Gadget Notes Nomad Apple Watch Battery Charger

Date:  Jan 11, 2016

Ever since June last year until now, Apple Watch is on my wrist daily.  It has become my fitness device, my watch and social media notification device.  I don’t use a lot of apps on it at all.

So far I am very please with it.

The only thing that I am not so happy with is the Apple Charging cable.

It’s long and ugly.

And I am so reluctant to bring another “lose” cable in my bag along.  I already have one lightning cable, so I should not need another cable.

So, what is my solution?

Yes, Nomad Pod Charger for Apple Watch, solve it all.

This is the Nomad Pod Charger.  It looks like a ice hockey puck.   (Of course, you can remove the USB cable).

There is a USB port inside for you to plug your Apple Watch charger in it.

Then, you start coiling the cable.

Until like this.  And place the charging pad nicely fit into the holder provided.

Then, cover it.  The cover is magnetically attached.

Then, simply placed your Apple Watch on top of it.  

And it starts charging the Apple Watch.

WAIT NOW!  I have not plug in the power yet!  ??

Yes, this is a Portable Battery too.

Basically, you charge the Apple Watch without cable plug in.

When you plug in the cable, it will charge the Apple Watch and at the same time charges the battery.

Very cool product.

It has the battery indicator.

So, when I travel, I bring along this.  Usually I have a micro USB cable.  So, you can use the iPhone power adapter to charge this.

And I don’t have to deal with the ugly cable.

Unique selling point.

I bought it at US$59.95, now I just check, it is on sales.  They ship it to Singapore too.

Here are the specs.

IBC Tote Tank Aquaponics

I know its been awhile since I last posted to the blog, but I have been very busy planning the inside of the greenhouse. I know the blog is about Aeroponics, but I just had to start out with some Aquaponics adventures to set the stage for future Aeroponics endevours. So, without further ramblings, lets dive in. I searched our local Craigslist coverage area and found an inexpensive source for 275 Gallon IBC ( International Bulk Container) tote tanks ($50 ea.) which were single use food grade totes that contained liquified corn sugar (not corn syrup). This stuff was really sticky and messy, having the consistency of molasses, but without the sugary smell or taste When looking for these types of containers, always look for food grade, or ask the seller what the previous contents were before committing to a purchase, some IBCs are used to transport hazardous chemicals or petroleum products, not good for the fish, plants or you. So I purchased two of these bad boys, and loaded them up in the truck for the eighty mile trip back home. Once I got back, I unloaded these with the help of my son, as they are approx. 75lbs empty, its can be tricky moving them off the back of the truck.

First step in prepping these totes for use in an Aquaponics system is to remove the top retaining brackets as shown in the photo below. The screws take a large Torqs Bit, which I did not have, but an alternate was to use a Hex bit which fit nicely in the head of each retaining screw.

Moving on, the next item on the list is to remove the plastic tank from the cage, which can be accomplished by laying the whole unit on its side and sliding the tank out of the cage.

Before cutting up the frame for the various pieces needed in the Aquaponics system. I took a pressure washer and sprayed out the inside of the plastic tanks as a precursor to cleaning them after prepping the cage.

On to the cage/frame prep. I used a metal cutoff blade in my old trusty B&D 7-1/4" circular saw to cut the metal tubing on the cage. Cuts were made all the way around the cage at the second horizontal cross member as shown below.

At this point prior to cutting, I removed the black corner braces and tossed them aside as they will not be needed for the project.

After cutting is complete on the cage, I had to cut a whole in the center of the base for the PVC piping that would have to protrude through to the fish tank as the bottom of the cage would now be the base for my grow bed. Using the circular saw I cut out an approximate 4" x 6" opening in the base.

After this, I took a 4-1/2" angle grinder and took off any visible burrs around the opening and also on each vertical brace of the cage where I cut the cage into two pieces.

After this, it was on to cutting the plastic tote into two pieces. In order to do this the tote would have to be turned upside down and placed back in the base without the scew-on 6" lid in place. Once in place, I took a felt tipped marker and drew a line around the plastic tote at the top of horizontal cross member.

After marking the line around the tote, I removed it from the base and laid it on its side. In order to cut the tote, I purchased a 120 Tooth plastic/vinyl blade for $10 from my local Lowes Home Improvement store.

Here is the finished product.

At this point I spent the next two hours cleaning the inside and outside of the tanks. Removing any residue left by the pre-wash by using a combination of Crude Cutter Cleaner, TSP, the pressure washer and good old hand scrubbing.  Once this was done I moved on to prepping the wooden pallets as a base to accept the larger cage for the Fish Tank  I simply placed the pallet where I wanted it to go, and then attached 2"x2 furring strips to the pallet inside the cage perimeter as shown, which hold the cage in place while providing an easy breakdown if it needs to be moved.

All that was left for the major assembly was to place the large half of the Tote Tank into the pallet base which would serve as the Fish Tank, while placing the Metal Base on top of the palletized tote for use as the grow bed.

The top tanks are approximately 15" deep which is perfect for a 12" grow bed. I intend to use Growers Stone which is an inert lightweight material which looks similar to lava rock as a growing medium. Next its on to the Affnan Bell Siphon, which is made out of 1" PVC pipe and along with a 1-1/4" reducer coupling SxT, 1" female adapter, 2" Male Adapter, and two reducer bushings, one is a 2x1", and the other is a 1-1/2x1" reducer.The last three items are actually glued together and screwed into the 6" screw on cap which the 1" standpipe/bell siphon attaches to. I also used 3" PVC for the bell portion of the siphon with a 3" plastic test cap glued in place with corresponding diagonal cuts on the bottom to break the siphon once the water reaches the bottom of the grow bed. Lastly, I used 4" perforated corrugated drain pipe over the whole siphon to protect it from the gravel in the beds, and to provide better water circulation.

Here is what the whole set-up looks like when put together.

The above picture also shows the ebb & flo growbed in action. I timed the fill at approx. 25 minutes per 200 gallons of water, so for two grow beds in each system with a full compliment of grower stones which will displace approximately 50% of the water in each bed, that cuts the time down to less than 15 minutes, with a drain lasting approximately 5 minutes I should be able to get 3 cycles per hour, not optimum, should be 4, but three will do.

With the 1-1/4 reducer, it takes approx. 25 seconds for a full force siphon to start. I may try to order the 1-1/2 reducers as my local home improvement & hardware stores dont carry them. This would reduce the siphon start time to approx. 5-7 seconds. I used a 600 GPH magnetic drive submersible utility pump with an attached pre-filter to supply water to two tanks at a time.

In order to do this I had to connect the two tanks together. I decided to use the existing 2" ball valves that were attached to the totes from the factory as each one has 2" IPS threads which will accept a 2" female PVC adapter. To this I attached a 2" PVC Union and 2" 90 degree DWV elbows and 2" PVC pipe between each tank for the connection as shown in the next photo. This gives me the added ability to remove the connection and drain/clean or work on individual tanks when needed.

In order to feed water to each grow bed I came up with a PVC manifold using 1/2" PVC pipe and fitting.
This was attached to the pump with a section of black UV resistant 5/8" card hose.

and here is the system at its present stage of completion. I am in the process of adding two more Fish Tanks/Grow beds for a total of four in the greenhouse.

I still have to add an air system to the tank for Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in the tanks, along with a way to heat the water in the winter and cool it in the summer, perhaps a pond heater and a Chiller are in my future. I will save that for upcoming post....hope you have enjoyed the journey so far. Until next time...


 

Kay Kay First Day of School in P1

Date:  Jan 6, 2015

We have been waiting for this day for so long.  Finally, Kay Kay has entered Primary 1.

There is no problem for him to wake up at 6am on the first day, because we slept 8pm the day before.  

By 6:10am, he already brushed up and eating his breakfast.

It shall become a daily (on weekday) routine for him.

No problem wearing his own socks and shoes.

I think the bus air con will be a bit cold, so, we let him wear a jacket to school.

He is quite small build.  So, we keep reminding him to eat more, to grow taller and fatter (not like his brother, moderate will do).

Especially when he put on his bag at his back.  The bag is almost 1/2 of his weight may be (or lesser, 1/3).  So, when you got pushed by people it is easy to fall down.

Here is a nice shot with his brother, Jay Jay.  Jay Jay will protect Kay Kay in school for the next 3 years.  But it is unlikely they will see each other during recess as the timing is different.  But to go to school together with his brother is one of the things he is looking forward to.

Here come the bus.  This is Kay Kay’s first time taking School Bus to school. 

After picking up the boys, the school bus goes directly to school.  So, Kay Kay will be in school quite early.  So, he has plenty of time to do some reading.

More students gradually came.  He is a bit shy on the first day.  So, you can imagine me and his brother trying at home to teach him how to break the ice with other classmates.  “I am Kay, what’s your name?” or “My name is Kay, what’s yours?”.  “Where do you stay?” “ Do you take bus to school?”  “ Which pre-school do you go to?”  It is great tactic and he actually follows.  The second days onwards, he comes home and tell story about “Grace” and “Wayne” whom he makes friend with.

Kay is still shy talking to classmates.  But he tries chatting with teachers.  A good sign.

Then. parents attending the talk on P1 matters, etc.  

And he survived the first day.  With no problem.  Very excited.  A bit too shy to talk to classmates.  Give him some times, he will become the same Kay we knew in K2.

A very happy kid coming back from the school bus.

Very happy indeed.  The first day of his P1.  He is going to spent the next 6 years here.

Day 2.

So, same routine.  Read books and wait for others to come.

Jay and his prefects friends all have been tasked to look after the P1 during assembly time.  Make sure every one take out books and read.

In fact, there will be 4 prefects (Brayden not in photo), Jay, Lukas and Aiden who will be looking after Kay Kay in school.  These are his playmates since Lorna Whiston day.

Day 2, Kay is still shy in front of his classmates.  But he is starting to get more familiar with the teacher.

National songs and pledges.

Time out, so, need to talk to him and encourage him to interact more with other classmates.

And there he goes along with his class back to their class room.  May the force be with you!

Well, I said it way too early.  An incident happened.

Kay was playing with a P1 girl from another class at the Bus waiting area.  The girl keep pulling his bag, and he asked the girl not to do that.  And the girl not happy and kick his leg.  And the next thing you know, he fell down to the floor face down.  And hurt his nose, and cause some nose bleed.  Poor kid.

Jay uses a slightly strong word, i.e. “bully”.  But I think we have to teach the kid the right way of dealing with this.

1) He was playing with the girl.  So, they were playing and accident might happen.

2) Some students they need to learn,  If you ask them to stop and they do not listen, they need time to learn how to listen.

3) Especially when Kay fell down, and the girl saw the nose bleed.  Imagine how the girl feels.  She might feel terrible.  So, she might not foresee this happening, but I am sure it scare her a lot seeing the blood.  It might have a chance that the girl will never do this again, and will treat him well.

4) Teacher came and sort out the matters.  And teacher has already recorded down the other student (the girl’s name).  So, adults know about it.

5) Students will need to sort this out among themselves too.

6) The girl still take the same school bus every day, so, Kay will still see the girl.  So, I asked Kay to say Hi the next day when he sees her.  And encourage her to continue to play with her.  Tell him that accident happens.

7)  And I communicate with the form teacher, and asked the form teacher to talk to Kay as well to award him a “star”.

So, Kay received a medal +1 point for Bravery.  Thanks Mrs. Woon for awarding him that.

So you can imagine his face when he reads the word “Bravery”.  Makes him proud too.

He is so happy although the bruises actually take form today.  Become darker colour.   

Some more can teach people to play chopstick in his Taekwondo class.  Hahaha

After yesterday incident, already recover become happy boy.

Oh ya… we received Kay’s year book.  You can tell he is very happy kid.  Enjoy!