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pppone

294 karma · joined March 15, 2021

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pppone··on In an $80 motel room, a discovery to shed light on the origins of life
Some random ones I've encountered (less for PCB work though):

- https://openflexure.org/

- https://www.eurekamicroscope.com/

pppone··on Is my blue your blue? (2024)
I would love to know if "Cambridge Blue" is actually blue to the average person, because, to me, it's green...

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Blue_(colour)

pppone··on Astra: An open-source observatory control software
No MaximDL needed! All built in, including autoguiding and autofocusing.

Satellite tracking to be implemented in the future, working on it these months with a student of mine.

Object scheduling timing is down to the user - but the wait directives does sound like a useful feature!

Custom python scripts are possible, please check out here: https://docs.withastra.io/user_guide/custom_observatories

I also recommend checking out the introduction video that covers install and setup :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIElFSS1hkA

pppone··on Astra: An open-source observatory control software
It's been great. We've been operating with it at our observatories (SPECULOOS, ESO Paranal, Chile) for the past 2 years without issues that can be attributed to Alpaca. We had to modify the Alpyca library timeout from 5 to 60s (which Astra uses) given our legacy ASCOM drivers not being as compliant as they should be, but other than that it has worked well.
pppone··on Astra: An open-source observatory control software
I just released Astra, so I'm impressed how quickly you got set up!
pppone··on xAI joins SpaceX
Not to mention the huge issues of cosmic rays. Sure, if the lifespan of the satellite is expected to be low, then maybe tolerable. But even then, how would this be financially viable?
pppone··on Show HN: Pdfwithlove – PDF tools that run 100% locally (no uploads, no back end)
I'm hoping one of these efforts will lead to local translation of PDFs. Anyone aware of one? Not local, but the best I've found is using Google Translate via camera/images.
pppone··on Powerful and precise multi-color lasers now fit on a single chip
In astronomy, laser frequency combs are horribly expensive (~$0.5M), but fantastic for calibrating high precision spectrographs. It would be interesting to see if this method could be tuned for that application (namely, shifting to the visible), such to enable cheaper spectrographs.
pppone··on Smallest particulate matter air quality sensor for ultra-compact IoT devices
We've colocated many SPS30s with government reference stations, and the low cost sensor have always performed relatively well. But, more importantly for my use case, they are exceptionally inter-comparable.
pppone··on Smallest particulate matter air quality sensor for ultra-compact IoT devices
I used to run https://www.open-seneca.org/. But, personally, it's nice to know the PM value whilst cooking, before going on a run, etc. Permits you to take informed decisions.
pppone··on Smallest particulate matter sensor revolutionizes air quality measurement
I don't think it would. Data in these instances would have to be ignored.

You can detrend for high humidities, but once water condenses, the only way round this would be to add a drying instrument.

pppone··on Smallest particulate matter air quality sensor for ultra-compact IoT devices
I've been running multiple Sensirion SPS30 PM sensors for years, and I'm honestly amazed how well they've held up. Particularly with respect to, within their spec'd error, how new/unused SPS30s report similar values to my heavily used ones.

Curious if there are any maintenance requirements for the bosch sensor.

pppone··on Air Lab – A portable and open air quality measuring device
A really nice way of experiencing a hardware product! I wish we had done the same for our air quality monitor when we were operational. [0]

[0] - https://www.open-seneca.org/

pppone··on Is Astrophotography Without Tracking Possible? (2022)
Yes, and it is already happening in professional astronomy. For example, the "Antarctic Tianmu Plan" [0] have shown that you can successfully capture non-trailed images without using tracking mounts by using drift-scanning CCDs—basically letting the sky move across your sensor while the detector is read out at the same rate.

[0] - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019468

pppone··on SQLite File Format Viewer
I really like the VS Code extension for sqliteview.app - [0]. It also offers an edit feature for a reasonable price, in my opinion. I'm curious if there are any competing editor alternatives.

[0] - https://vscode.sqliteviewer.app/

pppone··on Ask HN: What are you working on? (March 2025)
A site to find the right weather for your next trip or relocation:

https://weatherflip.com/

I'm looking for co-founders to explore monetization routes. Feel free to reach out.

pppone··on Seeking New Home for 90 Mobile Air Quality Sensors
Yes!! Sorry - didn't see this message. If you're still interested, please apply here: https://forms.gle/sUd7J7xEMmbReJsg6
pppone··on Seeking New Home for 90 Mobile Air Quality Sensors
They're new :). But they're mobile sensors - designed for bike mounting as opposed to permanent installation.
pppone··on Show HN: Bike route planner that follows almost only official bike trails
+1 for mobile. I would use it primarily as a means to plan urban routes and cycle touring (I wouldn't be touring with my laptop :P)
pppone··on Show HN: Bike route planner that follows almost only official bike trails
Looks really nice - congrats on the app :). I can't test it since I don't use iOS. But if you ever make an android or web browser version - happy to play :)
pppone··on Show HN: Bike route planner that follows almost only official bike trails
Thank you for this. I personally appreciate the easy to download GPX for my Wahoo. For reference, I've been using [0] to get around the city since Google Maps sucks here. I also really like the routes suggested by [1], but their mobile app is super buggy.

[0] - https://cyclers.app/

[1] - https://www.cyclestreets.net/

pppone··on AirGradient Open Source Air Quality Monitor for CO2 and PM2.5 Measurements
At volume, the SPS30 gets down to ~$30 a piece. Their newest sensors (SEN5X) offer similar specs, and are about $25 per single unit, or $15 a piece at volume for the cheapest variant. The more expensive variant include integrated T/RH monitoring, which is very handy for humidity corrections for this type of PM2.5 sensing.
pppone··on AirGradient Open Source Air Quality Monitor for CO2 and PM2.5 Measurements
Sadly not yet. Since this is more of a voluntary commitment amongst my friends and I (we're in the process of finishing our PhDs), we lack the human-power to take the product to market at the moment.
pppone··on AirGradient Open Source Air Quality Monitor for CO2 and PM2.5 Measurements
I would recommend checking out the AQ-SPEC program [1]. They do quite comprehensive tests on low-cost air quality sensors. My side project with a few friends [2] chose to use the Sensirion SPS30 [3] for our portable PM2.5 monitor. As mentioned by others, it's a bit more expensive than the PMS5003 used by AirGradient, but we preferred its documentation, company reputation, and form factor at the time of choosing (2019). The PMS5003 is perfectly capable, and has demonstrated good success with many projects/companies using the sensor (e.g. PurpleAir). However, a quick search suggests there are some issues with a recent batch of these sensors [4].

[1]: https://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/sensors

[2]: https://www.open-seneca.org/

[3]: https://sensirion.com/products/catalog/SPS30/

[4]: https://community.purpleair.com/t/new-version-of-plantower-p...