It's A Flashlight, A Charging Station And It Runs On Solar!

There were a number of articles this week and last that talked about how Apple is experimenting with a blood glucose monitoring system that is non-invasive and works with the Apple Watch. It even showed a picture of Tim Cook testing out this new technology. As a long time diabetic, I can tell you first-hand just how welcome this breakthrough technology would be. I am really tired of finger sticks, expired test strips and the hassle that just make my health care provider nag me to test. Just imagine if it was automatic!

Well, I am really looking forward to that but in the meantime I have been experimenting with Apple’s Health App and find it to be pretty useful for a number of other health issues. To begin with, I set up my “Medical ID” which lists my medical conditions, medications that I take, my emergency contact and organ donation information. All this information is accessible from you iPhone by emergency personnel without needing your passcode.

Speaking of blood glucose readings, my meter is the iHealth iGluco meter which uses the iPhone to record data and it dumps it right into the Health App where I can monitor my numbers or send them to my nurse practitioner. Yeah, I am a gadget guy so I also have a Bluetooth scale which records my weight and transmits to Health App and a Qardio blood pressure monitor. All these devices record data on my iPhone and it is available in the Health App.

This is all very handy when you go in for medical care whether it is a check-up or some emergency. I had some time with docs and hospitals over the past month and I must have been asked 50 times for my list of medications and other information. It was great to have that all in one place on my iPhone. In some cases, I just handed my iPhone over so the information could be transferred to their systems.

But one new compatible app that I have become enamored with is “SleepMatic”:https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/sleepmatic-auto-sleep-cycle/id1179236591?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2. There are some nights when I am just not getting sleep whether it is the dogs laying on my head or my head spinning with new ideas. I was complaining to my nurse practitioner about my lack of sleep and she suggested a sleep study of some sort. That was not of interest so I started investigating sleep trackers and found SleepMatic which you can download from the app store.

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The great thing about this app is that you do not have to do anything to set it up. Give it access to your Health App and wear your watch to bed and it automatically will track your sleep. It generates a report that lets you know how much you have slept, how long you had deep sleep, how long you had light sleep, how many times you woke up and how long you stayed awake. All this data is available from the app but also in your Health app.

Your “Today” screen on your iPhone’s Health App will give you this data as well as your Activity monitor data and on mine I also get weight and blood glucose, too. We are adding more and more HealthKit compatible accessories to Small Dog Electronics’ product offerings. We now offer products by “Qardio”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86560/qardio-qardioarm-blood-pressure-monitor-white and “Whitings”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/88548/withings-wireless-blood-pressure-monitor but will be adding more soon.

Over the last month or so I’ve begun spending a lot of time after work and on the weekends in a wifi and cell-free zone. There are countless studies about how valuable this is for us for multiple reasons. For myself and my family it’s awesome. We are campers with a seasonal set up at a local campground, we have many conveniences but phones and internet are not one of them.

Having no cell phone coverage and no internet service doesn’t mean you have to give up some of your guilty pleasures while you’re still enjoying the great outdoors and time with friends and family. Traditional radios often don’t work where we camp because we are located in a bit of a hole so we’ve become very accustomed to utilizing offline playlists and bluetooth speakers around the campfire. One of our favorite little speakers around the camp is our “Outdoor Tech Turtle Shell”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/88743/outdoor-tech-turtle-shell-3-0-rugged-waterproof-wireless-boombox-red speaker and we’ve recently added a “Tivoli”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/88258/tivoli-audio-pal-bt-high-gloss-blue-white speaker to our collection. We’ve begun utilizing our Apple Music account so much that we’ve actually discontinued our satellite radio subscriptions in our cars. If you have the music in your pocket already why pay for it again? Well, that is a personal opinion but we’ve seen no drawbacks as a family downsizing to just one paid music service.

Download and watch later! iTunes has let you download and watch offline movie rentals or purchased content for a while now and so has Amazon Prime. Some might not know that Netflix also made this an option back in November. With both Netflix and Amazon Prime you are limited a bit in the content that is available for download and viewing offline. I have found that about 50% of what I consider downloading to watch when I am out of wifi and cellular service to be an option. Just like with iTunes rentals, there is a time limit with each service for how long you have to watch the content before it’s removed from your device. I have loaded up several shows on my iPad, but admit I haven’t watch any yet. I still pick up a book rather than my device. When it comes to a good binge watching moment it’s nice to know I have options loaded up and ready for a rainy weekend at camp.

What about charging all these devices for offline use? Good question. Many folks reading this might perhaps think my idea of camping is more “glamping” and you’re right! For those who might want to take advantage of a good show while riding out a rain storm in your tent or just want to listen to your favorite podcast while cooking on your camp stove there are countless products to allow you to keep your devices fully charged when you can’t just plug them into an outlet. “Goal Zero”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=Goal+Zero has a wide variety of products to help keep your devices powered when you’re off the grid. Even though I do have access to power I still often carry a battery pack for my iPhone. You never know when you might end up without an available power source.

While you’re enjoying this long holiday weekend, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to leave everything behind. While it’s a bit frustrating at times to not have access to the outside world it is nice to feel at least partially unplugged for a while.

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A lot of people have been curious about where I’ve learned so much about electricity and electronics. I’ve had very little formal schooling on the subject, so I thought it might be interesting to go over some of the resources I’ve used and things that have helped me learn. I think these subjects are a lot more accessible than people realize.

When I was 10 or 11, my aunt got me an electronics project kit. I suspect these kits are still available, but I had mine for at least 8 years. They were basically a board made of plastic or cardboard with springs sticking out. The springs were connected to various components (resistors, LEDs, capacitors, etc, etc). This made it easy to bend the spring sideways and slide in a jumper wire. The kits came with booklets complete with all kinds of circuits. In my earlier years, my dad had to help me build them and show me how to follow the instructions. One of my favorite circuits was the electromagnetic radiation detector. This circuit used the tuner coil on the board and the tiny little earpiece. The tuner coil was placed in a circuit so that it would be sensitive to ambient electromagnetic radiation. This was fascinating to me because I learned that our CRT TV at the time output a lot of stray electromagnetic noise. It was quiet compared to the microwave though.

Once I became more comfortable with how circuits worked and what various components did, I started to get myself in trouble at home by disassembling various electronics. Eventually I started finding scrap electronics instead of things that worked. I learned how to repair a few things. I remember repairing a flashlight I had that didn’t work anymore. I also remember disassembling a motor in a toy submarine I had and fixing it so that the brushes worked again. I think all of my tinkering had a lot to do with what I ended up learning, especially about the limits of various electronics.

As I got older I was able to follow along in books and videos online. A few very basic courses in high school and college helped me to get a handle on some of the fundamentals, but school was never a big part of what I’ve learned about electricity. Some of the things that really helped me a lot were books designed for trade schools. I always found these books easiest to follow and most practical. Another great resource is old US Army instructional videos on youtube. Most of them are from the 1940s or 1950s and were designed to help teach people in the army how to do things. For having no special effects, simple graphics and all in black and white, these videos are incredibly instructive. Some companies, like General Electric, also made similar videos at the time. It was one of these videos that finally got through to me on how induction motors worked. The great thing is that what they talk about is fundamental and hasn’t really changed in the 60-70 years since the videos were made. Motors still generally work exactly the same way. I also found a youtube channel that was particularly helpful in demystifying some of the more complex digital and signals processing parts of electrical engineering. “**Jerri Ellsworth**”:https://www.youtube.com/user/jeriellsworth helped me understand a lot. Plus she had videos on fabricating a race car (another interest of mine).

Beyond instructional things, I’ve found the best way to learn about this stuff is to just do it. I learned a ton from building my own solar power station. Everything from different battery chemistries to how to size wiring based on load. I think it helps a lot to break things down into individual pieces. An entire system might be complicated, but maybe you can just focus on what is required to calculate the correct fuse size or how DC breakers work. Eventually all of the little things add up. It’s important to me to show others that despite how daunting and complicated this subject might seem, most people will be able to figure it out. Plus, lifelong learning is awesome! Hopefully my articles are contributing to that for readers.

_Dear Friends,_

I had a pleasant surprise this week as my internet provider, Green Mountain Access, informed me that they had upgraded the wiring in my neighborhood and I could move from DSL to cable modem access and from about 3Mbps to 50Mbps. With all the gear I have in my house the extra bandwidth will be great and I got spoiled with the fast internet in Key West.

It is absolutely strange to this aging hippy back-to-the-lander that I am so dependent upon the internet. Grace always said she wanted a log cabin with one light bulb but now I have a big house with lights, locks, TV and phones all dependent upon broadband. Yeah, I can get all ancient and use switches, keys and landlines but where’s the fun in that!

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, it is important to remember this is not just a holiday that marks the unofficial start of summer. Memorial Day is celebrated to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom. While the parades and celebrations are tributes to the brave men and women who have fought to protect us from tyranny, a lasting and real commitment to peace is the highest honor we can pay to soldiers. In these dangerous times, it is more important than ever to honor those who are on duty right now sacrificing so that we can enjoy a free society. We may not all agree with the policies that have put our sons and daughters in harm’s way, but honoring their service, sacrifice, and commitment is the duty of all citizens.

“We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.” – Albert Einstein

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