Category Archives: How-To

Private RoIP (Radio over IP) System

I often work in places that are spread out over large distances and are underground or filled with radio obstructions like thick concrete/steel walls and lots of metal equipment. Getting radios to work takes some infrastructure and money. Something I … Continue reading

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How-To Get Clean Dishes with a Modern Dishwasher

If your modern high-efficiency* dishwasher is anything like mine, then it is a source of constant frustration. Even with pre-washing the dishes don’t come out very clean.  I think I solved the problem, here is what we do: wash out … Continue reading

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Batch Resize Pictures Using Linux Convert Utility

A quick and simple way to resize a folder full of pictures is to issue the following command on a Linux computer: $ for file in *.jpg; do convert $file -resize 25% rz-$file; done

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Pro Audio Cables – Typical Connections

I ran across this diagram of typical pro audio cables and their pin outs, so I’m saving it here:

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How to: Linux Dual Boot on Dell 7710 with Windows 10, NVMe SSD, and UEFI

subtitle:  Linux doesn’t see Samsung SM951 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD on Dell Precision 7710 laptop preloaded with Windows 10 Here are the steps I took to get LinuxMint 18 installed on a laptop with a NVMe SSD and UEFI while … Continue reading

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Debounce Code for Logix 5000

Here is a way to debounce the on and off signals in a Logix 5000 PLC:

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Stop Crimping RJ-45s

I am on a quest to convince people, especially controls and automation people, to stop crimping RJ-45 ends on Ethernet cables. Everyone else in the world terminates Ethernet to a punchdown block jack and then uses a pre-tested, pre-molded patch … Continue reading

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Add Virtual Network Interface to Ethernet Card

Want your single physical network adapter to have multiple addresses?  In Linux, it is very easy to add new addresses to your existing card, just use the ifconfig command: $ sudo ifconfig eth1:0 192.168.100.252 (eth1 is the physical adapter, 0 … Continue reading

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Gray Card for Photography

Create your own gray card by using photo editing software: fill with black adjust opacity to 50% (or just print the png above or this US Letter sized PDF Gray Card)

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Convert PDF to PNG using Linux

If you use the defaults for Imagemagick, the output of a PDF file with text converted to PNG is unreadable.  The secret is to use the density option: $ convert -density 300 xxxxx.pdf yyyyy.png If the original PDF has a … Continue reading

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