microphone discreetly, without looking like a rather incompetent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_English_(film_series)" target="_blank">Johnny English</a> secret agent.</p><p>The android application <a href="https://github.com/woheller69/whoBIRD" target="_blank">whoBIRD</a> is another app which uses the power of BirdNET. Its very much a new, <i>work-in-progress</i> project. At the time of writing, functionality is very limited, but recently the author responded positively to a few of us asking for some kind of data retrieval option.</p><p>Once installed on an android device, this application simply runs with hard coded settings and '<i>flashes up</i>' the common name of any detected species, along with the confidence reading, within a colour coded text box.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfhUfZ9HOEh0mPlEuK-L4vQVHRIroctgBzsCKOpi_5f3UIZ94UlrRKwR3hIlp3g9TxiQCErYl9ht0nntiN1zQ8wxyjsdj1FeulXjcaJtz1tfcZTFRbkUZivF81gygE2E3g2WuCQc64o50qUYXqpt8vkPzZqL6DQQtBqvdw8not4QOl2YmmF1M4f-TX-4I/s1920/whoBIRD.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfhUfZ9HOEh0mPlEuK-L4vQVHRIroctgBzsCKOpi_5f3UIZ94UlrRKwR3hIlp3g9TxiQCErYl9ht0nntiN1zQ8wxyjsdj1FeulXjcaJtz1tfcZTFRbkUZivF81gygE2E3g2WuCQc64o50qUYXqpt8vkPzZqL6DQQtBqvdw8not4QOl2YmmF1M4f-TX-4I/w225-h400/whoBIRD.png" width="225" /></a></div> <p></p><p>If you have allowed this app to determine your location, that's pretty much it.</p><p>With the latest version, you can now copy the detection records via the <i>share</i> icon.</p><p>In my case, I then paste this data into a text file with the extension .<i>csv</i> and transfer the file to my laptop for analysis on <i>LibreCalc</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibA95titmx3IheUglMKK_3jYlO_85MmAu-OjorRECK4ifZktqpn87pBaAYn-yRKMrYOW228UfyJe8k7xsVqQOePmkytCpkJvIjOj4HAsKGtwfaxe1tuwLQYMpmlTaMUt5KSMOz3TnL79LclYA4G2U_8ziyVbQcIBjIw1BxcmIZObRHA_1hEAz3Y9k5T-97/s1024/whoBIRD-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1024" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibA95titmx3IheUglMKK_3jYlO_85MmAu-OjorRECK4ifZktqpn87pBaAYn-yRKMrYOW228UfyJe8k7xsVqQOePmkytCpkJvIjOj4HAsKGtwfaxe1tuwLQYMpmlTaMUt5KSMOz3TnL79LclYA4G2U_8ziyVbQcIBjIw1BxcmIZObRHA_1hEAz3Y9k5T-97/w640-h404/whoBIRD-1.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The first column is serial date/time which can be translated using:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">=A1/86400000+DATE(1970;1;1)</span></p><p>The other columns are; <i><b>lat</b></i>, <i><b>lon</b></i>, <i><b>common name</b></i>, <i><b>species ID</b></i>, and <b><i>confidence level</i></b>. I've reformatted the date/time in the last column.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">conclusions</h3><p><b><i>whoBIRD</i></b> seems to give better [portable] results than my <i><b>BirdNet-Pi Portable</b></i> system. I wonder whether the built -in MEMS microphone is a better match with my <i>OnePlus 5</i> phone than the <i>stumpy</i> digital microphone is to my RaspberryPi.</p><p>Also, by seeing all the results on whoBIRD (even with low confidence levels) this provides me with more information. For example; having lots of low confidence detections either side of a single high confidence reading, adds to my own personal confidence that this was a correct identification.</p><p>Carrying (and waving) a mobile phone around is more convenient, and looks less 'odd' than carrying my Pi system.</p><p>So that's it; <b><i>whoBIRD</i></b> is the one I'll use while walking around, while <b><i>BirdNet-Pi Portable</i></b> is still my favourite when in fixed temporary locations.<br /></p><p> </p><p>You can install <i><b>whoBird</b></i> on Android via <b><i>F-Droid</i></b>. </p><p><b><i>whoBIRD</i></b> on <b><i>Github</i></b>: <a href="https://github.com/woheller69/whoBIRD">https://github.com/woheller69/whoBIRD</a></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-3121500315880113702024-02-18T10:38:00.001+00:002024-02-18T10:44:20.027+00:00Its Bee Box Time!<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;">Yep, February has rolled around once again.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">Let's get those bee boxes out there, ready for a new season.<span></span></span><span></span></h4><h4><span></span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Although I had good intentions last year to build a super solitary bee box like the one designed by <a href="https://nestboxtech.blogspot.com/2018/07/solitary-bee-box.html" target="_blank">NestBoxTech</a>, it didn't happen. If fact we ended up buying an <a href="https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/wildlife-friendly-garden/wildlife-habitats/bee-houses/solitary-bee-home.html" target="_blank">RSPB box</a>, but far too late in the spring.</p><p>However, this year I'm ready for any leaf-cutter or red mason bees that may come our way. Despite the current wet weather, there could be female mason bees looking for somewhere to lay their eggs during March.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2Cu28ymTrFbQ7tbBpxD142lTxJErhBgCtWT_nupS7B45zLYWRKNjAAg4MuFay6yhXkJPGPUuGpPRgmi3AIkukHTWJ1Q42QANS_sx9OfmBkrpftqr05K_LHNr6A1qYFs8gMzsY4XkY67krsd-y7drbVe1j46TndVHyVhuxLxQXMXKDsnPP_eYn958nXC_/s2425/BeeBox.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2425" data-original-width="2206" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu2Cu28ymTrFbQ7tbBpxD142lTxJErhBgCtWT_nupS7B45zLYWRKNjAAg4MuFay6yhXkJPGPUuGpPRgmi3AIkukHTWJ1Q42QANS_sx9OfmBkrpftqr05K_LHNr6A1qYFs8gMzsY4XkY67krsd-y7drbVe1j46TndVHyVhuxLxQXMXKDsnPP_eYn958nXC_/s320/BeeBox.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>The males, then the females emerge during March and mate. The females lay eggs in suitable holes in the ground or cracks in trees or houses. Each egg is sealed into its <i>new home</i> with pollen and mud before she lays the next egg ..<i>.and repeat</i>.</p><p>During the summer, these eggs hatch and the little critters create a cocoon where they over winter, ready to emerge as young bees next March.</p><p>The nest can be cleaned out in the autumn (October/November) and the cocoons put into a release box. <i><b>NestBoxTech</b>'s</i> design incorporates a special release box/tray ...<i>nice!</i></p><p>Years ago we put up a simple diy box stuffed with hollow canes, which also worked well. But a well designed box should allow you to clear all chambers ready for the next season.</p><p><br /></p><p>More on the Red Mason Bee: <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/red-mason-bee">https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/red-mason-bee</a></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-5064359221511408512024-01-29T12:01:00.000+00:002024-01-29T12:01:55.379+00:00BirdNet-Pi Portable: chart info mods<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;">My BirdNet-Pi Portable system gets taken to places away from home!</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;">So its important that the daily records are properly labeled.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>BirdNet-Pi has a feature called <b><i>Daily Charts</i></b>, which for my <i>base</i> station is quite straightforward; i.e. <i>all charts are for my home location</i>.<p></p><p>But for my <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2023/11/birdnet-pi-portable-operation-mics-bird.html">portable system</a>, these charts currently cover various locations in southern England. So I needed some way to mark them with the actual location.</p><p>I also vary the detection <i><b>Confidence</b></i> threshold from time to time, so wanted to also include this.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">the code <br /></h3><p>The <i>location</i> & <i>confidence</i> threshold information that is needed is contained in the <i><b>birdnet.conf</b></i> file.</p><p>So here is a simple modification to the <i><b>daily_plot.py</b></i> file that meets my needs.</p><p>The <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">darker text lines</span> contain modifications, while the <span style="color: #999999; font-family: courier;">lighter text</span> is for context/positioning within the file. <span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;">Red text</span> just contains comments & marker lines:-</p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #999999;">import sqlite3<br />import os<br />import pandas as pd<br />import seaborn as sns<br />import matplotlib.pyplot as plt<br />from matplotlib.colors import LogNorm<br />from datetime import datetime<br />import textwrap<br />import matplotlib.font_manager as font_manager<br />from matplotlib import rcParams</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">#===================</span><span style="color: #444444;"><br />import configparser<br />import itertools<br /><br /><br />def GetConfigData(key):<br /> config = configparser.ConfigParser()<br /> filename = userDir + '/BirdNET-Pi/birdnet.conf' <br /> with open(filename) as fp:<br /> config.read_file(itertools.chain(['[global]'], fp), source=filename)<br /> keyData = config.get('global', key)<br /> return keyData<br /><br />userDir = os.path.expanduser('~')<br /><br />myVar = GetConfigData("CONFIDENCE")<br />myConfidence = 'Confidence => ' + str(int(float(myVar) * 100)) + '%'<br />myLocation = GetConfigData("SITE_NAME")<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">#=========</span><span style="color: #444444;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: #999999;">conn = sqlite3.connect(userDir + '/BirdNET-Pi/scripts/birds.db')<br />df = pd.read_sql_query("SELECT * from detections", conn)<br />cursor = conn.cursor()</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #999999;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd previously modified this file to display up to the last 25 unique detections:- </span><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">#===============</span><span style="color: #444444;"><br />cursor.execute('SELECT DISTINCT (Com_Name) FROM detections WHERE Date = DATE(\'now\', \'localtime\')')<br />uTable_rows = len(cursor.fetchall())<br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">#===============<br /></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"># Get todays readings</span><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /><span style="color: #999999;">now = datetime.now()<br />df_plt_today = df_plt[df_plt['Date'] == now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")]</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"># Set number of top species to report</span><br /><span style="color: #444444;">readings = 25</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">#===============</span><br /><span style="color: #444444;">if uTable_rows > readings:<br /> gy=readings<br />else:<br /> gy=uTable_rows<br /> <br />gy = 0.4 * gy</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">#=============== </span> <br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">plt_top10_today = (df_plt_today['Com_Name'].value_counts()[:readings])<br />df_plt_top10_today = df_plt_today[df_plt_today.Com_Name.isin(plt_top10_today.index)]<br /><br />if df_plt_top10_today.empty:<br /> exit(0)</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier;"># Set Palette for graphics</span><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /><span style="color: #444444;">pal = "Blues"</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"># Set up plot axes and titles<br />#===============</span><br /><span style="color: #444444;">f, axs = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10, gy), gridspec_kw=dict(width_ratios=[3, 6]), facecolor='#77C487')</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">#===============</span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">plt.subplots_adjust(left=None, bottom=None, right=None, top=None, wspace=0, hspace=0)</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /># generate y-axis order for all figures based on frequency</span><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p>Its then just a matter of modifying the line that displays the chart title, something like this:-</p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"># Set combined plot layout and titles<br />#===========================</span><span style="color: #444444;"><br />f.subplots_adjust(top=0.85)<br /><br />plt.suptitle(str(uTable_rows) + " species detected at " + myLocation + " with " + myConfidence + " on " + str(now.strftime("%d-%b-%Y")) + ", last update: " + str(now.strftime("%H:%M")) + "\r")<br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">#==============================<br /><br /># Save combined plot<br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p>The <b><i>GetConfigData</i></b> routine allows you to get any value from the available <i>key-value pairs</i> in the birdnet configuration file. Its then up to you how you display this.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">the results</h3><p>The <b><i>Daily Charts</i></b> are basically copies of the <i><b>Overview</b></i> screen, so Daily Charts now typically look like this:-</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGgYi_H9mIn4wibqhjHkU9L3niVxVSCAnBPIYsg0ZiSnpJFl-1iShVkmL50QUWyw27zAlwj6TecmNKi2bu7fN8oO7F-mwQjjYDNrCcSBu3w3WKs4HBmFLfld0frDBJdTfG85efU7Zn-Yt4NWStXjDL9e_YXac3ucuFs_GLWGxm0Q1jgDsDro_pK4zR74b/s1340/BirdNet-Pi_Portable_mods_28Jan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1340" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGgYi_H9mIn4wibqhjHkU9L3niVxVSCAnBPIYsg0ZiSnpJFl-1iShVkmL50QUWyw27zAlwj6TecmNKi2bu7fN8oO7F-mwQjjYDNrCcSBu3w3WKs4HBmFLfld0frDBJdTfG85efU7Zn-Yt4NWStXjDL9e_YXac3ucuFs_GLWGxm0Q1jgDsDro_pK4zR74b/w640-h448/BirdNet-Pi_Portable_mods_28Jan.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>One mod left to do is to get the <i>lat/lon coordinates</i> from the entered place name, as I currently have to do this manually.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-83008467183942140802024-01-21T18:11:00.011+00:002024-01-23T14:34:41.028+00:00BirdNet-Pi: more thoughts on microphones & audio<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">There's a lot of talk on the Github Discussions page about microphone quality.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">So naturally I have been giving the matter some consideration and have conducted a few simple checks.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote><i>Note: this post was updated on 23 Jan 2023 after I'd re-run some of the tests & added a few more notes.</i></blockquote><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">my assumptions</h3><p>To use BirdNet to monitor an area, microphones need to be <i>omnidirectional</i> when working in an open site (e.g. marshland, woodland & so on).</p><p>When using the monitor in your back garden, there may be reasons to try to shield the microphone to some degree (e.g. to reduce the level of traffic noise from the front of the house).<br /></p><p>But generally speaking, you probably wouldn't want to use a directional microphone unless you were just monitoring a feeding station or a particular tree!</p><p>Whereas a bird song enthusiast may use a directional mic to get a good
recording of a particular species, we are trying to identify everything,
be it on the ground or in the sky, doing a fly-past. <br /></p><p>Even in a relatively quiet outside environment, the background noise maybe around 30dBA. And bird song may be quite loud close up, but perhaps only (<i>say</i>) 40dBA when the source is tens of metres away from the microphone.</p><p>BirdNet attempts to identify species by using machine learning to conduct a <i>visual</i> analysis of a recording's spectrogram. The system is not only '<i>taught</i>' to recognise bird calls from hundreds of good recordings, but also trained with other sounds such as traffic, aircraft and those created by other non-avian sources. I think its reasonable to assume that the system will recognise and seek to reduce common electrical noise such as 'mains hum'.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">audio capture</h3><p>I have a small collection of analogue and digital microphones. But the audio block diagram is the same in both cases...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1370j0yyG18347UHXz83pwPt0MW_fdtk2W4-DJCtpBYKhavJInXN9fdsl0GlipyRzX1i-z2L-12S4Ymdcs098uZl0Zv95mVUgMvKfV7pYvKq1goG1Y5BcaNaejCb1q37pUDr1lRuqwO35Y51SWLjch-a7cK_qilROt_dcrKkHP6Ww5UZ2DiUA3sSTdsFV/s1116/MicAudioDiag.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="1116" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1370j0yyG18347UHXz83pwPt0MW_fdtk2W4-DJCtpBYKhavJInXN9fdsl0GlipyRzX1i-z2L-12S4Ymdcs098uZl0Zv95mVUgMvKfV7pYvKq1goG1Y5BcaNaejCb1q37pUDr1lRuqwO35Y51SWLjch-a7cK_qilROt_dcrKkHP6Ww5UZ2DiUA3sSTdsFV/w640-h240/MicAudioDiag.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>...its just that the mic is external for the analogue microphones.<br /><p>Notice that once the analogue signal has been digitised via the A/D converter, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) cannot be improved by adjustment via Alsamixer of the digital gain. But I'm not sure whether the signal filtering & analysis is affected by the [digital] magnitude of the signal ...<i>I suspect not</i>.</p><p>The preamplifier gain for most of my microphones is preset by the manufacturer to a level which probably tries to safeguard against signal overload (clipping) when someone is talking or <i>singing</i> into it at close range. </p><p>My <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-dodotronic-ultramic-first.html">Dodotronic Ultramic</a> does allow the user to adjust its analogue gain via a couple of switches. But as its application includes recording bat calls (which can be <i>very</i> loud) even when the gain is set to high, its not as sensitive as my other, cheaper mics.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">microphone sensitivity testing</h3><p>This summarises my test method:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>run the BirdNet-Pi system in a quiet room</li><li>set alsamixer capture level </li><li>note ambient VU level</li><li>set signal generator frequency & level</li><li>note increase in VU level <br /></li><li>record a short audio segment on BirdNet-Pi</li><li>view recorded audio waveform on Audacity</li><li>adjust audio level for appropriate comparison</li><li>switch Audacity to spectrogram and compare<br /></li></ul><p>My test setup looks like this...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TKT2oqRQqgCVOO9-yC17I6tj-LfM15afRI3HnNUXyE905DSKCBuKy1TKwhtnBKxVescziaWJ_H-VR3pDuTXCoyLeZrZtGLWsPMYkyd8Ef8tsKdcnzS_227WaIoDb4WKcfBQd5O5PW54K6T9ia6HCPrMiI7LKxOEPP2fGMZYzgRl-m630hhfVxpPJknZN/s1828/MicTest.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1592" data-original-width="1828" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TKT2oqRQqgCVOO9-yC17I6tj-LfM15afRI3HnNUXyE905DSKCBuKy1TKwhtnBKxVescziaWJ_H-VR3pDuTXCoyLeZrZtGLWsPMYkyd8Ef8tsKdcnzS_227WaIoDb4WKcfBQd5O5PW54K6T9ia6HCPrMiI7LKxOEPP2fGMZYzgRl-m630hhfVxpPJknZN/w400-h349/MicTest.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>...with soft furnishings to reduce echoes!<p>I power the BirdNet-Pi from a powerbank as I know the system is noisier when powered from a mains supply. <br /></p><p>I use a signal generator application on my phone to deliver an 800Hz sine wave.</p><p>I marked out a sheet of paper so that I can position the phone & microphones in a repeatable way (they were initially 200mm apart, but this was reduced to 50mm & the signal level reduced for recordings because I was getting harmonic distortion).<br /></p><p>On a Linux computer/laptop, open a terminal window and ssh into your BirdNet system.</p><p>Type:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">arecord -d 5 -r 44100 -f S16_LE audioTest.mp3</span></p><p>...but don't hit return just yet. <br /></p><p>Also on your computer/laptop web browser, go to BirdNet-Pi menu via the its local web page and select <b><i>Tools</i></b> > <i><b>Web Terminal</b></i> login and type:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">lsusb</span></p><p>Note mic/adapter identity (e.g. Texas Instruments PCM2902). This also confirms that your mic has been recognised by the system.<br /></p><p>Type:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">alsamixer</span></p><p>...then hit F4 and adjust Capture level to 100</p><p>Hit <span style="font-family: courier;"><esc></span> key to exit Alsamixer, then enter:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">arecord -V mono -r 44100 -f S16_LE -c 2 /dev/null</span></p><p>You should now see a simple one line VU meter, a bit like this:-</p><p>#+ | 01%</p><p>Note the "no signal" percentage.</p><p>Turn on the signal generator and note the new %</p><p>At the same time, hit <span style="font-family: courier;"><return></span> in the Linux terminal to create a 5s recording. Move this recording to computer/laptop and rename using mic identity.<br /></p><p>After you have repeated this sequence for all microphones, you should have a good idea which ones are most sensitive from the vu % readings.</p><p>My results:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>stumpy digital mic, Texas Instruments PCM2902: no sig = 0-1%, 800Hz =17%</li><li>Dodotronic UltraMic 192k 16bit r4: no sig = 1%, 800Hz = 14-15%</li><li>WM61A mic#1 + C-Media CM108: no sig = 7%, 800Hz = 55-61%</li><li>WM61A mic#2 + C-Media CM108: no sig = 2%, 800Hz = 39%</li><li>WM61A mic#2 + Texas Instruments PCM2902: no sig = 0%, 800Hz = 10% <br /></li></ul><p>Clearly, the Panasonic WM61A electret microphone capsules with CM108 digital module are far more sensitive (i.e. produce a higher level output) than my digital microphones. The most sensitive mic readings were more difficult to read because they were jumping about quite a bit.</p><p>The Texas Instruments digital module was the least sensitive. This only has a 1.5V electret mic bias voltage, whereas the CM108 is 2V. <br /></p><p>Next step is to review the audio recordings. I had to run these tests with a slightly lower signal from my phone as I was getting harmonic distortion.</p><p>I've used Audacity menu <b><i>Effect</i></b> > <b><i>Amplify</i></b> to bring all recordings up to a similar level using Audacity's recommended amplification factors.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0J_pJRKH0IXMPYeALh5Wldsgafxqp3iGN2p-MSZFIjpZcHjVWvzPePEv1T-AYceLh27DH-0y9HoF4NndUH7Ikw20rVb5DpeVpaJ0LITxL0Hnx_JKeh4h6Z0t8cGKIG-8IwgbYwM6R1S20q_TVkezscsThkDXfBB7PumGc5F65gBNZ2b8rp51Z7R7-MFV/s3652/MicTests_%232_Waveforms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3652" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0J_pJRKH0IXMPYeALh5Wldsgafxqp3iGN2p-MSZFIjpZcHjVWvzPePEv1T-AYceLh27DH-0y9HoF4NndUH7Ikw20rVb5DpeVpaJ0LITxL0Hnx_JKeh4h6Z0t8cGKIG-8IwgbYwM6R1S20q_TVkezscsThkDXfBB7PumGc5F65gBNZ2b8rp51Z7R7-MFV/s320/MicTests_%232_Waveforms.jpg" width="140" /></a></div><p>These waveforms are in the same order as listed above.</p><p>Judged simply on the modulated envelopes, the two best ones are the top (Stumpy digital mic) and the third one down (one of the WM61A samples).</p><p>The second one (Dodotronic) is asymetrical as the output seems to have a d.c. bias. The last two look a little noisy, but it was difficult to keep the room 'quiet' and the rain was by now gently hitting the windows.</p><p>Moving to the spectrograms from the above amplified waveforms we get this...</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipreDuvZEFcHMCcVSJrYF3T95jAWh07ZSIHy0n2bsPGMn53l1i0idA6pHgRJOr5vSeMsPtAd7QA0Gr086MqBAAr-roQIeJr8tXReVOp_pzECO3YmztyLRo2FyB2DZFGmCjLOYdQSxVaaxNGWFwpAhL0Xx0mb_xbb0JkwhkTJAA1vrFT4fVxZ8mMat6yCPs/s3639/MicTests_%232_Spectrogram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3639" data-original-width="1606" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipreDuvZEFcHMCcVSJrYF3T95jAWh07ZSIHy0n2bsPGMn53l1i0idA6pHgRJOr5vSeMsPtAd7QA0Gr086MqBAAr-roQIeJr8tXReVOp_pzECO3YmztyLRo2FyB2DZFGmCjLOYdQSxVaaxNGWFwpAhL0Xx0mb_xbb0JkwhkTJAA1vrFT4fVxZ8mMat6yCPs/s320/MicTests_%232_Spectrogram.jpg" width="141" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The Dodotronic appears to have a problem with noise. This is rather disappointing given that it was about 100 times more expensive than most of my electret mic capsules.</p><p>My 'stumpy' digital microphone looks OK but it is not as sensitive as the Panasonic WM61A electret mics coupled with CM108 module.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">conclusions (...<i>or maybe not</i>)<br /></h3><p>Since BirdNet has been trained to 'filter out' non-avian sounds to some degree, I wonder how much difference it makes to use expensive microphones. Live test comparisons are quite difficult, but there are users that seem to have proved that some microphones are better than others.</p><p>I'm still sceptical. When I previously tested 2 identical systems, both with WM61A microphones, side-by-side they did not produce identical results. Both systems reported bird calls that the other did not.</p><p>A quick test on my system under controlled conditions seems to indicate that it does not <i>monitor</i> continuously, it <i>samples</i> continually. Therefore the system will miss bird calls, presumably while the system is busy ...<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">I need to re-test this.</span></b></i><br /></p><p>The SNR needs to be good for your chosen microphone, but I don't think it needs to be <i>exceptional</i>. After all, the environmental audible & electrical noise is many times greater than that generated within your device.<br /></p><p>I think my test method is useful for determining relative microphone sensitivity. If sensitivity is important, maybe because the capture range is important, then using a higher sensitivity microphone <i>may</i> be beneficial.</p><p>There is one modification that could be tried with an analogue microphone setup. It should be possible to feed an electret mic through another stage of analogue pre-amplification to boost the level. However, this won't improve the environmental SNR, so any distant bird calls may still be lost in the noise.</p><p>These tests will allow me to select the most sensitive microphone for my base system (which will be one of my eletret mic capsules). However, I'll continue to use the 'stumpy' digital mic for my portable system, because its more convenient.</p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-54087418694619935722024-01-13T18:37:00.002+00:002024-01-13T18:49:54.169+00:00KitchenPi: goodbye BBC Radio 4<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Things are changing at the BBC</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">...but not necessarily for the better.</span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></h4><a name='more'></a><p>We've used our kitchenPi internet radio almost every day since it was first built & installed almost 8 years ago: <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2016/04/kitchenpi-internet-radio-for-my-kitchen.html">first KitchenPi post</a></p><p>In that time the software has been modified & hopefully 'hardened', and the original blue box has been replaced by a red one, to suit the redecoration of our kitchen.</p><p>Program selection is mostly made by pressing a single push-button, although I can access a wider range of stations (including <i>Caroline North</i>) via a simple web page.</p><p>To limit the number of button pushes required, the usual (<i>button push</i>) selection is limited to 5 options, which up until this week were:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Radio Caroline</li><li>Smooth Radio</li><li>BBC Radio 4</li><li>BBC World service</li><li>Jukebox (random play our music collection)</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;">the problem</h3><p>However, a couple of months ago Radio 4 stopped working!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9STWzpYbCZZQO_JqmImkEn1QnXB7kNgk12P4wP9MNLkvOfijZubatsQtI3zhOhkz1u-eBQ2-65lrneABbRL-oYN_mKrcj-CO_f4Xttxrp4eHnrW90oZMsIY9soeIPh5cZTo5iUW9pYpIjl5pm3PCf8EbZM-hn-bck5gnqIWqiewG6HeXTEpVa2vqbqzFp/s158/BBC_Broken.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="68" data-original-width="158" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9STWzpYbCZZQO_JqmImkEn1QnXB7kNgk12P4wP9MNLkvOfijZubatsQtI3zhOhkz1u-eBQ2-65lrneABbRL-oYN_mKrcj-CO_f4Xttxrp4eHnrW90oZMsIY9soeIPh5cZTo5iUW9pYpIjl5pm3PCf8EbZM-hn-bck5gnqIWqiewG6HeXTEpVa2vqbqzFp/s1600/BBC_Broken.png" width="158" /></a></div>What with other projects & Christmas, I didn't get around to investigating this problem until this week. I thought it would just be a case of finding a new stream url. But no, something more serious has happened.<p></p><p>This BBC post explains their reason for the loss: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/recent-changes-to-bbc-sounds/radio-changes</p><p>Basically they no longer support the <i>SHOUTcast</i> MP3 stream. They imply that if your internet radio no longer works (<i>and the manufacturer cannot update it</i>) maybe you should throw it in the bin and use their service some other way!</p><p><i><b>Garfnet</b></i> did a brilliant post explaining the situation and what they believe are the reasons behind it: https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/2023/10/26/bbc-deliberately-breaks-its-internet-radio-service/</p><p>It starts with;</p><p></p><blockquote><i style="color: #cc0000;">Seems the BBC has decided to make all its AAC HLS streams only available
to wealthy people who have Apple or similar devices. And the good
old-fashioned “shoutcast” MP3 streams have gone altogether. Seems that
if you can afford expensive American-logoed Chinese-made kit then you
can listen to the BBC. If you register with the BBC’s awful website you
can listen from there. However, if you use free open source software,
then you cannot.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>...and just gets better! <br /></p><p>The garfnet website also gives a stream url that many find helpful. However, it doesn't work on my KitichenPi.</p><p>My system uses <i><b>mPlayer</b></i>, which admittedly has not been updated for about 2 years!</p><p>My problem with the new recommended link is that Radio 4 now plays in 'chunks' on mplayer with short breaks between each chunk. Then after 5 chunks it stops altogether.</p><p><i>Why not switch to another player?</i> The good thing about mplayer is that, if ever the stream is lost, the mplayer process stops. So its proved to be really easy to keep the radio operational by monitoring the mplayer <i>process</i>.</p><p><i>What have you tried to fix it?</i> Not much. I fiddled around with the cache setting, but drew a blank.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Solution</h3><p>I can't be arsed with this. It looks like the BBC now want to track & control its users, with maybe a plan to move to a subscription service at some time in the future.</p><p>So I have simply removed Radio 4 from the program options.</p><p>To be honest, KitchenPi spends 95% of its running time on <i>Radio Caroline</i> anyway.<br /></p><p>So its <i><b>"So long Radio 4, its been good to know you!"</b></i><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-9992483992759543652023-12-17T07:40:00.001+00:002023-12-17T07:46:48.160+00:00BirdNET-Pi: direct file editing<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #351c75;">I've been editing files on my BirdNet-Pi systems via my laptop.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #20124d;">This post just describes the procedure I use.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>There are any number of ways of approaching this, but basically I do this:-<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>connect to file system via network using laptop file manager<br /></li><li>open/edit/save file via laptop editor</li><li>reboot BirdNET-Pi</li><li>test changes<br /></li></ul><p>...and in more detail for most files, <i>except</i> those owned by <i><b>root</b></i>:-</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Check that Linux laptop can 'see' BirdNET-Pi on home network; e.g. use web browser to view interface (<i>I currently have a network issue where I can't always see the system if I'm using the same AP but on different frequency bands!</i>)</li><li>Open laptop file manager and select <b><i>Connect to Server</i></b>; on my file manager (<i>Nemo</i>) this is in the <i>File</i> menu.</li><li>Enter details for your BirdNET-Pi; Port:22, Type:SSH, Folder:/home/{<i>your name</i>}, User Name:{<i>your user name</i>}, Password:{<i>your password</i>}</li><li>If this works you should see the BirdNET-Pi file system including folders; <i>BirdNET-Pi</i>, <i>BirdSongs</i>, .<i>cache</i> & so on</li><li>Bookmark this connection for the next time!</li><li>Select file to open/edit with text editor (<b><i>Geany</i></b> is a great choice); the <i>BirdNET-Pi/homepage</i> folder contains .<i>php</i> & .<i>css</i> files which may be of interest and the <i>BirdNET-Pi/scripts</i> folder contains more .<i>php</i>, .<i>py</i> & scripting stuff</li><li>Save any changes, exit the file and close the editor</li><li>From the BirdNet-Pi web interface select menu <b><i>Tools</i></b> > <i><b>Reboot</b></i></li><li>Wait a minute or so for BirdNET-Pi to reboot, then check system via web interface.</li></ol><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Note: as usual I'll say: "I'm not your mummy, so you figure out the risks!"</span></i></span></span></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BGf3P2lg1iSMAZqIj872J5FvgLmmWOUR0Geuy8V_mk8Ezt6C-8HV5v603c8Ptynec9HvX0VygHwepuOdN19_Ug800XSh3QWuUSH_oaUCDucOFNO_l9rMWFeHOJlmPAXk4C7IsVYoPyS-jANssiHF2ui2sIQMsjBPaMUnwR0uaAw9XtORh0okRCn9KRSe/s1038/ToolsScreen.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="1038" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BGf3P2lg1iSMAZqIj872J5FvgLmmWOUR0Geuy8V_mk8Ezt6C-8HV5v603c8Ptynec9HvX0VygHwepuOdN19_Ug800XSh3QWuUSH_oaUCDucOFNO_l9rMWFeHOJlmPAXk4C7IsVYoPyS-jANssiHF2ui2sIQMsjBPaMUnwR0uaAw9XtORh0okRCn9KRSe/w640-h269/ToolsScreen.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>For files belonging to <b><i>root</i></b> (e.g. wpa_supplicant) open a terminal on Linux laptop:-</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>at the prompt type: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">ssh {name}@birdnetpi</span> and enter password when prompted.</li><li>type: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">ls -l</span> to see where you are in the file system</li><li>if your looking for <i>wpa_supplicant.conf</i> type: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">cd /etc/wpa_supplicant</span> then: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">ls -l</span></li><li>Use whichever hideous line editor you prefer; e.g. type: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf</span></li><li>when you've done tinkering you can reboot BirdNET'Pi from the laptop terminal by typing: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">sudo shutdown now -r</span></li><li>once again, wait for system to reboot then test changes</li></ol>That's it!<br /><div><div><p><br /></p><p>See also: <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/search/label/BirdNET">http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/search/label/BirdNET</a></p><p><br /></p></div></div>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-64570342862680668582023-11-27T13:32:00.003+00:002024-02-14T14:00:44.043+00:00BirdNet-Pi: portable operation, mics & bird dogs<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Its been an interesting couple of weeks.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">I've experimented quite a bit with my BirdNET-Pi system and even built a second system.</span></h4><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Having a second system has allowed me to compare the two, while leaving the original just to run in its permanent location up in the loft, with its microphone poking out though a gap under the eaves.</p><p>This loft system uses an electret microphone via an audio/USB module. I did have a dreadful "hum" problem with this loft system. It was the usual <i>common-mode</i> noise issue with primarily 50Hz noise on the Pi 0Volt/common rail. This hadn't been too bad when testing the system because I was plugged into a mains socket directly on the power ring-main (<i>...a post-WW2 UK wiring scheme to save copper</i>).</p><p>But in the loft, the system is connected to a radial mains (<i>single feed</i>) circuit. This makes the hum problem much worse. The solution is to connect the 0Volt line <i>either</i> directly to mains earth, or via a suitable capacitor ...I'm using a 0.47uF non-polarised capacitor.</p><p>To connect a wire to the Pi 0V/common, I soldered a wire to an old USB cable metal sleeve, then plugged it into a spare Pi socket. (i.e. its just a rectangular section USB tube with all the inner bits completely removed).<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">microphone comparisons</h3><p>I really thought that this would be an easy exercise; <i>build two identical systems, then run them side by side with different microphones</i>.</p><p>So I did this, except that the two mics are maybe 600mm apart. This is because my loft system is installed in the loft (<i>...and I don't want to take it down</i>) while the <i>'test'</i> mic is hanging out of an upstairs window, less than 2 feet away.</p><p>I compared % confidence levels between the two systems for detections of the same bird at the same time, as best I could.</p><p>For all analogue mics I used a white CM108 based audio/USB module commonly available from suppliers like The PiHut and Adafruit. I used a Panasonic WM-61A electret mic as my reference.</p><p>My Dodotronic Ultramic probably <i>sounded</i> better, but not much difference in % confidence levels and did not seem to recognise some birds happily detected by the WM-61A. Although its supposed to be omni-direction, the Ultramic looks directional due to its construction. But as there seems to be no benefits in using this ultrasonic mic, and also the cost and size rules it out for my application, I've discounted it.</p><p>Next up were a couple or electret mics salvaged from old broken headsets about 8-9 years ago. These seemed to be pretty good, but I didn't think they were quite as good as the WM-61A.</p><p>Then I found a little bag containing 8 electret mics which were smaller than the WM-61A. These were probably as good as the WM-61A, but I have no idea what the part number is or even who made them. All I'm sure about is that they must have been cheap!<br /></p><p>My little stumpy USB mic (available from The PiHut and just about everywhere else) seems to perform well. Once again I see this situation where bird calls are detected on one system but not the other.</p><p>I think the bottom line is probably that we shouldn't stress about microphone performance. Don't rush out and buy something expensive, just use what you have in your <i>Man Box</i>.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">bird dogs</h3><p>I had a few detections registered as <i>ravens</i>, each with a confidence of 70-75%. However, when played back, these recordings were clearly those of a neighbours dog! It certainly makes sense to check for obvious errors like this. But I really couldn't say whether a detection declared to be (say) a <i>common scoter</i> is in fact just a common duck!<br /></p><p>As a consequence, I've now raised the BirdNetPi <i>confidence</i> threshold from 70 to 75%.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">portable operation</h3><p>My 2nd BirdNet-Pi has been very useful for mic comparison and hacking around with the software.</p><p>But I'm currently testing it as a portable system.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2Awik7dKnA-4f-R-XEA7iRBUZyz0lI5Me3Eyifba7ewBDKt_-yZaTU2LLjb20hjEntFjoOhoMtlZb72N3nricfBYBpmBdft469KSVUeRqtTtMOTmc5Q9KoARrcDlwkAGBhgOuGXgXiEaTAUzLrHsp36SBccj37W8XkVzcsuXEXSrQ4BLP8dlUJiZ99Vb/s1848/BirdNetP-portable.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1842" data-original-width="1848" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2Awik7dKnA-4f-R-XEA7iRBUZyz0lI5Me3Eyifba7ewBDKt_-yZaTU2LLjb20hjEntFjoOhoMtlZb72N3nricfBYBpmBdft469KSVUeRqtTtMOTmc5Q9KoARrcDlwkAGBhgOuGXgXiEaTAUzLrHsp36SBccj37W8XkVzcsuXEXSrQ4BLP8dlUJiZ99Vb/w400-h399/BirdNetP-portable.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">RaspberryPi 4 in an old hacked case + USB mic + Juice 3</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>With a stumpy USB mic and powered by a 10A Juice 3 power bank, I'm sure it will run for at least 8 hours.</p><p>For its first test, I did a short walk around our local reserve, <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/pagham-harbour-local-nature-reserve" target="_blank">RSBP Pagham Harbour</a>. In about 30 minutes I clocked up over 100 detections, mostly widgeon, but also curlew, green-winged teal and wren.</p><p>I stored the system in the side webbing of a small rucksack so that the microphone was not too boxed in. The noise generated as I walk along will probably always be too much for the system. But as I frequently stop to use my binoculars, the system has plenty of 'quiet time' to gather recordings.</p><p>The main problem on the Pagham reserve at the weekends is the almost continuous noise from light aircraft!<br /></p><p>As I'm using my mobile phone to display results when on the move, the only modification to the birdNetPi system is to add phone hot-spot details to <b><i>wpa_supplicant.conf</i></b>. Its also helpful to give the hotspot a higher priority than the home network.<br /></p><p>Create details for hot-spot using <b><i>wpa_passphrase</i></b> for example:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">sudo wpa_passphrase "HOTSPOT PENGUIN" "ImGoingMobile"</span></p><p>...will generate an output:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">network={<br /> ssid="HOTSPOT PENGUIN"<br /> #psk="ImGoingMobile"</span></p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"> psk=906ddcc1763ad15234061fb92cccf4d606410e0566cdfe4ac5695c15dd3dd78f<br />}</span></p><p>...which should be added to wpa_supplicant.conf like this:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev<br />update_config=1<br /><br />network={<br /> ssid="HOTSPOT PENGUIN"<br /> #psk="ImGoingMobile"</span><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"> psk=</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">906ddcc1763ad15234061fb92cccf4d606410e0566cdfe4ac5695c15dd3dd78f</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"> priority=10<br />}<br /><br />network={<br /> ssid="BIG PENGUIN"<br /> #psk="ticklemepink"<br /> psk=15575f79ed2fe6f51308d216183a5d265f2949780d4a35e1b520674c531cd78f<br /> priority=5 <br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">}</span></p><p>...where BIG PENGUIN represents the home networks.</p><p>Giving the hotspot a higher priority (<i>note: the higher the number, the higher the priority</i>) gives me a bit more control over wifi access point selection; i.e. </p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>when I turn the system on away from home, with my phone hotspot enabled, the system joins the hotspot</li><li>if I enable the hotspot on my phone when at home, the system joins this network when [re]booted</li><li>if I turn off the hotspot when at home, the system rejoins the home network</li></ul><p>When on the home network I can view system interface via a web browser using the address: <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">http:\\birdnetpi-2.local</span></p><p>But when running from my phone hotspot, this won't work on the phones browser.</p><p>As I'm running [de-Googled] Android, the solution for me is to install an app from <i>F-Droid</i> called <i><b>Network Tools Library</b></i>. This shows the IP Address for the phone and by selecting the SUBNET DEVICES option, it shows the IP address for the tethered BirdNet-Pi system.</p><p>Now I simply enter this into the browser address bar, e.g. <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">http://192.168.109.113</span></p><p>I guess the only other thing to do (if you stray far from home) is update the <i>Latitude</i> & <i>Longitude</i> settings for the system.</p><p>Happy Hunting!</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">tinkering with the code</h3><p>As I don't do subtle GUIs, I felt the need to change the bar graph colours. I also wanted to see more than 10 bird species, so I took a look at the code which is mostly a mixture of PHP & Python.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdjqaeOSyDa1GBYlZag2ghY5iSP8Pvq-NLXAfrNL4P4LO-aXzzzmAEIZ30Q9TDjZXC1PtRlzwdoeD1L8Jk-lnisbVZGF_jJ7fwc8b1lLqbCmvky7qn5J-20i2ksjLiV8SmOpK4Ub-9DDBJrx7EmKrjR6fKvyM_YtIVX5PfRjS9o0rObgWLpzB7m6KnorL/s914/BirdNetPi_OverviewMods1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="914" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdjqaeOSyDa1GBYlZag2ghY5iSP8Pvq-NLXAfrNL4P4LO-aXzzzmAEIZ30Q9TDjZXC1PtRlzwdoeD1L8Jk-lnisbVZGF_jJ7fwc8b1lLqbCmvky7qn5J-20i2ksjLiV8SmOpK4Ub-9DDBJrx7EmKrjR6fKvyM_YtIVX5PfRjS9o0rObgWLpzB7m6KnorL/w640-h494/BirdNetPi_OverviewMods1.png" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>In the end I just settled on a few changes to the <i>daily_plot.py</i> file located in the scripts folder.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br />SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-18160032313228585882023-11-08T14:50:00.001+00:002023-11-09T08:24:41.968+00:00BirdNet-Pi: intro, install, use<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Which bird species visit our garden?</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;">BirdNET-Pi may not fully answer that question.</span></h4><p>But it may reveal some unexpected visitors.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">intro</h3><p>We've been using bird call identification apps on our smartphones for over a year now.</p><p>The <i>BirdNet</i> app is good but requires an internet connection to verify species id, whereas <i>Merlin</i> just does it all on the phone.</p><p>Although we get quite a lot of birds using our garden bird feeders, I'd say that most 'visitors' do <i>not</i>. I'm pretty sure that you will never see goldcrest, bullfinch or green woodpeckers hanging from your feeders.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKHEARwSinGpzLJTv_LE1tHvZJAKvZw3NmRuJO6cTaARVXevkCqOlakn8Nn5qVZEDBSatK07aD-RbVEkOULBBIK2CxWFhOh9pqmLHPbsuBjzER6fRfS8Fge3gQm9oqZRSdjZM6bRxmTkUo6Pk8CSmZwQu-oHk81DwnW1G2H9xF3Heid2TG8ANnktIH26i/s2628/GreenWoodpecker2ss.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2051" data-original-width="2628" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKHEARwSinGpzLJTv_LE1tHvZJAKvZw3NmRuJO6cTaARVXevkCqOlakn8Nn5qVZEDBSatK07aD-RbVEkOULBBIK2CxWFhOh9pqmLHPbsuBjzER6fRfS8Fge3gQm9oqZRSdjZM6bRxmTkUo6Pk8CSmZwQu-oHk81DwnW1G2H9xF3Heid2TG8ANnktIH26i/s320/GreenWoodpecker2ss.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">The green woodpecker prefers ants to nuts</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>In fact several species can be difficult to spot, as they prefer to hunt for insects in and around thick shrubs and bushes.</p><p></p><blockquote>Enter <b><i>Patrick McGuire</i></b>, an American developer, who started a project on <i>Github</i> a while back called <i>BirdNET-Pi</i>.</blockquote><p></p><p>In addition to his software, you just need a suitable RaspberryPi, power supply and microphone to monitor, record and classify bird songs & calls 24hr per day. This includes those both on the ground and those flying above your head.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">setup the system</h3><p>For my system, I splashed out and bought a new RaspberryPi 4B with 2GB of RAM, a 32GB micro SD and a new Pi power supply (...all from <a href="https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-store" target="_blank">The PiHut</a>).</p><p>I still had a few microphones from my old '<i><a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/search/label/bats" target="_blank">bat detecting days</a></i>', so connected a <i>Panasonic WM-61A electret</i> microphone via my Adafruit audio/USB module.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgFQIr3EIKHi7v6QjBarCsKekufPebEUIOO423Ax9yEmIb6ZGUBzZWV0P3efax6KcxzacSlBfRxJMfDn0RhaMeBBr_uD4nWC2b8AZRUsN9DZddx_B9A8kt93CoLJI3BsdjLuAe3G0IT-6NXJYGE8AswRdnhWG6D4pf3GhdtGHXiFDCMnBLttMkUPGQCn9Z/s2933/Mic2USB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="2933" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgFQIr3EIKHi7v6QjBarCsKekufPebEUIOO423Ax9yEmIb6ZGUBzZWV0P3efax6KcxzacSlBfRxJMfDn0RhaMeBBr_uD4nWC2b8AZRUsN9DZddx_B9A8kt93CoLJI3BsdjLuAe3G0IT-6NXJYGE8AswRdnhWG6D4pf3GhdtGHXiFDCMnBLttMkUPGQCn9Z/w640-h134/Mic2USB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">pretty, it ain't</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>Initially I installed the latest version of the operating system (<i>Bookworm</i>) and then installed the BirdNET-Pi software.</p><p>It didn't work ...<i>because I didn't read the instructions properly!</i></p><p>BirdNET-Pi currently needs the previous OS version:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Raspberry Pi OS (Legacy) Lite</li><li>Release date: May 3rd 2023</li><li>System: 64-bit</li><li>Kernel version: 6.1</li><li>Debian version: 11 (bullseye)</li></ul><p>So follow these instructions closely: <a href="https://github.com/mcguirepr89/BirdNET-Pi/wiki/Installation-Guide">https://github.com/mcguirepr89/BirdNET-Pi/wiki/Installation-Guide</a></p><p>Once its working, go to <b><i>Tools</i></b> > <b><i>Settings</i></b> > <i><b>Select a Model</b></i> and select the 2023 model.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">To access your BirdNET-Pi system;</h4><p> - Remote <b><i>local network</i></b> access to the webpage via web browser:-</p><p> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">http://birdnetpi.local</span></p><p>To access the <b><i>Tools</i></b> page with default settings:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #444444;">username: birdnet</span></span></li><li>leave <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">password</span> blank</li></ul><p> - Remote <b><i>terminal</i></b> access using previously assigned username & password, for example:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">ssh stevedee@birdnetpi</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">password: woodpecker</span></li></ul><p> - Access via remote <i><b>file manager</b></i>, for example <i><b>Connect To Server</b></i> settings:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">server: birdnetpi.local</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">port: 22</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">type: SSH</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">folder: /home/stevedee</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">user name: stevedee</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">password: woodpecker</span></li></ul><p>Using the <b><i>Web Terminal</i></b> via the <i><b>Tools</b></i> menu, example settings:-</p><ul><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">user name: stevedee</span></li><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">password: woodpecker</span></li></ul><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"></span><div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">using BirdNET-Pi</h3><p>My microphone is just dangling out of a downstairs window at the moment, but I plan to install the system in the loft and lower the microphone out through a gap under the eaves. Hopefully this will provide some protection from the rain while still picking up sound from the rear garden (...<i>and away from the road</i>).</p><p>The <b><i>Overview</i></b>, <i><b>Todays Detections</b></i>, <b><i>Best Recordings</i></b>, <b><i>Species Stats</i></b> & <i><b>Daily Charts</b></i> screens are (I think) easily understood.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZvjGsBkncAlVLzXxQ15Pasp__TSaT-tWoOBHUYbxnh3zaiUiJmvrLQ5KNxKmN7DhwxXm7_chDhrXqEFuTo7ibjz_yk6m7ivrnaG8qgec9sv0BUh-7IxRmbjHgXLdW4DnPcxkf701DtoQlDZAVtaoe2OEyNflJYQn-J-OfgCk50YfYNS9-H6b3hfLgPIL/s1644/Overview.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1644" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ZvjGsBkncAlVLzXxQ15Pasp__TSaT-tWoOBHUYbxnh3zaiUiJmvrLQ5KNxKmN7DhwxXm7_chDhrXqEFuTo7ibjz_yk6m7ivrnaG8qgec9sv0BUh-7IxRmbjHgXLdW4DnPcxkf701DtoQlDZAVtaoe2OEyNflJYQn-J-OfgCk50YfYNS9-H6b3hfLgPIL/w640-h350/Overview.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Anywhere you see '<b><i>Live Audio</i></b>' on a screen, you can select this to hear what the microphone is picking up. Your browser treats this like any other audio source, so if you click on the <b>||</b> symbol to pause it, it with restart from where it stopped when you click on the <b>></b> symbol. Therefore its generally better just to click on the speaker symbol to mute the sound.</p><p>The <i><b>Spectrogram</b></i> screen also allows you to monitor the audio. You can adjust the playback volume using the <b><i>Gain</i></b> control, turn on <i><b>Compression</b></i> which brings up the volume for quiet sounds, and/or turn on <b><i>Freq Shift</i></b> which <i>should</i> lower the frequency of sounds for those of us who (<i>rather annoyingly</i>) can no longer hear high frequency sounds (I say <i>should</i> because at the moment, this does not appear to be working on my system).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihU_PIbyfuP6OcTi6dXuzJv1xKaRjsjS-n1i-CDIgAASrYs9igiFUdb5CHzg6lVGVvmH27uCP9yz0_xCzv-j_VnvIfSDew1y_fzsRZA2_Newftf2VNOxPeM7kXn0YBtpUw8Elm_CfVISZxWODAohyGhcEuKzbMGUTu1cMeJcwEqDgUNjxrRiIby7sizhG8/s1123/SpectControls.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="1123" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihU_PIbyfuP6OcTi6dXuzJv1xKaRjsjS-n1i-CDIgAASrYs9igiFUdb5CHzg6lVGVvmH27uCP9yz0_xCzv-j_VnvIfSDew1y_fzsRZA2_Newftf2VNOxPeM7kXn0YBtpUw8Elm_CfVISZxWODAohyGhcEuKzbMGUTu1cMeJcwEqDgUNjxrRiIby7sizhG8/w640-h124/SpectControls.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxhmbabFtnh8R_kLJhyVJV3fhTfcs3Ug2NqFbNAK39SzpD_ZSKkdRDnjFHkAx7iKCEEOOXYa_CslIa5hA_QDweHXh0KAchjiyKQywCA_rH43ZMxCMEoNtUdMlq1JTF5TMlKNg6YDKdvhpM_p5PkCY5CJhFbEMyRF2ZfCcP4eDcE1g3reN008oSOJLSoBw/s1077/longTailedTits.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="1077" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxhmbabFtnh8R_kLJhyVJV3fhTfcs3Ug2NqFbNAK39SzpD_ZSKkdRDnjFHkAx7iKCEEOOXYa_CslIa5hA_QDweHXh0KAchjiyKQywCA_rH43ZMxCMEoNtUdMlq1JTF5TMlKNg6YDKdvhpM_p5PkCY5CJhFbEMyRF2ZfCcP4eDcE1g3reN008oSOJLSoBw/w640-h230/longTailedTits.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">A gang of chattering Long-tailed Tits arrived at our seed feeder</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The <b><i>Recordings</i></b> screen also has a <b><i>Freq Shift</i></b> option per recording. This <i>does</i> work, and is very useful to me when it comes to kingfisher calls, which are outside the frequency response of my old ears!</p><p>Within the <b><i>Tools</i></b> section there is a file manager and a tool for database maintenance, which looks pretty good, although I've only used it so far to delete test recordings.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjlNjMwmU80RE9q8l1UAsy292e6tzjOsq8mjAP7VUA2nhVCvrmhdAxNtwy7yp7mEAGazjRnhGo3mew_IhA3gXjev0zlzPErYtTc5w2Yx5DDAGRWK1n8E2doVH-8WdfzAFg4jEfEbFrGu9IwJb9Jy_CGcCMlUPPk5kv5IZ2zN4sWX7aDxAOJg3v-nksAzA/s1287/DB_maint.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1287" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjlNjMwmU80RE9q8l1UAsy292e6tzjOsq8mjAP7VUA2nhVCvrmhdAxNtwy7yp7mEAGazjRnhGo3mew_IhA3gXjev0zlzPErYtTc5w2Yx5DDAGRWK1n8E2doVH-8WdfzAFg4jEfEbFrGu9IwJb9Jy_CGcCMlUPPk5kv5IZ2zN4sWX7aDxAOJg3v-nksAzA/w640-h294/DB_maint.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Using <b><i>Terminal</i></b> access you can do some regular Linux stuff:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>adjust the microphone capture level: <b><i>alsamixer</i></b> </li><li>check wifi: <b><i>iwconfig</i></b></li><li>view current processes: <b><i>top</i></b></li><li>close session: <b><i>exit</i></b></li></ul><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: courier; font-size: x-small;">to do: I can't see how you scroll-up in the Web Terminal</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">And finally, if you want to re</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">boot or shutdown the system <i>elegantly</i> (i.e. without risk of corruption) use menu <b><i>Tools</i></b> > <b><i>System Controls</i></b></span>...<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBajMhVFBNgxo2Fq4zjTQ9_v4M31dxEuKtOyMT4xGJk92T1hb0mOsbi7L1xr-3ddwHGDHixZDsXc1IQYt-XJE0fZsUX_r4YXTB7rakMRtoyBvhm-Uqb1qbgo86eg0wTyw1hSGvg_-Gv5HwfJmqgnqYAEIct2IqhKv1RsjLJXMIqCh2mNnWcqEu4aQZ2Ef/s879/BirdNetShutdown.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="879" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBajMhVFBNgxo2Fq4zjTQ9_v4M31dxEuKtOyMT4xGJk92T1hb0mOsbi7L1xr-3ddwHGDHixZDsXc1IQYt-XJE0fZsUX_r4YXTB7rakMRtoyBvhm-Uqb1qbgo86eg0wTyw1hSGvg_-Gv5HwfJmqgnqYAEIct2IqhKv1RsjLJXMIqCh2mNnWcqEu4aQZ2Ef/w640-h396/BirdNetShutdown.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">...or you could do this via terminal.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: courier; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">conclusions</h3><p>No automatic bird or bat identity system is 100% (...<i>at least not yet</i>).</p><p>With the BirdNET-Pi default settings, IDs are accepted if the confidence level is 70% or above.</p><p>One of our most frequent and abundant bird visitors is the wood pigeon, which often wakes us up during the summer months with its distinctive rhythmic call, which always reminds me of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Mothers_Do_%27Ave_%27Em" target="_blank">Frank Spencer</a>; "<i>My head hurts ...Bet-ty</i>".</p><p>But there are no counts for this bird on my system at the moment, because it seems to keep very quiet during the winter months. So you couldn't use BirdNet data on its own to survey birdlife in a particular location.</p><p>We have already recorded several species that we certainly were not expecting. These include; <i>Redwing</i>, <i>Hawfinch</i> & <i>Kingfisher</i></p><p>Although this seemed a bit suspect at first glance, we do live a short walk away from RSPB Pagham which is home to a huge range of both resident and migrating bird species, including the 3 mentioned above. And our estate does have an amazing number and variety of trees.</p><p>Look at this '<i>top 10 chart</i>' for 7th November...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNrQ-SldeK8ERGmsocYUF-jvKFtz7NRkB5tGgC4-HyUqZ0D6I_41MbJeDIY7sg5jupO4NZdBjevo7LfwrTIlTJANfSMnGMJYu2NXN_rxbBYzdgNXcKY85YZ5O3-mod3iukf7rjngcJvgKEmBozY1388BpjKSwoEIbu1H8zqw_IzI1-Ydy-FHwNWQ63ydW/s1230/DailyCharts_Top10_7Nov2023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1230" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNrQ-SldeK8ERGmsocYUF-jvKFtz7NRkB5tGgC4-HyUqZ0D6I_41MbJeDIY7sg5jupO4NZdBjevo7LfwrTIlTJANfSMnGMJYu2NXN_rxbBYzdgNXcKY85YZ5O3-mod3iukf7rjngcJvgKEmBozY1388BpjKSwoEIbu1H8zqw_IzI1-Ydy-FHwNWQ63ydW/w640-h426/DailyCharts_Top10_7Nov2023.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>...it shows <i>redwing</i> calls early in the morning and late in the evening. Could these birds be <i>commuting</i> between the Pagham reserve and their nightly roost sites?</p><p>BirdNET-Pi has the makings of a project that could keep our interest for years to come. Unlike our previous bat monitoring project (where you couldn't actually see the bats) this bird data may prompt us to look out for certain species that often go unnoticed in the darker corners of our garden (e.g. bullfinch, goldcrest).</p><p>Also of interest would be if we detect migratory birds at home, during their stay at RSPB Pagham (as the redwing example above).</p><p>Its early days, but we are off to a flying start! <br /></p></div>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-36319637320756844832023-11-07T10:02:00.001+00:002023-11-09T08:31:56.439+00:00Prostate Cancer: is the fog in my brain clearing?<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">Another blood test, and another oncology review.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000;">Are my Zolodex side effects wearing off?</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>So my last Zolodex hormone treatment was back in January. As these were 3 monthly, my system should have started to recover from about the end of April.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQznO6vFmOv5Cgv5DdsrBiu1GZWpu4r-tSQw1igPtX3vn0qI5dPjF0aAbVDklqwIzQTIfD-no0bPNZgI30tRLfsRhfOJ-_tgIGJ1covZkftKJql0HwlII_jVWTOLeFV7SafznmEtxirNQSjBPtb1sh2jmjH4CPozOdi5XTP370Ag2FqGmvOuZ8lvmn_mh/s2587/TempLo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2419" data-original-width="2587" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQznO6vFmOv5Cgv5DdsrBiu1GZWpu4r-tSQw1igPtX3vn0qI5dPjF0aAbVDklqwIzQTIfD-no0bPNZgI30tRLfsRhfOJ-_tgIGJ1covZkftKJql0HwlII_jVWTOLeFV7SafznmEtxirNQSjBPtb1sh2jmjH4CPozOdi5XTP370Ag2FqGmvOuZ8lvmn_mh/s320/TempLo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>I was hoping to see a big improvement during the summer months, but unfortunately I'm still suffering with frequent <i>hot flushes</i>. These are the <i>'yard stick'</i> I use to determine if I'm making any progress.</p><p>During my oncology consultation earlier this year I was told it could take up to 4 months before my system rids itself of Zoladex. Six months on, and this comment now appears over optimistic. I still '<i>melt down</i>' frequently, and its difficult for me to gauge whether the frequency and/or magnitude is slowly diminishing.</p><p>As for the other side effects; fatigue and a fuzzy brain, I think I'm showing some improvement. I seem to be able to apply my mind better to tasks and I'm even considering a new <i>RaspberryPi</i> project for the winter months!</p><p>One of my toenails (<i>big-lefty</i>) still refuses to conform to acceptable standards. Instead of growing gradually longer, its been growing steadily thicker. So much so that it was pressing on my shoe upper and causing discomfort.</p><p>I tried to file it down with a Swiss/needle file, but it would have taken forever...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvzGGMp-iHetdnqkvjBS1OIpNWgMy4HSIMweEeH9NJS7hRQhQV-xNzVAaf74bpBBW_mHYDY4g1hGYJqmCVgJzH6fOFDhHscUB7G7epSfjQ-OpXdGMV2aa01f37zDXnMoyBuw2qRl8wjLeKM90sC1MmqGp8zLZ6_NnzLSxc9l6Y20gXCoXVxdfzKzqsHwR/s2765/dremel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2074" data-original-width="2765" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvzGGMp-iHetdnqkvjBS1OIpNWgMy4HSIMweEeH9NJS7hRQhQV-xNzVAaf74bpBBW_mHYDY4g1hGYJqmCVgJzH6fOFDhHscUB7G7epSfjQ-OpXdGMV2aa01f37zDXnMoyBuw2qRl8wjLeKM90sC1MmqGp8zLZ6_NnzLSxc9l6Y20gXCoXVxdfzKzqsHwR/w400-h300/dremel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>...so I eventually gave it a good seeing to with my Dremel!</p><p>I'm also suffering a bit with itchy skin in places where moisture gets trapped during a hot flush episode. This is mainly in areas where my legs join my body and also behind my ears. I could certainly do without this!<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Blood test results</h3><p>These result still indicate a very low psa of around 0.02, which is practically in the 'random noise' zone. Only figures greater than 1 will show that there is an upward trend, but for now its looking good.</p><p>My testosterone level is still very low which accounts for my fatigue and generally low physical strength. I'll probably only experience a real improvement when this count rises by a few points. However I can walk 10-20,000 steps a day (on level ground) and certainly exceeded 20k on a few occasions, even in the late summer heat of Spain! But I do find inclines and hills far more challenging.<br /></p><p>Apart from that, we have had a marvelous year in our new house managing various home improvement projects and walking along the beach.</p><p><i>Life is so good!</i></p><p> </p><p><u>Previous Prostate Cancer post</u>: http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2023/06/prostate-cancer-coming-off-zoladex.html</p><p><u>1st Prostate Cancer post</u>: http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2020/10/my-toughest-project.html<br /></p><p> <br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-90551465382818097402023-10-28T07:13:00.003+01:002023-10-28T07:14:31.637+01:00Linux Mint: replacing gnome-screenshot<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;">The default screenshot program on Mint doesn't really do it for me.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;">So I started investigating a better solution.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Don't get me wrong, <b><i>gnome-screenshot</i></b> is a perfectly capable program, but I think I can do better by replacing it with the program called '<b><i>scrot</i></b>' (SCReenshOT).</p><p>For reference, I'm currently running <i><b>Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon</b></i>.</p><p>Here are my personal requirements for screen capture:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>select area to be captured with mouse,</li><li>auto save file to unique file name,</li><li>save file to a dedicated 'screenshots' folder,</li><li>use 'Print Screen' as shortcut key ('Prt Sc' on my Entroware laptop).</li></ul><p>The first step is to install <i>scrot</i>. Using a terminal:-</p><p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;"> $ sudo apt install scrot</span></p><p>Then I need to develop a suitable command line using scrot;</p><p>To create a unique file name I'm using date time to the nearest second:-</p><p> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">%Y-%m:-%d_%H:%M:%S</span></p><p> which gives: year-month-day_hour:minute:second</p><p>The image will be saved as a .png file to a folder named: <i>_screenshots</i></p><p>The '<b>s</b>' switch instructs <i>scrot</i> to wait for an area to be manually selected. So the full command should be:-</p><p> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: courier;">scrot -s '_screenshots/Screen_%Y-%m:-%d_%H:%M:%S.png'</span></p><p>...and sure enough, this works when tested in a terminal.</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzh_KPVk_yW-DwtrAvCkOmhyk-cDUfsnvlR2wiXUWFqUgvedY93lOD89-fIOp31TqVphN_nhg6vrGWZteSG-2YNKURVGLh9fW2GXSPg-rCkDY7UOm4NrNgLAiRDCicL8ZSck7wiQPUE_BUIc-6lE6OFTamr74_DC7Zbcy_DcUs0S-3dnpZ-CvHDamFs6AX/s649/CommandLine.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="649" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzh_KPVk_yW-DwtrAvCkOmhyk-cDUfsnvlR2wiXUWFqUgvedY93lOD89-fIOp31TqVphN_nhg6vrGWZteSG-2YNKURVGLh9fW2GXSPg-rCkDY7UOm4NrNgLAiRDCicL8ZSck7wiQPUE_BUIc-6lE6OFTamr74_DC7Zbcy_DcUs0S-3dnpZ-CvHDamFs6AX/w640-h184/CommandLine.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>To develop a custom shortcut, select menu <b><i>Preferences</i></b> > <b><i>System Settings</i></b> > <i><b>Keyboards</b></i> > <i><b>Shortcuts</b></i> > <i><b>Custom Shortcuts</b></i></p><p>Enter the new Keyboard shortcut details: enter a suitable <i>name</i> and paste in the <i>command line<b> <br /></b></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30y2Hh7DT1Igs3E05pAQbYMK-5mT6PMRY6zh2TwDhzh011YG-omTBQnWC389sRPQoywZyitFmYkVKa1bJnMsyYK5ZuZGHtTAgq-l10pBw35GMLhaZSfSSJlhiBm-rVy46njkW4Pbt8eq5O-takuxUmalHFdsCLiA9ISlO0FbEE9Nk-0DXuUWqlyugU0ua/s1280/KeyboardShortcut.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1280" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30y2Hh7DT1Igs3E05pAQbYMK-5mT6PMRY6zh2TwDhzh011YG-omTBQnWC389sRPQoywZyitFmYkVKa1bJnMsyYK5ZuZGHtTAgq-l10pBw35GMLhaZSfSSJlhiBm-rVy46njkW4Pbt8eq5O-takuxUmalHFdsCLiA9ISlO0FbEE9Nk-0DXuUWqlyugU0ua/w640-h317/KeyboardShortcut.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Enter a keyboard binding by pressing your chosen key/key combination: I've chosen to re-use the "Print Screen" key.</p><p><i>Note: this
automatically destroys the original binding with gnome-screenshot. </i></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwZa4JjvAPhUAk_HZPwsUsD8DjJgVXEMyv6N8ch4jMEl9q9NaRNcrHPjYzElpcIoTlLuJruK9AYsAaKS5gLt0hEq8YoPw5xLU5jqEbPXDUtMI6hpbSYlIZCW4fyM0th_W0ojPXkZW1sD2ANreOMNRaI1horavz5oDRlg6MlUsesgbSDplIusSOm15LI5A/s532/KeyboardBinding.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="482" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwZa4JjvAPhUAk_HZPwsUsD8DjJgVXEMyv6N8ch4jMEl9q9NaRNcrHPjYzElpcIoTlLuJruK9AYsAaKS5gLt0hEq8YoPw5xLU5jqEbPXDUtMI6hpbSYlIZCW4fyM0th_W0ojPXkZW1sD2ANreOMNRaI1horavz5oDRlg6MlUsesgbSDplIusSOm15LI5A/w580-h640/KeyboardBinding.png" width="580" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Assuming it works, that's all there is.</p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">but...</h3><p><i>...isn't there always a but?</i></p><p>Although this works great on my Linux <i>Mint</i> laptop, over on my <i>Peppermint</i> machine something isn't quite right.</p><p>Instead of getting a cross-hair cursor, allowing me to select a capture area, I get a pointer. When the mouse is clicked, <i>scrot</i> captures a full-screen image.</p><p>As far as I can see, the difference is down to <i>scrot</i> versions: v0.8 on Peppermint compared to v1.7 on Mint.<br /></p><p>These days, my Peppermint machine is only used for blogging, so I'm not too bothered <i>(Google is largely blocked on my Mint laptop)</i>.<br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-74190149697183337832023-08-26T11:48:00.000+01:002023-08-26T11:48:59.201+01:00 Skoda Yeti: P20EE & the Emission Control light<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">We love our Skoda Yeti ...<i>most of the time</i>.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">But when we go through a phase of 'dash-board disco' when fault lights come on & stay on, we soon get fed up and start looking at new cars!</span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></span></h4><p><br />When we eventually replace the Yeti, it won't be with another diesel. Ours is a 2015 model, so uses AdBlue as a means of meeting emissions requirements. This means topping up the AdBlue tank every few thousand miles.</p><p><br />When we first bought the car in 2019, we had weeks of problems with the AdBlue warning system, which thought the tank was so low, it threatened to stop running the engine altogether. Eventually the garage fixed it (<i>but I'm not sure they knew how or why</i>).</p><p>Since then, I've taken to keeping the AdBlue topped up <i>before</i> the warning light comes on. Don't know if this has helped, but either way this problem has not (<i>touch wood</i>) happened recently.</p><p><br />We also had a problem a couple of years ago with the yellow light that looks like an engine icon. It came on and stayed on. I seem to remember that the dealer may have changed yet another NOx sensor.</p><p>This light is generally referred to as the 'emissions control light'.<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dxNs0J3KTwchnmd5dcgN4LESoHqWA5HcWSOeVPsGIj75OjWUHu2oeyBALCK4xe9qCfKnZJ9NT9amIb3uOKNWI74n_jidg1y8lIjguoBvj1RSL3pWIsyMc3fD4jPpbW_c9jkfy6Rdy5etELb0HOb9GbPJ6kB2YumvzJxuLsf6IPE8Fndvq0Exh3fRLfHO/s1676/Error_P20EE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1676" data-original-width="1294" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dxNs0J3KTwchnmd5dcgN4LESoHqWA5HcWSOeVPsGIj75OjWUHu2oeyBALCK4xe9qCfKnZJ9NT9amIb3uOKNWI74n_jidg1y8lIjguoBvj1RSL3pWIsyMc3fD4jPpbW_c9jkfy6Rdy5etELb0HOb9GbPJ6kB2YumvzJxuLsf6IPE8Fndvq0Exh3fRLfHO/w309-h400/Error_P20EE.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><p>At the time, I'd bought a Foseal OBDII gizmo, plugged it into the car and noted the error code: P20EE</p><p>Well
its back! Although I couldn't find any info on this error code back
then, there is now a website with some details:
<a href="https://obd2pros.com/dtc-codes/p20ee/">https://obd2pros.com/dtc-codes/p20ee/</a></p><p></p><blockquote><i>To summarise: the P20EE
code is a diagnostic trouble code that refers to a malfunctioning SCR
NOx Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold. This can be caused by a number
of problems, but the most common culprits are DPF Filter Element and DEF
Fluid related issues.</i></blockquote><p></p><p><i>Yeah, what he said!</i><br /><br />It seems to me
that this diesel engine is a bit picky about the way its driven. To be
fair, that's pretty much what the salesman said back in 2019 when we
bought it. He wanted to be sure that we regularly used our car on long
runs, preferably on motorways, at speed.</p><p>The Yeti has had an easy
time for the last few weeks, only doing short runs. So since the engine seems to be running
normally, I connected my Foseal gizmo and simply cleared the error...</p><p><i>...the</i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiib_7MuGkEPb_GkHi3sSZYBpSGJei8o8pGt8QAXfY1SeqDg5bvWf3WUe44kr_1EObFaqZaJFJnT0Qs4fAoJB89Vo3KMzNGyDyezqrSkg3e6fgI9zIo8JzKAEUrGSbTeC54b5hwEuLZmhvUrvVS26iHgtu--OINRHWic9tokYCBrdlaGLeXQNLb1jHdkaIr/s98/EngineLight.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="82" data-original-width="98" height="43" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiib_7MuGkEPb_GkHi3sSZYBpSGJei8o8pGt8QAXfY1SeqDg5bvWf3WUe44kr_1EObFaqZaJFJnT0Qs4fAoJB89Vo3KMzNGyDyezqrSkg3e6fgI9zIo8JzKAEUrGSbTeC54b5hwEuLZmhvUrvVS26iHgtu--OINRHWic9tokYCBrdlaGLeXQNLb1jHdkaIr/w51-h43/EngineLight.png" width="51" /></a><i>...disappeared</i>.</p><p>We've only driven a few hundred miles since then, but we have a
few long journeys coming up, so lets see how the little yellow light
behaves.</p><p><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">connector location</h3><p><br />If you sit upside down in the drivers seat (<i>head where feet should be!</i>) you will see the connector above the throttle pedal.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFEE4Jew9XUO_lzqpmqDdSsSapCEzpJvRAQ13Rpt5eFhGS8Kd0uRcqpYtO_FRcRcpk81OwTxXMhMkwYJYbBE0ivmoNs4QAKvWz36eghVEA_SOTEzHAHpf7pEyrpdQMnWTyetpXdzv8_jYTqJCrPh8hGoAD7RGGoSMKuyvgvjY5TX0qrL0G-eCW0lS-9OY/s1613/ConnectorLocation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1613" data-original-width="1210" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFEE4Jew9XUO_lzqpmqDdSsSapCEzpJvRAQ13Rpt5eFhGS8Kd0uRcqpYtO_FRcRcpk81OwTxXMhMkwYJYbBE0ivmoNs4QAKvWz36eghVEA_SOTEzHAHpf7pEyrpdQMnWTyetpXdzv8_jYTqJCrPh8hGoAD7RGGoSMKuyvgvjY5TX0qrL0G-eCW0lS-9OY/w300-h400/ConnectorLocation.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>After connecting the FO-01 and then turning on the ignition, the home screen looks like this;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4i4nhStmJRWo9DRZtb1kaxWpD4HKS2FBF73hPHoKgI5Rq5HUX8zHqwFTvrvUw2XaG5RCt6koV6mnkBHQQHEqvzCsJPtZt-9qdCCYzWwD2pipnEqIAmEn0u0dAhiCxLCvSoi8mVKvgLkHh-rprXU1SXjcZ9n6ZW1Td-yp9BYFKGSFuwCR0MRRrqvJAyLq/s1930/HomeScreen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1805" data-original-width="1930" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4i4nhStmJRWo9DRZtb1kaxWpD4HKS2FBF73hPHoKgI5Rq5HUX8zHqwFTvrvUw2XaG5RCt6koV6mnkBHQQHEqvzCsJPtZt-9qdCCYzWwD2pipnEqIAmEn0u0dAhiCxLCvSoi8mVKvgLkHh-rprXU1SXjcZ9n6ZW1Td-yp9BYFKGSFuwCR0MRRrqvJAyLq/s320/HomeScreen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The Diagnostic menu (4/7)...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHEAvkgkp_zCmDDGqM9ln3KzWGqK_0oGrRS6Hg83AnS4Dh0_iIB8WeDZZqvuXCZFEMXkzdqfPlFU2ymvSWKLz2pM4Kk2431pvGjx99P0Hy_RRgIXQO0XF6QOIt-PBssYwcWgI7ShhqYM3tyMztXRoScWEcsoaI8yFFdW3e97s4rUxoQ9ZvAPcGDkcLUgW/s2150/Diag_Menu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2150" data-original-width="1978" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHEAvkgkp_zCmDDGqM9ln3KzWGqK_0oGrRS6Hg83AnS4Dh0_iIB8WeDZZqvuXCZFEMXkzdqfPlFU2ymvSWKLz2pM4Kk2431pvGjx99P0Hy_RRgIXQO0XF6QOIt-PBssYwcWgI7ShhqYM3tyMztXRoScWEcsoaI8yFFdW3e97s4rUxoQ9ZvAPcGDkcLUgW/s320/Diag_Menu.jpg" width="294" /></a></div> <p></p><p>...from there you can obviously check for errors and erase them, if you are brave enough!</p><p> </p><p>And there is also a DTC Lookup screen...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cY4dN34ObSOTKcHGnru-rshSr7FZVztrHnIiTpfxlSSdiDErIma6B1h4M2h9mrYh_Yz3YzroueQE9escz1gqB-NAOZNeVdSLGcVaM0mrVe15IbObt8vbcePNeBWO8kLAaefb0mdb3LjBeIRRWBkCx6ey-QVuCa2MGgoZ0PUlIKp48P3cj3Mq82DjTvx1/s2074/DCT_lookup.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1905" data-original-width="2074" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cY4dN34ObSOTKcHGnru-rshSr7FZVztrHnIiTpfxlSSdiDErIma6B1h4M2h9mrYh_Yz3YzroueQE9escz1gqB-NAOZNeVdSLGcVaM0mrVe15IbObt8vbcePNeBWO8kLAaefb0mdb3LjBeIRRWBkCx6ey-QVuCa2MGgoZ0PUlIKp48P3cj3Mq82DjTvx1/s320/DCT_lookup.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>...but as a lookup screen, its pretty useless.</p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-28245433162348086472023-08-21T17:08:00.000+01:002023-08-21T17:08:45.098+01:00Linux Mint: my cpu fan is roaring!<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">This is a very recent problem.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;"> I'm pretty convinced it was caused by a recent software update.</span></h4><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>I'm currently running <b><i>Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon</i></b>.</p><p>The problem is that soon after starting up my laptop, the cpu fan starts to run fast, creating a lot of noise.</p><p>By running <i><b>top</b></i> from a terminal: <i><b><span style="font-family: courier;">$top -d 10</span></b></i></p><p>I can see that the cpu is working hard, even though I'm not asking the laptop to do anything.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMRZajKal3nef976QV9v9Qrk420DSbgklUcVyKq6LHqKuTc4JJ7tvDraxgbEATCj_yDIWIuq404rqCD1H5KI2E7leC3vUk7JqYV8i0BCLe-C2jYEbMKPc72HKAnMinmgIsY3Pu5iTXbNk_z-3d3j6EDl3ybyaIXcuW6LmK-KiE__BYxXLSGVk3OPlxODY/s820/CPUfan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="820" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMRZajKal3nef976QV9v9Qrk420DSbgklUcVyKq6LHqKuTc4JJ7tvDraxgbEATCj_yDIWIuq404rqCD1H5KI2E7leC3vUk7JqYV8i0BCLe-C2jYEbMKPc72HKAnMinmgIsY3Pu5iTXbNk_z-3d3j6EDl3ybyaIXcuW6LmK-KiE__BYxXLSGVk3OPlxODY/w400-h261/CPUfan.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>By reading some chat on the internet, I found I could stop the cpu & fan from going crazy by putting it to sleep (Fn + F12 on this machine) and then I could wake it up and it was fine!</p><p>I remember seeing some microcode updates and I think this may be at the heart of the problem.</p><p>For now I'm happy to do the sleep/wake thing each time, because I'm curious to see whether a future update will fix it!</p><p><i>...watch this space.</i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-9128645477513685272023-07-21T12:05:00.001+01:002023-07-21T12:07:39.629+01:00Linux: record audio from a website<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Once in a while I need to do this.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04;">There isn't always an obvious way to download audio or use a stream.</span></h4><p>So this is a reminder of how to do it!<span></span></p><a name='more'></a>This method relies on Audacity and the Pulse Volume Control.<p></p><p>So, using whatever means, install:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>audacity</li><li>pavucontrol<br /></li></ul><p>Go to Audacity menu <b><i>Edit</i></b> > <b><i>Preferences</i></b> > <b><i>Devices</i></b> > <b><i>Recording Device</i></b> and select <b><i>Pulse</i></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMG9_i-l50ZocLRIC5t95Qx6kSpXf6aepRnjuCOGVIAH96TjkIACX-Y0gGDTNYICUx8b9RpCfJtsACLoh2WjYukEEenfhuOIHM9BxGC-yn8BRsSomjyGOSgnxsLqnNRpgbtZkWTuYxRIMalcwH9m7UsCMtC5CAdzVUIdy1Rh56RKSiyVZKupja-ITT3MQ6/s936/Audacity1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="936" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMG9_i-l50ZocLRIC5t95Qx6kSpXf6aepRnjuCOGVIAH96TjkIACX-Y0gGDTNYICUx8b9RpCfJtsACLoh2WjYukEEenfhuOIHM9BxGC-yn8BRsSomjyGOSgnxsLqnNRpgbtZkWTuYxRIMalcwH9m7UsCMtC5CAdzVUIdy1Rh56RKSiyVZKupja-ITT3MQ6/w400-h295/Audacity1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Start running the audio from your selected website.</p><p>Press the Audacity <b><i>record</i></b> button.</p><p>Open Pulse Volume control and select the <b><i>Recording</i></b> tab.</p><p>Select <b><i>Show</i></b> as <i><b>All Streams</b></i> or <i><b>Applications</b></i></p><p>Select <b><i>ALSA Capture from</i></b>: <b><i>monitor...</i></b> <br /></p><p>Recording should have started!</p><p>Adjust level sliders as required.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-75022871196746675832023-07-08T11:45:00.001+01:002023-07-08T11:48:37.529+01:00Grey Water for my Red Roses<h3 style="text-align: left;">Its summertime in southern England!</h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"> </h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">So that means its <i>water-shortage-time</i>.</h4><p>The challenge is to keep your precious plants alive while minimising the use of fresh water.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Grey water is basically waste water from our homes that does not include 'black water' (i.e. the waste from toilets). Typically, grey water is made up from the output of one or more of the following used water sources: bath, shower, sinks/basins, washing machines and dish washers.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">background</h3><p style="text-align: left;">On a recent trip to a garden centre, we noticed a small, 1000 litre water butt 'kit'. We wondered if this could be positioned in our side alley and coupled into the bathroom downpipe. Surely this would then store grey water for use on our plants during dry spells.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2Vfy33-ATco6PlWNcWwHo4xoEhchHIfo_MaO3uPSg7wuWzIbF92anf5jvf3vnetU7nN0FBu6dbuP0AaanrI4VtgmmoiEdvKbavT_5h49DrS5JBP1t3_ihSjAdQm50-Dy2fcblPrQ92_pVKRjAAgmfETgwoBDB0FruAEMKzN0edxLWHBJeUW9tmh0vOnx/s1939/RedRose.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1939" data-original-width="1480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2Vfy33-ATco6PlWNcWwHo4xoEhchHIfo_MaO3uPSg7wuWzIbF92anf5jvf3vnetU7nN0FBu6dbuP0AaanrI4VtgmmoiEdvKbavT_5h49DrS5JBP1t3_ihSjAdQm50-Dy2fcblPrQ92_pVKRjAAgmfETgwoBDB0FruAEMKzN0edxLWHBJeUW9tmh0vOnx/s320/RedRose.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">there may be a problem</h3><p style="text-align: left;">It was only after we brought it home and fitted it that I took to the internet, searching for info on grey water use. The biggest potential problem seems to be storing your grey water.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJ06zYltY5fATPLAtftjewyKzgWw20yUF-CbxPUgU6BpPgi9WRcUd48DKwCrmHh5fU5NeZJZwwRJ8VoSziMBUioHWAqkIS1Vwgbbqx8enwgeaRqHDhYBwYBZRlbFjrQWF8YZva7JMXxCqelFTUh7d7fyrlZUks9glJn58tTPlSgtlz5YQhRcDrIMkJLX5/s2405/Butt1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2074" data-original-width="2405" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJ06zYltY5fATPLAtftjewyKzgWw20yUF-CbxPUgU6BpPgi9WRcUd48DKwCrmHh5fU5NeZJZwwRJ8VoSziMBUioHWAqkIS1Vwgbbqx8enwgeaRqHDhYBwYBZRlbFjrQWF8YZva7JMXxCqelFTUh7d7fyrlZUks9glJn58tTPlSgtlz5YQhRcDrIMkJLX5/s320/Butt1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The common message is that you must use grey water within 24 hours, or it will start to smell real bad! When I say common message, I mean that all the websites I found issuing a 'storage warning' use this 24 hour time limit. Suspicious? It probably means that this figure comes from a single source and that everyone else is just quoting it.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">If so, this repetition does not make the statement any more valid <i>...just saying.</i><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">why not give it a go?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">So we pushed ahead anyway. Armed with only the local weather forecast, we connected the water butt to the down-pipe on days when we knew it was unlikely to rain in the coming days, and disconnected the butt prior to wet periods, when the water was not needed. We normally use the grey water on the same day of 'manufacture' but sometimes a day or so after. This doesn't mean that the butt is fully emptied after each use, only that it stops coming out of the tap. In practice, there will always be a few litres of grey water and sludge sitting in the bottom.<br /><br />So far, after several weeks of use, I can report that the butt does not smell bad. It just smells like, well, <i>bath water</i>. But I guess it could still be early days. If it does start to <i>pong</i> after a few months, I'll just fill it up with fresh water once or twice and then revert to using grey water once again. After (say) 3 months we should have a good idea if this simple 'grey water system' is workable.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Points to note</h3><p style="text-align: left;">In our case we are only collecting grey water from a shower and small basin. So our grey water only contains diluted soap, shampoo, particles of skin & hair and a few <i>pathogens</i>. Therefore 'fermentation' may not be as active as it would be if we also collected water from the dishwasher and/or washing machine.<br /><br />Our grey water will contain pathogens from both the shower use and washing hands in the basin. If your grey water feed is also connected to the washing machine, it will contain many more pathogens. And if also connected to the dish washer, food waste may promote fermentation, all adding to any 'bad smell' risk.<br /><br />The build up of sludge will require dealing with from time to time (e.g. the butt may need to be properly washed out).<br /><br />More internet info from the RHS (the Royal Horticultural Society) advises not to use grey water on any of your edible plants.<br /><br />Long term use of grey water may be detrimental to some plants, but again this claim may need further examination (e.g. is my low-polluted grey water any better than if it contained dish & washing machine water?). In any case, as already mentioned, our grey water is not for long term use.<br /><br />Using grey water may contravene local or national regulations in some countries <i>(maybe even here in Bognor!)</i><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">how much water is collected?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Apparently a typical Brit uses about 50 litres on average per shower. I suspect I use more, but lets take; 50 x 2 people = 100 litres or about 26 gallons in old money. Even with a big 10L watering can, that's 10 can loads.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">summary</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Our new house has a much smaller garden than our previous home, so is much more manageable.<br /><br />In use, we only water pots, hanging baskets and a few newly planted plants with our grey water, and (at the moment) only for a few days when the weather forecast indicates a dry period. The real test for the plants will be if we get an extended dry period of several weeks; will any suffer from this murky ration?<br /><br />In practice our 'grey water season' will be relatively short; maybe only 4 or 5 months each year.<br /><br />We don't use water butts connected to our rain water gutters at our new house because <i>...we can't be arsed</i>. Any gutter-butts would have to be either at the front or back (or both) of the house. They would look <i>butt-ugly</i>, whereas our grey water butt is hidden at the side of the house. In practice with gutter-butts, a few days into a dry period, you run out of rain water. Our grey system gives us water every day that the down pipe is connected.<br /><br />Ideally I could do with a tap fitted in-line to the grey water takeoff pipe. This would save pulling the pipe off and tucking it higher behind the down pipe to stop water shooting out onto the path.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Fe9TT1z9Em7fd50sHWQ5wofkbP4zHAK0x1ExcIpsfxuV8e6guVfp_Z6dffmHhag3ciHhLU28sWMsCHHnVjamuQBMR1ZALqPSnm8cohOw5LgqFXR383Ld6ORZ-HedAyh0lS0Fb4TkLR6KQRZKq0Sr9SneFGNCLkhWiSIJbVfh7gjfu_OMljaFJ6lqzO6P/s1603/Butt2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1244" data-original-width="1603" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Fe9TT1z9Em7fd50sHWQ5wofkbP4zHAK0x1ExcIpsfxuV8e6guVfp_Z6dffmHhag3ciHhLU28sWMsCHHnVjamuQBMR1ZALqPSnm8cohOw5LgqFXR383Ld6ORZ-HedAyh0lS0Fb4TkLR6KQRZKq0Sr9SneFGNCLkhWiSIJbVfh7gjfu_OMljaFJ6lqzO6P/s320/Butt2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The ideal arrangement for us might be 2 butts in our side-alley linked together; one rain water connected to a gutter, the other grey water. Such a system would be self flushing during rainy periods, if we always took water from the grey butt before using the rain butt.<br /><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBlnYc3z-JBMK71-sg5YCXX3owt6UorYfyIkuiCwpdJGj041xXYQUkbmWCcVBJs2VhWOtAwzetTHaLQt72PN7LzQo3afUAitaC2dXDE0PpCIiiKUHrkT3h6SaaO_GgJCp5UJyXu9cinGgCAfHOuzInfwRKZHiBV7C3aTBkgyRs3eWvml9AkduQCIseDHK/s962/RainGreyWaterSystem.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="962" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBlnYc3z-JBMK71-sg5YCXX3owt6UorYfyIkuiCwpdJGj041xXYQUkbmWCcVBJs2VhWOtAwzetTHaLQt72PN7LzQo3afUAitaC2dXDE0PpCIiiKUHrkT3h6SaaO_GgJCp5UJyXu9cinGgCAfHOuzInfwRKZHiBV7C3aTBkgyRs3eWvml9AkduQCIseDHK/s320/RainGreyWaterSystem.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately we don't have a convenient gutter/down-pipe at the side of the house. <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">The experiment continues!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p><span><!--more--></span>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-21107169805887646442023-06-19T09:04:00.002+01:002023-06-19T09:04:53.538+01:00Moths in Bognor<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">This is our first summer in our new house by the seaside!</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;">We have been using our DIY moth trap to sample the local population of moths.</span></h4><p>It was a slow start, but now looking very positive.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a>Our new location is in the built-up district of Bognor Regis, although our estate in Aldwick does contain many trees and relatively large gardens.<p></p><p>We also benefit from the RSPB reserve at Pagham, a mile or two to the west. And <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2023/04/birdbox-2023-new-home-new-location-new.html">our first season with a bird box</a> was successful, although in the absence of a camera, we don't know how many blue tit chicks successfully fledged.</p><p>The first 3 or 4 times we deployed <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2021/05/moth-trap-mark-ii.html">our moth trap</a> in May & early June, the results were quite disappointing: the most moths we had was 9 and least was zero (although we did have a large hornet that night!)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNK7x0FZBeq30bDo_8wPi7S68duaKAldJormgbC7C9xmiiDi09oLeSbXplbuEjjbNz2Ts7zcUv6Fd3OM2i7Jd1jDGuPUVUTC5hGDa8vPzZbVNIPR7WlgJzJ5lN8Vz9gHHVTCd5tfzZvtuP-6zg-43mqehO3j45VIOENJDDaDm9DMoD4JGhKq1fX3TQU7J/s1800/a_moth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1688" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNK7x0FZBeq30bDo_8wPi7S68duaKAldJormgbC7C9xmiiDi09oLeSbXplbuEjjbNz2Ts7zcUv6Fd3OM2i7Jd1jDGuPUVUTC5hGDa8vPzZbVNIPR7WlgJzJ5lN8Vz9gHHVTCd5tfzZvtuP-6zg-43mqehO3j45VIOENJDDaDm9DMoD4JGhKq1fX3TQU7J/w375-h400/a_moth.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>However, after a long dry period when daytime temperatures were in the mid 20'C range, the situation dramatically improved. On two consecutive Friday nights (we only use the trap once a week) we had over 70 moths in the trap and another 10 or so outside the box, on the nearby wall and windows. This is a larger number than we have ever seen here or at our previous location near Horsham.</p><p>So far we haven't seen a large number of species, just a lot of the same medium sized ones (like Heart & Dart). We did find one Poplar Hawk Moth but should see various large hawk moths here.</p><p>As a result I've made a couple of changes to our moth trap.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="color: #444444;">I should point out that if you do an internet search for 'moth trap' you will see many nasty devices for killing them. Whereas the kind of trap I'm referring to here is for catching, monitoring and releasing them [hopefully] alive and well!</span></i></blockquote><p></p><p>The first change is to increase the capacity of the trap. I've done this by raising the supports that hold the two sloping panels. The panels are now at an angle of about 45 degrees, which appears to be typical for Skinner traps, giving extra space underneath for more egg boxes.</p><p>I've also added a couple of modified picture hooks to stop these cardboard side panels from bowing out at the top. I'm hoping this will reduce the number of escapees!</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yRjsSr8hHkIcxAZfFlI0sVABTW2t_kgdW_JkvMQPNEeKX2bfwdBvj9EE5z0XReVk_r2XI93niYhf2XoVZqEclN-I0a_eHna8kBLdsBtQGy0BUdJYSKnKGQeYtDw9Hfr1L_KrjZM3d_PTwQT2QTAwxVARso4FeH8RjmFn1b6kH0kag63VKwn9qhW9XtRF/s2304/Trap_mods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="2304" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yRjsSr8hHkIcxAZfFlI0sVABTW2t_kgdW_JkvMQPNEeKX2bfwdBvj9EE5z0XReVk_r2XI93niYhf2XoVZqEclN-I0a_eHna8kBLdsBtQGy0BUdJYSKnKGQeYtDw9Hfr1L_KrjZM3d_PTwQT2QTAwxVARso4FeH8RjmFn1b6kH0kag63VKwn9qhW9XtRF/w400-h300/Trap_mods.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I've also decided to run the trap without the centre infill piece which was originally fitted to reduce escapees, as I think its reducing the gap too much and maybe stopping some of the larger moths from dropping through to the bottom.</p><p>One other point to note is that I've managed to wake up shortly after 4am (most <i>trap</i> days) to switch the trap off and cover it with the lid to stop escapees (sunrise is currently about 4:45am but it starts getting light around 4 - 4:15am).<br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-84833447026131764792023-06-19T05:40:00.001+01:002023-06-23T12:41:15.054+01:00Telegram FOSS: didn't get the code<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"> I've just been struggling for a few days to get access to my Telegram account on my de-Googled phone.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">It seems to be a common problem, but in my case I was overlooking one important point.</span></h4><p>Now its fixed I need to write this note for future reference.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a>I know I make things difficult for myself, but I'm very happy with my <i>de-Googled</i> smart phone. As noted in previous posts, its a <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2020/11/oneplus-5-my-almost-de-googled-smart.html">OnePlus 5 running LineageOS</a> with apps installed via F-Droid; I don't use Google to provide apps, to search the internet or for any other 'services'.<p></p><p>I had been running on LineageOS v17 but decided an upgrade was well over due. To go from one major version to another you do unfortunately have to wipe your phone and start again. I did start by backing up every file from the user internal storage area (mostly images) just in case.</p><p>I now have LineageOS v20 installed and the phone does seem to work better in some ways (e.g. I couldn't get <i>finger print login</i> to work with v17, but it works great with v20).</p><p>When opening Telegram for the first time after the OS upgrade, I was confronted by a configuration screen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr631Rgi8IL1iQ0wCaZVLUa_xo5-lm6UykGtiy2yduVx1ZijkCvzltVGEJZYnaNSn07UcQtVyMtVCdcT6j7zJXsFcptMjb-VmP-iX5b2wNkZOIdgt61_Pre5WDLPwhfEFNB4Y3oREcx82wyDT7WhM_Y3mb4BcCIOrhVVblZYkLsiK-jT6MZwqllsoDIgOf/s1920/Screenshot_20230617-055712_Telegram%20FOSS.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr631Rgi8IL1iQ0wCaZVLUa_xo5-lm6UykGtiy2yduVx1ZijkCvzltVGEJZYnaNSn07UcQtVyMtVCdcT6j7zJXsFcptMjb-VmP-iX5b2wNkZOIdgt61_Pre5WDLPwhfEFNB4Y3oREcx82wyDT7WhM_Y3mb4BcCIOrhVVblZYkLsiK-jT6MZwqllsoDIgOf/w225-h400/Screenshot_20230617-055712_Telegram%20FOSS.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>After entering the country code and phone number, Telegram send you an activation code, ...in my case: <i>'to the Telegram app running on your other device'.</i></p><p>The <i>other</i> device being my phone before it was wiped! I wasn't getting a copy sent/received via SMS, which is what I really needed.</p><p>Several times over the following days I pressed the 'Help' button and sent Telegram emails asking for the code to be sent via SMS or email. No reply!</p><p>I found about a million YouTube videos all showing the same solution:<i> basically clear the Telegram user data & cache</i>. I found a number of user comments that this didn't solve their problems. And they never got any responses to their emails to Telegram.<br /></p><p>I tried to get the code using my wife's regular phone. Still no joy.</p><p>Eventually we tried this on a third phone and a code was sent successfully via SMS to my phone. That's when the penny dropped!</p><p>I'd seen a note saying something about first time activation may not work with Telegram FOSS, but thought this referred to initial account sign-up. Well it seems to also relate to re-activation of an existing account.</p><p>I also made the mistake of thinking that Telegram on my wife's phone had been installed from the Google store, but it turns out that this is another FOSS copy from F-Droid.</p><p>So there we are, a simple solution to a very frustrating problem. Opening Telegram now I see dozens of messages containing activation codes that I was unable to see at the time.<br /></p><p>Since the emails that I sent to Telegram via their 'Help' automated system contained device details, including Telegram build & version data, I do wonder why their systems don't recognise this issue and respond with an automatic reply stating the problem: <i><b>"This won't work with Telegram FOSS"</b></i></p><p><i><b> </b></i></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">EDIT 23rd May 2023</span></h4><p style="text-align: left;">Having used another phone to get Telegram working, I found one other problem:-</p><p style="text-align: left;"> <i><span style="color: #444444;">all contact details from the other phone were added to my phone!</span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;">LongStoryShort, the solution was found in: Telegram <b><i>Settings</i></b> > <b><i>Privacy and Security</i></b> > <b><i>Contacts</i></b> > <b><i>Delete Synced Contacts</i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-rarfpKIm8f4XZ30bU4iDQYGLxgdkl_WVhL4xyPimCh5ZNFVrJHweUQ3Ly3uQ6A1q6S7QtuhBqMMB-RBOyQnFRrmgxmVH5Hz-NxR4fZzZ6gKtoxdvu5VSrf2s2e1qUI-lBsdOWY6lQIo4MWB5lFk2Qk5sbSXxcX4LUXofED6-N7D8fuLmEw4Ui9NjBbs/s960/Screenshot_20230623-121730_Telegram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-rarfpKIm8f4XZ30bU4iDQYGLxgdkl_WVhL4xyPimCh5ZNFVrJHweUQ3Ly3uQ6A1q6S7QtuhBqMMB-RBOyQnFRrmgxmVH5Hz-NxR4fZzZ6gKtoxdvu5VSrf2s2e1qUI-lBsdOWY6lQIo4MWB5lFk2Qk5sbSXxcX4LUXofED6-N7D8fuLmEw4Ui9NjBbs/w225-h400/Screenshot_20230623-121730_Telegram.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I also found I could go to: Telegram <b><i>Settings</i></b> > <i><b>Devices</b></i> and then terminate a <i>'still active'</i> session on my phone, but running under the previous version of LineageOS.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I've now setup Telegram on my laptop, as another way in <i>...just in case!</i><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-78765625097356794232023-06-04T14:37:00.000+01:002023-06-04T14:37:50.317+01:00Prostate Cancer: coming off Zoladex<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Hey! I'm still here, alive & kicking.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"> </h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;">My cancer is still under control, and I've really enjoyed the last few years of my life.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>Its now 3 years since I started my prostate cancer '<i>journey</i>' by having a PSA (<i>prostate specific antigen</i>) blood test.
This has been documented here in 6 previous posts starting in October 2020 with: <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2020/10/my-toughest-project.html">My Toughest Project</a> <p></p><p>I had a 6 monthly review in October last year (2022) where the blood test still indicated a practically zero psa level. This is very good news, as a rise in psa would necessitate some further intervention.</p><p>At that point in time, I had been having Zoladex slow-release capsules injected into my stomach every 3 months for 2 years, so asked if I could now stop having them. The oncologist said it had to be my choice, but mentioned research suggesting that if I could tolerate this hormone treatment for 3 years, the outcome may be more favourable, and so I continued.</p><p>However, I had my last Zoladex in mid-January this year, giving me coverage until mid-April, and effectively completing two and a half years of this treatment. It seemed to me to be a reasonable compromise.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">what next? <br /></h3><p>The side-effects from Zoladex include; <i><b>hot-flushes</b></i>, <i><b>fatigue</b></i> and a general <i><b>mental fuzziness</b></i>. Naturally there is not an instant shut-off when you stop taking this drug. It has only been 7 weeks since the last dose was due, so I'm watching carefully (<i>& hopefully</i>) for any signs of improvement.</p><p><b><i>Hot-flushes</i></b>; this is the easy one. If I can get through a whole day without one of these <i>melt-down</i> episodes, I'll know I'm getting there. Coupled with these is a general feeling of being cold at other times, but I don't know if this is just a consequence of getting old.</p><p>I would define <i><b>fatigue</b></i> as:-</p><blockquote><p><i>a combination of physical weakness, almost constant tiredness and a lack of mental drive.</i></p></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>Stamina is probably the polar opposite to fatigue; normal levels of physical strength, alertness and the ability to push yourself on.</i> <br /></p></blockquote><p>I think I can see improvements in my stamina, as I demonstrated during our recent holiday to the Middle East...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hnzYbOk28vRpIbItM6w4QzK8wYO3NQxg5uucJpDn94238Mgevp9MZ-Cok2dsL4JkWlY4uH6HkAlsh3r-f6cLVFrgbZzqtVoqigLjvMOCcCrCESn3DJlpaZIyNT8bLckMa5ZdQLcyFLxI__6O0iXmha1ZXQiE148fjBpXgxi1r7BWiySF8TH7ewe40g/s3815/Petra_SuePhil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3815" data-original-width="2917" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hnzYbOk28vRpIbItM6w4QzK8wYO3NQxg5uucJpDn94238Mgevp9MZ-Cok2dsL4JkWlY4uH6HkAlsh3r-f6cLVFrgbZzqtVoqigLjvMOCcCrCESn3DJlpaZIyNT8bLckMa5ZdQLcyFLxI__6O0iXmha1ZXQiE148fjBpXgxi1r7BWiySF8TH7ewe40g/w306-h400/Petra_SuePhil.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It was a tough day of trekking in the mountains around Petra, climbing around a thousand steps, but I was able to push myself to cover over 10miles in the Jordanian midday heat.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>I don't know how best to explain the <i><b>mental fuzziness</b></i> except that maybe in my head, 2 + 2 doesn't always equal 4 anymore. I sometimes say things that are incorrect, maybe because I don't double check the words that are coming out of my mouth! or maybe I'm drifting between different subjects inside my head.</p><p>Anyway, this may be caused by Zoladex, long Covid or, rather more worryingly, because I'm now in my 72nd year!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">life is good!</h3><p>There are probably side affects from the treatment that I'm stuck with. My feet are not as flexible as they were, and one or two toenails are still yellow and refusing to grow. This is probably chemo damage.</p><p>I don't think my digestive system is quite as resilient as it once was (<i>it was never great!</i>) and I think this could be down to the radiotherapy.</p><p>But my health is pretty good and I am really happy with life.<br /></p><p>My experiences with prostate cancer may have slowed me down a little, but have not stopped me from having fun and engaging with life. In the last 6 months we have gone through the challenges of moving house (not something I <i>ever</i> want to do again) and rewarded ourselves with a fab 2 week holiday in the Middle East.</p><p>Maybe my <i>journey</i> has sharpened my appreciation of life. <br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-29286242906802650682023-04-02T11:51:00.004+01:002023-04-02T12:05:53.578+01:00Birdbox 2023: new home, new location, new birdbox<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">2022 was all about moving house</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #783f04;">so I didn't have time to fire-up the birdbox system or even keep my eye on nesting progress.</span></h4><p>And I'm not sure that this year will be much better, but here goes.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p>This time last year we were busy working on the house, preparing to put it on the market. It was high time we sold our 4 bed family house and down-sized to something more manageable.</p><p></p><p>Although we found buyers and a new place to move into by early May, current property chain dynamics meant that we were only just starting a slow, bumpy, nail biting journey. However, by December last year we were able to move into this lovely, two bedroom cottage just a few hundred yards from Aldwick beach.</p><p>We half-expected to be exchanging great tits for 'sea gulls' and that we would need to get our <i>bird-fix</i> just along the beach at <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/pagham-harbour-local-nature-reserve/" target="_blank">RSPB Pagham</a>, <i>...how wrong were we!</i></p><p>However, with <i>'the move'</i> came other changes, and I no longer want to spend hours recording, viewing and editing birdbox video. We looked around and found a supplier of long lasting concrete birdboxes. This kind of box mostly consisted of a wood/concrete mix and is often referred to as "woodcrete" or "woodstone". Its bloody heavy, so I had to chose a position away from lawn and footpaths as I've no doubt it could kill if it dropped onto someones head.</p><p>We have some kind of evergreen eucalyptus tree at the bottom of the garden which looked like the best host for this box, so I hung it from a very large nail (into a pre-drilled hole) on the main trunk, about 2.5m above ground.<br /></p><p>The box is not adaptable for a camera, but as already mentioned, we wont be spending any more time on birdbox video. And I expect this predator proof, low maintenance box to last longer than I will, so its just providing a service to the birds rather than a means to discover more about bird behaviour.</p><p>However, we will be following progress from outside the box as the season progresses, and in late March we first noticed blue tits going in and out the box.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUiOlu0WZdo1Vx_c5KJSUvggJ4Sffpvij76KOKeA77w-vHcWzDYZz-KUHMO_6U7z2IbHTVPLq1IcPQJjO5U5UW1hG_k-YW4PdvSzxuXDwVIkKBevQzs-IztD2osYAKGZVrfZsb0Dfzrx-thKPWrrXr9WVRaMrCgKVGMDC4tHmAqfPT3AaWY5QnYAZvtQ/s2440/BlueTit_2as.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="2440" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUiOlu0WZdo1Vx_c5KJSUvggJ4Sffpvij76KOKeA77w-vHcWzDYZz-KUHMO_6U7z2IbHTVPLq1IcPQJjO5U5UW1hG_k-YW4PdvSzxuXDwVIkKBevQzs-IztD2osYAKGZVrfZsb0Dfzrx-thKPWrrXr9WVRaMrCgKVGMDC4tHmAqfPT3AaWY5QnYAZvtQ/w640-h389/BlueTit_2as.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">frequent visits with food and bedding</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwl5AIDX7pn0oP_O9pL3sjw73Y-WORZuSh11BISpNnv3hLsVbh_Vdp3KUYMIRYsZWJ1EN--c12BgNu8NlCjcOhPWDKKsmRik0_J_5puLQh12g_WOc8CIeGygHVDCSZTeswgd4cg8OJgvPzYQeO9WfePLPO9YuybWaJQ5_2n7QI6WzEKsqXo3tvX2yntw/s3419/BlueTit_3as.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2440" data-original-width="3419" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwl5AIDX7pn0oP_O9pL3sjw73Y-WORZuSh11BISpNnv3hLsVbh_Vdp3KUYMIRYsZWJ1EN--c12BgNu8NlCjcOhPWDKKsmRik0_J_5puLQh12g_WOc8CIeGygHVDCSZTeswgd4cg8OJgvPzYQeO9WfePLPO9YuybWaJQ5_2n7QI6WzEKsqXo3tvX2yntw/w640-h456/BlueTit_3as.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">birds in our new garden</h3><p>As already mentioned, we didn't have high hopes but have been really surprised by the diversity so far. Apart from blue, coal & great tits we have seen large numbers of green and gold finches, sometimes in flocks of over 30 birds. We do see and hear 'sea gulls' but never seen one land on the lawn. Quite a lot of wood pigeons, collared doves and a few magpies, and of course a few blackbirds, thrush, wren, dunnock and a robin or two.</p><p>Just about every day for the last few weeks a male blackcap has visited the bird feeder. Normally, green finches are able to chase away any bird of similar size, but this blackcap has attitude and clears the feeder before dining!</p><p>A goldcrest (or maybe several) is also a regular visitor which flies into a camelia bush then hops from branch to branch hunting for spiders and other insects.</p><p>We frequently hear woodpeckers (drumming and the call of the green woodpecker); we know there are greater spotted woodpeckers on this estate, but are yet to see one. However we have had a green woodpecker scooping up ants from our lawn <i><b>(a reminder not to destroy ant nests if they are not really bothering you!)</b></i>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsD7tKpob2kpcoW5OtVWp9JKqDp7z7U3S6cSKbrGpU2Be2jodUoWjrVXOcewr7WaTKpnfJOHpxQv2RWWAkk0BBIxADLQr4TAopYNFqGz8iygcCR3j0W5lT1OxOau4eG4I45BviDtTeGhk0xh7jsf-Mg12hFi23hu4MkKoty7qgEkvIKfSrc8og1-oDQ/s2628/GreenWoodpecker2ss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2051" data-original-width="2628" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsD7tKpob2kpcoW5OtVWp9JKqDp7z7U3S6cSKbrGpU2Be2jodUoWjrVXOcewr7WaTKpnfJOHpxQv2RWWAkk0BBIxADLQr4TAopYNFqGz8iygcCR3j0W5lT1OxOau4eG4I45BviDtTeGhk0xh7jsf-Mg12hFi23hu4MkKoty7qgEkvIKfSrc8og1-oDQ/w640-h500/GreenWoodpecker2ss.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">other projects?</h3><p>If (and its a big <b><i>if</i></b>) I get time this year, I'd like to make use of that <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-dodotronic-ultramic-first.html">expensive USB microphone</a> I used a few years back to record bats. Only this time I'd like to build a <a href="https://birdnetpi.com/" target="_blank">BirdNET monitor using a RaspberryPi</a> <i>...watch this space!</i></p><blockquote><p>Also take a look at my <a href="http://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2022/10/birdsong-id-apps-birdnet.html">earlier BirdNET post</a>.</p></blockquote><p>And we may invest in a trailCam to see what (if anything) is creeping around the garden after dark. This garden is fairly well blocked off, so unlikely to see any hedgehogs. But a near neighbour claims that the "shreded" remains of his cat was the victim of a fox! <i>(really? ...I don't think so)</i><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-77104158792193285412023-03-20T18:10:00.000+00:002023-03-20T18:10:40.446+00:00Laptop Power Hack<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">My Entroware Orion laptop developed a very annoying power problem.</span> </h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"> </h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">Sometimes it would unexpectedly go flat while in use with the power supply plugged in!</h3><p>So what to do: send it back or bodge it?</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>The problem was due to an intermittent power connection, which started last summer. As we were in the middle of attempting a very stressful house move, I just put up with it. I had to keep checking that the little power led next to the socket was ON by moving the plug & cable into a suitable position to keep the laptop fully charged.</p><p>Now that we are happily living in our new home (<i>and the events of last year seem like just a bad dream</i>) I've reached a point where action is required.</p><p>My options were:-</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>buy a new laptop; wait a moment, this one is still only 2 and a half years old!</li><li>send this <a href="https://captainbodgit.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-orion-laptop-another-computer-from.html">Orion laptop</a> back to Entroware; this involves the hassle of packing it up, being without it for a few weeks, and the possible argument about responsibility.</li><li>fix it myself!</li></ol><p>It was already clear that the power socket was the problem, before I even took the back off. Whether it prematurely wore out or whether it had had a hard life, I honestly don't know. But the plug was a sloppy fit and, when I checked inside, there were no signs of dry joints or track-work damage to the pcb.</p><p>After taking the back off, I disconnected the internal battery pack from the pcb. I then fed a twin cable in through the gap between the existing power socket and the gap in the case. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2N4ncWTix8arJ1mL4wDFMkts8ssv0vbfXVdpmByn8BLEu_SpZVVOwh0___AGzaUmaXC2cJ5m8m9FFB_Q8HvMz7S6cJCtTQTr8YJ_gHnKeQpBB6xEtuO-vxzDTIduCxJwUKFI3h1dGlXt-A2hcyucgD8y_Iu0rJWXO8pKCIiRru9Zo6zmdnyAfiyIJQ/s3226/LapPowerWires.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3226" data-original-width="2419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2N4ncWTix8arJ1mL4wDFMkts8ssv0vbfXVdpmByn8BLEu_SpZVVOwh0___AGzaUmaXC2cJ5m8m9FFB_Q8HvMz7S6cJCtTQTr8YJ_gHnKeQpBB6xEtuO-vxzDTIduCxJwUKFI3h1dGlXt-A2hcyucgD8y_Iu0rJWXO8pKCIiRru9Zo6zmdnyAfiyIJQ/w300-h400/LapPowerWires.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>As I couldn't find a power socket with the same size bore/pin as the original, I basically robbed a plug and socket from an old router, then cut the plug off the power lead.</p><p>I double checked the power polarity, soldered on the new plug and socket and powered up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygq8BdKCT-ySZ0Htl0W4Qvc5wzY3fPtMfA4SD-71jlOaxenVMXN9ItUIWSVx2w4kFN_SJa9WBYaJYAbmg6ale-o1YS2wydeTKdWO4BuROmkBGpAezLRpkzylfd2ZFJdRqfc4BK01Wx39yPu0YoBazFWOCQBPjTSNiZr6h4beTP_gcqDIo3GjLPrZeDA/s3226/LapPowerNewSkt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3226" data-original-width="2419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygq8BdKCT-ySZ0Htl0W4Qvc5wzY3fPtMfA4SD-71jlOaxenVMXN9ItUIWSVx2w4kFN_SJa9WBYaJYAbmg6ale-o1YS2wydeTKdWO4BuROmkBGpAezLRpkzylfd2ZFJdRqfc4BK01Wx39yPu0YoBazFWOCQBPjTSNiZr6h4beTP_gcqDIo3GjLPrZeDA/w300-h400/LapPowerNewSkt.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>All good, so time to apply plenty of PVC insulating tape.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAOjIYLvjYKWKwocDC6Htqanu6sq7Didz0W8EPliBOxKWMa78ib1onycUQR4U2GJF-BCMFvk4d9wsa3B33FsFLVjeM3kqXrJRhc1YsfSksS6B6dRHv97siH8m7HKTI-lTQWKTTbR6JjIDfZxfSXl0o-v5Rb3dqpoGV2CBPGgA8bbXoRac7D4ccD6t8MQ/s3226/LapPowerTape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2419" data-original-width="3226" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAOjIYLvjYKWKwocDC6Htqanu6sq7Didz0W8EPliBOxKWMa78ib1onycUQR4U2GJF-BCMFvk4d9wsa3B33FsFLVjeM3kqXrJRhc1YsfSksS6B6dRHv97siH8m7HKTI-lTQWKTTbR6JjIDfZxfSXl0o-v5Rb3dqpoGV2CBPGgA8bbXoRac7D4ccD6t8MQ/w400-h300/LapPowerTape.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>And of course it can still be run from the battery...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hjm_JDiTmIm1CJ7mA2hbwNUth2uK4HtbQKxbg2-4AL9g2g9CsRSIGsIsE9XlQ8lZZlLCSH6qQD90FcL9l_NG_T43eGoWht6NIXWhn9eJXdWFlnaLKZkKn6THujSpKd641bDAWqiLo3MqVak0O0x6BknFGoUkGUxzQUKRto7o5ah3vevvUWNL3bVJzg/s2212/LapPowerUnplugged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2212" data-original-width="1659" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hjm_JDiTmIm1CJ7mA2hbwNUth2uK4HtbQKxbg2-4AL9g2g9CsRSIGsIsE9XlQ8lZZlLCSH6qQD90FcL9l_NG_T43eGoWht6NIXWhn9eJXdWFlnaLKZkKn6THujSpKd641bDAWqiLo3MqVak0O0x6BknFGoUkGUxzQUKRto7o5ah3vevvUWNL3bVJzg/w300-h400/LapPowerUnplugged.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p>...and it looks great!<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-6562907273827049732022-11-04T09:01:00.001+00:002022-11-05T15:30:18.663+00:00Knepp: White Stork Reintroduction<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">Its been a good year for white storks at the Knepp Estate.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #741b47;">And we have been very fortunate to be involved in a very small way as volunteers.</span></h4><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>For the last 20+ years, the owners of the Knepp Estate in West Sussex have been transforming low productivity farm land into a wildlife haven. Divided into 3 'blocks' and totaling over 3,500 acres, much of the estate has been given over to herds of long-horn cattle, deer (red, fallow & roe), Exmoor ponies and a handful of Tamworth pigs.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvZZXguD6egsOpCwTSfTPp8an0eWat0ZPMQ1IFDQBnHFb2p15w1XXZWSdtfYGbGMY1H04WSKDt-EOjXbwHOcUniySBVcMRcbGsiSvrhkSYrhaiNC15Ax-BmAGbHYYQOOujVb1SRN2Wc89x8CqyjZ3cnnk8zRcq2EPkGW4I0H9X1lxJfsLpqNkkrvArQ/s2012/PigAndPiglet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2012" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvZZXguD6egsOpCwTSfTPp8an0eWat0ZPMQ1IFDQBnHFb2p15w1XXZWSdtfYGbGMY1H04WSKDt-EOjXbwHOcUniySBVcMRcbGsiSvrhkSYrhaiNC15Ax-BmAGbHYYQOOujVb1SRN2Wc89x8CqyjZ3cnnk8zRcq2EPkGW4I0H9X1lxJfsLpqNkkrvArQ/w640-h504/PigAndPiglet.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Big Mama! One of the 6 resident Tamworth sows in the southern block</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>Brambles and other 'weeds' have been allowed to flourish, turning former fields into scrub-land.</p><p>Where rivers & streams had been canalized in the past to maximise the land for agriculture, they have now been reshaped to meander across the land, and encouraged to flood over large areas, rather than allow the water to race down the river and create flooding further down stream.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN9SZeCMX0V4EgBl0AAnVLxl6pW4eRkZlPsndvqDsFItFGpwS1Upg3PZ_M2oILHbIce7NdkijyKp5CUigJpIcjcsRnTKgFUnKtnlbGF3Y_x3QggLmrI1K62U606vfoHEKTNT7XzMeEuOnEcLEvkvRL4vIydYpW1iElApQYoCb7GMrBpj14OkZ_0vhKw/s799/KneppCastleRuins.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="799" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN9SZeCMX0V4EgBl0AAnVLxl6pW4eRkZlPsndvqDsFItFGpwS1Upg3PZ_M2oILHbIce7NdkijyKp5CUigJpIcjcsRnTKgFUnKtnlbGF3Y_x3QggLmrI1K62U606vfoHEKTNT7XzMeEuOnEcLEvkvRL4vIydYpW1iElApQYoCb7GMrBpj14OkZ_0vhKw/w640-h453/KneppCastleRuins.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The recent introduction of two beavers has further caused the land to absorb more river water. This was dramatically illustrated during this year's drought when much of the landscape turned brown. A large area, extending out and beyond the beavers patch, remained green and highly fertile.</p><p>The biodiversity at Knepp has clearly improved over recent years, and now supports a wide range of resident & visiting birds including cuckoo, heron, kingfisher, linnet, nightingale, turtle dove, white stork, whitethroat, several species of owl, grebe, and various birds of prey such as kestrel, goshawk, hobby, sparrowhawk, peregrine, red kite & buzzard.</p><p>This has also been a good year for purple emperor butterflies, and we even hosted large tortoiseshells, a butterfly which as been "presumed extinct" in Britain since the 1960s.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidWfqekrEmvu_uWUVhg5vBHZju_w0RrRdjCIjwaYp7OOtMsh7gu0mBcsH4r6Zq_ZPp_Fhz3XPFemIXfj8m1wQfxVvewy2LQBhk0vjMEBaNjwlTYyQxv2VBWsiLGsJ_7tRbW87J_GUtWPYMK7NZY1xIdW8mj_TVQ1dAqje5XY0rNBkzJRRHj_e0ducxVQ/s2479/LongHorns.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1315" data-original-width="2479" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidWfqekrEmvu_uWUVhg5vBHZju_w0RrRdjCIjwaYp7OOtMsh7gu0mBcsH4r6Zq_ZPp_Fhz3XPFemIXfj8m1wQfxVvewy2LQBhk0vjMEBaNjwlTYyQxv2VBWsiLGsJ_7tRbW87J_GUtWPYMK7NZY1xIdW8mj_TVQ1dAqje5XY0rNBkzJRRHj_e0ducxVQ/w640-h340/LongHorns.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The White Stork Project</h3><p>Its a long, long time since the last recorded white storks nested in Britain.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFl-XYlXMw7i1UuzLVqEN9tLqI1ZLq-Dwx3StbEpEyng5bhvyR8SWaY7wWPeN2JWClvW7J7utoemdKC6Q4HAqvogWUXBQAOqJLDqRJmw6LZQ6r62bHYXtUU6pJ1eRQTtLDNCXpthMvVn2Nk7OWfvkWsia9jCpYVWIcOaXdpd2tItjGpBZfIRFuoJmN6Q/s2574/Stork_inFlight_2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1887" data-original-width="2574" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFl-XYlXMw7i1UuzLVqEN9tLqI1ZLq-Dwx3StbEpEyng5bhvyR8SWaY7wWPeN2JWClvW7J7utoemdKC6Q4HAqvogWUXBQAOqJLDqRJmw6LZQ6r62bHYXtUU6pJ1eRQTtLDNCXpthMvVn2Nk7OWfvkWsia9jCpYVWIcOaXdpd2tItjGpBZfIRFuoJmN6Q/w640-h470/Stork_inFlight_2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Individual storks may have been seen flying over the country for years, but up until recently, it had been over 600 years since they last nested.</p><p>As they are social birds, the first step to their reintroduction in 2016 was to bring in a small group of injured white storks from Warsaw zoo. These birds had sustained injuries, mostly from flying into power lines, and were unable to fly. They were put into a 6 acre area at Knepp, which was fenced off for their own protection from ground predators such as foxes. This 'social group' will draw down any storks flying over head, resulting in able-bodied birds investigating the surrounding area and possibly finding a suitable mate.<br /><br />A second important aspect of this project is the breeding program at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, where they also have another Polish captive flock of non-flying storks. This year, 34 chicks successfully fledged, and in August they were transported down to Knepp and held in a netted enclosure for 2 weeks. Once released, these birds fly for the first time and accept Knepp as their 'base camp'.</p><p>Most migrate south through France and Spain by October, often settling in North Africa, where they may stay until they reach sexual maturity in 2 or 3 years. Many will then make the return journey back to Knepp, pair with other white storks, build a nest and raise a little family!<br /></p><p>There are currently 3 sites taking part in the white stork project: <i>Knepp</i>, <i>Wadhurst</i> and <i>Wintershall</i> (near Guildford). In 2019, storks nested and laid 3 eggs in an oak tree in the southern block at Knepp for the first time. Unfortunately all 3 eggs failed.</p><p>But 2020 & 2021 were more successful and this year, 20 chicks successfully fledged; 19 from a number of nests on the Knepp estate, plus one other at Wadhurst.<br /><br />So while the able-bodied white storks roam free, feeding on insects like grasshoppers and amphibians like frogs, the non-flyers must be fed everyday to ensure their survival. And this is where the Knepp Volunteers can make a big difference.<br /><br />For most of the year the captive birds are fed in the 6 acre <i>open-topped</i> enclosure. But this means that the able-bodies storks can also <i>cash-in</i> and get a free lunch.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTWT2fU8ifpMYlW5ncQXWo2JMqIfrTzK-ZFJ3wCKFr25cTFgrFI0pRLebOPNMZrxcx1pmDJRoMtBzS6SnzLPIyKc18Zmg8qI1I4wirm-UKIpgmisKjPNhcI9F7dqJqT0QJuO-Ad7WJhBSq1NMHfZJ33WBvAoRwdrANjymDH7UCTPOp-_ikwRfNoBrjQ/s2007/Stork_GB0C.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1649" data-original-width="2007" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTWT2fU8ifpMYlW5ncQXWo2JMqIfrTzK-ZFJ3wCKFr25cTFgrFI0pRLebOPNMZrxcx1pmDJRoMtBzS6SnzLPIyKc18Zmg8qI1I4wirm-UKIpgmisKjPNhcI9F7dqJqT0QJuO-Ad7WJhBSq1NMHfZJ33WBvAoRwdrANjymDH7UCTPOp-_ikwRfNoBrjQ/w640-h526/Stork_GB0C.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>At other times of the year it may be necessary to house the non-flyers in a fully netted enclosure, as is the case now due to avian-flu. We have just entered, what is reported to be, the worst ever outbreak to hit the UK.</p><p>So we are currently feeding the remaining 30 or so storks that just refuse to migrate, and the 25 non-flyers in separate areas. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DJZTwdcuGfl1jiNBquVgSo0ok9YlZwIfa4dxmXfpL_rXg0cf-FBRu-WL8fQckJ8jRqBswUJBZ7-I5eypIb1ZxHTYfoC53m0lEoewJExg8plk8p524KnXR5c4uhW26JQFW18cAXoIGZ74ip5EkhZtQbY8aqJQQLvUZM11nYqaKRMTsv3AqhkcOPDa3Q/s3068/Stork_Radio_Tag.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2202" data-original-width="3068" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DJZTwdcuGfl1jiNBquVgSo0ok9YlZwIfa4dxmXfpL_rXg0cf-FBRu-WL8fQckJ8jRqBswUJBZ7-I5eypIb1ZxHTYfoC53m0lEoewJExg8plk8p524KnXR5c4uhW26JQFW18cAXoIGZ74ip5EkhZtQbY8aqJQQLvUZM11nYqaKRMTsv3AqhkcOPDa3Q/w400-h288/Stork_Radio_Tag.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">a few storks have been fitted with GPS trackers</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>A few storks have been carefully fitted with GPS trackers, which are a great help in discovering the birds movements, both locally during the summer months and during the winter migration. These little modules don't appear to bother the storks in any way and are designed to drop off after a year or two.</p><p>Prior to release, all birds are fitted with plastic coloured identification rings in the format:-</p><p> <b>GB</b> <i>xx</i> </p><p>where <i>xx</i> is a unique alpha-numeric combination.</p><p>On those occasions when we
feed in the open topped pen, we try to photograph as many stork legs as
possible, then document the unique bird numbers to establish their
whereabouts. For example, during the winter months this information
helps to determine which birds have chosen not to migrate.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Stork Trailer</h3><p>This year we have also had fun 'manning' the stork trailer during the nesting season and providing visitors with information about the project.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyJbpXPezXcLzg9xX9UiwEoN92QhC6Fjd3PBMO_-YgzaUmYky6BaUn-eFbE0-dv-6G5BLJXe1Z1oyQn0nCZVC365iLe9FxO19riveWz1dm1jx41flzHXjGWYJGZfMJGaGFJkBYWt9P3ivWaUS9eHpPR5Ff1J2Q3c17jR9xs0fLwLOSKqMcgkgHZEuAw/s2685/StorkTrailerDuty.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2182" data-original-width="2685" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyJbpXPezXcLzg9xX9UiwEoN92QhC6Fjd3PBMO_-YgzaUmYky6BaUn-eFbE0-dv-6G5BLJXe1Z1oyQn0nCZVC365iLe9FxO19riveWz1dm1jx41flzHXjGWYJGZfMJGaGFJkBYWt9P3ivWaUS9eHpPR5Ff1J2Q3c17jR9xs0fLwLOSKqMcgkgHZEuAw/w640-h520/StorkTrailerDuty.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>We have a couple of 'scopes which we set up towards two of the stork nests, giving visitors a close up view of the adults and their chicks.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9WLujS2FrdIUw7sbZN67LxHfHCbl3o9BHQQnDpCpYxjWcdGrrRc8CSgSaPFJk26IF8jlTleHsWLqaRuDEmPkslA2jBaeXntFRNJ1V28Mfs-UKhyp96XwoqYqOteTrF_NZrJ6Hx5iuaR8G1Z7DHcGO5VkxGtxjzxqVIksXn-7dhMhVDx1lZ-_Dy2xGA/s2521/Yard_Storks.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1594" data-original-width="2521" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9WLujS2FrdIUw7sbZN67LxHfHCbl3o9BHQQnDpCpYxjWcdGrrRc8CSgSaPFJk26IF8jlTleHsWLqaRuDEmPkslA2jBaeXntFRNJ1V28Mfs-UKhyp96XwoqYqOteTrF_NZrJ6Hx5iuaR8G1Z7DHcGO5VkxGtxjzxqVIksXn-7dhMhVDx1lZ-_Dy2xGA/w640-h405/Yard_Storks.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">rebuilt after storm Eunice, the sand-school nest has been very popular with visitors this year</span></span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>The closest nest is in the stable yard sand-school, and many visitors would walk straight under and not know it was there if there wasn't someone around to point it out!</p><p>The White Stork Project target is 50 breeding pairs in southern England by the year 2030.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiI5W2qQq_pdvG8lbNHg30x6MyIb5aEBilI2q5kyBmVj38bOC_ikfzDgnvSQJ8Qy3U9Bv26OhXWT1eEsbB-fvy2IH8Yag7oBRqkfEZwwJ-8RvdeRaTd9PHqlADEwuDtR08eSwgu1jaiMgO8By2SeK3NdFkl0qcGMR_QYe2agOVENSL9rqYrMvvPsJDw/s2218/Long_Horn_Bull_x.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1744" data-original-width="2218" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiI5W2qQq_pdvG8lbNHg30x6MyIb5aEBilI2q5kyBmVj38bOC_ikfzDgnvSQJ8Qy3U9Bv26OhXWT1eEsbB-fvy2IH8Yag7oBRqkfEZwwJ-8RvdeRaTd9PHqlADEwuDtR08eSwgu1jaiMgO8By2SeK3NdFkl0qcGMR_QYe2agOVENSL9rqYrMvvPsJDw/w400-h315/Long_Horn_Bull_x.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p> </p><p>So whether its feeding the storks, monitoring their nests, checking the integrity of fences, litter picking, guiding visitors, or working in the market garden or the regenerative farm, there is always plenty to do as a Knepp volunteer.<br /></p><p> </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Links <br /></h4><p><a href="https://www.whitestorkproject.org/" target="_blank">The White Stork Project</a> <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/whats-on/park-news/" target="_blank">The Cotswold Wildlife Park, Park News</a></p><p><a href="https://knepp.co.uk/home" target="_blank">The Knepp Estate</a> <br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8042569099194536366.post-70209561382009180132022-10-14T14:09:00.000+01:002022-10-14T14:09:07.219+01:00Birdsong ID Apps: BirdNET<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">I was looking for a phone app that would identify bird song.</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span>I have a de-Googled phone, so it needed to be one I could install from an APK package.</span></span></h4><p>And of course, it had to be free.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Background</h3><p>We walk a lot in the countryside and like to identify any animals, insects and birds that we encounter. Sometimes we hear a bird singing in a tree or hedge, but are unable to see it.</p><p>Another problem is that most birds have a variety of songs and calls. For example, we can recognise the classic <b>chaffinch</b> song, but are not so good when it comes to its range of calls.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg90LdkaiFCkpT2r3KeimMcibhHt-SIteYy9G7TrtdRHpkOQGKlzgt9CTc2nJ11dou1g62LO-wZuLVgEfNV2VAVDFWOPgqcQ63-A3JvNsXytSU4tVQ3TrQ34RQRdRd6Ji-tXcWvRZZ843j6o6rK25aXEng-lRwhgaAYTFmUbUYtPzJYfp8I11VW64pLQ/s810/ChiffChaffCalls.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="810" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg90LdkaiFCkpT2r3KeimMcibhHt-SIteYy9G7TrtdRHpkOQGKlzgt9CTc2nJ11dou1g62LO-wZuLVgEfNV2VAVDFWOPgqcQ63-A3JvNsXytSU4tVQ3TrQ34RQRdRd6Ji-tXcWvRZZ843j6o6rK25aXEng-lRwhgaAYTFmUbUYtPzJYfp8I11VW64pLQ/w640-h286/ChiffChaffCalls.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;">British-birdsongs.uk have 5 different calls for Chaffinch</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Merlin</h3><p>A few weeks ago we installed the bird ID app <i>"Merlin"</i> on my wife's Android phone. It seems to work well, so I looked at ways to install it on my <i>LineageOS</i> Google-free phone.</p><p>Being Google-free, I don't use them to install apps. I normally use <i>F-Droid</i>, but in this case Merlin is not listed, so I installed <i>Apk Extractor</i> to create a package and transferred it to my phone.</p><p>It seemed to install without problems, but when I run it I get some kind of <i>'app keeps stopping'</i> error message. So far I haven't been able to find a solution and fix this problem.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">BirdNET</h3><p>A friend suggested I try the BirdNET app. So once again I installed this on my wife's phone from the Play store and ran Apk Extractor. This successfully installed and runs fine on my LineageOS phone.</p><p>The first obvious difference between Merlin and BirdNET is that Merlin seems to analyse the recordings on the phone, whereas BirdNET sends the recording to a German server and then waits for the result. This is fine if you have a good internet connection, but can be a pain if you have a poor one (maybe you are standing under an oak tree, in a forest!).</p><p>However, you can save any recordings for analysis at a later time.</p><p>At first I didn't understand how to save recordings, but this worked fine after I added "storage" to the existing app permissions, which by default were "location" & "microphone".</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Performance</h3><p>Having access to two bird ID apps means I'm able to compare recordings on both systems. I also use <a href="https://www.british-birdsongs.uk">https://www.british-birdsongs.uk</a> as a source of bird song to test the apps.</p><p>It soon became apparent that there may be a few identification issues. Using BirdNET in the field and with the recordings from <i>British-birdsongs</i> its clear that the app cannot tell the difference between <b>carion crow</b> and <b>hooded crow</b>. We don't generally get hooded crow here in southern England.</p><p>Using BirdNET in a field test while listening to a <b>common wood pigeon</b>, the app thought the bird might be a <b>collard dove</b> 50% of the time. However, when using the song from <i>British-birdsongs</i> it correctly identified both species. So more investigation is required.</p><p></p><blockquote>Note: the wood pigeon makes a sound like a bored football fan; <b><i>"uni-ted, uni-ted"</i></b>. While the collard dove sounds like Frank Spencer; <i><b>"my head hurts, Bet-ty"</b></i>.</blockquote><p></p><p>Using <i>British-birdsongs</i>, BirdNet classifies both <b>swallow</b> and <b>house martin</b> as <b>swallow</b>, but does recognise a <b>swift</b>. It recognises a <b>common buzzard</b>, but not a <b>honey buzzard</b>. It thinks a <b>red kite</b> could be black or red, but correctly identifies a <b>black kite</b> call.</p><p>BirdNET cannot identify that rather annoying <b>Rose-ringed Parakeet</b> that is spreading out from west London into the home counties. It is not listed in the apps list of likely birds for our area. (But it is listed & recognised by Merlin)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_R_F8Vf3iFD76WxNXUaRwmAb8PuN5F_D9c7AMpjl8HXo_Al-ZlPlLMksqwFrdRsndiET2mFs9lVwoMMNnlmgl4_aNa5louLIgoyBhtuhKD_bX0kHTttLgo-QbjXyc5hxgG5x_mZhWHioRKLrJNtXO7t-76-PGRIeidfWAcOz95jhMJrhbKBwSMe3Dmw/s2400/Merlin_Parakeet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_R_F8Vf3iFD76WxNXUaRwmAb8PuN5F_D9c7AMpjl8HXo_Al-ZlPlLMksqwFrdRsndiET2mFs9lVwoMMNnlmgl4_aNa5louLIgoyBhtuhKD_bX0kHTttLgo-QbjXyc5hxgG5x_mZhWHioRKLrJNtXO7t-76-PGRIeidfWAcOz95jhMJrhbKBwSMe3Dmw/w180-h400/Merlin_Parakeet.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merlin identifies the pesky parakeet<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>October is not a great time of year to hear bird song, but I tested BirdNET using some common bird song recordings via <i>British-birdsongs</i> and the following seem to work fine:-</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>robin, wren, blackbird, nightingale, song thrush, mistle thrush, chiffchaff<br /></li><li>house sparrow, swallow<br /></li><li>coal tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, marsh tit</li><li>bullfinch, chaffinch (including its "rain call" but not its "flight call"), goldfinch, greenfinch</li><li>magpie alarm call (but not song), jackdaw, rook, raven</li><li>turtle dove, stock dove<br /></li></ul><p><br />BirdNet could not suggest a species for the willow tit song, and seemed confused by the blue tit song (<i>although the latter recording didn't sound right to me</i>).</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYbX0cKMqOqke2_QzF_L0cTPmDWQ_CPFsA4X93HobAXx453JeyTllrYo22Oa2SQ9xcK7vxu9wPSru39xIOwqQBAHkV9K2Wj2jUMJ7hpwa_zSF-B5O7NZXua7sG0q-yYFY0Xh55jW4TO_ZE7JrqfOw5Hza-IygaCOxaIybc6I7sewMS596a8jZrpBtPg/s1920/BirdNET_Chiffchaff.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTYbX0cKMqOqke2_QzF_L0cTPmDWQ_CPFsA4X93HobAXx453JeyTllrYo22Oa2SQ9xcK7vxu9wPSru39xIOwqQBAHkV9K2Wj2jUMJ7hpwa_zSF-B5O7NZXua7sG0q-yYFY0Xh55jW4TO_ZE7JrqfOw5Hza-IygaCOxaIybc6I7sewMS596a8jZrpBtPg/w225-h400/BirdNET_Chiffchaff.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chiffchaff? ...no problem</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p>If there are people nearby talking, BirdNET may give this response...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-YjiUnsu017imu-_CFIS7yrLajm4F5mPHo7jtpGKWMWxXSxRrBogxU6dk8SPYYFNfK68-YWQIVUtZkKkGxMtqu0LRNwToGnq8zDtBKr8AX3EgFzlVPREeN2-PLUu_qVCkKnBQ1hotEVDY36T6G2JndvT1_oibE-T_-oCtqUm3PV6jvBbWnBB9RcCOQ/s1920/BirdNET_Human.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-YjiUnsu017imu-_CFIS7yrLajm4F5mPHo7jtpGKWMWxXSxRrBogxU6dk8SPYYFNfK68-YWQIVUtZkKkGxMtqu0LRNwToGnq8zDtBKr8AX3EgFzlVPREeN2-PLUu_qVCkKnBQ1hotEVDY36T6G2JndvT1_oibE-T_-oCtqUm3PV6jvBbWnBB9RcCOQ/w225-h400/BirdNET_Human.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /> <br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">suggestions</h3><p>BirdNET Observation info should include the type of call: e.g. song, call, alarm call, rain call (similar to <i>British-birdsongs</i> website)</p><p>Observation "confidence" should be colour coded using shades of green, amber & red for existing categories; almost certain, likely, uncertain, don't know, wild guess & so on</p><p>BirdNET could do with a "swipe left to delete" option for recorded
Observations (you have to open each one and delete individually). <br /></p><p>By reference to <i><b>"Explore your area"</b></i> I can see that the bird list is limited to a likely list of birds you may see within about a 25 mile radius of your current location. I'd like an option to adjust this range.</p><p>BirdNet uses bird names that I would describe as international. This is very tedious because most common British birds are prefixed with either the words "European" or "Eurasian". I would much prefer a localised list of names; e.g. simply "Wren", "Robin", "Blackbird" instead of "Eurasian Wren", "European Robin", "Eurasian Blackbird" & so on. A link from each bird takes you to a Wikipedia article which gives the full international name, which is fine and removes any doubt about the actual species.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Conclusions</h3><p>I would prefer BirdNET to do the analysis on the phone and not have to rely on an internet connection. But generally I like most of the screen layouts and the information provided.</p><p>It would be <i>a-nice-to-have</i> if the user could re-order observations in simple alpha name order. This would also require the removal of tedious prefixes like; Eurasian, European, Common, & so on. Or names could be changed, e.g; Wren (Eurasian), Swift (common)<br /></p><p>I'd like a "<i>clear all Observations</i>" button. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I like the location map, but its a pity it can't be stretched by the user to occupy the full screen.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYrPhUtFKz60iEa-BSyOpjiABU3TbAFYWnAlHDCjcPV7MvVjeuSC0FNFrg6-AUBKhnOOfm3g4sdJMyMigTckDnR0EeqQ5YDWCZVU2MCp9ZFw3ONz4H03BLStZW-B_Z3HdRWaigvb1zmIpvQvRnpqWIwpYpMQHMOGKChpSjpuVl6cr3WKt9yLM04kZ5gA/s1920/LocationMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYrPhUtFKz60iEa-BSyOpjiABU3TbAFYWnAlHDCjcPV7MvVjeuSC0FNFrg6-AUBKhnOOfm3g4sdJMyMigTckDnR0EeqQ5YDWCZVU2MCp9ZFw3ONz4H03BLStZW-B_Z3HdRWaigvb1zmIpvQvRnpqWIwpYpMQHMOGKChpSjpuVl6cr3WKt9yLM04kZ5gA/w360-h640/LocationMap.png" width="360" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Visit <a href="https://birdnet.cornell.edu/" target="_blank">this website</a> for more information from The Cornell Lab.</p><p>Also see <a href="https://ebird.org/home" target="_blank">eBird</a>.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>SteveDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645378028590228663noreply@blogger.com0