Passive Infrared Receiver (PIR) sensor review, test & how to use

I ordered three of these from a supplier in China for $3 or 98 cents a piece. I was going to order them from an American vendor for a slightly more, but I accidentally left them off my previous order, this was cheaper and I was in no rush to get them. I am going to use one of them with my LED lighting strip, so that the lights turn off automatically when I'm not in the room to save power. And I might also use them so they come on automatically in the evening -- but only if I am home. PIR are very easy to use, they are a self-contained module, that simply pulls a pin high for a period of time after a person is detected.

January 29, 2018 11 AM Update

50 days from now is the first day of spring (Tuesday, March 20th).

While it will take a while for things to warm up, there will be a warm up and get progressively nicer as we head through February into March.

Date High Median Low
Thursday, February 15 35 (39) 26 (36) 17 (32)
Sunday, March 4 40 (23) 31 (16) 22 (8)
Saturday, March 17 45 (40) 35 (28) 26 (16)
Wednesday, March 28 50 (51) 40 (45) 30 (38)
Saturday, April 7 55 (46) 44 (42) 34 (37)
Wednesday, April 18 60 (58) 49 (49) 38 (40)
Tuesday, May 1 65 (74) 54 (62) 43 (49)
Wednesday, May 16 70 (77) 58 (61) 47 (44)
Sunday, June 3 75 (72) 64 (59) 53 (45)
Friday, June 22 80 (81) 69 (67) 59 (53)
Saturday, August 18 80 (77) 70 (74) 60 (71)
Saturday, September 8 75 (68) 65 (59) 55 (49)
Friday, September 21 70 (81) 60 (72) 50 (63)
Tuesday, October 2 65 (69) 55 (54) 45 (39)
Monday, October 15 60 (74) 50 (66) 40 (57)
Sunday, October 28 55 (67) 46 (52) 36 (37)
Saturday, November 10 50 (50) 42 (40) 33 (29)
Thursday, November 22 45 (37) 38 (34) 30 (30)
Tuesday, December 4 40 (36) 33 (30) 26 (23)
Monday, December 17 35 (35) 28 (28) 21 (20)
Tuesday, January 8 30 (23) 22 (16) 15 (9)

 Hide And Go Seek

January 29, 2018 Morning

Good morning! Today is my 35th Birthday.🍰 Three weeks to Presidents Day. Partly sunny and 28 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north breeze at 7 mph.

Only 50 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!

Today is a very pleasant morning, almost spring like with all the sun and lack of snow.🌞 And fairly mild for January for sure. I didn’t sleep well last night for many reasons, being a bit uncomfortable about turning 35, and because I had a mistake on my clock that kept it flashing all night long when it should have gone into a deep sleep by 11. I do need to get some coffee so I may run up to Market 32 during lunch. Not a bad walk from work. β˜•

While only God really knows,  today marks the second half of my life. 🎂I’m hoping to make it the best chapter, the most interesting, learn a lot, explore a lot, recognizing that time is limited and precious. βŒ›As they say at work, you can always get more money but you can’t ever get more time. ⏰Time is non-negotiable and every five years older you get, it seems to happen in half of the time. Years almost become a blur. 

Today will be partly sunny, with a high of 36 degrees at 2pm.β›… Five degrees above normal. North wind around 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 2002. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1990.

The sun will set at 5:05 pm with dusk around 5:35 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 33 degrees.☁ There will be a north breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 54 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 17 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a slight chance of light snow after 2am. ❄Cloudy, with a low of 20 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal. Maximum wind chill around 17 at 12am; North wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2017, we had cloudy skies, clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 17 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1965.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Presidents Dayβ›„ when the sun will be setting at 5:33 pm with dusk at 6:01 pm. On that day in 2017, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 52 and 31 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1981.

January 28, 2018 Night

Good evening! Partly clear and 34 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🌖

Tonight is my final night at age 34, tomorrow is my 35th birthday.🎂 I figure I’ll probably live to around age 70 based on my family history and current health status, so I guess you might call tomorrow my second half of my life. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, and I look at my final 35 years as potentially the best 35 years of my life. Maybe I’ll make it past 70, but it seems like calling tomorrow the start of the second half is a good milestone. So many more adventures and things to learn and experience over next 35 years. Saving for retirement becomes all the more important, as does doing the things that I really want to do before it becomes too late.   
Tonight will be partly cloudy, with a low of 28 degrees at 6am. 🌝13 degrees above normal. North wind around 6 mph. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1925. Fairly mild beautiful moonlit evening heading home from my parents house tonight. 

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous Moon with 92% illuminated. The moon will set tonight at 5:19 am.🌖 The Blue Moon is on Tuesday night with a chance of snow showers. The sun will rise at 7:12 am with the first light at 6:42 am, which is 57 seconds earlier than yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 7 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 16 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have increasing clouds, with a high of 35 degrees at 12pm. β˜Four degrees above normal. North wind around 9 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 54 was set in 2002. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1990.

Sunday dinner at the folks house was quite good, although I’m a bit concerned about mom’s cold. She’s so frail these days and I worry that her cold could get worse. She did put together a pretty good dinner. 

Hiking back to Hannacroix Falls and the Hudson River at Hannacroix Preserve was quite nice, although the trails were muddy and icy in spots. I wish I had put on my microspikes before hiking as I slipped once but fortunately did not fall. 

I’m happy that I figured out how to cut the plexiglass and glue it together. The new case for my Variable Message Sign looks really nice, especially now that I’ve added an LED for backlighting. I’ll probably add more LEDs for decoration when I permanently mount the Arduino Nano in the case along with other parts when they arrive. I ordered a box of five Arduino Nanos, another LED matrix module, a GPS module and a MicroSD card socket. I plan next to build a GPS logging system for my truck so I can track my speed and mileage, and routing more closely. I was going to get a motion detector to add to my LED lights to save power when I’m not in the room but I forgot to order that. Maybe my next electronics order I’ll get that. I’ll have to think about it. 

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 23.β˜€ Sunday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31.☁ Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees. Cold compared to this weekend but at least snow free based on the current modeling. Maybe I’ll go hiking or possibly camping next weekend although it looks a bit cold. They really don’t have much snow in the Catskills or lower elevations, but there is a lot of ice and currently mud around.  

In four weeks on February 25 the sun will be setting at 5:40 pm, which is 36 minutes and 19 seconds later then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had thunderstorm, thunderstorm rain, rain, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 70 and 37 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 37 and 20 degrees. The record high of 70 degrees was set last year.

Looking ahead, Winnie the Pooh Day is in 3 weeks,🍯 April Fools Day and Easter is in 9 weeks🐇 and Memorial Day is in 4 months.🎇

Only 116 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend. 

14 things you don’t know about the opossum

14 things you don’t know about the opossum

The average opposum has a blood temperature of 95.4 degrees, the coldest of any mammal. This is why many common diseases in mammals like rabies can not survive in opposum. While they can transmit disease their body temperature is too low for many blood based pathogens unlike rats and mice. Opposum scat (poop) can be hazardous and downright deadly for horses if it gets their feed or other pathways.

Guide to NEO-6M GPS Module with Arduino

Guide to NEO-6M GPS Module with Arduino

I ordered an inexpensive ($10) GPS tracking module and an SD card adapter to wire to one of the Arduino Nanos I have.

I am planning on building a GPS logger for my truck that will record with a time stamp my location, direction of travel, and speed every few seconds. I think it would be fun to be able to look back at my trips, especially road and camping trips.

Never again would I struggle to remember what road I was on.