I got an order for a #HestiaPi kit today. The payment processing fee was $4.07. According to bitcoinfees[.]net, the payment processing fee would have been somewhere between $0.27 and $0.91 if it was made on-chain. Honestly, this doesn't seem like that big of a difference. Sure, it could have been $3 cheaper, but on a $120 thermostat, that's not a huge deal. Adding in the fee to Tindie, we're now up to just over $10 for them to host the website, deal with the order tracking, email me when an order comes in, emailing the buying when it ships, and so on. Also, Tindie has way more people looking at it than any Bitcoin or Monero marketplace. Plus, people feel more comfortable if there's a company inbetween them and the buyer so they have someone to turn to if they get ripped off. Whether that's justified or not doesn't really matter. Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer a p2p based system with a mediator that only steps in if there is a dispute. I'd also prefer to be paid in Bitcoin on Monero. OpenBazaar had this (at least for Bitcoin, not sure about Monero), but it never caught on. Perhaps they were too early? Heck, it might still be too early now. I'd be happy to pay a fee to the platform to host all this, just like I do with Tindie. It'd be a valuable service and they deserve to get paid for providing it. **sigh** Maybe someday...

I designed my own #PCB for the #BME280 sensor (#temperature, #humidity, and barometric pressure), and the design is solid, but assembling it by hand is too difficult. After 6 attempts and a bunch of rework, none of them were functional. Too much solder in one case, which shorted things out. Not enough in another case and the sensor came off. Some other error in another case were it read 32°F (incorrect) and no humidity reading. So I'm giving up. A failed experiment. #electronics #hardware #GrowNostr

I'm working on a new #prototype for the #HestiaPi #PCB. All revisions up to now had some extra long headers (but not too long, or the case can't close!) which connected directly to the touchscreen. This meant you had to line up the pins perfectly while putting on the shell of the case. It it tedious the first few times. This #experimental version uses a ribbon cable instead, so you attach the screen before attaching the cover. Pic is peeking in through the side of the case. #IoT #thermostat #OpenSource #hardware #OpenHardware

Call to #hackerspaces & #makerspaces around the world, lets join forces! Hi. 👋 I make #OpenSource smart #thermostats that don't spy on you. I don't ship internationally for two reasons: financial cost and environmental cost. I'd like to join a network of Makerspaces to have them be produced regionally so people outside of America can get a pre-made unit. Does this network already exist? If so, how do I join? If it doesn't exist, would you like to help build it? #IoT #BoostsWelcome #GrowNostr

I'm working on a new #prototype #PCB which should: 1.) Replace the dreaded LCD pins with a ribbon cable 2.) Swap the reset switch out for one that is compatible with both the #RaspberryPi Zero W and the Zero 2 W, and 3.) Allow using pi boards with pre-soldered on headers The first one is the cause of the the most complaints: the cover is hard to put on while aligning the LCD pins at the same time. The other two are about making it more accessible to #DIY & replace parts if needed. I spent $50 on these prototype boards to learn that 8 holes are too small, 6 are in the wrong location, I don't have double stacked 90° headers that I thought I had, and I shouldn't have soldered that ribbon cable in place.🤦 If I order another ribbon cable ($20 after shipping), I should be able to hack something together with the current version to verify there aren't any other problems. Then another $50 for an updated board design and I will have a candidate for the new design. Hopefully all the changes I make will be perfect. 🤞 Best case scenario: $50 more on boards, and $50 on ribbon cables and headers before I have a functional unit. I already have all the other parts. So probably about $200 in total to make this new revision. #ROI will be about 20 units, which is about 2 years at my current rate. (I make $10 profit per thermostat, which typically gets eaten up by me having to re-ship screens, cases, etc. when things go wrong.) #electronics #prototyping is expensive! 💸

Also, I saw that there was one order that appears to have come from #nostr (thanks HTTP referrer headers!). Super cool. I'm glad I joined this place, not just for a sale, vut because there are interesting things over here that I don't get from other social media sites.

One more week of sale prices on the #OpenSource #thermostats. I ❤️ open source and enjoy building these for people. https://www.tindie.com/products/eternalsunshine/hestiapi-one-clicky/ https://www.tindie.com/products/eternalsunshine/hestiapi-one-silent/ I'm doing my part to help us all collectively beat #enshittification. Our project has gone 5 years (and counting!) and we still support #security updates for our #IoT devices. Try getting that level of service from a #BigTech company! What better way to celebrate #cybersecurity awareness month? #OpenHardware #FOSS #FLOSS #infosec

Today I begin the journey of automatically building a #HestiaPi image based on #Debian 12 (#bookworm). So far I discovered: 1.) #RaspberryPi no longer automatically expands the partition & filesystem to take up the entire disk 2.) my /boot/ssh file **did** turn on SSH, but it seems takes longer to start and IIRC my detection can't wait for the console message because on older systems it wasn't echoed to the screen 🤔 Running `sudo raspi-config --expand-rootfs` does work, but it auto-reboots 🫤

#October is #CyberSecurity awareness month, so I decided to put the #OpenSource smart thermostats of #sale. Pick up a #thermostat that won't be hacked because some corporate #cloud was breached, won't be discontinued and unsupported in a few years, and won't collect data about you and sell it to the highest bidders. https://www.tindie.com/products/eternalsunshine/hestiapi-one-clicky/ https://www.tindie.com/products/eternalsunshine/hestiapi-one-silent/ #IoT #cyber #security #infosec

Happy to say that the #HestiaPi clicky edition is back in stock. I put together 5 units yesterday. I have to wait for some #RaspberryPi boards, temperature sensors and screens to come in before I can fully test each unit, but if someone ordered one today I could mix and match parts from the silent model that I have ready to go. It feels good to have built up this level of inventory. I want to keep giving people a choice of #sustainable, #upgradable, #OpenSource #hardware!

#iykyk #electronics

I just got some new #HestiaPi prototype boards in. There is only acouple small modifications: 1. The reset switch cuts power, makong it compatible with a Pi Zero, Pi Zero 2, and possibly also the pi zero clones 2. Require a sockrt for the pi, and can use headers soldered onto the top instead of requiring them onnthe bottom 3. Done in KiCAD instead of some online tool (eliminating the risk of not being able to modify the PCB if the site ever goes under or discontinued their free tier, etc.) The next question is: does it actually work? The components I'll need to test it should arrive in the next few days and then we will find out. #OpenSource #IoT #hardware #FOSS #software

AirGradient answers the question about why they don't have any salespeople:

Why We Don't Have Any Sales People

It's a good little #philosophical read. #engineers #engineering #FOSS #hardware #OpenSource #OpenHardware #GrowNostr #sustainability

Still no #RaspberryPi Zero 2 W boards in stock in America. I'm checking back a few times a week to try to get some when they are back in stock somewhere. In the meantime, I still have 3 #HestiaPi thermostats in stock if anyone is interested. If you know where I can get 10 Zero 2 boards for $15 each, please let me know. #Privacy #Freedom #SelfHosting

I have 4 #HestiaPi #thermostats left. After that, I'll be waiting on parts to be available at reasonable prices (namely the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W). I can use the original Zero, and they are available, but the Zero 2 is significantly faster and has a hardware Floating Point Unit (FPU) which is required for the JVM in Java >8

Good news: I updated my inventory on the #tindie store. #HestiaPi thermostats in stock! Bad news: #RaspberyPi Zero 2 W boards are not available in the US, and the international stores generally have higher prices, higher taxes (VAT), and more expensive shipping. I'm going to wait and see if they become available before my current supply is completely sold out. I thought these days were behind us when I saw stores inventories replenished and purchase limits lifted a while back. #IoT #FOSS #OpenSource #Hardware #Privacy

#TIL I can buy raspberry pi boards using #bitcoin! Ot'd be super cool to be able to sell #HestiaPi thermostats for bitcoin and then get that #CircularEconomy going.

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I'd also be hapy to sell #smart thermostats for #monero, swap it for bitcoin and then use that to buy components. #IoT #OpenSource #hardware #FOSS

I think people underestimate how much it costs to get a PCB made if they've never done it. For example, I have a 3.54" x 2.83" board (2 layers) and I want one of these made to make sure my design is good. How much would you expect to pay? (answer is in my reply)

I'm printing some more cases today. The white ones are very difficult to get to come out perfect. Every tiny imperfection is more apparent. I think I might take some new high resolution pictures of the white case so people understand that it's likely not going to look as nice as the black ones. I want people to know what they're getting. #honesty What do you think, should I try any bold colors like red, orange, green or blue? #3dprinting #hardware #foss #OpenHardware