(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best test, measure & inspect products

Enclosure
Glass tanks with screen lids are very bad for ball pythons, you should be looking at getting a tub set up (using a rubber maid/sterilite /iris tub & soldering or drilling holes into the sides - here is a good tutorial of setting that up ). Or you would be wanting to get a PVC enclosure. I have an Animal Plastics T8 for my ball python, it did take about five weeks for it to show up, though. So if you want to go this route, plan way ahead. The tub route is cheaper, but takes more DIY skills. The PVC cage route is more expensive, but very aesthetically pleasing. To make a glass tank work, I suggest covering three sides with foam board to help insulate, and covering most of the screen lid with saran wrap or foil to keep humidity in. Also you would want to ditch the aspen and get something like coconut husk.

Humidity
A ball python needs at the minimum 60% humidity. This is incredibly difficult to achieve in a glass tank with a screen top. A tub or PVC enclosure makes this super easy. Humidity should be measured on the ground with a digital hygrometer. The stick on humidity gauges that pet stores hawk are often inaccurate and can cause serious injury or even death if they come unstuck from the wall and stick to your snake. I use this two in one hygrometer / thermometer.

Temperature
Ball pythons need a thermogradiant w one end at between 88F & 90F & a cool end of 78Fish - the ambient temperature should never be below 75F, & should be around high 70's. In a tub or a PVC enclosure, you will want an under tank heater - heat tap, heat mats, heat pads. I recommend the flexwatt that you can get with the Animal Plastics enclosure or the ultratherm from Reptile Basics. If you have trouble keeping the ambient up in the PVC enclosure, you may want to get a radiant heat panel, which installs to the ceiling of the enclosure. For a glass tank, you will probably need a ceramic heat emitter installed over the cage to keep ambient temperatures appropriate. CHE sucks out humidity, so you will need to be extra on top of that. CHE gives off no visible light. Red lights are often given out like candy at PetCo/Smart places as good ways to provide heat at night. They are not. Ball pythons can see red light, and it messes up their day/night cycle. I don't have recommendations for CHE because I don't use them.

Thermostats
Any & all heat sources you have for your BP need to be controlled by a thermostat. Failure to appropriately control your heat source can lead to it quickly becoming 120F & injuring your snake. I highly recommend Spyder Robotics Herpstats. You can get larger ones w more probes so that you can control all your heat sources w one unit. They have a ton of good safety features & a lot of people on this sub can answer any questions you have on them. The cheaper ones are around $100ish. If that is too much for you, there are a lot of people who use the Jumpstart thermostats, but they have less safety features & can wear out quickly. They also make a loud clicking sound periodically. I cannot stress this enough, this is not a place to cut corners. You need a thermostat.

Thermometers
I already linked to my recommended combo hygro/thermometer. This thermometer is great because it has a small probe to measure "outside" temperatures. I use this probe to measure the floor on my warm side (I hide it on the ground under the substrate so I know the absolute hottest place my BP can get to). I place the unit itself on the cool side, so I know all my temps & the humidity on one unit. You will also want an IR thermometer gun (there might be better recs than this one). This is good for spot checking temperatures without moving around probes & also checking the temps of the prey items.

Hides
You want at least two similar, enclosed hides. Half logs are NOT suitable, they are too open & they stress out the BP, as they can't watch both ends at once for a predator. Some of the best hides are these ones from Reptile Basics. They are enclosed on all sides with just a small entrance. They are dishwasher safe & also very cheap. You want them to be similar if not identical, so that the snake does not have to choose between feeling safe & thermoregulating. You will want one on each side of the temperature gradient. Feel free to add more that are different for diversity in the enclosure. I also have some fake vines/leaves in mine so that she feels more invisible. Go to a craft store or the fish supplies for these, the ones marketed for reptiles are way overpriced.

Water dish
You will want a water bowl that is large enough for the BP to soak in. This should be changed daily, as they like to poop & pee in their water. You'll want something sturdy as they like to tip them over. I got some crock dishes from Reptile Basics. You don't need any water treatment for the snakes water unless you treat water for yourself. If you tap is safe for human consumption, it's safe for your snake.

Feeding
BP's eat every 5 - 7 days as hatchlings and yearlings, as adults they can go longer. BP's are NOTORIOUSLY picky eaters. The ideal IMO for a BP is a proper sized rat fed either pre-killed or frozen/thawed. I feed frozen/thawed rats from Perfect Prey. Just a heads up - they ship with fiber glass insulation & dry ice. I try to open the packages outside so my cats don't get into it. They come in freezer bags and I just store them in my regular freezer. If even one thing is wrong in your husbandry, your BP will likely not eat.

How Much To Feed
The feeding amount depends on the weight of the BP. You will want a digital kitchen scale - you can get one cheaply at any box store. While under 750g, you want to feed about 10%-15% of their body weight about every 7 days. Once they are in their second year you want to feed 7%-10% of their body weight, after they are in their third year, you want to feed about 5% every 7 to 14 days. I document all feeding days and the weight of the prey in my google calender.

You should be weighing your snake at least once a month to track how much you should be feeding. You should not disturb or move or handle your snake for at least 48 hours after feeding.

Frozen / Thawed
I get the rat out the night before the day I want to feed. I put it in the fridge. About two hours before I feed, I get it out of the fridge and put it on the counter to get it to room temp. And then I soak it in a zip lock bag in warmish water (I use a temp gun to get water around 110F) for about 20 minutes, and use a temp gun to make sure the rat is around 100F, and then I run the head under running hot water until its 110F. The head of the prey should be warmer so the snake has a target. I then use tongs to move it around in the enclosure to mimic it being alive. She (usually) strikes pretty quickly. If she doesn't, I leave it in overnight, and throw it out in the morning if she doesn't eat it.

I prefer frozen thawed cause I can buy cheaply in bulk. It's also safer. As BP's get bigger, they require larger prey - and rats have sharp teeth and sharp claws and can seriously injure your snake.

Myths of Cage Aggression
You do not need a separate cage for feeding it. This is a myth. The best way to reduce stress at feeding time is to feed in their regular enclosure. This minimizes the risk of regurgitation.

Substrate
Stay away from aromatic woods - such as pine. A lot of people like to use coconut husk, unprinted newspaper, or paper towels. There are pros and cons to each. I like paper towels, they are cheap and easy to clean up messes with. I use PVC enclosure so I don't need a substrate that helps with humidity like coconut husk. This should be spot cleaned whenever a mess is made. My BP likes burrowing under the paper towels. She creates "underground" tunnels. Aspen chips can mold super easily so not really recommended. If you have a chip type substrate and are worry about ingestion of substrate while feeding, put a plate down before hand.

Since this is a system for a PC, I would be inclined to recommend these, though there are many more options to consider. If this system will be PC and PC only, the following Active Speakers will do. Remember Active Speakers have built in amps -

Edifier R2000DB - £235/pair - 4.5 Star Rating on Amazon -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EDIFIER-EDFR2000DB-Home-Audio-Speakers/dp/B00O3K7GP0

Very High Power, and has the additional feature of an Optical Input, plus a Remote Control, and Bluetooth capability so you can Stream music from your Smart Phone or other Smart Device, and if you computer has Bluetooth capability, you can stream audio wirelessly.

Though I don't have a link, the Edifier R2000DB is also available in Walnut (woodgrain) similar to the speaker shown below. This is a relatively common speakers, and should be available in Poland and/or Germany.

Here is a alternative that is similar but lacking the Optical Digital Input -

Edifier R1700BT - £130/pair -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1700BT-loudspeaker-loudspeakers-Built/dp/B00MXY21LW

Now if you want an Amp and Speaker separately, probably the best low cost amp would be the Yamaha AS201 -

Yamaha AS201 - £160 -

https://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/yamaha/as201/yama-as201-blk

And for a computer, the Q Acoustic 2020i bookshelf speaker would be excellent -

Q Acoustic 2020i - £100/pair -

https://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/q-acoustics/2010i-gr/qaco-2010i-graph

The current model is the Q Acoustic 3020, so if you can find them the older 2020i, which are still very good, are available at very nice discounts.

I have a pair of 3020 on my computer and they do an excellent job.

The Whardedale 220 are a very well regarded speaker, but they push the budget up to about £170/pair. Though I'm not sure of availability in Poland, the Cambridge Audio SX50 and SX60 are good speakers at deep discounts -

https://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/wharfedale/diamond-220/whar-diam-220-blk

https://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/cambridge-audio/sx50/camb-sx50-dk-wal

https://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/cambridge-audio/sx60/camb-sx60-dk-wal

Though you are more likely to find the Wharfedale or the Q Acoustic in Poland or Germany than the Cambridge.

The Edifier R2000DB are nice in that they have an Optical Digital Input, which means, at some point in the future, they could be moved to the TV for TV/Movie watching. Plus, you can Stream Music to the Speakers from your Smart Phone or other Smart Device (bluetooth).

NOTE: Both the Edifier R2000DB and the Edifier R1700BT have REMOTE CONTROLS, which isn't so important if you are sitting at the computer desktop, but for TV, a Remote is a must, and very handy for general music listening.

The separate Amp and Speakers would give you a system that could potentially go beyond a PC system.

Here are the full specs on the Yamaha AS201 -

https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/hifi_components/a-s201/index.html

Approximately 100w/channel. Phono Input.

I'm not sure about the Market in Germany or Poland, bit if you can find them, also consider the Yamaha RS202, I don't think it has a Phono Input, but it does have Bluetooth capability. If you can find it, it is also a very good Receiver to consider.

Here are the specs on the Yamaha RS202 Receiver with Bluetooth -

https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/hifi_components/r-s202d/index.html

In the UK, this has DAB and DAB+ Radio, don't know if that is relevant in Poland.

But there are a few choice, let me know what you think.

Note, links here with a [!] are ones not in the album.

• Starting off HERE we have a view of the entire area. On the left is my rack topped with HP 1020, semi-dead retired PS3, and Netgear R6300v2, a few parts and tools. An HDMI switcher sticks out the back waiting cable management and routing to a shelf up front, also exposing IR receiver for it for manual control although it auto switches to the latest turned on device.
  
  Off to the right is a desk which has been converted to a ghetto entertainment center. I'd rather buy servers than furniture! My apartment is absolutely tiny anyway, like 600 SQFT. Logitech 2.1, Dell S2740L. I'd not pay that much for a dashboard monitor, but, I use it for media as well, so the price of it new when I got it, nearly 450 after taxes/shipping, was worth it.
  
  
• Over HERE a second R710 sits unused while I get another iDRAC chipset for it, and maybe another motherboard for it. Maybe. It works with it's damaged RAM channel but limits it's expansion. We'll see.
  
  
• HERE is my GLORIOUS GRAFANA SETUP! This is displayed on the Pi, refreshes every 30 seconds, data is dumped every minute to InfluxDB, some graphs use ELK Stack, and the Pi in addition to showing this uses a cronjob to dump temp/humidity data. A more detailed screenshot is HERE From left to right, top to bottom, you see,
  
• Power Usage, stats pulled from OpenHAB (more below)
  
• graphs of Humidity from an AM2302 sensor. I'll release Python sources when I'm comfy with them, r/Homelab will be the first to see 'em, no worries.
  
• A bunch of single-stat charts showing "right now" data: Rack intake temp, Rack exhaust temp, C-temp INSIDE the rack, Power Draw, and firewall incoming packets rejected over the last 5 minutes. More on this later.
  
• Stack-graph of intake and exhaust temp over time. Shows me how much "heat" is being shoved out the back better, visually. And I can see when I'm doing crazy stuff on CPU loads ;) - the sensors used here are THESE DS18B20's from Amazon. So easy to get working because it's 1Wire.
  
• Then I graph "ambient"-ish sensor data from my IPMITool dumps. A cronjob runs THIS[!] command every minute, and dumps the sensor data. The data in this graph is backplane, motherboard, ambient temps, etc. Nothing "Hot."
  
• Then, I graph the "hot" data - IO Controller hub, RAM, CPU cores, etc. Unfortunately the R710 and R210 don't have any hot data? Just ambient, and that's it. Boo!
  
• Next up, fan speeds. I consider this important and bolded the lines of fans that I've swapped so I can make sure they don't fail.
  
• "Ports" blocked is wrong, it's packets. This graph is polling Elasticsearch which gets pfSense firewall logs. It then graphs ICMP (Ping) requests it's rejected, and all other Layer4 packets on a separate line.
  
• Then, another Elasticsearch graph showing packets that have passed through - I only have three ports exposed - two RDP and one PPTP for when I lab at work. I want to see when my RDP sessions are being messed with, so I graph both of them. A management VM runs on the standard port, and a "production" (file/print/dhcp/dns/iSCSI) RDP session for "emergencies" runs on a nonstandard port.
  
  The last two graphs honestly tell me a LOT. ELK Stack is WAY more powerful than I thought. Unfortunately I don't like how Kibana's dashboards look, so save the geoIP stuff, I am using Grafana all the way. TODO: Get the Pie chart plugin working!
  
  
• THIS is my OpenHAB setup. Pardon the bulges on the side, screencaps from an S7 Edge, stitched together. Top down:
  
• Scenes (off/sleep/wake/work[all on])
  
• a 2800 Lumen living area light
  
• an RGB (though locked to single color due to limited OpenHAB2 support for this particular model) bulb behind the monitor seen HERE[!]
  
• An Ikea dome lamp I ripped the mains socket out of and replaced with LED strips, powered by an ESP8266 and custom driver circuit. Communicates via MQTT with a server, Mosquitto, on a VM. Sits above my bed. Reowr.
  
• AUX Power is for my hydroponics setup. I'm a basil/pesto nerd.
  
• Server rack power "right now." updates every 15 seconds.
  
• AUX Control controls the water pump for hydroponics. It's on a 1hr OpenHAB "cron" rule to water itself.
  
• Server Control, expanded upon HERE
  
• Network devices lists me and my SO's laptop and phones, and an NZXT H440 tower I built that we share. Seen here in an old photo playing Jak X at native speed, woo!
  
  
• HERE is a view of the rack, with THIS bandana I am in love with. The 4.3" LCD is THIS model LCD panel. It's disabled as the Pi outputs to HDMI, but I'll get SNMP graphs going on it when I get a second or even more Pi's.
  
• This LCD was previously used for a DIY snake climate control system, but I had to abandon my snake when I moved a year ago :(
  
• The setup was HERE[!] - old photo showing semi-complete. Eventually had it fully coded. This is a tkinter GUI and a PID control algorithm PWM'ing a heating mat for his cage.
  
• HERE[!] is a better view. I could VNC in to change his thermostats.
  
• BOY[!] did it fucking work great or what. HERE was a primitive Apache script charting the temps stored in SQLite via PYGAL. Note that the second plots are days at a time. The first is a plot of data over weeks. The dips are me resetting the script for improvements.
  
  
• HERE is the top of the rack with ghetto-WAP and HP laser printer. Semi-dead PS3, some spare PSUs, tools, PATCHKABEL, etc etc.
  
  
• HERE she is herself! Top down of the rack as follows,
  
• 1u HP ProCurve 2810-48G. I love this thing man.
  
• 1u Cheapo Ebay wannabe NeatPatch that cost me like 20 bucks.
  
• 2u Keystone inserts with one-off stuff like the modem, NUC, Pi, jacks in the back, routed up front for easy access.
  
• Blank
  
• 1u Shelf, left: Surfboard Modem, right: Intel NUC 5i3RYH. Pardon the 1/3-unit offset! It's trashy, I know, but the NUC is too tall >_<
  
• 1u Shelf, Sager NP3260 (Clevo W25AES) laptop. Used as a media center machine. Kodi, browsers, etc.
  
• 1u empty, awaiting rails for the R210 to mount it here.
  
• 2u empty, soon to house the second "spare" R710
  
• 1u currently holding the 210 on a shelf, soon to just hold tools or cables when the rails arrive...
  
• 1/3u reserved 1u, shelf.
  
• 2u, C2100 48GB RAM, 2xL5630, 3x1TB, 2x250GB, 1x160GB internal, soon to have an additional 30GB ssd when I prep it. Runs ESXi, virtualized FreeNAS w/ HBA Passthru.
  
• 2u R710 in good condition. Both this and the spare R710 rock an X5550 with 24 GB RAM. This currently has 4x 10K drives, soon it'll be 2x in each 710 as local storage. This in addition to the C2100 will be my vCenter Server lab, with vCenter Server itself running on the R210 (along with my management VM).
  
• 1u empty
  
• 1u blank
  
• 1u times two PDUs; outlets are at a premium even though I don't even use that much power!
  
• 1u empty TODO get a UPS in there.
  
• HERE is the MESS of wiring I hide by shoving this at a wall. Why I monitor the temps lol. You also see the HDMI switcher free-floating, and an HDMI Keystone in the next image below. I intend to shelf-mount the switcher up front for access, but eh, cables are thick, lazy, haven't gotten that far yet.
  
• HERE shows the quick disconnect and patch keystone at the bottom rear. So I dont need to rip my modem out if I wheel the rack around. I built it for portability, even though it never moves. For modularity, I left the input and output of the POE injector in the rack for my work-from-home phone. Hence the 5-inch loop connection.
  
• HERE is a glory shot of the trio of cables running along the wall. 2 data to my desk, 1 coax to the wall.
  
• HERE shows the HDMI switcher which is missing one port. Pi, Sager Laptop, and soon to be VM with Passthru. It switches automatically to the newest source, but I leave the remote handy in case I need to switch it myself. So, it shows the dashboard at all times, and if I fire up the media center with the remote keyboard, it shows that. If the media center goes to sleep, back to the dash. Also intentionally using Grafana because it's gorgeous dark theme.
  
• HERE shows my zen area booting up the best workhorse a man could ever buy himself - a THINKPAD! \ o /
  
• HERE I kick it back staring at the IT equivalent of paint drying.
  
• Since I work night shifts and sometimes even from home, I have curtains to isolate this area from the rest of my studio apartment.
  
  ---
  
  Power is metered/controlled with THIS switch. Make sure you have no way of shutting this off! Else you cut power to the whole lab. So far it hasn't had any random-shutoff issues. So I'm happy.
  
  This lab has taught me A TON, entertained me during off hours, given me uninterrupted sanctuary, prepped me for exams, and everything. After I get MCSA, the R710s + C2100 will be clustered to teach me much more advanced stuff for VCP5/VCP6 study.

If you don't have digital thermometers inside of your cage or a temperature checking thermal gun (something like this https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY/ref=zg_bs_9931459011_6/139-0586439-0036854?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=92JFJMYZYZGMZY071HNT), do yourself a favor and get one. It takes the guesswork and anxiety out of making sure they have a good temperature gradient. If you go with digital thermometers inside the cage, you need one that can read two different temperatures (can't find the exact one I used previously, but it was something like this https://www.acurite.com/indoor-outdoor-thermometer-with-probe.html) or two within the cage (they do make extremely small ones). You should also get a humidity gauge, again digital is better. Currently I use one humidity gauge in the center of each enclosure and a thermometer gun.

Do not use the little plastic thermometers/humidity gauges that stick to the side of the glass, aside from them being less accurate they can come off and stick to your snake, which is no good.

Check for any weak points in your enclosure often. If there is mesh, make sure there are no holes or stretched spots, they are escape artists and even if they don't escape, can hurt themselves in the attempt. Lids should be secured at all times you don't have eyes on the cage.

Feeding inside or outside of the cage is a hot button issue and I won't recommend one way or another, but I will say if you feed in cage, be careful about bedding ingestion, it can cause impaction (bowels becoming obstructed with indigestible material). If you feel your snake is ingesting bedding when you feed, try making sure the food item is completely dry when you put it in and also laying down something to feed on, like flat rocks (what I personally use), a paper plate, regular plate, or newspaper. Avoid paper towels, if blood gets on it, snake could ingest that too.

Make sure to clean any new cage decor, I use regular soap and water and rinse VERY well for everything that isn't porous. That can get a little tricky, but google "How to clean *insert the thing you are trying to clean*".

Clean water regularly. Regular handling (multiple short sessions is better than longer sessions) is the key to taming them down if they are a little wild (which really depends on age and previous home handling, younger snakes tend to be more nippy than adults). Give the snake a decent amount of time to acclimate to the enclosure before you start working on getting them used to you by handling, most I have heard say a week. Don't handle for around 24 hours after feeding.

Oh, and enjoy your new buddy!

That is about all I can think of at the moment, feel free to ask specific questions if you have them. :)

TL;DR: The easiest way you can show the greenhouse effect is to have two jars. Fill one jar with CO2 and fill another one with regular atmosphere. Leave them out in the sun, and the CO2 jar will become much hotter than the regular jar. You can easily generate CO2 by combining vinegar and baking soda inside a bottle, or you can use water and alka-seltzer tablets (which are just a dry powdered acid and baking soda that only react when wet). If you're using a bottle with a screw-on cap you need to be careful not to generate too much gas or you've essentially made a pressure bomb.

You can see someone do this exact experiment on Youtube. Just the first guy who pops up for my search:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwtt51gvaJQ

Explanation is below:

The earth radiates heat away through infrared radiation (called black-body radiation). This infrared radiation is the same thing as light rays, but the wavelength is longer so our eyes can't see it. All objects emit some infrared radiation, but warmer objects emit more. This is the principle of the thermal camera- which is specially made so it can pick up and "see" those infrared rays. These are useful because hotter objects (like warm blooded humans, animals, light bulbs, etc.) are brighter than background objects. Home inspectors love these because it lets you find drafts in your home or faulty wiring. The police love these because people stand out clear as day, even in the middle of night or hiding in a bush (since they're warmer than the bush).

https://youtu.be/rBnYtEYMW-Y?t=196

The key to understanding the greenhouse effect is understanding that carbon dioxide is opaque to infrared light. Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared light, while most of the rest of the atmosphere just allows this light to sail through and escape to space.

You've seen this effect in action with visible light if you've ever left something black out in the sun. Black objects absorb light and get incredibly hot during the day. Bright white objects reflect light and stay much cooler. A really simple experiment you can do is to find a place where black asphalt runs up against a white sidewalk. Go out in the middle of the day and put your hand on both- the black asphalt will be much hotter. For bonus points you can get a cheap touch-less thermometer to confirm your results- point your thermometer at all sorts of things and figure out what gets hottest. You can find these online or in hardware stores for $15 or so.

https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY/ref=zg_bs_9931459011_8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VSR6YWEN6WBT7DM6H6C6

For something more controlled, wrap a jar of water in a black plastic bag or in black construction paper and leave it in the sun. Then, wrap another jar in a white plastic bag or in white construction paper and do the same. Go out in the middle of the day and feel them both- the black will be hotter.

Carbon dioxide acts the same way. It absorbs the invisible infrared rays, while regular atmosphere does not. The result of more carbon dioxide is that more infrared light is absorbed, and the atmosphere gets hotter than it would be otherwise. You can easily see this happen in action by filling a bottle with CO2 and comparing it to a non-CO2 bottle, as discussed above.

• I don't need a airlock or anything special just saran wrap on top of a jar with a rubber band.
  
• I have landed on 6% salt by weight and I add enough liquid just to try and submerge a bit
  
• Submerging has not really been that important. My last few have "floated" after fermenting and I had no mold issues. A little discoloration from oxidation but thats it
  
• I don't really bother to stir the mash
  
• It's fun to add wine or beer for more flavor
  
• They have been surprising mild sauces using just jalapeno or harbenero.
  
• I've decided the consistency I like if I am filling woozy bottles is simmering the finished mash, then putting through a medium food mill (I have Oxo mill).
  
• I like to thicken and keep from separating with about 1/4t Xanthum gum to 1500 ML of sauce
  
• I like 1/2 gallon masons as vessels.
  
• I like Caldwell's for ensuring a solid, active ferment. Or dregs from a prior ferment with this. In my head I liken it to getting good attenuation when brewing.
  
• Speaking of brewing, when bottling I use StarSan to sanitize bottles and then I hot pack
  
• I got a cheap PH meter to ensure shelf stability for finished sauces. So far so good
  
• I am usually blending random stuff in at the end to adjust and enhance (citrus juice, sweet fruit, re-hydrated dried chilies, etc)
  
• I just did one where I added raspberries and I'm excited to experiment now with more chilies and fruit

Cool add-ons to the Brooklyn Brew Shop 1G kits (which I liked):

• Refractometer !! You won't want to take a hydrometer sized sample of a 1 gallon batch, after you have pitched yeast. IF you are like me you want to know whats going on with your brew, and take gravity readings at the beginning and end to find out how your yeast did. Also to make sure its ready to bottle. Anyway, its just way too much beer to take out and put back in or otherwise lose if you are using a hydrometer and test jar. Alternatively a Refractometer takes only a few drops of beer to measure, even though you have to correct for the presence of alcohol.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Beer-Wort-Wine-Refractometer-Scale/dp/B006GG0TDK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398314617&sr=8-3&keywords=refractometer+dual+scale
  
  
• You probably want a mini auto siphon , tubing, and a spring loaded bottling wand to fit your tubing. This makes getting the beer out of your 1 gallon jug pretty effortless. Anything like the below will make your bottling day soooooo much easier.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Fermtech-MINI-Mini-Auto-Siphon/dp/B0064ODL1G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398314371&sr=8-1&keywords=mini+auto+siphon
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Brewcraft-Fermtech-Plastic-Bottle-Filler/dp/B0064OEE9O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398314427&sr=8-2&keywords=bottling+wand
  
  
• Just go ahead and buy some starsan for sanitizing. Much easier than the powder they give in the kits, I got something in my kit that must be rinsed out before bottling or getting beer on it. (not good to drink).
  
  Starsan you don't have to rinse off, and it really helps you to be confident in your sanitizing abilities.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Five-Star-FS_SS_16-San--16oz/dp/B00FA86OZ2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398314939&sr=8-3&keywords=star+san
  
  
• You need a bottle capper and caps. Winged capper works fine and pretty easy to figure out.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Bottle-Capper-Red-Baron-Homebrew/dp/B000Q6ARMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398315533&sr=8-1&keywords=bottle+capper
  
  
  
• Also, you really need 3 kettles for an easy time doing the BBS kits. 8 quarts is a good size. 1 for mashing, one more to pour it all out over the strainer to collect the wort, and a 3rd one ready to go with boiled, heated water if you need to top up before the boil. I suppose you could get away with 2 if you do kind of a "Brew In a Bag" method. They say 2 is 'recommended' but I say that 3 pots is pretty much necessary the way they write the instructions.
  
  
• Have somewhere to keep the beer at the right temperature. BBS said 70 degrees F was fine. Yes it will make beer. Keeping it constant is supposed to make a big difference, even if a lot of people say you need to ferment around 64F.
  
  http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-temperature-control-440670/
  
  Anyway, enough. Don't overthink it. Those kits are so freaking easy to do, my first batch turned out pretty drinkable despite some temperature screw ups during mashing.
  
  You can watch homebrewfinds.com for deals on any items I listed, and you can even better, get them from your local home brew shop.
  
  Note, if you think you want to do bigger batches later, the mini auto-siphon and any tiny kettles are going to be a waste of money... the refractometer, starsan, capper, etc. will still be quite useful.

Read the care guide in the sidebar, even if it's overwhelming. Read it all, read it twice, commit it to memory. If you truly care about the well being of the animal then this is going to be your go to guide, while we're always here to answer other questions. Also, you mention only getting one now because you're going to be free for the next dew months. I just want to make sure you understand that you're committing to a 15+ year responsibility here. 15 years if preparing and offering food daily, 15 years of socializing, 15 years of new UVB lights every 6-12 months and heat bulbs more frequently, 15 years of vet visits. If you think you can handle it that's awesome! I just don't want to see the animal end up in the same situation it was already in because you got over eager with your free time. Here are the basic necessities and the best place to buy them:

UVB - Fixture + Bulb

Supplements - Calcium + Multivitamin

Temperature - IR Temp Gun + Ambient Thermometer / Hygrometer

Heat Bulb - Go to Lowes / Home Depot/ Etc... and look for PAR38 Halogen Flood lights. Buy a few different wattage to see which gives you the proper temperature. Direct basking temp (check with IR Gun) should be no 105f - 110f. Once you find the bulb that works you can return the rest and you'll always know which wattage you need in the future.

Food - Superworms are not a staple and should only be fed as treats. Dubia are ideal and can be purchased here. Crickets, BSFL, and other treat worms can be purchased here. Buy online, you will save a lot of money. If the animal is as young as you think then he should be eating 80+ feeder insects every single day.

Substrate - Pick up some slate tile, shelf liner, or contact paper while you're at the hardware store. Do not use a lose substrate or reptile carpet.

I can not speak highly enough about Fluke's intellitone equipment. It's not cheap, but it is well worth the price. The basic kit starts at about $160
(Amazon Link)

One of the reasons I really like the Intellitone is it is digital instead of analog. This means it won't pick up interference from near by florescent lights or network chatter from other cables. With the Cisco equipment, you can also tone "live" cables plugged into a switch, which is HUGELY useful when the guy before you didn't leave any documentation.

If you have the money (or an employer to pay for it), the Microscanner is a nice entry level tester which will also work with the intellitone wand. It is a little pricey starting at about $400 (Amazon Link)

Whatever tester you get, make sure it can do TDR. Knowing the length of a cable in the wall is incredibly useful for tracking down the other end.

The only rule I have for crimper's is make sure they are ratcheting. After crimping 20-30 ends in a row, your hands will get tired and you won't always make proper crimps unless you have the ratchet to make sure. A padded handle also helps. The Ratchet Telemaster (Amazon Link) has served me well for many years. Also, if you turn them upside down and look at the red plastic guard, it looks like a face chomping the cable when you trim the ends, which to this day still cracks me up.

Ah interesting, thanks! I love that he has an 8" sub to go with his 18" 12" mains XD.

I actually have a similar mis-match of speakers though I paid considerably less. Wharfedale Diamond 9s and Bose 201 Series III's, connected to two Yamaha CRX-M170 amps. One was given to me and the other was bought 'faulty' for £50, however the amplifier part works fine. Gale 3090 sub bought second hand for £50. Overall it all sounds pretty good to me, and I'm happy with it :)

I've been looking for something similar for three weeks, asking about it on reddit and other places.

It seems the most popular brands mentioned on this subreddit aren't easily available in the UK, and it's easy to think that £100 will get you a good set of speakers (in PC terms, £100 would let you pick among the best keyboards or mice), but for speakers it seems that 95% of the options under £100 are bad.

Speakers are either active (power supply built into them) or passive (needs a separate amp). Cheap / normal PC speakers are active, so I'm assuming you don't already have an amp.

In the UK the most highly recommended speakers under £100 are Whafedale Diamonds.

Best for under £100:

• Amp: LEPY 2024A Plus (£24)
  
  
• Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 (£60)
  
  The best for under £200:
  
  
• Amp: SMSL SA-50 (£53)
  
• Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 (£100), these speakers are quite big for a desk.
  
  Also needed:
  
  
• 3.5mm to RCA (£4) or something similar of whatever length to reach from your computer to the amp
  
• 2.5mm multi-strand 432 (2x216 strand), 14 AWG (£6), or any 14 or 16 gauge speaker wire, to go from the amp to each speaker.
  
  The £24 amp isn't great, but should do fine for sitting in front of a computer.
  
  You don't normally need banana plugs or anything fancy, unless you plan on swapping speakers regularly. If you use the £53 amp, check the plug that comes with it, some aren't fused / safe for UK.
  
  Hope this helps, and if anyone has any improvements, please reply, I'll probably be reposting this reply to any other similar UK questions.

I have this one! It looks like it's gotten more expensive recently, but sometimes you can find it for just around $100. As far as I know, it's about the cheapest reliable one you can get. A quick list of pros and cons:

Pros

- Both accurate and precise. For a relatively inexpensive meter, it's very good! Based on the calibration shims they give you, mine has been just about spot on, and hasn't needed recalibrating in the 2 or 3 years I've had it.

- Works on both steel and aluminum!

- Long lasting battery; only had to replace the battery once in the time I've used it.

Cons

- Does not give you separate readings for different layers. To be fair, this is the realm of $2k machines. The trick to estimating here is to measure the paint on the door jambs; the clear coat is thinnest there. Subtract that amount from the total and you'll get some idea of how thick the clear is!

- Metal tip; it won't damage the paint if you're careful, but that means it's risky if you're not careful!

- .....that's it, honestly. It's awesome.

​

If you do paint correction regularly, it's a no brainer. If you're just doing your own car and are relatively knowledgable about its history, it's not really worth it. You're unlikely to burn through the clear even on heavy corrections unless you're doing it repeatedly. If you feel that it's necessary even just for peace of mind though, go for it!

If that's all you're worried about, just go electric.

A thermometor gun runs you around $20, I've linked to one <$15 but can't attest to its quality. That's a drop in the bucket compared to anything else R/C will cost you. (A long-running battery will run you Closer to $30.) (Also, I love this E-bay seller. Highly recommend.) In general, a higher run time is achieved by having more mAh in a battery Usually 4,000 mAh is more than enough, especially if you have two or more batteries.)

If you find your motor getting too hot, you can buy a heatsync for it. Anything like this will work fine, even if it doesn't have a fan. Modifying the chassis to fit something like this can also be fun, if you're into it.

Also, here's a rundown on LiPo batteries, if you want to read in on them. It may seem like a lot to take in, but I promise that it's much simpler than a nitro engine, especially if you're just getting into the hobby.

Oh, and one more thing: if you don't want to deal with the relatively complicated LiPo batteries, you can simply power your car of choice with a NiMh battery, though these are generally more expensive (and offer lower performance) compared to a LiPo with the same mAh (run time). As a tradeoff, they are more durable, less volatile, and are much more of a "charge and forget" technology.

Feel free to ask around if you have any questions, the sub isn't very active but it never hurts to ask :)

I will write up some more specific feedback because I am interested in seeing the Pockethernet get better, and thanks for telling me about long-pressing the measure button.

To be clear though, I wasn't comparing the Pockethernet to the AT 2000. I was comparing it to the Fluke MicroScanner 2 for $440 which I own, and the T3 Net Prowler for $730, which I might have purchased instead of the Pockethernet.

Hardware criticisms:

Make sure all internal connectors are fully seated. My battery came unplugged. Make sure that the plexiglass protection film is removed. And at least in my case, the plastic on the wiremap/loopback tester is so loose that I had to take it off to use the tester.

App Bugs (iPhone):

I experience frequent crashes. Usually it seems when I leave and return to the app, or when I save results to Dropbox using the "Send" feature. This has persisted from an iPhone 6s Plus, to a brand new installation on a brand new iPhone X.

There is also a bug where the bottom half of the app disappears, or becomes covered in a white rectangle, and I am no longer able to scroll. This might be from the app trying to hide itself where the keybaord appears. Only way to fix is to quit and relaunch the app. Very frustrating.

App Workflow:

App flow should probably be like this: First HOME screen is a grid of icons for PRESET TESTS and an icon for a CUSTOM TEST. PRESET TESTS should be user-defined groups of frequently run tests. They should be icons, because that way more fit on the screen. Clicking on a PRESET TEST should take you to the RESULTS screen.

The RESULTS screen should only show the test results of the tests you just ran. It should have some persistent icons at the bottom of the page, that include a couple of selectable PRESET tests, as well as RETEST, CUSTOM, and HOME. This will make it easy to always quickly run a test.

The RESULTS screen should have the option to save results to a DATABASE. Often I will run additional tests for an outlet in the future, and I want the ability to EXPORT all of the tests from one outlet together, not have a separate PDF for each group of tests I ran on each outlet. The PDF export should only show the results of tests that were run.

If you instead clicked CUSTOM TEST on the HOME screen, you should be taken to a grid of icons with all possible tests. Check your desired test icons, click TEST, and be taken to the same RESULTS page as before.

There should be an interface for viewing the test results in the database, and deleting of specific tests for specific outlets.

This would make the Pockethernet interface much closer to Fluke's, Ideal's, and T3's interfaces, and much more useful.

Thanks!

Unfortunately £100 is just around the lower limit of the very-entry level, not really mid-range if we're going to be honest.

The easy solution is M-audio AV-40s. They are 'powered monitors' so the amplifier is inside, all you have to do is feed them signal.

Alternatively, you could go for "passive" bookshelf loudspeakers and an amplifier. The advantage to this route is that you can upgrade the speakers or amp separately (edit: also each individual component is probably at least a bit better than the av40s, and if anything ever fails it can be replaced separately; it's just more flexible overall). There's some extra work involved but it's not difficult..

These Wharfedale 9.0 should be good for the price (the Diamond 9.1 were reviewed by Stereophile and they measure well for the price).

You'll need an amp, speaker wire, and some banana plugs are helpful. Oh, and probably a 3.5mm stereo to 2RCA cable to connect your 3.5mm source(s) to the amp.

How much better are either of these compared to tiny computer speakers like Logitech or Creative etc.? Much better.

Beer and science you say! I have a few recommendations for you then.
The essential book to beginning homebrewing is John Palmer's How to Brew. This dives right into the science and explains things clearly for a beginner.

And what is science without some equipment! For the scientist there is a nice refractometer that can be used to measure the gravity of your beer and use that to calculate the ABV%.
Also, ever beer scientist needs to keep track of what they are working on. How about picking up a brewer's journal.

Maybe you want a more DIY project to get into it. How about a home made mash paddle? They are easy to make and it's something that you two can design and make together.

Since he most likely doesn't have a kit, stop on over to Northern Brewer and check out some of the starter kits.

There are also options for wine, mead and cider so no matter what your taste you can get something that you two can enjoy together. I love brewing and my wife helps out. We get to spend time together and create tasty drinks.

These may not be the most original choices but the clues you've given us really lend to a hobby I'm very passionate about. Hope this helps and if either of you have any questions about gear or brewing etc... feel free to drop me a line.

If you're already here asking the right questions I'm confident you can get through it.

I was expecting to have to spend a couple of hours getting the AP working the way I wanted, but the whole thing literally took five minutes. It was literally, make a user account and password, assign a vlan, click next a couple of times and that was it. There would be a little more to it if you're setting up a firewall and a switch as well, but it's pretty much as easy as it can be.

You will need something to run the Ubiquiti web interface on. They sell something called a cloud key for this, but you could also use a Raspberry Pi3, since they're cheaper and do the same thing. You could also run the Ubiquiti controller software on any Linux system that you have laying around.

As for the wiring itself, what I did was get a small wall-mounted rack, like this one. Then I ran the cables to a Cat 6 patch panel, like this. From the patch panel, I ran connections to my rackmount router and switches. I've basically only ever followed the bundle of snakes cabling model in the past, so it's satisfying to have everything nice and professional looking.

I used Cable Matters stuff for wall plates and keystone jacks, etc. You'll also need a spool of CAT6 Ethernet cable, and a punchdown tool. I have a 4-way wall plate near my workstation and another 2-way near my printers.

If you do run your own connections you will want to get a cable tester. I did create one bad punchdown and this tester found it no problem. There are lots of other testers out there and I'm sure nearly all would do the job.

Good luck!

Glad to be of help, let me know how it works out once you get it installed?




> This may be optimistic thinking, but I am hoping that the Ubiquiti AP will offer strong enough coverage so that I can turn off the WiFi on the Xfinity gateway like you said. The Xfinity gateway is located near their office, which they probably would continue to want WiFi. This was the 'bridge mode' question that I had. If the signal isn't quite strong enough coming from the AP in the warehouse, I may leave the Xfinity gateway running WiFi, or I will simply have them purchase a second AP for the office area.



Personally I would recommend doing a matching Ubiquiti AP for the office area, and disable the Xfinity Wi-Fi. You don't need to enable bridge mode for that; the gateway has options to disable the 2.4 and 5GHz radios. You can either log into it yourself or call Comcast and have them do it from their end. This will ensure handoff between your Ubiquiti AP's works as intended, without having a different access point (the comcast gateway) in the mix.



>From what I've been reading on Amazon, users have installed the Ubiquiti software controller on a Raspberry Pi



I have also heard of people doing this, but I do not have experience doing this myself. I've always done local computer installs, usually on a server, in the cases where I did not have a Ubiquiti cloud key or gateway appliance.



>As stated before, the Ethernet cables are already run throughout from the previous tenants,



Apologies, I must have read over that part. In that case, I would invest in some ethernet cable testers (something like this, those are the ones I have but Amazon has cheaper options available), that way you can test the lines once they are punched down, since they were previously installed lines you never know what kind of problems could come up. Typically that's not the case with ethernet lines but you never know... and it could save you from chasing yourself in circles in the future. These testers will tell you if there is a short/open connection, or a miswire. Very handy. Even though I have punched hundreds of cat5 cable ends down manually, I always check the line with a tester before I plug it into anything.

If you can't save up for a better AT, then the downsides to a lower budget turntable are higher wow and flutter and speed variation or speed drift. You don't need 78 unless you plan on collecting vintage 78s.

I don't know how much better the CET-500 is than the 1by1s, they are all lowest budget entry level but they are a step up from all in one suitcase players.

The Lenco L-3808 £179 seems like it is a step up from the CET-500.

If you can't go £249+ for one of the better ATs, the Fluance RT80 is £199.

These popular Edifier R1280T speakers should be noticeably better than the 1by1 speakers. Or the slightly better Edifier R1700BT adds bluetooth. Or use WiFi streaming with a Chromecast Audio which can be added to any speaker or amp with an Aux input.

Or SMSL SA-36A mini amp with Mordaunt Short M10 speakers and Speaker Wire, then 4 Ways to Strip Wire - wikiHow.

Or look for a used stereo or AV receiver or integrated amp and some used passive speakers.

Home Audio Guides: Intro to home stereo systems • Zeos Tutorials, Diagrams and Videos • r/audiophile Guide to Home Audio • Speaker Placement for Stereo Music Listening.

Crimpers: I've had Monoprice's 3-way Modular crimper for over a year now, crimped 200+ ends, and still love it. You'll probably want a jacket stripper to go with it.

Tester: If this is for home-use, and not to "learn" about advanced testers / certifiers, then a simple, cheap, well-rated unit is fine. I've got one of those brandless jobs as a dirt-cheap "backup" (not that I've needed it for that) to the ByteBrothers Real World Certifier (which is a great unit that's significantly cheaper than others that share its feature set). For something in between those two, one of Klein's low-to-mid range models like the LAN Scout Junior might be ok.

Cable: Where are you installing it? Are these just short patch cables, or are we talking long runs through the walls/ceiling? Monoprice has an excellent selection of Cat 6. Short answer: if you want it to flex (short runs, patch cables, frequently moved), buy STRANDED core. For longer runs, in walls / ceiling, that won't move, buy SOLID core. And make sure you get Cat 6 rated modular connectors (the RJ-45 "ends") that match the type of wire core you're using.

I use boots on patch cables; it takes some of the stress off the connector. Not everyone does it though, and it's not absolutely critical if you've got a good solid crimp on your connectors. If you use them, you'll forget to put a boot on at least one. Probably more like every 10th end you crimp, at first.

A refractometer essentially does the same thing as the hydrometer, but they're much quicker to work with. I have one and love it... it's a great suggestion.

There's Northern Brewer link above, but I'd recommend Amazon for a way better price: Amazon

EDIT: Just saw in another post that you're Canadian (me too!) so let me point you in a local direction: HopDawgs

For Tone gen, Fluke makes the gold standard. They also have a cheaper version.
You didn't mention a probe, so maybe you are looking for a cable certifier?. That's super expensive though. if you just have to test that there is continuity and not certify the cables, you can use this, or this if you want to look like a pro.

As for Screwdrivers, Wiha makes the best screw drivers, hands down. I have this set for working on electronics & laptop repair. Magnetic tool-kits are fine. This isn't the 80's anymore. There aren't too many magnetically sensitive items inside a computer anymore. especially with the advent of SSD drives.

As for a toolbox, depending the work, I prefer a tool bag or pouch.

Good luck, hope that helps. What helped for me when I started was to go to harbor freight and just get an assortment of tools. As I worked I slowly replaced the stuff I used all the time with quality gear, and didn't have to burn myself buying expensive tools and gear that I would never use.

I had parts laying around so I decided to build a temperature monitor instead of having multiple individual thermometers. My buddy wanted one and i thought, "these have to be a thing", but i cant find them. It seems like the only product that has multiple temperature probes is an expensive controller.

Does anyone know if these things exist on the market?

For those interested, this is just a led segment display, arduino, and i2c temperature probes. You could build this for $20 - $30. I have the code but would encourage someone to try it on their own, its a pretty good beginner project.

Recently I found an old Sony MHC-881 Hi-Fi system [MANUAL], the problem is the main section that houses the Radio, CD and Tape player is really just too big and heavy for the space I have.

What interested me was the two SS-H991 3 way speakers:

• 100W
  
  
• 8 Ohm
  
• 40Hz - 20kHz
  
• 0.9 % Distortion
  
• Mag Shield
  
• 17cm diameter Woofer
  
• 5cm diameter Tweeter
  
• 2cm diameter Super Tweeter
  
  There are also a pair of smaller speaker SS-SR991 I probably won't end up using but I think is worth mentioning.
  
  If I was to purchase an SMSL SA50 would it provide enough power to both 100W speakers (and produce a decent and loud enough sound) or would I have to get a stronger receiver, if so what would you guys recommend?
  
  The other option would be just to get myself a pair of WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 9.0's and use the SMSL SA50 with it.
  Thanks
  
  Edit: Formatting

Congratulations!

I am in zone 5 but not high altitude, so YMMV, but ... I have a 12x12 greenhouse made with cedar and 10mm triple wall polycarbonate. I use an oil filled electric heater (like a small radiator) to keep temps above 45ish when small starts are out there in early spring.

Another idea, if you ever did want to overwinter figs or rosemary plants, is to create a second envelope inside the greenhouse with a clear tarp. I clip the tarp to the rafters and hold it up with shepherds hooks. It lets you create a smaller area for plant storage and reduces heat loss considerably.

Last thing ... SensorPush temp and humidity sensors let you add a gateway if your greenhouse is too far from the house to see WiFi. And this doodad is awesome for running a fan or heater based on it being too warm or too cold.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KMA6EAM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any speakers aimed at gamers generally sound like garbage. And there's a difference between "sound analysis" and just "sound acceptable", but these don't have either of it. They're cheap little plastic speakers.

Logitech also doesn't include the frequency response for a lot of speakers for a reason. The "satellite" speakers actually fall off before the subwoofer comes in, so there's a gap where you don't hear anything in that frequency.

There aren't even tweeters. I don't know what else I can say there. That's just bad. It says "THX" where the tweeter should be.

They are plastic. Good speakers are made of wood. Guitars are made of wood. Pianos are made of wood. Violins are made of wood. There's a reason for that.

THX means nothing. That's just a buzzword for marketing.

Look, I don't want to be rude. I just don't want people to buy these expecting to have something that sounds good.

A good 2.0 will be much more immersive than a terrible surround setup. Check out Edifier. Not sure where you're from, but you should be able to get them there.

I don't want you to give up on this. I watched that video from start to finish. You have very good editing skills, and you're great with a camera. I just think you need the proper stuff to review.

If you get something like those Edifiers, I would be extremely happy to have your content on this sub. But I won't allow these Logitechs here, because I don't want to steer people in the wrong direction. They're terrible speakers and I don't think anyone coming to this sub would be happy with them.

You don't necessarily have to take gravity readings, but you won't know for sure that fermentation is complete without them. In that case I would wait 2 weeks before bottling. Some beer will be done fermenting in less than a week, but there is no way of really knowing unless you can verify that the gravity readings are steady over a couple days. If you bottle before fermentation is complete you can end up with exploding bottles. 2 weeks is a pretty safe bet for most beers.

If you are doing extract and hit your volumes it would be hard to screw up your starting gravity, so you could safely assume that it will be close to what the recipe calls for. At some point I'd invest in a cheap hydrometer (<$10) though. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/HYDROMETER-ALCOHOL-PROOF-Tralle-Bellwether/dp/B013S1VAM4

Good luck!

Two questions. First, I bought this pH meter. Reviews seemed generally positive, but I found even having it sit still in calibrating solution for an hour it jumps around SO much which seemed to make it unusable. Is this common? Are there other products that zero in on a pH value better and don't cost a fortune?

Second, I bought this refractometer. Seemed to work very well for OG measurement as compared to my hygrometer. Can someone clarify, can I use this for later SG measurements? Based on discussion, I must use the Brix scale, then convert to SG?

Thermostats are required on any heat source, because they can easily get too hot, and each individual heat source needs it's own thermostat (or it's own channel on a multi-channel thermostat) Uncontrolled UTH's can burn, and uncontrolled overhead heat can cause neurological damage. Thermostats can range from simple on/off types to more expensive but more capable proportional thermostats made specifically for reptile use.

85 is a good hotspot temp for a corn snake, and that should be the temp of the hottest point that the snake can reach. Likewise, mid 70's is a good ambient/cool side temp.

As for the lamp, the wording makes me think that it's a light bulb? Supplemental light is generally not required. If you want to use overhead heat, ceramic heat emitters are generally a better option, as they can be used 24/7. You need to turn off lamps at night to give them a day/night cycle. Using both overhead and under tank heating is generally not necessary. If you need to raise the ambient air temp, use overhead. If not, you can use undertank.

Mostly Wemos D1 Mini and whatever USB supply I have at hand (have had good luck with Motorola dual-ports). I like the idea of the Feathers, but haven't run into an application yet for myself where I want to put up with periodically recharging the device.

For indoor temp/humidity sensors, Amazon seller HiLetgo (and probably others) sell a D1 Mini shield with a DHT22 prewired to D4. Between those parts and ESPEasy, it takes about 15-20 minutes to put a new sensor together.

For outdoor and remote temp, I grabbed a 5-pack of ds18b20 probes from Amazon. Each probe has a unique ID in rom which ESPEasy honors, so multiple sensors can be wired in parallel (on the same bus) and still be read separately. For ease of wiring, D3 supplies the power, D4 is the data (pulled up by the LED), and GND on the Mini is right next to D4.

All publish to Mosquitto, of which Home Assistant is a subscriber.

This is a Hydrometer, it's used to test the gravity of alcohol while brewing. How does this relate? Simple. Hydrometer tests gravity, so the lighter the liquid you're brewing the higher the % of alcohol content. So, you use the meter to find out how hammered you'll get! If you give something like our mead which is 12% alcohol but tastes like sweet honey- your girl will squeak with delight while getting hammered. squeaky hammers. Use with caution!

This has been public service announcement from Revmamacrystal

also I think this setup is cheap enough to try. The Antenna as you can see is 7.20 and I got alligator clips set for 5.50 the price recently went up you might could get a comparable version for cheaper https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KRABU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (this is what I got but their is others). So you are talking about 14 dollars if you need to get both. Don't waste your money on a cheap shortwave reel. Also the height in my case maybe making the big difference. I tried several setups like putting the wire over the roof but going through the tree and then the swing set really seemed to get good results. So you may need to play around with it and try to find something high like a nearby tree that has some height to it.

I've never used this specific product, but it looks like what you need, and seems to have good reviews @ Amazon.
This is the kind of tool every IT shop should possess, so your boss should buy this for you.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HCQSHNG

It's the wire mapping & continuity tool that you need.
The probe stuff you don't need today, but might need some other day in the future.

That will let you test each cable (both your patch cords, and the in-wall cables that they installed) to ensure the wire map is correct and all 8 wires show good connectivity.

This is a primitive test. This is not highly scientific. This will not "certify" that those cables are good. But this is a good, cheap first test.

Kinda like popping the hood of your car to try to look and see what the noise is or where the small is coming from - even if you're not a mechanic - having a look is just the intelligent thing to do.

The wire map & continuity test is the same thing. Taking a quick look at things.

-----

The short cables you provided, those are patch cords, or patch cables.

Where do you buy them? What does it say on the cable jacket?
Do you remember about what you paid for each of them?

example

I'm most concerned to hear if you find the letters or the term "CCA" on the cable jacket.

CCA indicates Copper Clad Aluminum which are the worst and most evil kind of ethernet cabling on the planet.

CCA is actually kind of rare since it is so low a quality only shady businesses even sell the product.

What does the cable jacket say on the cables they installed for you?

Can you take a picture at the patch panel side and link it to this thread?

This is the image I want to see.

Not This I don't need to see the front of the equipment.

>I've been neglecting to ph my water and so far It hasn't been necessary.

That's the thing with soil grows :) It's a more forgiving medium because it does take longer to make changes. But this can make it really difficult at times in determining what's out of whack.

Liquid/paper pH kits are a good start, but an actual pH meter is really the only way to go. You can find them around $20 on Amazon
Link

If you determine your soil pH we can use that value to find what nutrients may have gotten locked out. A good way to do this is to pH your water before adding it, and then pHing the runoff water that comes out of the bottom of the pot. If you put in 7.0 and it drained out at 6.5, you know your soil pH had to be around a 6.0 to influence that change.

Based on the nute deficiencies showing I'm guessing acidic as well. (P - Ca - Mg will lock out first from acidic soil) Pick up some pH up/down solution and simply be sure to water in the correct range after this. (6.5-7.0) I don't have experience with wood ash, but soil additives typically take a while to break down and release fully. No time! :)

If your pH is severely off you'll want to flush, but your plant doesn't seem that upset yet.

Not sure how small you need but the Edifier R1700BT are known to be really good value and to sound great.

Alternatively, if you can't fit those, something like the Mackie CR4 are also a decent option. They will lack on bass compared to the edifiers and have less features. Mackie also do a smaller 3" version (CR3) however if you're not wanting a subwoofer, the bass will be lacking.

Okay so the first time you used Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. That means you compounding, an aggressive cut. No matter how "gentle" you were, this is an aggressive paint correction. Depending on the paint, you could have taken little or a lot off(I was shocked to see how much the Cadillac STS I did this week was losing in paint depth after just a polish.). This is why I encourage you to invest in a depth gauge if you plan to do another round of paint correction. I'll be honest, you really shouldn't need to correct this quickly after the first round. You mention that there are swirl marks from previous owners still, so either your paint is hard or you didn't do much with your last round("gentle" I guess, but really with a machine nothing would be gentle IMO). Ultimately I am just telling you this because a gauge is like $125-$150 on Amazon and a repaint is more expensive than this, and if you plan on doing anymore paint correction it is a worthwhile purchase. This is just a cautionary thing, heed it or not.

​

A polish is typically going to be your final step unless you're working on some super finicky paint. In that case you may need a "jeweling" type polish that is super low cut, but this isn't exactly normal. My black Honda paint which is soft can be finished with m205 and a Yellow Rupes pad(m205 is typically a little more cut than polishes and the yellow pad is a standard polishing pad). Really shouldn't need to switch pads either unless again, finicky paint.

https://smile.amazon.com/CM8801FN-Coating-Thickness-0-1250um-0-50mil/dp/B00DKUUUP2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1541731263&sr=8-8&keywords=paint+depth+gauge This is solid. $150<Repainting


You can get away without the gauge, but you're running a risk. Do what you will with that. Typically you should only really need one compounding correction then light polishing after that to maintain assuming you use safe washing methods.

Nah the AC will take care of it without problem. I have the same setup. Just checking you had something to cool the room.

Heaters, Air conditioners, humidifiers, dehumidifiers; All best kept outside the tent.

I love this controller for my AC:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KMA6EAM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Only turns the AC on when it's needed. We all know how shoddy those digital temperatures on the AC unit are. They never turn off/on on the correct temperatures.

When my room hits 73, the controller turns my AC on until it gets down to 68, then turns it off. All automated. You can use the same device for a space heater in the winter. And obviously you can set it totally custom. All the variables.

An external DAC is nice to have but not essential, especially in a budget set up. That mobo also seems to have some sort of upgraded and shielded onboard sound chip so it should perform better than your average one and be less noisy, i'd say you can get away without one for now then maybe get one down the track if you feel you need it. The Khadas Tone Board is a $99USD option that outperforms many other DACs in it's price range.

Also when you say you prefer non-powered as there will be less cables, that isn't necessarily the case. With passive speakers you'll have to have an amp with 1 power cable plus 1 interconnect cable from the PC to the amp then 2 speaker cables from amp back to the speakers making a total of 4. With budget powered speakers you'll have 1 power cable from the active speaker to the wall, 1 interconnect cable from the PC to the speaker with the amp in it and then an umbilical cable from the main speaker to the slave, so you'll actually end up with one less in that scenario as you'll have 3 instead of 4. The Edifier Studio 2.0 are $164 and a bit more powerful than those other ones I linked if you can stretch the budget a tiny bit. Scroll down and read the reviews.

About the size, I've got a fairly large enclosure for my wife's little ball python, but there are two hides and lots of clutter, including greenery for him to hide in. Feeding has been a non-issue and he seems totally happy. Generally speaking, I can bet money on finding him in a hide, which is a good sign for them. At night, he's more active (as they're nocturnal by nature), but it's usually drinking, exploring and then back to sleep in a hide. Sometimes he'll climb his vines, sometimes not.

And yes, UTH (in my opinion) needs a thermostat. I've got an Inkbird that allows me to set both the UTH and CHE to the same temps and it works great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DZ5NVBQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_4L5KskVt1pW1Y

Reading your post I'm not 100% sure if you need something that'll test network connectivity, but I have this for my personal kit and it is a great tool: https://smile.amazon.com/Fluke-Networks-MS2-100-Cable-Tester/dp/B000QJ3G42

I'd start with the cheaper $500 option and like you said if you are asked to certify the cable rent one or buy the Pocket Ethernet (sure it isn't rugged, but even a $10k tester you'll be taking good care of) and isn't going to break the bank to buy a new one if it gets broken.

The temp gun is nice for when you're experimenting with different setups, or if you want to check if you've let the steel reheat enough between pies. There's plenty of reasonably cheap ones on Amazon. I have this one and it seems perfectly adequate.

Imo the steel is best for pretty thin crusts -- thicker needs to be cooked at lower temp for longer (Sicilian-style), or pan-style in some cast iron.

For my own recommendation I would say do an extract beer can kit. You'll get about 40 bottles of beer out of it.

Almost everything below you can get at your local homebrew shop. In fact, many of these items might be part of a "beer starter kit" etc. I do recommend getting the 5 gallon carboy instead of a kit with pails. You'll thank me later. pails can get messy.

1. Coopers Brew Can Kit ($15) *comes with yeast you need
   
2. A 5 gallon carboy (I recommend a big mouth plastic one) ($20)
   
3. An Airlock for your carboy ($5)
   
4. A 4 foot blowoff tube to attach to the airlock center column ($5)
   
5. An empty 2L pop bottle to use as the blowoff container. (free)
   
6. 1KG of sugar *and some more for bottling later ($2)
   
7. A Hydrometer to take your Specific Gravity readings and a container for the hydrometer $25
   
8. A 5 Gallon pot $30 (I highly recommend you follow the kit or use 3 gallons of water during the heating/boiling as I have done...dont try to boil 5 gallons in a 5 gallon pot)
   
9. An Auto-Siphon for siphoning the beer. $13
   
10. A Wine Thief for stealing the samples from your beer (which you read with the hydrometer and then drink) without disturbing the beer too much and risking infection. $13
    
    Total $128 by my guestimates, but you do get 2 cases of beer out of it and $113 worth of brew equipment. Hell, in Ontario the two cases of beer can easily be more expensive than $128 lol... Not cheap, but everything here you will use over and over and over again (except of course the sugar and the brew kit)
    
    ---------------------------------
    
    The Coopers Can Kit comes with instructions to make your beer, a hopped extract and yeast.
    
    After you make your beer it'll be a few weeks before the fermentation is done (which you'll know by hydrometer readings)
    
    In that time you can start getting your stuff together for bottling and carbonating them.
    
    You'll also need (for bottling) 48 empty clean bottles (cleaned and then sanitized with star-san solution) NON TWIST OFF TYPE
    A handheld Beer capper
    Bottle caps (box)
    
    
    I gotta run, but this was fun to type out. If you need any help, glad to help ya.

Looking for some paint thickness gauge / meter recommendations on the cheap. For personal use. Not interested in spending thousands on a professional gauge.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D337RPW/?coliid=I1B4EN3ZFPAIRQ&colid=3GJZC1EZZLFLA&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Seems too good to be true, but is it worth trying out?

Otherwise, I might end up with this one, seems like it has good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DKUUUP2/?coliid=I39I2VK46CLC8P&colid=3GJZC1EZZLFLA&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This is a selection of what I keep in my tech go-bag. You'll build your kit as you learn and build experience, or realize you could have helped a customer out of a jam quicker if you had that tool with you.

• cheap flashlights you wont feel bad about leaving in a ceiling or inside a rack: https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Lights-Super-Bright-White/dp/B00I45JKTA/
  
  
• torx screwdriver for lots of little devices. I have a similar set and it's pretty decent: https://www.amazon.com/Vastar-Magnetic-Precision-Screwdriver-Electronics/dp/B015F734P0/
  
  
• power supply tester
  
  
• rechargable canned air
  
  
• zip ties
  
  
• velcro: https://www.amazon.com/iMBAPrice-Cable-Fastening-Tape-Yards/dp/B00FT2WHO6/
  
  
• leatherman/gerber multi-tool (needlenose) convenient when you need to do something quick and you don't have your bag with you.
  
  
• Set of pliers/wire cutters (leave the chanel locks at home): https://www.amazon.com/Tools-VISE-GRIP-4-Piece-Traditional-2078707/dp/B000CFMCTK/
  
  
• sharpies
  
  
• electrical tape: the good kind not the cheapo stuff
  
  
• multi-screwdriver: https://www.amazon.com/Lenox-Tools-23932-Multi-Tool-Driver/dp/B0013NX2DA/
  
  
• cordless electric screwdriver if you have lots of screwing to do.
  
  
• razor knife: https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Lite-Pocket-Knife-31-000345/dp/B002RILCLY/
  
  
• cable tester/tone generator: https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Multifunction-Tracker-Measuring-Instrument/dp/B01HCQSHNG/
  
  
• analog phone for testing phone lines: https://www.amazon.com/Saytay-Telephone-Lineman-Tester-Connectors/dp/B01ABT7458/
  
  
• punch down tool: https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Punch-Krone-Blade-TC-PDT/dp/B0000AZK4D/
  
  
• cable crimper: https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RJ-45-RJ-12-RJ-11-TC-CT68/dp/B0000AZK4G/
  
  Various extra parts I've accumulated over the years like screws, ATX Molex Power to SATA Power Adapters, ATX Molex Y splitters, SATA cables etc..
  
  Good luck and some tools overlap like multi tools and pliers so if budget is low, go with the tool that covers the most jobs.
  
  Edit: I noticed your bag is kind of expensive compared to something like a Dewalt tool bag. I use a plain Dewalt bag which is not as cool as the one in the link, but it's just as tough. This might be a good and less expensive consideration for you if you don't require the look of a briefcase for your tool bag.
  
  Edit 2: You may want to mark your tools with a wrap of some crazy bright color electrical tape to be able to recognize them when they walk away.
  
  
  

reliable Ph meter from my own experience is the most important thing. I PH test my water everytime, and check runoff every once in awhile. I'm on my first grow as well. CFL. Here's the PH meter I use from amazon that has been great!and cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-PH600AQ-Tester-Calibration/dp/B005H78ZI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331514593&sr=8-1

I also got that PPM blue meter as well. Good luck!

These will be significantly better than the Miccas. Really great smaller speakers. If you want something bigger the 9.1s would be excellent.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wharfedale-9-0-Black/dp/B00A1E94J8

I use a decent ($100) one of these every day for work.




Before, I used a cheap-ass ($20) one every now and again for work.




I have NEVER seen a cable tester/tone generator fry a network appliance. I've had network appliances fry a cable tester (those cheap ones really dislike passive PoE).




Your patch panel is fucky, but that's easy to fix. Get a punchdown tool and re-terminate. There should be color coding on the back of the panel to tell you what wires should go where. If not, Google is your friend. It seems like this panel likely used to run cables for telephony, or something else aside from networking. No biggie to fix, just takes a little time and diligence.




Your router, and anything else on the other end of these runs, should be totally fine.

Edited to add links.

I don't generally see bad cables creating 'occasional network problems' either it works or it doesn't. I've dealt with bad patch panels that caused degraded connectivity where 1Gb devices would only connect at 10/100Mb. A decent tester can check cable distances and pair connectivity - buy one and use it. The cabling may not be officially certified, but you'll be able to find issues, fix them, and verify your cabling. After that you have the equipment to continue to support cabling issues/additions.

Seems like budget is an issue, so you could use said tester to check the handmade patch cables instead of buying a bunch of new ones. The gift that keeps giving.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-Networks-MS2-100-Cable-Tester/dp/B000QJ3G42

You'll want to invest in some alligator clips like these to make your life easier: https://www.amazon.com/SE-TL10-10-Piece-Alligator-Clips/dp/B0002KRABU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519111473&sr=8-3&keywords=alligator+clips

And maybe a visit to https://www.taydaelectronics.com/ to find switches and knobs and things. You can also harvest these from old, busted electronics you find here and there. Getting started is more of an art than a science - you start touching things to other things and see what happens. Good luck!

I use the same source of light for my frog. If my pothos can grow in there then I feel like it’s sufficient.

The heating mat is MUCH less drying than any bulbs. I didn’t need to use the CHE as much when it was warmer but as the temperatures have gone down I’ve had to use it more and I have been having to keep a closer eye on the humidity gauge. I’ve got it plugged into the thermostat all the time now and I’ve got to mist at least once a day, oftentimes twice.

I do really recommend a thermostat. I really love mine. I use an Inkbird Day/Night Thermostat thermostat so I can have a temp drop at night.

I like CarPro Eraser for expecting cars. I would check into that.

If you want to figure out how much clear coat you have to play with, buy a paint thickness gauge. I'm saving up for this one.

Take a look at this post to see how it can save your butt!
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/76453-why-paint-thickness-readings-important.html

A network tester like this one doesn't cost much and might help you diagnose the issue. It can test if a link is working if you plug it in at each end, and you can also use them to send a signal through the link which the other piece can detect from nearby. Pretty useful if you ever need to suss out the location of a cable through a wall or something.

Imo the most likely case is that the connection at one or more of the ends has become broken. You should be able to fix that rather easily yourself. Google "RJ45 wall jack installation" for more info on that. You would need a punch down tool for that.

You cannot do what you want to do with that speaker set. They are designed to only be used as a set. The speakers get their power from the subwoofer box. You can't just connect them separately. I would suggest either you just stick with what you have or one of these options: 1. get new passive speakers and an integrated amplifier(example SMSL), 2. get a new set of better active speakers (example Edifier)

​

For a turntable, make sure to get one WITH a built-in phono-preamp as most amplifiers you will be considering will not have one included. (example Dual)

I paid 13.95 I have dropped it twice in the reservoir and it works accurately every time and bonus, I don't feel bad if it breaks.

I love this cheap ph pen: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N7432II?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

You can try a cheap Cable tester. When I was wiring my house I was doing them directly in the wall and used these. Turns out one of the wires wasn't fully making connection when it looks like it was in there pretty tight. The tester tells you that pretty quickly.

I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Thermometer-Adjustable/dp/B00JCFPODM. Works great and regularly goes on sale for $12. Any options mentioned will work great for checking temps.

I will find the script in a bit but basically you take a DS18B20 temperature sensor and hook it up to the GPIO pins. In some part of whatever Raspberry Pi distribution config utility you're using, will be an option to enable I2C connectivity.

Basically you run the cat command to get the temperature of the sensor, have a script to write that to a file with a timestamp, and make a cron job to run that every minute. You can then have another script to alert you if the temperature gets above a certain level. Some temperature logging tutorials want some sort of SQL but you can do this without it.

edit: here's the pastebin with the two scripts. The cronjob entry looks like this:

> * /root/thermcron.sh

Get a Patch Panel, a Punch Down tool, a ethernet crimper, some ethernet ends (i prefer the EZ, but they are pricy), and a network tester. All that for $70 and you can terminate and troubleshoot all the cables you desire!

My personal kit is a little more expensive, but really the only thing I wouldn't trade for a cheaper tool is the tester. Crimper, Punchdown, Tester.

Going to brew my first batch today from a kit my wife got me for Christmas. On advice from a friend who's into homebrewing she also got me a hydrometer. The hydrometer is virtually identical to this one, only has measurements for 0-200 proof, and specifically says it's for distilled alcohol and not beer.

So a few questions:

1. Am I correct in assuming there's no real use I can get from using this hydrometer?
   
2. Can someone recommend a new hydrometer off of amazon?
   
3. Is there anything I need to keep in mind while making this batch of beer without measuring the specific gravity- just follow the directions, and I should be good?

Have you any interest in a ph meter? THey aren't super expensive, and are really useful in your brew kit. I also use mine to test viability of starsan solution, and they could be used to test "sourness" of a lacto ferment. At least you'd know ahead of time if there are fluctuations in your base water, which would explain mash fluctuations.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LNSEZH2/

I use a baking soda solution and acetic acid (vinegar) to calibrate mine on the cheap.

Yes, I have been doing it for years now. You have to replace the pie pans every once in a while, but I started using rechargeable 6v batteries instead of lantern batteries and they work great.

http://www.amazon.com/Wildgame-Innovations-eDRENALINE-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B004ZWRO30

http://www.amazon.com/Wildgame-Innovations-12-Volt-eDRENALINE-Battery/dp/B002JLE5DG/ref=pd_sim_sg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SZY8XPBY0N4BRG7QA51

http://www.amazon.com/SE-TL10-Clip-Test-10-Piece/dp/B0002KRABU/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1421290221&sr=1-2&keywords=test+leads

I really like [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/RiteBrew-Hydrometer-Triple-Scale/dp/B000E60U6Y/ref=pd_bxgy_misc_text_c) from amazon. I recommend getting the testing cylinder as well. (~$7) I take gravity 3 times. Right after boil (original gravity, aka initial gravity), when I transfer to secondary, and when fermentation is done (final gravity). This tells me my % alcohol using this simple calculator. This really helps to get consistent results, and lets me know when fermentation is complete.

And that's Mr. Madbrewer to you :P

I mean, it's certainly possible that whoever ran those was using network cable to run audio. Each RJ11 (phone connector) has a pair of wires, and theoretically each pair could be +/- in an audio cable. You'd need a breakout at each end to wire it up to your receiver.

I'm racking my brain trying to remember if there were any integrated systems that used RJ11 modular connectors for the speaker / receiver interface, and I swear that I've seen it before, but my google-fu is failing me and I can't find it.

Personally, I wouldn't do it this way for amplified signals, too much possibility for cross-talk and too small a wire gauge. But maybe it would work for speakers that have their own internal amps?

Do you have a tone generator? If so, hook it up and see if the tone comes out of the speakers. Then you're guaranteed that they connect to the overheads and are there to carry an amplified signal...

If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a good example, you'd plug in each jack to the emitter box, start a tone going, and you'll hear it through the speaker if they're connected and passive.

Edit - adding an afterthought:

Ultimately, you're mixing tech here. Best method might be to use those network cables as the fish lines to pull proper speaker cables. You could hack something together to convert the phone lines to patch into a normal amp (provided the surrounds are passive), either with an RJ11 patch panel or just cutting off the connectors and using the colored line as + and the white as - per speaker.

If you could pull a surround out of the ceiling and take a picture of how it's wired up and the brand or model of the speaker, I could tell you more about how it might have once been.

I'd recommend a digital temperature gauge with a probe or a temp gun. The temp gun would most likely be best. Downside is temp guns are a bit expensive sometimes but their worth it in the long run.

https://www.amazon.com/ANGGO-Non-contact-Temperature-Thermometer-Precisely/dp/B01FYVEJMY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1527639624&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=temp+gun&psc=1

This is the temp gun I use but it seems to be currently out of stock.

However this one should be fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-774-Non-contact-Thermometer/dp/B00837ZGRY/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1527639624&sr=1-3&keywords=temp+gun

As far as UVB goes I'd get this bulb and fixture for both of the beardies. It will probably be a bit bigger than their current tanks but it'll save money when you have to upgrade each of them to 75 gallons at the very least as that is the minimum for full grown beardies. Although 4x2x2 is preferred. Do note 20 gallons only last a beardie until 6 months of age and then they must be moved to their final enclosure or a 40, 50 or 55 gallon. If you go with the grow out tanks then those will last another 6 months before you need the final enclosure since preferably you want them moved into the final enclosure at 12 months.

https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-T5HO-Standard-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B01B209YQC/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1523586973&sr=1-5&keywords=t5+ho+fixture

\^ 34" T5 HO Fixture

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-26062-Reptisun-Fluorescent/dp/B00AQU8HKO/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00AQU8HKO&pd_rd_r=ZNH52XHETCP3Y7K5FGA2&pd_rd_w=GIi1G&pd_rd_wg=oAEwd&psc=1&refRID=ZNH52XHETCP3Y7K5FGA2&dpID=31QDwNV8eSL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

\^ 34" T5 HO 10.0

the only advice i can offer is that this ph pen is very reliable and only $13 lol. im interested to see what others say because my friends plants has exactly the same issue
https://www.amazon.com/Tester-PH-009-Digital-Meter-Calibration/dp/B00N7432II/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466896770&sr=8-1&keywords=ph+pen

http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Temperature-Compensation-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B00LNSEZH2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1421335703&sr=8-4&keywords=dr+ph+meter

This is the one I have. Good because it reads in .01 resolution. Reads out just fine. Just make sure you purchase 4 and 7 pH calibration solution, as well as storage solution so the electrode doesn't wear out. I'm sure the more expensive ones are tres better, but I don't have that kind of a budget.

Ah, yes - he did service the rear brakes as well, on the second to last rotor swap (just before the Brembo rotors).

I have a cheapie infrared thermometer - how hot is too hot for a rotor?

Thanks for the suggestions!

Maybe 2 (50w) heaters on both sides? Gives you redundancy and if one fails off, you still have one to heat it somewhat. If you are going by the length of the tank then you'd probably need to place that 100w more towards the middle, but shouldn't be a problem with a submersible heater laid sideways.

As for brand, I like my aqueon pro. But it's a 250w model.

Another suggestion would be to run them on a temp controller to control then rather than rely on their enternal thermostat. It's a failsafe and gives you better control.

I use this inkbird

The Gemini-20 is a solid scale. Mine has lasted four years now and is still super accurate.

Pick up some weighing paper to go with it. Makes the whole process much easier.

Thanks, great idea! I didn't know these types of controllers existed.

I purchased a new eheim heater and this controller: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZ5NVBQ/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Gotcha... I'd recommend checking the FG next time. Otherwise, you have no way of knowing how your yeast performed.

If you're fermenting in a colder than ideal environment, I'd recommend a temperature controller (like this one) and a cheap heating pad for your fermenter, especially if the temperature swings a lot. If possible, put the fermenter in an old sleeping bag with the heating pad, so it'll work a lot less to keep it warm.

Triple Scale Hydrometer - $1.23 @ Amazon

12" Hydrometer Test Jar - $2.40 @ Amazon

Same vendor so you don't get smacked for shipping twice. This is seriously an almost required piece of equipment.

However, I ALWAYS recommend your LHBS first. I'll pay $20 at the LHBS for something I can get for $15 online just to keep the local guys in business. Good luck with the brew!

*EDIT: Fixed link

For starters I would get a basic tester just to test the cable drops and make sure all is well, if it's really been about 15 years there is a decent chance of some breaks / cabling issues. Sounds like a simple Unmanaged 8-port Gigabit Switch can be installed in the attic with all of the Ethernet cables plugged into it.

Sorry for your loss bud.

The whiskey is possibly already proofed, or diluted, down to 40% (80 proof) for drinking, but he may have left it higher for proper aging. "Barrel strength" whiskey is at least 125 proof so the alcohol pulls more flavor from the wood.

The best way to determine this is with an alcometer. Here's a link. These usually come with a graduated cylinder to hold the liquid, but I didn't see a set with both. You'll need to drain some whiskey from the barrel into a tall glass or wide mouth bottle, then lower the alcometer into the whiskey. Make sure you have enough liquor in there so the alcometer is floating, not touching the bottom. That will show you the proof of the whiskey.

If you need to dilute it down to 40%, or 80 proof, you can use this calculator. Just put in the amount of whiskey, what the current proof is, and it'll tell you how much water to add. Use distilled water or bottled spring water.

You may have some carbon grit or wood splinters in the whiskey. Filter it through a coffee filter to get that out.

You can flavor the whiskey, but your dad already went to the trouble of flavoring it for you with the barrel. I'd try it with a few ice cubes and nothing else first, just to see how it is.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

I'm just about to leave town for a few days, but I'll link you what I have so far. Here are the various parts I am using:

This pump for water

This power supply for my 12v items

This relay board to control valves and the pumps

And these valves

an esp8266 for wifi connectivity with main control computer

Several of these ds18b20 temperature sensors

And these water level float sensors

Beyond that, its just arduino stuff and glue logic, like shift registers and whatnot.

EDIT - also the usual electric brewery stuff, ie water heater elements. Those I've wired to relays to be controllable by the arduino as well.

Well, the black panel is clearly wired for 2 rooms, so you must have a couple of phone jacks somewhere. Is the second jack in the living room smaller than the Ethernet jack? If yes, then it's a phone jack. The other phone jack could be in the kitchen?

Anyway, you'll have to do some sleuthing to figure out where those dangling cables go. You might consider getting an inexpensive network tester, like this random one or search your favorite online store for network tester. This will not only help you determine where each cable goes but it will also tell you if the ends are terminated. For Gigabit Ethernet, all 4 wire pairs (i.e. 8 wires) must be connected.

BTW, what kind of Internet service do you have? Fiber? Cable? DSL?

I'm a fan of the DS18b20s, I don't use the land line in my house so I disconnected the phone line at the junction box outside, put Rj-11 connectors on the end of some ds18b20s and viola whole home temperature readings for about $10! One wire for the win! Vktech DS18b20 Waterproof Temperature Sensors Temperature Transmitter (5pcs) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CHEZ250/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_um4Gyb2TX32HQ maybe a little more than $10...

Pick up These speakers, this SMSL amp, funny that the product is listed in feet but this speaker wire should be more than adequate. The cable used to connect to your SMSL amp depends on what you will be playing music from.

This looks like the cheapest decent new integrated amp or receiver available where you are at. I think that works out to about 150 euros.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pioneer--10-K-50W-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B0082JFKPQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459372804&sr=8-2&keywords=stereo+receiver

Here are some inexpensive speakers that should be pretty decent:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wharfedale-9-0-Black/dp/B00A1E94J8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459372974&sr=8-1&keywords=wharfedale+speakers


Phono pre:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Project-Phono-Turntable-Pre-Amplifier-White/dp/B00KWTK086/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459373098&sr=8-2&keywords=project+mm+phono

You'll need some speaker stands, a roll of copper speaker wire, and some wire strippers to get it all set up properly.

the Bluelabs gear is nice if you have the money.

I bought a simple $15 PH600 on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-PH600AQ-Tester-Calibration/dp/B005H78ZI0/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1334068927&sr=1-1

and just as cheap a TDS meter

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Tester-Purity/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334068952&sr=8-2

both work incredibly well

Get a decent crimping tool and a cheap tester to make sure your pairs are matching up on both sides. I do this for work and home and will never go back to buying Ethernet cables at specific lengths.
https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RJ-45-RJ-12-RJ-11-TC-CT68/dp/B0000AZK4G/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0DZ16D14CWPHKTYK159J

https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Network-Cable-Tester-Phone/dp/B009ZXYI1U/ref=lp_7701919011_1_7?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1524075376&sr=1-7

Also, if you plan on running multiple cables, I suggest using different color boots so your cable can all be the same color (since you're buying it in bulk) but the boots are different colors to help note which cable goes where.
https://www.amazon.com/Accessbuy-Ethernet-Network-Strain-Connector/dp/B01LYLGWSY/ref=pd_bxgy_469_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01LYLGWSY&pd_rd_r=MMCFM6WPJ3Y2Y3H7M3WA&pd_rd_w=3qix5&pd_rd_wg=S3Y6R&psc=1&refRID=MMCFM6WPJ3Y2Y3H7M3WA
https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RJ-45-RJ-12-RJ-11-TC-CT68/dp/B0000AZK4G/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0DZ16D14CWPHKTYK159J

plenty of people have already brought up CDP and LLDP, which are ways that certain networking devices can advertise themselves to their neighbors, and can be really helpful...


Another helpful command is "sh mac-address table". That'll give you a list of all the mac addresses that switch has seen "recently" (I forget the actual timeout), and on what port. More than one mac address showing up on a port means exactly that. Several devices connected by a switch or hub are accessible via that port.


If you need to track down a particular cable and you don't have access to a toner or other helpful tool, then:

on a windows PC:


ipconfig /all


note the MAC (physical address)


on the switch


sh mac-address table | inc XXYY


XXYY being the last 4 digits of the physical address.

I wanted to try testing the ph of my products and I was wondering if there was something better than the strips.
I fount this in amazon. It's for testing the ph of pools but it looks like it could work for cosmetics? I have done a quick search but I only found people using the stribs in the subreddit (maybe I didn't search correctly), anyone used something similar to this?

This was the entire set up I bought and it's working very well.
You might do fine with just one light instead of three.

One of these: $79.99
Roleadro LED Grow Light, Galaxyhydro Series 300W Indoor Plant Grow Lights Full Spectrum with UV&IR for Veg and Flower

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PH1MQV8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Two of these: $69.99
Roleadro Upgrade and Newly Developed LED Grow Light Full Spectrum 2nd Generation Series 300w Plants Light
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HI3AFYM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1




VIVOSUN Durable Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat Warm Hydroponic Heating Pad 48" x 20.75"
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EMXI6VA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$53.99
Bayite Temperature Controller
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KMA6EAM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

i would like to build an air conditioning system like that. what air conditioner do you use? does the air conditioner go back to its settings when it turns back on? can you provide a link to the black box and can you provide a link to the air conditioner. i found this on on amazon
is this the one u used?
edit: this one is rated for more amps

Hello! I would reccomend using the inkbird ITC-306T. I've been using one for over a year with a heat cable and it has worked great! You can set a temperature range you like on it and set an alarm to go off if it goes outside the set zone. To monitor the heat, attach the probe to the glass or the surface closest to the heat mat (the nearest surface between the snake and heat mat). Hope that made sense!

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DZ5NVBQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_MzgqDbNTY789D

Instructions on set up (the advanced model, but set up is very similar) : https://youtu.be/MOQL2llj7AM

www.amazon.com/LabExact-Nitrogen-Non-absorbent-Cellulose-Weighing/dp/B00ARK0ROC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394293599&sr=8-1&keywords=labexact

Fold these diagonally twice so that you form a point in the middle of the paper, put it on top of the bowl, weigh powders. I can weigh all my powders directly onto this paper (by taring in between powders) and then ingest the powder off the paper. Great stuff, holds at least 6-7g total of powder.

Remove the top, pull out a sample (or a couple if you need to), and fill container tall enough to float your hydrometer. I use a glass tube like this test jar but you may be able to jury rig a similar one from the tube your hydrometer came in.

Do not pour your sample back into your beer, that can lead to contamination. Feel free to taste it though.

To be honest I was doing this as a hobby and wouldnt want to spend $50 on a tool I might only get a few uses out of. I found one on Amazon for $10. Would it be worth it for my needs?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZXYI1U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Upg.AbF5HRKGB

Yes they are safe to use for plants. Its actually what I started with until I purchased a meter.

Amazon

also get calibration soultion

Amazon

IR thermometers are less than $20 on Amazon. I use one all the time in the kitchen to check the temperature of cast iron before making pizza or steak. Its a worthwhile investment least you'll know if the pan is hot enough.

Like this: Nubee Non Contact Infrared IR Thermometer, Orange/Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JCFPODM/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_-RM.ub0X4J2C4

Get these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1700BT-Bookshelf-Speakers-Bluetooth/dp/B00MXY21LW

They have built-in amplifier- they will hook to your PC just like computer speakers do but sound much better and have Bluetooth and the remote control

Not sure how much money you want to through into it but a signal tester Is helpful ensuring all the pinouts are correct and making good contact end to end.

Especially if this is your first time crimping there might be couple times you need to cut off what you messed up and try again.

Definitely MDMA or speed if you're in the college scene. 20g amphetamine paste (So around 15g dried) for $60 and you can sell that for around $100 a gram as powder or $10-$15 for 80mg in a cap.

• $27 Capsule machine and 1000 caps
  
  
• $24 Gemini 20 milligram scale
  
  
• $5 powder scoop
  
  
• $9 weighing paper
  
  So $65 for the tools to make good capsules. From here you can either spend $60 on 20g of speed paste or buy some ecstasy. If you do the 20g of paste you'll likely wind up with 15g of powder, enough to make 187 80mg speed capsules. If you sell for $10 each, that's $1,870. Minus the initial investment of around $140, you're left with at least $1,730.
  
  
  

A nice middle of the road option

Edifier R1700BT

If you want something cool and different

Edifier Luna E25

Since you asked your mom I'm assuming you're younger. I highly recommend an older beardie as they are so much cheaper to take care of. My 5 month old eats around $25 - $50 of bugs a week. I try to cycle through bugs so the cost depends on if I'm giving him BSFL (cheaper) or dubia roaches.

Adults only need bugs 2x a week and the rest of the week you just feed them veggies like collard greens and butternut squash. Which isn't only cheap but you can eat them too!

The bearded dragon kits in pet stores suck. Don't use night light lamps. Use a ceramic heater if you're house drops below 65F at night. There are also fairly cheap temperature controllers that will turn the heater on and off at night to keep the tank from getting too warm or two cold at night.

Don't get the fixture for the UVB bulb at a pet store. They're a ton cheaper at hardware stores.

I'm currently using a basking bulb from a pet store, but spot lights from a hardware store will also work for a cheaper price.

Get a bigger tank than the minimum requirement. If you end up with a beardie that likes to explore it can become stressed being cooped up in a tank that it finds too small.

These are what I use for my recommendations above:

Temperature Controller for ceramic heater

Ceramic Heater

UVB Bulb

UVB Bulb Fixture

I would say about $25-$30 with parts and everything. Once you have the code for one, putting it on others would be quick and simple. It would be a good option for future projects as well since you could just add other things to the board.

Screen

Temp sensor

1. You can get something like this to put his heat lamp on: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZ5NVBQ This should help regulate the temperature, it will turn the lamp on if the temperature is too low, and off if the temperature is too high. I believe there is another model with a channel that will turn something on if the temp is too high and off if it is too low (the opposite), so you could hook a fan to it to regulate temperature downwards.
   
   This thing can also be set to two different temperatures at different times. Keep the temp lower at night and use a ceramic heat bulb that doesn't show light to keep things from getting too cold. https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Ceramic-Infrared-Emitter/dp/B001F9CV7K/
   
   As far as food goes though, I don't think you can leave a juvenile alone for two days. I just don't see a way around that, they eat too much.
   
   
2. I have no experience in this area, but I feel like he would get used to it. Animals are quite a bit more flexible than people give them credit for. I don't think the two different territories would both him too much. As others have said though, acclimate him to one area at a time. Home first for a few months, and slowly introduce him to the school. Setup both habitats the same (temp, timers, decor, etc) to reduce the stress.
   
   
3. Again, no experience in this area. I'm sure it wouldn't be pleasant for the beardie to get yelled at, but mine sits in the living room with the TV and doesn't seem bothered or stressed by it at all, but it sounds like my volume levels don't compare to yours.]

Here ya go



I have no idea why the price is up to $15. I know I paid $5 and got 500...but it really is a lifetime supply (or at least 2 years for me). Best investment for powders aside from a mg scale for sure.


Cellulose based btw

I use this one

For what it's worth, it does the job. I know it's over $100 but I wouldn't trust anything lower than this one. $120 bucks is a lot better than a respray though!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ARK0ROC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


i've used these in the past they're great. plus you basically get lifetime supply

This Will help you trace it. It sends a tone over the line and you can use the probe to follow it. Works well for tracing power lines as well.(Turn em off!)

1. Will this suffice? https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Network-Cable-Tester-Phone/dp/B009ZXYI1U/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=rj45+cable+tester&qid=1554393337&s=gateway&sr=8-10
   
2. That makes sense. I'll look into it.
   
3. I guess you're right. I'm probably just nitpicking on it since its a 1G fiber and wanted close to it. It's on the bottom of the priority list for now.
   
   Another noob question, when CLink installed my fiber, they placed the modem/router near my box panel in the walk-in-closet. How do I go on transferring it if I wanted it in my DEN? Fiber box is located in the garage. Also the builder labeled all the CAT6 in the panel but
   
   I really can't figure out 2 cables which says DN1ARC or DR1ARC, it's also the same cable CLink used on the LAN/WAN slot in their modem router for the internet.
   
   Thank you so much!

I just got this from amazon today. I gave it a test run with the minifridge I'm converting and it worked nicely. And I went with this humidity controller

So I looked a little closer and I'm convinced it has to be the cable. I noticed the port is not lighting up on the first switch for that cable either, so no signal from switch to switch. I'm going to buy a cable tester to confirm. I found this tester on amazon. Is this all I need? https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Network-Cable-Tester-Phone/dp/B009ZXYI1U/ref=sr_1_20?keywords=ethernet+cable+tester&qid=1563130965&s=gateway&sr=8-20

(This only works if you're putting new ends on the cables)

I am running some cables at my new place and am just using regular 9mm label tape and some cheap clear heat shrink tubing of appropriate size.

I put on a couple cm (about an inch) of tubing, then the boot, then the termination, push the boot into place, apply label, slide tubing into place, shrink it.

if you're running it through walls, use a tester to make sure you know which cable is which.

....This is of course for home use, I might not do this at a larger business. (I'm also subbed to /r/homelab)

You could buy a small pack for like $3.00 that would possibly last you the rest of your life. I understand you don’t want to be wasteful, but you don’t nneeed to use them very often - probably only a couple strips every year to double-check the readings of one of these -

Digital PH Meter PH-009 Pocket Size Water Quality pH Tester for Household Drinking Water, Hydroponics, Aquariums, Swimming Pools - Extra Two Packs of PH Calibration Solution Mixture https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N7432II/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_GBYSAbC90CFC3

Clips!

It's on my Add-On wishlist!

cowpox

Thanks for the contest!

Nice tip, i'll remember it ! Just tried it, i mixed 3tbsp of soil with 3tbsp of tap water in a glass. I filled another glass with just tap water. 20mins after, the glass of tap water is at 6PH and the mix of soil & water is at around 5.75

So if this test is accurate it means my soil PH is under 6 so i should stop feeding them lemon juice right now. Is there something like lemon juice to raise PH or should i just stop messing with PH and feed them water ?

Note that the PH tester i'm using is very cheap and could also be inaccurate : https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00LNSEZH2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got this one.

Works great, though kinda slow to settle. But for the price, hard to beat.

I run my space heater outside the tent and just put it in front of a 6" flex duct that goes into the bottom of the tent with some pantyhose over the end to keep pests out. That duct is the only way fresh air can enter. I have the heater hooked up to one of these which has a sensor inside the tent and tells the heater when to turn on/off. Works really well.

Dude, just grab this. Trust me on this one.

edit: Is that Grizzly Adams on your test kit?

Oh yes, and it is quite simple to get the stuff together without buying a kit. Do you have a local home brew store?

This subreddit's wiki which includes a beginner section: https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/wiki/index
There are several videos on youtube that have good instructions.

Here is a basic list of gear to brew beer in a bag. You can get all of this stuff on amazon if you don't have it already. This is not the best list, but it works.
http://homebrewmanual.com/home-brewing-equipment/


Some of the stuff you won't likely have at home:

• Starsan: http://amzn.com/B01467UGN8
  
  
• Hydrometer: http://amzn.com/B013S1VAM4
  
  
• Grain bag for Brew in a Bag: http://amzn.com/B00CA5PH4W
  
  
• Bottle Capper: http://amzn.com/B001D6KGTK
  
  
• siphon: http://amzn.com/B0064ODELI
  
  
• airlock: http://amzn.com/B00A6TRKO4
  
  
• bottle caps: http://amzn.com/B000Q64T8M
  
  Beer recipes: http://beerrecipes.org/
  
  To get grains from amazon, type in the grain type and it will provide you options. If you don't have the ability to mill it yourself, you can order it crushed. Its not ideal, but if you don't have a homebrew store near you and don't have your own mill....it will work. You will have to measure out the correct amounts for each grain that you add on your own from the bulk that you ordered. If you want to brew with extracts, you can also order those on amazon as well.
  
  You can order hops on amazon the same way as grains or extracts.
  
  
  

http://www.amazon.com/Tester-PH-009-Digital-Meter-Calibration/dp/B00N7432II?ie=UTF8&keywords=Ph%20pen&qid=1463251803&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Here's a inexpensive one that comes with some testing solution. Make sure to keep the probe calibrated because they are sensitive.

To add onto the explanation of u/gregbenson314, gravity is measured by using either a hydrometer or refractometer (although you have to use calculations with the refractometer to account for the alcohol in solution for your second gravity reading).

Also, there are handy calculators where you can plug in your original and final gravities to figure out your ABV.

Please don't do this. Get some good weigh papers from Amazon. They work even better and are super cheap.

Maybe you don't use receipts for this often but there's no reason to subject your body to the chemicals that coat them any more than you have to.

Sorry to hear that. Had that happen to my 55 gal, but I caught it at 94 degrees and saved most of my fish.

My main suggestion would be this little lifesaver.

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Temperature-Controller-Aquarium-Breeding/dp/B01DZ5NVBQ/ref=sr_1_20_sspa?keywords=Temperature+sensing+plug&qid=1567371827&s=gateway&sr=8-20-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyV043M1pDVTRMTjIyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzY3NDM0MlZKNkpRMkc4Skw2SyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjczMzE2WlBPTE9PU004M1NMJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I use something similar. I would switch to this if I hadn't spent money on my solution already. Bluetooth console is a must have.

https://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole

SecureCRT offers so many features it would be impossible to list them all. Key ones being it saves your sessions into easy to manage shortcuts and can keep a log of what you do on a device. Very critical to know where you went wrong or did.

https://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/

Even the most basic cable tester can save you hours of headache. The more expensive ones will tell where the break is and will be more sensitive to the break. I find this is good for testing new cables that I've made. Odds are there isn't a break in the middle of the cable just a poor crimp.

https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Network-Cable-Tester-Phone/dp/B009ZXYI1U/

This book may be a little dated, but it was instrumental in my early carrier. I highly recommend a read through.

https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861/

I'm just a small-time hobbyist with a few basil plants in my window and due to my limited budget I've been using a super cheap no-name sketchy $13 chinese meter. What are the technical differences between something like that and the meters you sell, and what advantages does that provide?

With no controller, you're flat out not going to be able to get them to light up an SSID. As I see it, you've got two basic ways to find the little buggers.

The first is to bring up a controller. The 2332 was a rebranded Trapeze AP, which was then bought up by Juniper. One of their last acts before letting the product line die was to release a virtual controller which, if I recall correctly, had a built in license for 4 APs. You can find the software by going to support.juniper.net and searching for "JunosV Wireless LAN Controller". Once you bring it up, you'll have an SSID up you can go hunt down.

The alternative way, if you don't feel like resurrecting all that infrastructure, is to go analog. More specifically, get yourself a toner, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Multifunction-Collation-Telephone-Continuity/dp/B01HCQSHNG

You'll need to unplug the cable from the switch port and plug it into the signal generator unit. From there, it will greatly facilitate physically tracing the cable through bundles, letting you check that you still have the right one at intermediate points without having to eyeball it or rely on someone tugging at the other end.

Neither way ends up being trivial, but if you don't have any good maps to fall back on, they're your best bets.

Fwiw, I got this refractometer for 75% off and free shipping http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006GG0TDK/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit

Thanks. Would you consider this a decent pH meter?

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LNSEZH2

If not, any suggestions?

> hygrometer

Legitimately not trying to be a dick, but I really hope you bought a hydrometer and not a hygrometer (which will always read 100% in mead).

Honestly I don't know, I'm still learning how to use it. This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006GG0TDK?pc_redir=1413858420&robot_redir=1

I use this one-- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DZ5NVBQ/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It allows me to run two heaters. Was super simple to set up too, although it felt confusing at first.

Yeah it sounds like there is a wiring problem. I would recommend getting an inexpensive cable tester. You can then verify that all connectors are terminated correctly.

I bought this one a while ago when I did wire tech work professionally. It works really well and also allows you to tone out the cable. You plug in the block side and at it to either tone out test depending on your need. Than use the wand to listen for the sound or plug in the cable and test.

Wire Tracker, ELEGIANT RJ11 RJ45 Cable Tester Line Finder Multifunction Wire Tracker Toner Ethernet LAN Network Cable Tester for Network Cable Collation, Telephone Line Tester, Continuity Checking https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HCQSHNG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XzQyDb4Q69CQN

Personally, for testing the cables, I just use a cheap continuity tester like this, and if the lights all light up on both ends, in the correct order, I just use a computer on both ends to check and see if i get gigabit without many errors. Same for 10gb. the actual network testers and rectifiers from fluke and such are so damn expensive its just cheaper to get a computer on either end to test them.

Your LHBS should have hydrometer tubes. If not, you can order them online as well.

This one from NB and this one from Amazon should work just fine.

http://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Temperature-Compensation-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B00LNSEZH2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1418193182&sr=8-6&keywords=ph+meter or something similar with good reviews

Just one last question, what's better between the Neo Cube Mini and the Edifier R1700Bt?

Great first loaf! I think it took me several attempts just to get to this level.

Over time you'll start getting a feel for how hydrated the dough should be. It just takes some trial and error!

As for your oven temperature, I had the same problem. I eventually got one of these guys to ensure an accurate reading right before putting the oven in.

Like this?

http://smile.amazon.com/Beer-Wort-Wine-Refractometer-Scale/dp/B006GG0TDK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1405520342&sr=8-5&keywords=refractometer

The MicroScanner^2 (like its predecessor) is an excellent tool. However, I recommend just buying the tool itself (w/carrying case), not the entire kit.

The kit you linked includes an inductive amplifier (tone probe), numbered terminators (for identifying multiple drops simultaneously), and some miscellaneous cables. These are nice to have but definitely not worth an extra $300. The only critical component is the inductive amp, and you can find a very decent one at a much more reasonable price.

I feel like this is the equivalent of taking a pair of alligator clips on the plug of the thing you want to plug in and hooking them to two paperclips and shoving them in the socket.

Here, I found where you can get 5 adapters for only $10.27

https://www.amazon.com/SE-TL10-10-Piece-Alligator-Clips/dp/B0002KRABU

https://www.amazon.com/ACCO-Paper-Clips-Economy-Non-skid/dp/B001B0D5T6

This is the cheapest one I’d recommend

Docooler 4-in-1 Remote RJ11 RJ45 USB BNC LAN Network Phone Cable Tester Meter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DQH4XPW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0.zPCb5YJRBKF

Just have to keep good batteries in it otherwise it’ll show everything as fail.


If you have a few bucks more, this is what I’d recommend on the sub $75

Noyafa D3IN0004 NF-308 Network Telephone Audio Cable Length Tester Remote Identifier https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F5W9GLW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jfAPCb7MMSJ7F

Past that, then Klein tools are a better deal as they’re are reliable as fuck.

Klein Tools VDV526-052 RJ45 Tester, Continuity Tester, Data Cable Tester, LAN Scout Jr. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CI9NRM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_RgAPCb5P1B8X6

I've had good results from this one: http://www.smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LNSEZH2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

You'll have to calibrate it before using it and clean it after use, but if you do that then it's spot on

So something like this?

did that come with the brewer's best kit? I got that kit, and found the hydrometer jar useless.

bought one of these on amazon to replace it

Buy pass through connectors like these. - EDIT: Good up to Cat5e.

Edit

Here is a youtube video about the same type of connector. Your existing crimper should work, but you will have the extra wire to cut off. Just get a cheap pair of edge cutters.

/Edit

Use a cable tester.

You Tube videos will also help.

This is a PITA exercise. You will get better at it.

Oh, get a cable tester. $9.

Did I mention a tester?

Did I mention do not use a cable tester if the cable is hooked up to anything? Only use a tester to test Both ends of the cable at the same time.

http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-PH600AQ-Tester-Calibration/dp/B005H78ZI0/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1345215012&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=aquarium+ph+tester

well then theres 21 bucks and made by a reputable brand. my mistake for assuming hydrofarm would make a decent product, haha.

Yes, I will post a link. Red breadboards are just for convenience. One has 16 resistors. You need 1 resistor for each relay because relays are 3.3v and board is 5v. 1K to 3K seem to do the job. And the other board only has 3 connectors for DS18b20 Waterproof Temperature Sensors along with 10K pull down resistor.

IR thermometers are super cheap. If you don't own one you're missing out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JCFPODM/

Here you go-

3-Piece Air Locks, 3 Piece... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7TN5BY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Red Star Red Star Premier Blanc... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00434CB74?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

ATP - Vinyl-Flex PVC Food Grade... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PXJDESI?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

HYDROMETER - ALCOHOL, 0-200 PROOF... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013S1VAM4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

LD Carlson Yeast Nutrient, 2 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0149IY8F6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

As far as recipes, I’m still working on these first 2. Adding black tea and raisins and b-vitamins seems to have kept things bubbling.

As far as juices, I get most everything from Aldi (or Trader Joe’s if you’re fancy) very few preservatives, dirt cheap prices and unique flavored juices (Harissa Mango Pineapple juice??!?)

Hope that helps! I’ll post updates as the batch progresses. 2 days from now I’ll probably cold crash and do a gelatin clarifier.

It sounds like what you're looking for is a cable tester? You'd basically connect a toner on the wall jack side that sends out a continous tone adn then you would search in the server room side for the tone to identify the drop that the signal is coming from to your patch. Then you can identify the patch going to the switch.

​

Cheap one from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Multifunction-Collation-Telephone-Continuity/dp/B01HCQSHNG/ref=sr_1_4?crid=170G8HQ7MQQDT&keywords=cable+tester+toner&qid=1572455475&sprefix=cable+tester+ton%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-4

That kit in your edit looks pretty darn good to me. Bonus for including a hydrometer. I'd probably get that considering the price point (the buckets, capper, and siphon alone make it worth the price). I'm not sure about Idophor, but Starsan can be

Idophor does not foam but take a couple minutes to sanitize. Star san santinizes in 30 seconds and foams quite heavily. The foam isn't harmful and does not need to be rinsed.

The only real advantage of having a car boy is the fact that you can scrub it with an abrasive. It MAY be nice to see where your krausen levels are to determine whether you need a blowoff tube or not, but there's no harm in opening a fermentation bucket just a tad for a little peek.

Yes, you'd basically need two of everything for sours (or at least, everything that touches the beer/wort after it has been infected with the souring bugs).

edit: I just noticed the kit doesn't include a hydrometer test jar or thief to use for hydrometer testing. Not being able to measure gravity will not prevent you from brewing, but it does allow you to; calculate ABV, control ABV pre-fermentation, and identify if problems have occurred during the brewing process.

The Kaito T-1 antenna uses an optional clip adapter like the Sangean ANT-60. Neither sell the clip separately. Alligator clip test leads will also work.

Something like this and a couple patch cables would work fine.

You can buy a network testing kit like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HCQSHNG and track down where it's coming from/where it's going to.

Maybe something like this would help. I use this in both of my greenhouses. Heat side activates when temperature drops a set amount below a set point (which you can vary) and cooling side activates when temperature rises a set amount above a set point.
https://www.amazon.com/bayite-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-Pre-wired/dp/B01KMA6EAM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bayite+Temperature+Controller+1650W+BTC211+Digital+Outlet+Thermostat%2C+Pre-Wired%2C+2+Stage+Heating+and+Cooling+Mode%2C+110V+-+240V+15A&qid=1567183786&s=industrial&sr=1-1

These are what I use. They work just fine.

pH:

http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-pH600AQ-Tester-Calibration/dp/B005H78ZI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348464821&sr=8-1&keywords=milwaukee+ph+test


TDS/EC:

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Auto-off-Function/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1348464821&sr=8-6&keywords=milwaukee+ph+test

this is the one me and my buddy bought. Instructions that came with it were basically junk... Very poor English.

There are quite a few of these meters on Amazon that look similar and having decent reviews (including people that use them for making beer). I'm not sure if they're all the same or what...

I treat it like any other pH meter: I rinse with distilled water and dry with kimwipes after each use. I put a small piece of sponge in the cap and bought some KCl (pH storage solution) off eBay. I wet the probe and sponge with the kcl before storing it.

I have a classic example of what happens to plastics exposed to high-concentration alcohol from my first run. I was using a standard acrylic tube, sold at your LHBS for floating a hydrometer, to collect distillate right out of the condenser. I was then floating my proof and tralle hydrometer in it to get a snapshot of the proof coming off my still. Long story short the well pump kicked off, causing the house water pressure to drop enough that I barely had any flow going through the condenser and it started to blow out alcohol vapor. This was quickly remedied by opening the valve more for my cooling water, but it destroyed the acrylic tube. Keep in mind it was only exposed to alcohol vapor for about a second.

Imgur

It was perfectly clear before it happened, and the entire inside of the tube turned white and the plastic became very brittle. In fact there should be a base on the tube, but it broke off when I set the tube down in the sink. I've gone to a glass sample tube now.

Keep in mind that if you try to go with a plastic condenser that the distillate will be entering while still in vapor form. If it doesn't immediately destroy it, I can't imagine what kinds of chemicals would be leached out (if nothing else just dissolved plastic) and added to your product.

Just a note on that soil pH meter- for about $4 more, you can get a pH pen that can be calibrated for accuracy. I have had bad luck with the dual prong, in the soil types like that one, not particularly accurate.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1700BT-Bluetooth-Active/dp/B00MXY21LW

They're mad tings, love them.

Sandro from Car Craft Detailing recommends this one Paint Gauge