markharro

How do you configure this Dave? Say you wanted 12kWp in total and had 4 set up in a standard DNO max configuration what do you do with the other 8? A second string I can understand but what type of battery and how do you prevent the battery becoming overcharged if this string cant export?

Thanks - thats just what I had been looking for - now just need to work out which is the current satellite!

Thanks but I dont mean a terrestrial transmitter

My interest is in the best quality footage whether that is HD or 4K but without paying to view the latter. There is a tiny bit of 4K on iplayer for example. I don't think that there is currently any 4K content broadcast on either Freeview or Freesat but would love to be corrected. Does anyone know if/when 4K will start to come on stream on Freeview/sat? Same goes for Dolby Atmos content. Finally is there any easy to use website to plug in your postcode that will then show the direction and angle the Freesat satellite is at as we are quite shaded to our southeast where I suspect it lies?

Yes that would work as well I think.

I've just bought a Homepod mini and and Nanoleaf bulb and Eve Energy smartplug as an experiment to see how good the new Thread wireless standard is. In short I have found it excellent - extremely quick to respond and very consistent. It has made my mind up that this will be the first choice for smarthome stuff in new project. What is needed though is a smart plug socket that is Thread enabled so it removes the need to plug in the smartplug and then another plug into that. Anyone know if there are UK Thread enabled smart sockets available right now?

Just starting out with this App having bought a Homepod mini and smart light, Want to try to automate the light to switch on/off at random times to give appearance of someone at home - is this possible in the App?

Having now invested in an Apple Homepod mini and the nanoleaf bulb and got the whole lot working together with homekit I have to say that my initial impression is extremely favourable. It just works, instantly and consistently. This Thread technology looks extremely promising and seems to me to offer real potential for a low-cost DIY home automation system that can rival a more "professional" system

https://www.bimblesolar.com/330w-perlight-solar-panels-all-black as a random example and I think the GSE tray is about £30-40

That sounds like a very expensive panel - I thought the GSE trays were around £30 so £270 for a 350? watt panel? I would have thought half that,

I think the point Dreadnaught is making is that this is the big boys' collaboration to fix the very issue you are mentioning ie to produce a unified system to bring order to the current mess. As it seems Apple Google and Amazon are on board with this I suspect it is worth paying attention to.

Thanks - I think you had mentioned this in another post that I read - I had hoped that "Thread" was this standard but from what you say it will be a subset of "Matter"? Do you know enough about this to advise whether (assuming I purchased a Homepod and Nanoleaf light to work via thread it would integrate into any future Matter infrastructure?

That might have been right up until now but all I am reading about Thread indicates it is superior to both z wave and zigbee - here for example - https://techtechandmoretech.com/news/thread-smart-home/

Just been reading about the Apple Home App - people saying its terrible even after 5 yrs of evolution. Seems really puzzling - how can't Apple make what must surely be one of their flagship Apps work properly?

Just been reading about this. Not really interested in the music capabilities as I am still a hifi separates man and, to be frank, not interested in gimmicky functionality, but what would be good would be automated blinds (even better if triggered by a temperature rise within the room); and lights that can be programmed to come on and off randomly to simulate someone at home. A couple of years ago I bought one LIFX bulb to experiment with but ended up just using it to amuse my daughter with the changing colours and then the dropped connections got annoying. I have just read that the relatively new Apple Homepod mini has a new or newish wireless technology called Thread which (appears) to offer instant action/solid connections when eg you use an App to switch something on or off that has the same wireless technology. The other plus point apparently is that all the devices mesh together so you end up being able to extend wireless connectivity easily without relying on wifi or extenders or hubs etc. Again I may be wrong here but it appears this https://nanoleaf.me/en-GB/products/nanoleaf-essentials/ is the only bulb atm that comes with this Thread wireless. Indeed a quick look on the Thread website shows a certified product list but there are not many devices listed (no blinds for example). https://www.threadgroup.org/What-is-Thread/Thread-Benefits#certifiedproducts Is this because this is so new or maybe because there are alternatives out there that are better? Be interesting to hear from anyone who knows this area who can comment - particularly anyone with experience of the Nanoleaf bulb? thanks