Automated Heating Control

Automated Heating Control

Introduction

In 2004 we moved into our new home, which was built on a green field site, and largely designed by ourselves. As such I had included miles of cable and conduit to ensure as much future-proofing as possible.

One of my intentions had been to provide some form of automated central heating control, but at the time I couldn't get a design clear in my head. So I just went ahead and got the plumber to put in the standard system, with three zones, one for downstairs, one for upstairs, and a third for the hot water. I also left a spare STP CAT5 cable near the standard heating timer.

For me the main initial objectives of the system would be twofold:

1. Higher degree of control over the system - the installed system only allowed 3 on/off programs per day, 10 minute resolution, and the boost function operated for an hour or two hours which was far too long.
2. I wanted remote control. I like my heat, and I hate coming home late at night to a freezing house. I want the house to be warm when I get there. 

Having done a lot of reading and research I decided to roll my own control solution, and I decided that a VIOM unit from Phaedrus Ltd was a good controller to use. This unit connects to the COM port of a PC and enables relays to be switched on and off using text commands.

In January of 2005 I managed to pick one up for a reasonable price from a member of the ukha_d mailing list. I quickly fired up my Visual Studio and managed to get the relays flicking on and off. Step 1 complete.

And there the work stopped. Other things took over my time, and so it went on the to-do list. In October of 2005 I decided to have another go, but quickly got bogged down in code relating to times/dates/repeats, how to represent programs in a versatile manner, and how the GUI program setting would look and work. After a while I lost heart, other projects took over, and it was again consigned to the shelf.

This October I started again. This time I decided on a design and worked from the ground up, and then from the inside out.

Initial design

My design strategy is always simple. KISS - keep it simple stupid. I came up with a brief list of requirements:

1. System must control 3 relays - one for each zone
2. System must have hardware inputs (Push buttons)
3. Must have visual hardware outputs (LEDs)
4. System software must be componentised so that components are independent allowing their implementation to be changed if required
5. The system should provide a number of remote control methods

1. Windows based client - this would be the main client
2. Web client - control should be possible across the internet
3. SMS client - would be nice - text message the heating to be on when you get home
4. Instant messenger client

My initial drawing of the system design actually turned out to be fairly true to the final implementation. Each block represents a component of the system, with several common sub-components reused in the main components.

 

   Initial System Design

This design clearly depicted the separation of components I desired, and contained a minimum number of components I thought I would need for a complete system.

I started building test projects, firstly a nice wrapper around the VIOM code, then trying to get the comms working. I wanted a nice simple text protocol, and after some difficulties with synchronous method calls I decided to go for a completely asynchronous architecture.

Once I was happy with these building blocks I started to code up the proper Control Server. This really took the form of a Windows Forms application, which had a couple of buttons to start with. I checked that I could simply turn relays on and off from GUI button presses. Then it was time to start the calendar component, which would be used to store the program information for the system. I decided to have a separate instance for each zone. For simplicity I created a text configuration file, comma separated containing the information for a weeks on/off events.

Each event contains the following fields :

  

Field	Content
Day	The day of the week this program is applied to
On Time	Time of the day this program starts at
Program length	The length in minutes of the program
Program type	Once or Weekly Once for once only programs, like if downstairs should be on for 30 minutes starting at 6pm tonight. Once programs get deleted when they have run
Program state	On or Off Normally programs are On, but if the heating is set for a Weekly On program, and it is overridden to turn it off, an "Off" "Once" program is inserted to override the current "On" program. Once programs always override Weekly programs

The calendar component is responsible for determining the state of the system, other components can simply ask it if the heating for that zone is on or off.

Having completed the initial implementation of the Calendar I moved to looking at the UI Library. I wanted to wrap comms messages suitably so that any of the clients could re-use the same UI Lib to talk transparently to the server. The UI Lib component was coded up providing methods like On(string zoneName, int timeInMinutes) and Off(string zoneName).

Each client could then be coded up to be purely presentation code, leaving any logic to the libraries, or server.

I tidied up my server application and gave a couple of debugging options, so that I could safely debug or add new features without the boiler going on and off constantly.

 

WinForms Client

The first, and main client is a windows forms application. This is now deployed on each PC in the house, allowing control and visibility of the heating state from each machine. It is written to live in the system tray, with the main window only appearing when double-clicked.

 

It displays the current state of the three zones, and shows the next upcoming timed event.

Setting the times is performed graphically by right clicking on any of the three zones, and choosing the menu item to configure the zone. This displays the time setting dialog.

 

From this it is possible to set timed programs - either "Once" where they get deleted after being run, or "Weekly" programs that are saved to run every week. The granularity of the tool allows programs to be set in multiples of 5 minutes. Right clicking on the grid offers the option of "Quick Set" for the zone, where the user can quickly add 'once' programs to the system.

 

Programs are inserted beginning at the current time, and can be set for up to 6 hours. The hourly 'on' time can be selected, from 5 minutes to a full hour, and programs are added in a predefined pattern. For example if the user selects 30 minutes per hour for the next hour, the system will toggle on for 10 minutes, off for 10 minutes, three times. This could be easily reconfigured so that it was on for 15 minutes, off for 15 minutes, twice, but I prefer the 10 on / 10 off model. These patterns can be set in the XML configuration file.

Web Client

The web client is an extremely small piece of C# code that is simply written as a Console application using a small CGI library to parse incoming name-value pairs for control input. It runs under Apache's cgi-bin directory, and access is controlled by a .htaccess file. This ensures that any user is fully authenticated before even viewing the system state.

 

It is designed to look and operate exactly like the Windows client for consistency, although it doesn't offer the complex program setting routines.

SMS Client

In my previous job we had made great use of the services of www.bulksms.co.uk for sending text notifications of events from our monitoring system. This was implemented via a HTTP request to one of their servers, and worked very reliably, and relatively cheaply. I had always noticed in their documentation that there was a reply option, but we had never used it. So I started to investigate, and very quickly had a little web application running that could reply to text messages. From here it was just a matter of deciding on a command format, and implementing a parser for that. For consistency this is implemented in the UI Library.

I wanted to be able to text short commands to control the system, and receive a reply to indicate the outcome of the request. Some example commands are shown in the screenshot below, although many more are available.  

Again security and authentication is an issue on this platform. We don't want some random texter to be turning our heating on or off! It actually turned out to be trivial, as for the free bulksms reply service to work the reply must be exactly that - a reply. So for a phone to control our heating it needs to reply to a text sent from this specific bulksms account, and the user must locate that text and reply to it. This is not as big a headache as it may sound, as each text command sends a status reply, so there is usually a text from the server close to the top of the inbox. It is possible to reply to any text from the server

Yahoo Instant Messenger Client

I like Bots, especially interactive ones. So I decided that Instant Messenger would be another potential interface for the heating system control, plus I would have an extra contact on my short list of friends ;) . I couldn't find any Yahoo library for C# or .Net so I called upon the services of the open source java project jYMSG which is a java API interface to the Yahoo messaging system. The API does loads of stuff, but all I really want is send message to user, and receive message.

Rather than attempting to use J# or some other similar glue to access the API, I just wrote a small 'main' class around the API, which blocked on the console waiting for input, and prints any received messages to the console. The program takes input in the form "username:message text" and will attempt to send the message to the specified username. Incoming messages are prefixed too for easy parsing.

Starting a console application and redirecting its input and output is relatively easy in C#. It fits nicely into my message driven architecture. When I want to send a message I call a SendYahoo(username, text) method, and when an incoming message is received an event gets fired.

The next step was to glue that to the UIlib, and with that completed in another small windows application which runs on the server and minimises to the tray, I can now send/receive yahoo messages.

 

The client uses the same UI library as the text messaging client, so the same simple message format works in both places.

Statistics 

An aspect of this system which I hadn't really thought out beforehand was the ability to compile statistics of our heating usage. In my second production release I added functionality to write on/off events to a log file, which could then be analysed to generate statistics on our oil usage patterns. This I suppose has no real purpose, other than that it would be interesting to see how much the usage varies over the year. It may also be possible to figure out how long the next 900 litre fill will last. I created a simple GUI to display statistics, allowing a drill-down type approach to be used. The first graph presents the statistics for the year, then month, and finally per day.

 

 

The current implementation is not really intended to be very useful, more a proof of concept upon which I can build when there is more data to analyse

Hardware

The system hardware is relatively simple. The outputs of the VIOM are connected through another set of power relays that switch the mains voltage zone pumps. The inputs are all momentary push switches.

To avoid interference with the VIOM power supply a second 12v PSU is used to drive the mains relays. This 12v signal is carried using CAT5 cable to the coils of the relays. The relays are located in a white panel box, which replaces the old heating controller in our utility room. There are LEDs across the coil of each relay to visually indicate the status of each zone.

Rather than the system being entirely computer controlled I have included switches on the relay box. A press on the upper switch for a zone will boost that zone, that is turn the zone on for the default boost time. Subsequent presses will extend that time. Pressing the lower switch for a zone will cancel any current program.

The switches are connected directly to the VIOM inputs, allowing multiple switches to be added in parallel. This means that a separate switching controller can be added to the system, and for us that means a bedside switch from which we can put the heat on/off upstairs or downstairs, which has proved very useful! 

Conclusion

Reviewing my initial objectives I am pleased with the solution. The system allows precise control of the heating, with as many programs as desired. I can use it from work, home, phone or any internet connection.

One surprise has been that we actually have only a small number of preset programs, mainly in the morning. It is so easy to turn the heat on for 10 minutes when required in the evenings that this is what we do, rather than having it on from 5-6 pm and 8-9pm every day like the old system was set to. This was really another objective completed - trying to minimise wasted heating, so we weren't running the heating when we weren't there. We have certainly managed this.

You may have noticed that thermostatic control has not been mentioned in this article. We have two thermostats, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. They are useless. As I see it they contribute very little to the system. I have been able to control the system using timing much more effectively. For example last night we had guests, and I didn't want to be running out to the controls through the evening. Before they arrived I set up the heating to be on for 12 minutes each half hour for about 3 hours. This worked brilliantly, when the room started to get a little cold, the heat boosted on again.

Although there is still a lot of work to do on the software, there are as many whistles and bells as I can imagine, I am pleased with the current implementation. I will hopefully get to implementing some more user friendly features shortly, but it certainly is a complete and usable system as it is.

Future Plans

Apart from a few GUI tweeks, and fixing any issues that crop up, I really am very happy with the system as it is. The only thing I think would benefit in the short term would be weather based program control, this is currently implemented but not fully enabled. I have managed to scrape the windchill temperatures from a weather source and store that data. I have also modified the Calendar component to take an extra input to determine if the heating should be turned on a few minutes early, but I just haven't linked the two subsystems together yet.

If I was starting again, with the house build, I would ensure I had hardware to control each room as a zone, as I believe this would greatly increase the efficiency of the system. However, the thought of writing the control code for it would be a bit scary....

ubuntu / debian - installing packages offline (Raspberry Pi)

I now have a Raspberry Pi deployed in a commercial situation in a building with no internet connection. This means I have to take software there on removable media. I have a second Pi at home with the same software on it, so I can figure out dependencies.

First run a command on my local, internet connected Pi to get the links to the .deb packages for the package I want - in my case xscreensaver.

sudo apt-get --print-uris --yes install xscreensaver | grep ^\' | cut -d\' -f2 >downloads.list

Now on my local machine I need to download them

wget --input-file downloads.list

At this stage I have all the packages required to install my xscreensaver package in the current directory. I then put them onto a memory stick (or whatever) and transfer them onto the Pi with no network. Once on the Pi the files must be moved into the correct directory so apt-get can see them, and will not try to download them

sudo mv *.deb /var/cache/apt/archives/

All that remains is to install the packages (it will look like its going to download stuff, just answer 'Y' and it will install

sudo apt-get install xscreensaver

And voila - the package and all its dependencies are installed! Simple.

Reference : http://www.tuxradar.com/answers/517

Raspberry Pi (RPi) kernel build for eGalax touchscreen support

Recently I bought a 7" eGalax touchscreen from eBay, and got it working by downloading a kernel from this site. However, I wanted to have a go at compiling this kernel from newer source by myself.

I found a lot of information out there on cross compiling the kernel for the raspberry pi, but I couldn't find a single set of idiot-proof instructions that I could get to work. This article is for my own reference, and includes text from lots of other places (links at bottom).

To run this I downloaded Ubuntu 12.10 which I burnt to a CD. This creates a bootable live Ubuntu  or gives the option to install. So I got an old hard disk, and put it into one of my PC's, booted up from the CD and installed Ubuntu on the disk.

First, install the package dependencies, git and the cross-compilation toolchain:

sudo apt-get install git-core gcc-4.6-arm-linux-gnueabi

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc-4.6 /usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc

Next you need to get the source code for the pi kernel, and some tools. There are two ways to get this, either via git, which I couldn't seem to use because of my slow internet connection, or otherwise by downloading an archive

mkdir raspberrypi
cd raspberrypi

by git:
git clone https://github.com/raspberrypi/tools.git
git clone https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux.git
cd linux

by archive download

wget https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/archive/rpi-3.10.y.tar.gz
wget https://github.com/raspberrypi/tools/archive/master.tar.gz

then extract the archives (tar -zxvf filename) and rename the linux-* source directory so it is called linux, and the master-tools to be called tools.


Next you need to generate a .config file. (cd into the linux dir)
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabi- bcmrpi_defconfig
(you can substitute bcmrpi_cutdown_defconfig for bcmrpi_defconfig to create a smaller kernel, if you care.)


To make changes to the configuration, I had to run make menuconfig
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabi- menuconfig

(I had to install the curses lib to get the menu working sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev)
From this I had to select Device Drivers->Input Device Support->TouchScreens. Select (press space bar) so that Touchscreens has a * beside it, and once you've done that press enter for a further submenu. In this menu you need to select USB touchscreen Driver which contains the driver for the eGalax touchscreen as one of its sub-components. NOTE: there may be other eGalax entries in the list above this that you do not have to select (don't select eGalax multitouch).

Once these selections are made just keep pressing ESC-ESC to get out (or select exit from the bottom) and when you get to the yes/no prompt, select yes to save the config.

Now we are ready to start the build. You can speed up the compilation process by enabling parallel make with the -j flag. The recommended use is ‘processor cores + 1', e.g. 3 if you have a dual core processor:
make ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabi- -k -j3

This takes about 20 minutes on my PC (dell 755)

Assuming the compilation was sucessful, create a directory for the modules:

mkdir ../modules

Then compile and ‘install’ the loadable modules to the temp directory:

make modules_install ARCH=arm CROSS_COMPILE=/usr/bin/arm-linux-gnueabi- INSTALL_MOD_PATH=../modules/

Now we need to use imagetool-uncompressed.py from the tools repo to get the kernel ready for the Pi.

cd ../tools/mkimage/
./imagetool-uncompressed.py ../../linux/arch/arm/boot/Image

This creates a kernel.img in the current directory. Plug in the SD card of the existing Debian image that you wish to install the new kernel on. Delete the existing kernel.img and replace it with the new one, substituting “boot-partition-uuid” with the identifier of the partion as it is mounted in Ubuntu.

sudo rm /media/boot-partition-uuid/kernel.img
sudo mv kernel.img /media/boot-partition-uuid/

Next, remove the existing /lib/modules and lib/firmware directories, substituting “rootfs-partition-uuid” with the identifier of the root filesystem partion mounted in Ubuntu.

sudo rm -rf /media/rootfs-partition-uuid/lib/modules/
sudo rm -rf /media/rootfs-partition-uuid/lib/firmware/

Go to the destination directory of the previous make modules_install, and copy the new modules and firmware in their place:

cd ../../modules/
sudo cp -a lib/modules/ /media/rootfs-partition-uuid/lib/
sudo cp -a lib/firmware/ /media/rootfs-partition-uuid/lib/
sync

That’s it! Eject the SD card, and boot the new kernel on the Raspberry Pi!








Referenced articles:
http://elinux.org/RPi_Kernel_Compilation
http://mitchtech.net/raspberry-pi-kernel-compile/
http://www.engineering-diy.blogspot.ro/2013/01/adding-7inch-display-with-touchscreen.html

Marriage - 5 P's

Proclamation - Marriage proclaims God's perfect design. Jesus is the groom and his bride is the church. Marriage is designed to be a display of this relationship as we interact and compliment each other in our different roles and responsibilities.

Procreation - Making babies. God's design, he made all the bits fit, and told us to multiply.

Partnership - In the Garden of Eden, before sin entered the world, God said “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” A man needs a woman as a 'helper' and a woman is complimented by a man.

Pleasure - Marriage is for fun too, it should be your best friendship, and of course the physical pleasure that is reserved for married people.

Purity - Marriage is the place where the fire of passion in your heart gets an outlet. Fire is good as long as it is kept in the fireplace, and the fireplace of marriage is the correct place for the sexual relationship.

How do I hope to get to Heaven?

Yesterday our minister gave us a challenge to spend 5-10 minutes writing out briefly how each of us think we will get to Heaven. Below is my attempt. Comments welcome.

What is the Problem? - we all have sinned (any time we ever broke any of the commandments) and this creates a huge gap between us and God that we cannot get across. God is Holy, and just and cannot tolerate any sin. All sin must be punished, because God is good.

What is the Solution? - 2000 years ago Jesus came to Earth and was fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life on Earth, facing all the same difficulties (temptations) as us, but never falling into sin. He died on the cross as all of God's wrath was poured out on him and he took the punishment for our sin (those who accept Him as Lord). Without this we would have to pay ourselves, and the only mechanism for payment is eternity (forever, with no way out) in hell (a place of eternal torment, where after 10,000 years of your flesh being burned you would be no closer to the end than when you first began). And on the third day Jesus rose from the dead, and walked the earth before ascending into Heaven, where today he intercedes for us.

What do I have to do? 3 answers:
1) Nothing. The work of salvation is complete - there is nothing I can do to add to that. Anything I do to contribute to my salvation will actually take away from it. Good works are like filthy rags. There is nothing I can do to earn favour with God, it's impossible. Nothing I do can make God love me more (and nothing I do can make him love me less)
2) Nothing. There is nothing I can do, unless I am called by the Spirit to salvation. Within me there is not even the power to choose salvation, unless I am prompted by God.
3) Trust and Obey (like the old hymn says) - In practical terms think of salvation as a free gift (which it is). Any gift is useless unless it is accepted. Believing (not just intellectual assent, but trusting) is how I accept the gift. This is the process of realising Jesus is Lord of my life (we cannot 'make him Lord of our life' as he is already Lord of all, we can merely come to accept the truth.) After this Jesus calls us to 'follow' him - to give up everything, to die to our sin, to ourselves, to die to our wants and desires. We must surrender everything to him, anything less is utterly unacceptable. All of this can only be done through his power, self-help or self-improvement is impossible for us, it's futile. Through him, and the spirit living within us, transforming us, we are in the process of sanctification, or being made holy, and this process continues as long as we live.

What do I get? Eternal live - which starts now, as I live in relationship with God. It is made perfect after death and continues in heaven for evermore. Now we get sonship - we are co-heirs with Christ, sons of God, with the full rights of bloodline sons (& daughters). We get to call God father.  We get direct access to the creator of the whole universe who is sovereign, and rules over each intricate detail of what happens every day. What more could we want?

St Peters, Rome

Today after work (in FCO, Rome) I took the bus from the airport to the Termini station, and got the metro to near the Vatican. Rome is an unfamiliar environment to me, I suppose like any big city. While travelling you can see ruins, elaborate hotels and other buildings, nice homes, and tin shacks. The full spectrum of life is on view. From the train it is possible to see a few homes built from waste materials right at the edge of the track. Walking through the streets of the city it is clear that there are a number of homeless people around.

Along with the blazing heat, all of these things are alien to me. I walked down the busy street alongside the Vatican area and arrived in St Peter's Square. It is an impressive place, and an epic experience to be surrounded by thousands of years of heritage like this, huge pillars, massive statues and monuments.

As I walk around the huge open area, whatever way I turn there are works of architectural art. Of course the pinnacle in this area is the Basilica and what's better is that it is completely free to enter. I found the way in and walked slowly around. The excess is everywhere, from the ornate marble floor to the heavy decorative iron gates, to the sculpted engravings on the doors, to the detailed artwork on the ceilings. The statues, paintings and carvings are everywhere, each more elaborate than the next. New wonders meet the eye at each new glance.

I have visited before, a few years ago, however, on this visit my heart was heavy. Today I had the same eyes, but a different heart. For this to be the headquarters of a church claiming the name of Christ doesn't sit very well with me at all. Let me be clear, I don't see a call to live in poverty for the sake of others, but I do see a directive not to live in excess. I think of Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth" as I stand inside this huge treasure trove, the like of which is almost unequaled in the entire world. This doesn't add up to me. I think of the cost of building and maintaining a place like this, and at the same time those people living in cardboard beside the railway are in my head.

It is an amazing spectacle to see, don't get me wrong, if you're nearby pop in and see it. But it seems to smell a little of injustice when you contrast this extravagance with the local and global poverty that exists. There is no need for any church to have accumulated such wealth. I am aware that there is a lot of charitable work done, and so on, but I struggle to believe that what I see around me is the most efficient or effective way to help people. As I exited the building I had a tear in my eye for the errors of our forefathers and the stewardship of the church.

If you get the chance, go, visit, and enjoy the craftsmanship and the amazing artistic and architectural achievements. But do so knowing that a lot of the money that built it came from people who could ill afford it, who paid it to acquire their salvation, and those who were entrusted with it poured it into excessive property rather than pouring it into people who need it.

CFC Belfast

It was a series of coincidences that led us to CFC Belfast this past Sunday. I kitesurf with a fellow who goes there, and this I only found out on Saturday when we were talking about our plans. We had tickets to see Belfast Gospel Community Choir, which apparently has strong links with CFC and we had booked to stay the night at the Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast - just across the road.

We knew it would be something modern, but we had no idea at all what to expect. At the door we were greeted by two smiley people, and I was expecting to be recognised as new and mollycoddled a bit, but after they handed us some paper, they left us to our own devices. I asked where to go, and they pointed, and it became quickly obvious where the seated area was.

We picked two of the nice soft seats, and were quite surprised that at the start time only about half of the seats were filled. During the first 10 minutes or so, during the opening songs they quickly filled up.

There are three big screens at the front, and at the start a typographic type video was played, explaining man's fallen state, and what God did to bridge the gap, fixing the problem we could never fix. Gospel presentation within the first 90 seconds! The opening worship started, and it turned out Robin Mark was the worship leader. I thought it was good, Susan was a bit disappointed that she knew none of the songs.

The main service continued with a short communion. Obviously this was *very* different to how Presbyterians generally do it, but I suppose it is refreshing to have a change. There were a couple of things I didn't like though. I felt there wasn't the time I was used to in which to reflect on what is happening. If you were sitting in the centre block, like us, they brought us forward in rows, and there was no easy way to get out of taking communion, which I think is important for those who may not want to. Also, in our communion service, we normally have the passage containing 1 Cor 11:29, about being careful who takes communion, but nothing like that was mentioned, and I felt this was a dangerous omission.

The bread was a loaf of bread, which we got to tear a little off, and the wine was juice served in tiny plastic glasses, which were then deposited into a bin.

The whole thing was a bit rushed for my liking, but that's just my preference.

The speaker was excellent. It was about what commitment to Christ actually means, and dealt with all those difficult verses about 'cannot be my disciple' and hating father and mother. Very captivating delivery, and very scriptural message, backed up with a lot of scripture read and on screen. Before the service this is the part I was most dubious about; I wondered would the teaching be sound, and would I have to go away like a Berean, examining and searching for what I had heard. There was no need. It was all clearly backed up, and made sense right from the outset.

We didn't stay for tea/coffee afterwards which is a pity, but unfortunately circumstances didn't allow.

Overall it was a very positive and good experience, I was nervous about going in, and in the end I had absolutely no need to be. CFC seems to be a vibrant, strong, focused church, seeking and doing the will of the Lord, and long may that continue.

Saturday 11th May - Kitesurfing - Benone

What a great day today. The conditions were good, although variable throughout the day, sunshine with the occasional shower, some flat times, some huge waves, and about 5-7 kites on the water at any one time.

The wind was nicely cross shore, and enabled us to do a couple of nice downwinders. However on one, I had either not pumped my 9m hard enough, or sand was letting air out of the valve, and I had to abandon half way.

Still, a brilliant day, and even better people were there with cameras :)

Friday 3rd May - Kitesurfing - Benone

It has been ages since everything has lined up for me to get out on the water. Tonight the forecast was marginal, but it seemed to be blowing nicely at home.

I went to Benone shortly after tea, and the sand was blowing nicely along the beach. Once on the water it was clear the the wind wasn't too strong, on the 12 I couldn't stay upwind, but that was OK. It was fine for about two walks, then it was really quite calm, so I packed up and drove down to the river, where it was blowing nicely again.

I suspected it was a bit on the light side so I decided to go for a downwinder by myself. I parked up the beach, set up, and then drove off downwind a few hundred yards. I walked back to my kit, and launched, and went into the water. I like this method, it worked well. Once I was back to the car I packed up, and repeated, this time a little further. The only problem is having to pump up the kite each time - not so big an issue with a real downwinder as you get to go a lot further.

There were some nice kickers, nice flats. I didn't do much apart from cruise around, enjoying the waves, and  doing a few jumps. It was nice to get out, and as it turned out the weather was super too, having rained all day.

North Korea

I stumbled on this ages ago, and thought it was quite amazing. The barbed wire on the beaches stood out most to me. I recently spent ages looking for the article, and couldn't find it, but I managed to find it quite easily last night while watching an amazing documentary about the "Mass Games" which is a spectacle that IMO makes most Olympic opening ceremonies look amateur. (see video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3cLAMbWq54)

http://web.archive.org/web/20090616060613/http://www.mrlevek.com/northkorea.htm

SSH login with no password

I'm putting this here as I spend time looking for it regularly.


This is the important line:

cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh user@remote_host 'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'

Full article here
http://www.linuxproblem.org/art_9.html

Lent 2013 - A little different

I'm not religious about lent, but sometimes I like to do something. I had toyed with different ideas this year but not settled on any. My favourite was replacing my "smart" phone with a normal one, like a Nokia 8210 or similar for the time, to see how I would do without this appendage. I decided not to bother.

However, I stumbled on www.40acts.org.uk which is a website whose tagline is "Do Lent Generously". Basically you sign up with your email (or facebook) and they post details of an act of generosity to attempt to perform each day. Something to make you think.

You can see the details of each day at http://www.40acts.org.uk/blog but it only shows up to the present day. You have to wait in eager anticipation for the next day.

Today is day 7, and so far for me it has been thought provoking, but not very practical. Maybe that'll come. I think I'm the kind of person who isn't particularly practical by nature, but hope to work on that. We'll see how it goes :)

Friday 1st February - Kitesurfing - Benone

After quite a long break I was back in the water today. There was no real reason for the break, other than just a lack of good conditions, and lots of other things to do.

It was only a short session today, about an hour in the water at lunchtime, but with the temperature, I think that was quite long enough!

It was very windy, really at the upper end of the scale for my 9M kite, so it wasn't the most pleasant. The wind was almost straight on, but there was a slight cross in it, which meant I was able to ramp over the waves as opposed to riding along them.

I didn't get up to much, just trying to hold onto the kite, few small jumps over the waves, a bit of toeside and a few big carving turns. There were lovely big flats between the waves, but it was so windy that sometimes they were quite choppy.

Anyway, it was good to get out, I'm looking forward to getting out again in slightly less wind, and more cross shore.

Christmas 2012 - Step away from the cash register.....

This has been something of a different year for me than normal, for a variety of reasons. One aspect is that I have become increasingly concious of the billions of people in the world who are living in poverty, and the millions who are living in abject poverty. My recent business trip to Jakarta cemented this view.

I am also aware that, tight as things are for us, we have enough, and much more than enough. There are bills to be paid, we've had to seriously tighten our belts over the past year, but we still live in a land of plenty. As a household we have made a concious effort to reduce waste, and try not to buy food which we end up throwing away.

My express wish this year is to receive no presents at all*. My wish is that no one will spend any money on me, not even a penny. If you want to give me something, give me an hour of your time, pop round some evening for a cuppa and a chat. If you really feel the need to spend money get your card out and put the details in here: https://www.standby.me/ [that's the charity we sponsor a kid through].

* if you've already got me something well done for being so organised, and don't worry, I'll not break it in pieces on the floor and tramp all over it, I'll be gracefully grateful.

Wednesday 26th September - Kitesurfing - Benone

I took today off work, as I had a couple of days to take off in lieu of travel. The forecast looked good, steady 15-20 knots onshore all day. I'm not totally fussed on onshore now, as it can be a bit boring, with no ramps to play on.

I got the kids off to school and was at the beach shortly after 8:30, so I was set up and on the water before 9. However there was some sort of problem with the kite; it was flying fine in one direction, but in the other direction the bar had to be held at a big angle. It seemed like there was a line caught, or short or something. As there was noone there to land me, I decided to make the best of it for a while. After 15-20 minutes I came in, as it was basically no fun at all, and just as I got to the car George arrived to land me.

I took the lines off and inspected everything, but couldn't see anything wrong. I launched and it seemed to be flying better. So I headed out again, and it was fine. We must have been out for 2-3 hours in the morning, it was a long session.

After a break for lunch we went back out again. I was a bit cold, but did some excercises to warm up, and was fine once I got on the water. Not sure how long I was out for this time, 1-2 hours.

Today I mostly worked on toeside, I was sailing nicely in my good direction, struggling a bit in the bad direction. Sailing cross-shore also enabled me to work on riding pretty parallel to the waves, which is always quite a challenge. The other thing was that any hint of cross direction in the wind was from the East, which isn't my usual direction. So there was a lot more practice going in my bad direction across the breaking waves too. Some good training, important, but not as satisfying as a good wave session.

Still, it's a long time since I've spent a whole day at the beach, and it was great!

Saturday 25th August 2012 - kitesurfing(?) Benone/Castlerock

Got the kite fixed, thanks Patrick for a great job!

Another of those marginal forecasts for today, it was a bit of a let down. I went to Benone, and there were a couple of others there, struggling to get going on their 17m Zephyrs.

After waiting a good while we decided to go around to Castlerock. There were more people there, they reported having a great time for the afternoon, but the wind died when we arrived.

Didn't get out at all today.

After tea I headed down to Castlerock again where the lads had had a fantastic two hours. I took some photos and left.

Saturday 28th July 2012 - Kitesurfing Benone

Got to the beach in the afternoon, wind not fantastic, but I set up and went out anyway. There were two other guys there flying a kite on the beach, not at the water stage yet. They disappeared after a while, and George showed up.

The wind wasn't great so we decided to do a downwinder. It was a bit tricky getting the cars sorted as there was a lot of soft sand, and it was it big ruts - 15mph on the beach max!

The downwinders were great. Plenty of power, and nice waves. I was working again on a backroll, and almost landed a couple, getting on really well.

On the second downwinder, after a backroll, I crashed the kite and looked at it to see that it was transparent! I could see through where the canvas was supposed to be. A huge rip, and I had to pack up.

That was the end of a fantastic session for me.

Friday 27th July 2012 - Kitesurfing Benone

I didn't get to the beach until late tonight, I thought there was going to be no one else there, and I also thought the wind mightn't be great.

When I arrived ST and some guy from Sligo were out, having a great time, doing a fair bit of walking. The waves were huge, even for Benone, it was really a case of staying out of their way when they are breaking. Short session.

Kitesurfing - Benone - Wed 18th July

This evening was horrible and miserable, but with the right wind conditions beggars cant be choosers.

I got to the beach after 8, and was on the water for 8:30, and out for about an hour. The wind was mostly good, although it dropped off badly towards the end. There were small waves, which were perfect ramps for me.

I was working a bit on my toeside riding, and switched to toeside much earlier than usual, riding in over some small waves. Not brilliant yet, but getting better.

The other thing I was trying was a back-roll. I think I tried about a dozen times, and some of the failures were more spectacular than others. I almost landed two of them, but I'm still a while away from having it nailed. The other times I under-rotated or my board fell off, etc. Only one really hard neck-jerking fall. Much better than the last time I tried. I feel like I'm getting closer, so I'll have to keep trying :)

Kitesurfing Benone Saturday 14th July 2012

I was out at Benone today for a few hours in the afternoon, almost perfect conditions, sunshine, and waves. The wind was a bit light, which meant a bit of walking, but it was well worth it. I would say it was the best time I have been out recently, but it is the only time!

It was great to get out again, I got a couple of really nice jumps in, and lots of smaller ones too. Toeside riding is coming on really well too, starting to feel a bit more controlled, and all but one of my carving turns went well; aiming the board at the kite on the way round is the best tip.

The usual summertime problems abound however, with car loads of children coming to play right in my way, ready to get sliced by my lines. Managed to miss most of them.

Kitesurfing Benone Monday 30th April

What a great country we live in. Got to Benone last night and it was blowing nice cross shore, quite steady, and big waves as usual. Not a person on the beach, should have been great.

Unfortunately with my limited time I decided to set up the 12 and was overpowered all the time. Also there was a really strong current going the same direction as the wind, which made it hard to stay upwind.

Also with the wind coming from the East, thats me heading out into the waves in the opposite direction to 99% of normal, and its like learning to ride through the waves all over again, really weird. Also had to pull the safety to land the kite, which resulted in the standard Naish BigLineMess ™

All in all not a great night, but could have been excellent :|

Saturday 14th April 2012 - Kitesurfing Benone

There was beautiful sunshine all day today accompanied by an air temperature of around 6 degrees. The wind was almost direct onshore, and so were the waves and the wind was relatively light, so it was difficult to stay upwind. However, when the wind had a bit of a swing it was possible to get a few ramps.

I tried a few backrolls today. First couple went not too bad, about 3/4 rotation, and wipe out. On the third attempt I landed hard directly 180 on my back against the water, it was like a snowboarding fall when the heelside of the board catches the snow! Then the wind was really too light to jump so I gave that up.

The wind swung around a little to the West, and as Susan had arrived I arranged to do a downwinder to the river on the middle of the beach. This was great, there actually seemed to be better wind down there. I did quite a few toe to heel carves, seem to be getting it better now. Also tried some toeside in the left to right direction and fell spectacularly a couple of times. However after a few attempts it was going better.

When I got to the stopping point the wind was stronger and I was doing some more carving turn practice, it was really nice, where you could basically do a figure of 8, really nice for practice. At that point my driver began to flash the headlights and at first I thought it was in appreciation of my great work, but then I realized it was time to stop...

Saturday 7th April - Kitesurfing Benone

It was windy all day today, killing me to stay away from the beach, so I finally made it down in the late afternoon.

I went to Benone, wind was marginal at best, but I began to set up anyway. By the time I was all ready the wind looked really poor, but I launched, and knew straight away that while there was plenty of wind to fly there was nowhere near enough to sail.

I quickly packed the half inflated kite into the car and headed down the beach towards the river, and when I got out down there it was blowing nicely. Within 15 minutes I was on the water.

It was a great couple of hours on the water, working on all sorts of things. Again the wind was good, maybe a little weak, but still fine, some walking required. I practised my jumping over waves, some toeside on the flats, carving turns and whatever else I could think of. On my last few runs I was trying some bigger boosts, and was managing not too bad, although as they say, it always looks huge to you, not so huge from land! This is the absolute best session I have had as long as I can remember.

Friday 6th April - Kitesurfing

Went for a session at lunchtime today, took Kate in the car with me so she could spectate. Went to Downhill, well over to the Benone side, enjoyed about an hour of perfect wind and flat water with nice ramps.

Tuesday 3rd April - Kitesurfing Benone

Headed to Benone on the way home from work today, nice hour on the sea before tea.

Castlerock - Friday 30th March

The forecast wasn't great for today, but it was North, so I decided I'd better check it out. I went to Benone and it was almost completely calm and the beach was empty. I headed for Castlerock and it was blowing steadily, showing about 25mph on the meter, so I got set up. This was my first outing for quite a while, so I hoped I hadn't forgotten the basics.

There were only a few people on the beach, a coupld of walkers and some RNLI folks getting some training.

I got set up and headed out, full power on the 12 was a little underpowered and I struggled to stay upwind. I was also keeping my tack quite short so that I was never too far out (although I suppose RNLI could have come to my rescue :) )

I started off doing a few small jumps over waves, practiced a little bit of toeside, and just enjoyed a bit of cruising.

I stayed out for about an hour, seems to be a good session length for my fitness level. Towards the end the wind picked up, I fell hard on small jumps a couple of times, which means I'm getting tired.

Nice wee after work session.