Jeff, as an architect, thank you for working with and promoting the benefits of working with an architect. Too often people don't value the benefits of our services because their contractor will say that they can handle it. This often creates poor results as the client doesn't have anyone on their side to advocate for them with the contractor and without a design expert on board, things might not have been thought through. It's important to have a good team of client, architect, and contractor working together in collaboration to deliver the best result by leveraging everyone's expertise.
As an interior designer, if someone wants a big change, I refer them to an architect. So thank you for making my job easier. No, ma'am, paint color will not move your staircase four feet to the left.
4 kids? Wow, I can't believe you were even able to get any work done. My hats off to you. Also I'd love to have my own studio like this one someday. It's just the right size, not too big, but not too small.
Heh, nope. More based on trust, and somewhat defense in depth. The problem is, I know how easy it is for someone with half a brain to get through almost any type of security. So the main thing is to make the barriers just hard enough for someone without a brain to get slowed down, and then rely on trust and the local police if half-brained folks want to cause trouble :)
@@JeffGeerling Going down that road(perfection) is 💰💰💰💰💰. I could go down a real rabbit hole. Steel door, Medico(pick/bump resistance and key control), reinforced door frame, wired sensors, tamper detection, backup power, second communication line.... At some point you have to just let it go. Even if you did everything right if someone wanted in they would hit you with alarm fatigue and trick you into turning it off. Then you're talking active monitoring or a security guard to prevent alarm fatigue. It never ends! 😅 IIRC Simpli safe does at least have interference detection. Despite LPL's video I believe it takes knowledge and a little luck to bypass it. You could move the receiver around and test a jamming attack.
@@jmr He's not The Louvre. Pretty sure no one's plotting to steal The Mona Lisa from him. Burglars go for low hanging fruit with least resistance, and over 80% go right through doors, statistically. Door reinforcements are your best bet, cause the best Medico, Assa etc is only as good as the weak, crappy wood it's attached to.
@@YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit My rant was commentary on the pointlessness of chasing perfection in contrast to the OP. I was even suggesting the Simplisafe alarm may be sufficient with fine tuning.
As a sound editor, we generally can manage to get decent sound for your kind of work even with a train in the bg or the AC. The trick is to record room tone, so a basic track of the sound and then with software, you use the room tone to remove the similar noise from the recording you are using. Some software will call it background noise removal. How yo set your mic is what's gonna affect things the most. Enjoy your new space Jeff
Yeah I've considered that (and sometimes I have to do that even in my home, if something kicks on that I forgot to turn off), but I would rather just not have to deal with the post processing if I can afford it.
All the thieves taking notes and thinking it's a sure deal. They forgot about Red Shirt Jeff and his access to power tools. You're such an inspiration, Jeff!
I've gotta say, I really like these kind of videos - I genuinely don't know why, but seeing people create their offices and studios and all that jazz is so pleasing to me, i'd watch as much and as unfiltered of it as I could if I could - I suspect that comes from my own want to setup an office for my software engineering business, but either way absolutely love it.
For anyone replacing fluorescent tubes with LED ones, even though the bulbs often say that they'll work with a ballast, they don't need them and it's just one more thing to fail. You can either bypass the ballast (which involves just undoing and redoing a couple of wirenuts so that the ballast is no longer in the circuit), or removing it entirely. It only adds a couple of minutes per fixture to do and prevents the fixture from failing when the ballast finally dies.
@@eDoc2020 Interesting... as a professional electrician working in the field for over 10 years. I have never came across a LED tube that needs a ballast. But I would like to see one and do some research on it. Can you name some of them for me ? I've done some light (pun intended) searching and I can't seem to find any.
@@BeggiA702 They're called "Type A" tubes. GE Lighting has several, they have a document "LED Tube Ballast Compatibility" listing some models. The first I found was "93129294" at Lowe's. Product reviews show high failure rates, they must rely on a specific ballast topology for proper operation. If I'm not mistaken Europeans usually use simple magnetic chokes as fluoro ballasts so these types probably make more sense there.
Having permanently setup work areas for specific tasks will definitely be a game changer. Even just minimizing a simple thing like setting up lights lets you devote more attention to the content and actual work. Will be cool to see how the internal studio is built. I did something like that in my shop, but it was mostly for dust, not sound.
While kids can sometimes be very annoying but what is even more annoying is to not have them around for a while. Looking forward to see the PI based NVR. Thanks Jeff!
I'm so excited to see the finished office/workshop! You deserve all of the growth Jeff! I've been watching you for over a year now and you taught me the basics of home server. Thank you so much!!
Jeff. Love the new space. One piece of advice from someone who's been there. You MUST move the hot water heater to ground level, else you risk catastrophe. I had a small hot water heater, like yours, above the office space in my building. It blew out in the middle of the night and ruined over $50K in equipment and servers. Water just showered down for hours in all of the offices, until someone got to the building at 7:00am. I had insurance to cover the cost of the lost equipment, but the lost time and cleanup were horrible.
Right now the main mitigation is to make sure that there's nothing within about a 10' radius of that space that I care about too much. The server area and studio area will both have partition walls that would also block out anything but geyser-level eruptions, and I will also be installing a water alarm (and maybe eventually a shutoff valve it could control) in the space too. But in the end, that's what insurance is for... hot water heaters work. Until they don't :P Unfortunately there's not much space elsewhere for a hot water heater, and I also don't have the budget for plumbing work on this project. Maybe someday...
@@JeffGeerling I guess we should presume that, since it is up in the ceiling, that the water heater is of the tankless variety. Water leaks can occur anywhere though it would seem leaks in the ceiling could be catastrophic. My upcoming project is to install an electronic shutoff valve that could be triggered by a water leak sensor. It will be Z-Wave based. Could be an interesting topic for a video.
@@KameraShy Yeah, I hope to do something similar. Also for home, with the couple water leak sensors I already have set up in my house. But finding a good shutoff valve that is reliable and controllable is the current holdup.
@@JeffGeerling Mini electric tankless units are super compact and would easily fit under the sink. In the meantime, you can also put shower curtains over server racks for extra protection. I've heard of that being done and it did in fact save the day.
Perfect stock footage for the kids. :) I also used to work late when my kiddo went to bed. Now that she's older, it pushed my start time back so far that I had almost no time, or got almost no sleep.
All the best with the move and I'm glad you are doing well. I'm sure you will be creating even better content for us Pi and hardware tinkerers! Thanx for doing the RPi interview with Eben Upton, it explained alot regarding the shortage situation.😎
Jeff so glad you made such progress on the new office. A security system really does help with piece-of-mind. If you want/need some Xeon workstations/servers, hit me up--I might have extras. (That was a joke: I DO HAVE EXTRAS! LOL) I know the "joy" of de-tiling a ceiling. I had to remove them all, recycle them, and put new ones up a couple decades ago and it's back braking on the ladder. After all was done, I was offered a rolling scaffold. Figures. Keep us updated, love seeing you got new digs.
Since this is a nerdy tech channel. It is possible to record a bunch of those trains going by with the microphone, while everything else is quiet and average them. With some DSP convolution tricks, this could really help getting rid of that noise that way, or at least make it a whole lot less. I don't know your audio/video editing work-flow, but most programs have either an implemented option for this, or the ability to use a bunch of VST's. If it's just voice overs, there is a whole bunch of tricks that can be used in general to bring the noise levels down btw!
I have a detached garage that I built a workshop in. The walls were exposed studs, so I put insulation in, and then I thought: a few sheets of pegboard. Then I thought let's do some drywall for the rest. Heh. Pegboard is soooo much lighter and easier to deal with. So, I have three walls of pegboard and a roll up garage door. So nice. I didn't worry about the joints between the pegboard sheets. It looks fine.
Ok a project idea for you, set up a remote sensor for the train tracks to get notifications when a train is expect to interrupt your recording session. First thing that comes to mind is sound or video sensor and a Lora connection, solar powered of course.
Pretty cool. Suggestion. If you are worry about sound invest on a VRF system with ceiling Cassette. You don’t want an Air Handler starting in the middle of your recording session. My 2 cents. At least mention VRF (variable refrigerant flow) to your architect. If they good ones at least will know what I’m referring to. Very excited to see more on your new place!
Unfortunately the HVAC I'm stuck with. But I have plans to maybe add on a small mini-split that can cool either the server room to that plus the studio space only, so I could turn off the roof unit if I'm just in the studio for a while.
Jeff it's really great to see a stepping up in the world really do enjoy your videos as the old saying goes sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks...
you can also disable the HVAC when recording, open the contactor.. I’d automate it, so you don’t forget to turn it back on. Sounds like a perfect project for a Rapberry Pi and Homeassist, or any number of automation programs (I use HomeSeer). it can also set the studio lighting up, turn the cameras & spot lights on, etc. I would also contact the railroad, and see if they have a published schedule, or website that can be integrated into the automation, then have it remind you when you start a recording “train due in xx minutes”, so you can decide if you should delay or its a short enough clip, it won’t interfere 👍
Ooh, I could have one of those railroad station signs, like "TRAIN XYZ 07 MINUES" with a live countdown! The problem is it's the freight line, not passenger, and I don't think they have any regular schedule that's open to the public.
@@JeffGeerling sounds like an issue for “Geerling Engineering”, how about installing some remote microphones down a good distance in each direction from the studio? idealy, it they would be a mile or more away in each direction, that should get you a 5-10 minute warning.. not as good as having a schedule, but better than nothing. I’d still contact the train company, see what they say.. another method is, they use 2 way radios for communications, you could find out the frequency used, and monitor that, for advanced warning.
5:03 from what I understand, a regular fluorescent light, half the power is used at the start because of the starter. And I see the LED doesn't need the starter, it's just a dummy starter. So 'less than half' probably means: no starter and a bit more efficient than fluorescent light
You're a tech dude, it would be cool if you did a video on setting up a system to "Alert" or "Warn" you of a approaching train. An early warning system so you can be aware of the train long before it interrupts your filming. Maybe some sort of sensors out near the tracks remotely sending a signal into your studio, maybe a light inside to alert you.....👍. Yes...do it!!!!!
Thanks Jeff for visiting the UK, nice to see the Americans still love us lol. PS could we see on a wall, a large print of a Pi board. Big one. I think that would be ace, photograph a board have a company print it, paste and enjoy. Cheers homie
I think it would be cool for you to put together a little project for a display that would show the live times of the trains that will pass by you. It would be a cool/useful thing to have and see how you’d accomplish it.
@@Jonamission Sure, but really it could be simple and just say “Train in 10 minutes” or something, or “No train for the next few hours”. It could be vague. If someone wanted to track his location via the train passing, I don’t think NOT having the display would prevent that.
I can't wait to find out how to make a camera system with a pi. I've been wanting to make one! Maybe that is why Jeff also went over to the UK!!!! HE bought nice hot pi's
Fun fact about hikvision - they sold white label security cameras to honeywell, which basically drop-shipped them to high level US facilities. Unfortunately, they are quite popular in Europe due to their low prices.
If anything, I would limit the details of where the office is located as well. I mean STL has tracks all over. But knowing the office is right next to one does narrow your general location drastically. Not to mention outside shots of the parking lot. But all in all. I doubt you would need too much more security as it is.
You might want to reposition your Simplisafe motion sensors. I have had a Simplisafe system for 5 years. Our home has 9' ceilings and I mounted several motion sensors approximately 7 1/2' high in a few corners. Within a month of installation we began experiencing random motion alerts when the system was in Away mode. Most frequently from two sensors. After replacing batteries in the sensors I finally spent time with Simplisafe tech support. They stated that the sensors are actually heat activated and should be mounted no more than 4 - 4 1/2' high and not in direct sun light. I should mention that we have two cats neither of which could come anywhere near the sensors. We also have central HVAC with no vents near a sensor. Approximately two months ago I remounted the sensors and have thus far experienced no false alerts. If you begin having false alerts you might reconsider the motion sensor mounting positions.
Thanks, I'll keep a lookout for that. Honestly my next step is to tie in NVR / camera alerts for better motion sensitivity, as it could also send me a snapshot so I can see what kind of motion it is (bugs, rodents, people...)
Not sure if you’ve come across Konnected, but it is a retrofit controller for existing alarm systems. A great way to upcycle existing wiring and sensors, reduce waste and not rely on wireless!
Quite the journey Jeff! Congrats. Love how you did that opening with the post-it. I wonder if you could roll your own security type stuff with HomeAssistant. (not dependent on a 3rd party subscription)
Yes! Long term I'm going to be testing that. I already have a lot of the components in place, but one key part is tying it back to a service that will pick up the phone and call me or call the police if I'm not there. But especially for basic monitoring, Home Assistant is extremely useful.
I know it's different, but for some reason all I can see is Louis Rossman's old shop space when he first bought it before filling it up 😅 Having a dedicated space to test and record is going to make things so much easier and better for you, it'll have a cumulative over all positive impact I'm sure! Can't wait to see it take place!
hi Jeff may have seen linus tech server room sound proofing a few weeks ago back maybe worth a look. I Good luck on new office/workspace look forward to your new projects
Heh, the whole reason I am talking to an architect about requirements upfront is to *avoid* having to remediate the noise problem down the line. You can build the sound isolation into the structure itself and avoid having to build a bunch more mass into the room after the fact :)
When direct wiring fluorescent lamps, you put power directly to the "Tombstone" at one end of each bulb. I thought you were looking for the name of the connector. (Tombstone).
Looks like you have a really cool place coming together. I just leased a studio space & have contemplated the room inside a room. I don't think my budget has that built into it currently but I'm definitely going to keep up with how your build goes.
Sadly I don't have kids. I'm just not capable as I have had CFS for nearly 20 years, albeit I am slowly recovering, fun fact CFS is not forever, people do recover from it all the time. So you having 4 kids & chrones? disease is damm impressive. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder & with an eye to content creation. I am swapping out my lighting of flouresent tubes & lights as they will be illegal in the EU soon anyway. With a standard home structured lighting that is capable of hanging softboxes etc. And rather than using consumer LED lighting, from the likes of Phillips. I am standardising on Aputure lights & Sidus link controls which are largely similarly priced to Phillips kit but built for Content Creation Whist proprietary, DMX etc is still a huge faf to manage. DMX is something that I hope the open source home management people will take over & write much better UX for. It's potential is huge, and their is a lot of ex-commerce kit that could be reused in the home or by smaller poorer UA-cam creators I plan in due course to run Ethernet POE++ &/or maybe just USBC for power for everything. The Ethernet POE++ is for NDI en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Device_Interface rather than using SDI en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_digital_interface (which annoyingly BlackMagic is only slowly transitioning from) The advantage of Ethernet over SDI is that SDI cabling is both expensive & bulky Ethernet is also used for en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_(networking) digital sound capture/distribution & obviously it's also by used for all the usual home management solutions, which also have switched away from proprietary solutions based on en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDI-12 When your looking at reducing sound can I recommend looking at Matt Risingers channel especially if you want to build an enviroment with other insulation beyond sound insulation with tools such as carbon loaded vinyl sandwiched between dartboard. For example plugging up any air leaks at the start can give a stable comfortable & fresh work space if combined with an air cleaning heat exchanger based HVAC that can be swapped out as funding is available. In my case as I am in Northern Europe, to enhance the effect of SAD light panels I am adding InfraRed heat panels as they radiate like the sun & helps combat my SAD
The hikvision cameras are nice and cheap, but the plugin and reliance on IE is a pain. Spoofing browser user agent works well enough to change most of the settings, tho can't update firmware, etc. from it. Have mine set up nicely in frigate.
5:20 This is one of the things I said to a lot of people who didn't want to move to CFL or LED lighting because they "don't believe in climate change." Climate change or not, you're going to save a ton of money on your electric bill.
Yeah... there's at least 10 reasons I prefer the LED tubes, and emissions / carbon and such are not in the top 5. Though I do care about that, fewer toxic gasses in my breathable air, I can get behind that lol
Simple dark screen material over that front glass works great on the cheap. How many folks have tried to come in thinking this is a new Subway store opening?
Hahaha, nobody so far. Luckily this storefront is out of the way a bit. But I did have someone sit outside and hold an entire phone conversation one time.
Hey Jeff, Orchid core VMS is free for PI installs and is something to look into. Installs over raspberrypi OS, and they are still releasing current updated versions of it. They have taken down the tutorials/forums that had a lot of information about setting it up, however I backed up some of the threads before they were taken down. I actually ran this install for my house for 2 or 3 years.
I know you said you wanted something cheap for security. But ADT is super easy to crack, and likewise the one you just put in. All one needs to do is roll up with a transmitter on same freq with higher power than your sensors and wala, system disabled.
Hey, if that ADT alarm is a DSC, you might be able to integrate it with Home Assistant and make use all of its sensors. Wendell did a video of it a while back.
it's a Vista 20p - the ADT SafeWatch Pro. A far better system than the simplisafe being wired in. You could probably integrate it with Hass too. I took major issue with his reasoning for installing an alarm having just taken out a really solid system, main one being "I just want to be alerted if a door gets opened". He mentioned the LPL video about simplisafe. From what I remember, LPL demonstrated how the simplisafe system won't even know that the door was ever opened, completely defeating Jeff's objectives.
If I were recording in this space, I would build a very small "test room" say 6.5 foot cube on the inside and probably 8 foot or bigger cube on the outside just to see if I could attenuate the train noise enough to record.
It's funny to see how different even everyday things are in the US. We have no Touch famous LED tubes with ballast because all of our LED replacement tubes come with Dummy Starter that you screw in, where the Ballast used to be... Not even to mention the "difference between residential and commercial ballast" :O
4ft fluorescent tubes can run off of a 240v supply using the most basic circuit: a choke as a ballast and a starter to preheat-start it. The arc voltage is over 120v so we need a step-up transformer to run them. Once you already have a transformer it's trivial to make it a rapid start ballast which does not use a starter. And the difference between residential and commercial ballasts is simply quality. Residential grade is the absolute cheapest and commercial grade is a bit less cheap.
@@TecSanento I've also noticed that a magnetic rapid-start ballast provides less flickery light than a series magnetic ballast. That combined with our higher line frequency means our old-school 120v lights are less headache-inducing.
Quite true; if the bulbs weren't on some sort of fire sale I would've gone that route, as I did that for all the fixtures at my house and those LED replacement tubes have been going for years without issue. Ballasts are annoying.
I love the new space. Have you considered not building the studio? I ask because the audio, as far as I can hear, is great already. Either way, I'm looking forward to all the new projects.
The audio gets a lot worse when the HVAC is running or its raining :( Also, I want to have a bit more control over lighting since the lighting in the open space changes a lot based on the time of day (full bright sunlight vs overcast or cloudy).
Jeff -- I'm glad you found out why HikVision was banned here in the US and that you've clearly told people about the problem. Of course, that problem also extends to the hundreds and thousands of other brands that Daihua and HikVision own.
Don't forget to allow for bike parking for all the e-bikes that those eleventy-six different companies want to send you to "review"... Seriously, I love a good renovation/build project. It's fun to hear how plans have already changed from what you were discussing in the first vlog. It's clear you are thinking things through carefully.
Ha! I have considered getting a small bike, as this place is within biking distance of my house. I would need to plan a spot for it inside, as there isn't any kind of bike rack outside.
@@JeffGeerling as someone who has cycled to work for 20+ years, if I may... Don't get a "small" bike. I would urge you to visit a local bike store and get a good bike, properly assembled and tuned by an actual bike mechanic. You will far far far more enjoy riding if the bike is properly fitted to you, and is properly assembled and tuned. If you're mostly riding roads or trails, then a light commuter bike would be best, or a heavier frame with fat tires if you're riding dirt and gravel.
Another problem with Hikvision/Dahua cameras is they're vulnerable to a backdoor that lets you view the cameras completely remotely without any special activity/software, you can just make a browser request with a fixed URL and it will pull a still from the camera. So make sure they don't point at anything sensitive :) I refuse to use them because they're horribly insecure and have lots of backdoors and security vulnerabilities that we may still not know about. (and yes I know everything else does as well too, but Hikvision/Dahua doesn't update any of their firmwares or anything even remotely close to frequently enough and their catalogue of vulnerabilities lasts since when the equipment first was released) If you want to use them, put them on their own wired network, and segregate them from the internet.
Jeff, as an architect, thank you for working with and promoting the benefits of working with an architect. Too often people don't value the benefits of our services because their contractor will say that they can handle it. This often creates poor results as the client doesn't have anyone on their side to advocate for them with the contractor and without a design expert on board, things might not have been thought through. It's important to have a good team of client, architect, and contractor working together in collaboration to deliver the best result by leveraging everyone's expertise.
💯
As an interior designer, if someone wants a big change, I refer them to an architect. So thank you for making my job easier. No, ma'am, paint color will not move your staircase four feet to the left.
@@ethanpschwartz Haha! Thank you for making my job easier when it comes to selecting paint colors and coordinating the interior design elements.
Jake: “How often does the train go by?"
Elwood: “So often that you won’t even notice it.”
So you're saying Jeff is on a mission from God?
Jeff is definitely on a Mission From God
"Yesterday you said that freight train hardly ever comes through here at 5 am in the morning"
"I know, she's SUPPOSED to come through at ten after 4!"
The Church of the Holy Compute Module believes every Raspberry Pi matters. Reverend Geerling #SAVES
4 kids? Wow, I can't believe you were even able to get any work done. My hats off to you. Also I'd love to have my own studio like this one someday. It's just the right size, not too big, but not too small.
Goldilocks studio!
4 x 3 minutes = 12 minutes. Plenty o' time to do the work.
Security by obscurity is not your thing, is it?
Heh, nope. More based on trust, and somewhat defense in depth.
The problem is, I know how easy it is for someone with half a brain to get through almost any type of security. So the main thing is to make the barriers just hard enough for someone without a brain to get slowed down, and then rely on trust and the local police if half-brained folks want to cause trouble :)
@@JeffGeerling Going down that road(perfection) is 💰💰💰💰💰. I could go down a real rabbit hole. Steel door, Medico(pick/bump resistance and key control), reinforced door frame, wired sensors, tamper detection, backup power, second communication line.... At some point you have to just let it go. Even if you did everything right if someone wanted in they would hit you with alarm fatigue and trick you into turning it off. Then you're talking active monitoring or a security guard to prevent alarm fatigue. It never ends! 😅 IIRC Simpli safe does at least have interference detection. Despite LPL's video I believe it takes knowledge and a little luck to bypass it. You could move the receiver around and test a jamming attack.
@@jmr He's not The Louvre. Pretty sure no one's plotting to steal The Mona Lisa from him. Burglars go for low hanging fruit with least resistance, and over 80% go right through doors, statistically. Door reinforcements are your best bet, cause the best Medico, Assa etc is only as good as the weak, crappy wood it's attached to.
@@YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit My rant was commentary on the pointlessness of chasing perfection in contrast to the OP. I was even suggesting the Simplisafe alarm may be sufficient with fine tuning.
@@YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit His Raspberry Pi collection is worth more than some silly paintings :)
As a sound editor, we generally can manage to get decent sound for your kind of work even with a train in the bg or the AC. The trick is to record room tone, so a basic track of the sound and then with software, you use the room tone to remove the similar noise from the recording you are using. Some software will call it background noise removal. How yo set your mic is what's gonna affect things the most. Enjoy your new space Jeff
Yeah I've considered that (and sometimes I have to do that even in my home, if something kicks on that I forgot to turn off), but I would rather just not have to deal with the post processing if I can afford it.
Does the background noise removal happen in realtime or is that purely done in post?
@@zoopercoolguy both
@@zoopercoolguy It's generally done in post as you need to gather room tone at the location and then you adjust the filter later on.
Jeff, I'm really glad to see you doing well! Keep showing these videos of the moving and building. They're quite interesting.
That's a nice large space! Hope it doesn't take too long for you to get used to the sudden increase in available oxygen in your work areas!
All the thieves taking notes and thinking it's a sure deal. They forgot about Red Shirt Jeff and his access to power tools.
You're such an inspiration, Jeff!
I've gotta say, I really like these kind of videos - I genuinely don't know why, but seeing people create their offices and studios and all that jazz is so pleasing to me, i'd watch as much and as unfiltered of it as I could if I could - I suspect that comes from my own want to setup an office for my software engineering business, but either way absolutely love it.
We like to see and appreciate our people that are growing and moving up in the world
For anyone replacing fluorescent tubes with LED ones, even though the bulbs often say that they'll work with a ballast, they don't need them and it's just one more thing to fail. You can either bypass the ballast (which involves just undoing and redoing a couple of wirenuts so that the ballast is no longer in the circuit), or removing it entirely. It only adds a couple of minutes per fixture to do and prevents the fixture from failing when the ballast finally dies.
RTFM first. While some work with or without a ballast, plenty of LED tubes _require_ the ballast for current limiting/regulation.
@@eDoc2020 Interesting... as a professional electrician working in the field for over 10 years. I have never came across a LED tube that needs a ballast. But I would like to see one and do some research on it. Can you name some of them for me ? I've done some light (pun intended) searching and I can't seem to find any.
@@BeggiA702 They're called "Type A" tubes. GE Lighting has several, they have a document "LED Tube Ballast Compatibility" listing some models. The first I found was "93129294" at Lowe's. Product reviews show high failure rates, they must rely on a specific ballast topology for proper operation.
If I'm not mistaken Europeans usually use simple magnetic chokes as fluoro ballasts so these types probably make more sense there.
Keep the 'moving vlogs' coming. Very interesting to see and follow you on this journey 😀
Now all you need is a huge Marshall stack and a Big Muff pedal for your guitar since you can make all the noise you want.
I'm not sure the neighbors would appreciate that... though in the studio, as long as I don't have the low end super loud...
Having permanently setup work areas for specific tasks will definitely be a game changer. Even just minimizing a simple thing like setting up lights lets you devote more attention to the content and actual work. Will be cool to see how the internal studio is built. I did something like that in my shop, but it was mostly for dust, not sound.
Jeff, so much opportunity! Great to see things happening for you!
While kids can sometimes be very annoying but what is even more annoying is to not have them around for a while.
Looking forward to see the PI based NVR.
Thanks Jeff!
@filleswe91 Yes, especially if you don't have one😌
Looking forward to the build
I'm so excited to see the finished office/workshop! You deserve all of the growth Jeff! I've been watching you for over a year now and you taught me the basics of home server. Thank you so much!!
Jeff. Love the new space. One piece of advice from someone who's been there. You MUST move the hot water heater to ground level, else you risk catastrophe. I had a small hot water heater, like yours, above the office space in my building. It blew out in the middle of the night and ruined over $50K in equipment and servers. Water just showered down for hours in all of the offices, until someone got to the building at 7:00am. I had insurance to cover the cost of the lost equipment, but the lost time and cleanup were horrible.
Right now the main mitigation is to make sure that there's nothing within about a 10' radius of that space that I care about too much. The server area and studio area will both have partition walls that would also block out anything but geyser-level eruptions, and I will also be installing a water alarm (and maybe eventually a shutoff valve it could control) in the space too.
But in the end, that's what insurance is for... hot water heaters work. Until they don't :P
Unfortunately there's not much space elsewhere for a hot water heater, and I also don't have the budget for plumbing work on this project. Maybe someday...
@@JeffGeerling I guess we should presume that, since it is up in the ceiling, that the water heater is of the tankless variety. Water leaks can occur anywhere though it would seem leaks in the ceiling could be catastrophic. My upcoming project is to install an electronic shutoff valve that could be triggered by a water leak sensor. It will be Z-Wave based. Could be an interesting topic for a video.
@@KameraShy Yeah, I hope to do something similar. Also for home, with the couple water leak sensors I already have set up in my house. But finding a good shutoff valve that is reliable and controllable is the current holdup.
@@JeffGeerling Mini electric tankless units are super compact and would easily fit under the sink. In the meantime, you can also put shower curtains over server racks for extra protection. I've heard of that being done and it did in fact save the day.
Perfect stock footage for the kids. :)
I also used to work late when my kiddo went to bed. Now that she's older, it pushed my start time back so far that I had almost no time, or got almost no sleep.
The studio is comming together nicely ..
Notifications are on I recompiled my rpi kernel to run hikvision software.
This was fun. This is my kind of content. Absolutely glued to the screen lol
All the best with the move and I'm glad you are doing well. I'm sure you will be creating even better content for us Pi and hardware tinkerers! Thanx for doing the RPi interview with Eben Upton, it explained alot regarding the shortage situation.😎
I would have thought there'd be a Red Shirt Jeff appearance, fixing or destroying... Nice space look forward to seeing how it transforms
3” shag carpet in a nice 1960’s avocado green, and red velvet wallpaper! RSJ would go bonkers!
seems like there is some excellent content in the future :D please film as much as possible of the building development :D
Jeff so glad you made such progress on the new office. A security system really does help with piece-of-mind. If you want/need some Xeon workstations/servers, hit me up--I might have extras. (That was a joke: I DO HAVE EXTRAS! LOL) I know the "joy" of de-tiling a ceiling. I had to remove them all, recycle them, and put new ones up a couple decades ago and it's back braking on the ladder. After all was done, I was offered a rolling scaffold. Figures. Keep us updated, love seeing you got new digs.
Haha I've considered a scaffold.
Since this is a nerdy tech channel. It is possible to record a bunch of those trains going by with the microphone, while everything else is quiet and average them. With some DSP convolution tricks, this could really help getting rid of that noise that way, or at least make it a whole lot less.
I don't know your audio/video editing work-flow, but most programs have either an implemented option for this, or the ability to use a bunch of VST's. If it's just voice overs, there is a whole bunch of tricks that can be used in general to bring the noise levels down btw!
Great to see the progress, Jeff! I'm going to enjoy this buildout!
I have a detached garage that I built a workshop in. The walls were exposed studs, so I put insulation in, and then I thought: a few sheets of pegboard. Then I thought let's do some drywall for the rest. Heh. Pegboard is soooo much lighter and easier to deal with. So, I have three walls of pegboard and a roll up garage door. So nice. I didn't worry about the joints between the pegboard sheets. It looks fine.
Looks very exciting! Can't wait for what you will come up with. Frigate with Coral TPU!
You doing this is nice to see you branching out, and succeeding at getting something done for yourself, doing videos. Good luck with your endeavour.
That looks great. I am sure you are excited to get all moved in. Great video!
When this workspace is moved into, it is going to look amazing.
I’m REALLY looking forward to the first videos you record in this space! Keep the vlogs coming, I’m so excited for the future of the channel!
Skip the pegboard and do honeycomb wall. Rostap's stuff on printables and compatible stiff rocks.
Ok a project idea for you, set up a remote sensor for the train tracks to get notifications when a train is expect to interrupt your recording session. First thing that comes to mind is sound or video sensor and a Lora connection, solar powered of course.
Pretty cool. Suggestion. If you are worry about sound invest on a VRF system with ceiling Cassette. You don’t want an Air Handler starting in the middle of your recording session. My 2 cents. At least mention VRF (variable refrigerant flow) to your architect. If they good ones at least will know what I’m referring to. Very excited to see more on your new place!
Unfortunately the HVAC I'm stuck with. But I have plans to maybe add on a small mini-split that can cool either the server room to that plus the studio space only, so I could turn off the roof unit if I'm just in the studio for a while.
Oooh, looking forward to that Router + VPN setup.
Jeff it's really great to see a stepping up in the world really do enjoy your videos as the old saying goes sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks...
Awesome.. I'm really enjoying these vlogs Jeff.. Also looking forward to the pi nvr project !
you can also disable the HVAC when recording, open the contactor.. I’d automate it, so you don’t forget to turn it back on. Sounds like a perfect project for a Rapberry Pi and Homeassist, or any number of automation programs (I use HomeSeer). it can also set the studio lighting up, turn the cameras & spot lights on, etc. I would also contact the railroad, and see if they have a published schedule, or website that can be integrated into the automation, then have it remind you when you start a recording “train due in xx minutes”, so you can decide if you should delay or its a short enough clip, it won’t interfere 👍
Ooh, I could have one of those railroad station signs, like "TRAIN XYZ 07 MINUES" with a live countdown!
The problem is it's the freight line, not passenger, and I don't think they have any regular schedule that's open to the public.
@@JeffGeerling sounds like an issue for “Geerling Engineering”, how about installing some remote microphones down a good distance in each direction from the studio? idealy, it they would be a mile or more away in each direction, that should get you a 5-10 minute warning.. not as good as having a schedule, but better than nothing. I’d still contact the train company, see what they say.. another method is, they use 2 way radios for communications, you could find out the frequency used, and monitor that, for advanced warning.
You don't want to turn off the AC in St. Louis in the summer.
@@KameraShy it’s while he’s creating the video, typically not all that long.. it will be fine, the train presents a larger issue to solve
5:03 from what I understand, a regular fluorescent light, half the power is used at the start because of the starter. And I see the LED doesn't need the starter, it's just a dummy starter. So 'less than half' probably means: no starter and a bit more efficient than fluorescent light
You're a tech dude, it would be cool if you did a video on setting up a system to "Alert" or "Warn" you of a approaching train. An early warning system so you can be aware of the train long before it interrupts your filming. Maybe some sort of sensors out near the tracks remotely sending a signal into your studio, maybe a light inside to alert you.....👍. Yes...do it!!!!!
Thanks Jeff for visiting the UK, nice to see the Americans still love us lol. PS could we see on a wall, a large print of a Pi board. Big one. I think that would be ace, photograph a board have a company print it, paste and enjoy. Cheers homie
I think it would be cool for you to put together a little project for a display that would show the live times of the trains that will pass by you. It would be a cool/useful thing to have and see how you’d accomplish it.
Very useful as well! Always hate it when I just miss the train!
also great for reveling your exact location. lol
You can tune in to the "hotbox detector" and it'll tell you when a train passes and how many cars it has.
@@Jonamission Sure, but really it could be simple and just say “Train in 10 minutes” or something, or “No train for the next few hours”. It could be vague. If someone wanted to track his location via the train passing, I don’t think NOT having the display would prevent that.
@@oldtechnobodycaresabout Appropriate name for the subject 😆
Im loving the vlogs and am excited to see what youre going to be doing next with your new work space!
All of this work my son, you need to make sure Red shirt Jeff doesn’t get the address of the new shop. Otherwise all this work will go to waste. 😊
I can only imagine the level of consideration you and yours had to go into before you signed that lease, you've got this!
I can't wait to find out how to make a camera system with a pi. I've been wanting to make one! Maybe that is why Jeff also went over to the UK!!!! HE bought nice hot pi's
Good idea to put everything on wheels/pushcart unless the furniture is going to be permanent. They are really useful from start to end of the project.
Can't wait for next one, I love studio build videos! Well, alongside all your other awesome videos of course 😋❤
Fun fact about hikvision - they sold white label security cameras to honeywell, which basically drop-shipped them to high level US facilities. Unfortunately, they are quite popular in Europe due to their low prices.
If anything, I would limit the details of where the office is located as well. I mean STL has tracks all over. But knowing the office is right next to one does narrow your general location drastically. Not to mention outside shots of the parking lot. But all in all. I doubt you would need too much more security as it is.
Yeah, that is a reason I'm getting this location regardless-it's a shorter term lease but it's a lot more freeing than my home location!
I’m really looking forward to seeing the electronics workbench project. 👍
You might want to reposition your Simplisafe motion sensors. I have had a Simplisafe system for 5 years. Our home has 9' ceilings and I mounted several motion sensors approximately 7 1/2' high in a few corners. Within a month of installation we began experiencing random motion alerts when the system was in Away mode. Most frequently from two sensors. After replacing batteries in the sensors I finally spent time with Simplisafe tech support. They stated that the sensors are actually heat activated and should be mounted no more than 4 - 4 1/2' high and not in direct sun light. I should mention that we have two cats neither of which could come anywhere near the sensors. We also have central HVAC with no vents near a sensor. Approximately two months ago I remounted the sensors and have thus far experienced no false alerts. If you begin having false alerts you might reconsider the motion sensor mounting positions.
Thanks, I'll keep a lookout for that. Honestly my next step is to tie in NVR / camera alerts for better motion sensitivity, as it could also send me a snapshot so I can see what kind of motion it is (bugs, rodents, people...)
Awesome! a new moving vlog!
This is exciting. I truly cannot think of a more deserving UA-camr.
You should be able to enable rtsp streams from the hikvision box so you can see it anywhere that supports rtsp (like vlc, frigate, etc).
Not sure if you’ve come across Konnected, but it is a retrofit controller for existing alarm systems. A great way to upcycle existing wiring and sensors, reduce waste and not rely on wireless!
The olds system was wireless except for the keypad and siren; I will be reselling the components locally though-don't want em to go to waste!
Quite the journey Jeff! Congrats. Love how you did that opening with the post-it.
I wonder if you could roll your own security type stuff with HomeAssistant. (not dependent on a 3rd party subscription)
Yes! Long term I'm going to be testing that. I already have a lot of the components in place, but one key part is tying it back to a service that will pick up the phone and call me or call the police if I'm not there.
But especially for basic monitoring, Home Assistant is extremely useful.
Love seeing the #MrBeast 1-100 buttons you made at 8:37, I loved watching that even more knowing you were behind it. 👍
Don't worry, that won't be the last time you see those buttons. They haunt my nightmares!
Mini Project Jeff on detecting and telling when the train is going by? Can see a grafana dashboard tracking that ...
This sounds like a fun project!
I know it's different, but for some reason all I can see is Louis Rossman's old shop space when he first bought it before filling it up 😅
Having a dedicated space to test and record is going to make things so much easier and better for you, it'll have a cumulative over all positive impact I'm sure!
Can't wait to see it take place!
hi Jeff may have seen linus tech server room sound proofing a few weeks ago back maybe worth a look. I Good luck on new office/workspace look forward to your new projects
Heh, the whole reason I am talking to an architect about requirements upfront is to *avoid* having to remediate the noise problem down the line. You can build the sound isolation into the structure itself and avoid having to build a bunch more mass into the room after the fact :)
When direct wiring fluorescent lamps, you put power directly to the "Tombstone" at one end of each bulb. I thought you were looking for the name of the connector. (Tombstone).
Looks like you have a really cool place coming together. I just leased a studio space & have contemplated the room inside a room. I don't think my budget has that built into it currently but I'm definitely going to keep up with how your build goes.
Something I like mentioning is a poor craftsman will blame their tools, but a good one knows when to upgrade. Fits well for your new space.
Sadly I don't have kids. I'm just not capable as I have had CFS for nearly 20 years, albeit I am slowly recovering, fun fact CFS is not forever, people do recover from it all the time. So you having 4 kids & chrones? disease is damm impressive.
I have Seasonal Affective Disorder & with an eye to content creation. I am swapping out my lighting of flouresent tubes & lights as they will be illegal in the EU soon anyway. With a standard home structured lighting that is capable of hanging softboxes etc.
And rather than using consumer LED lighting, from the likes of Phillips. I am standardising on Aputure lights & Sidus link controls which are largely similarly priced to Phillips kit but built for Content Creation
Whist proprietary, DMX etc is still a huge faf to manage. DMX is something that I hope the open source home management people will take over & write much better UX for. It's potential is huge, and their is a lot of ex-commerce kit that could be reused in the home or by smaller poorer UA-cam creators
I plan in due course to run Ethernet POE++ &/or maybe just USBC for power for everything.
The Ethernet POE++ is for NDI en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Device_Interface rather than using SDI en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_digital_interface (which annoyingly BlackMagic is only slowly transitioning from)
The advantage of Ethernet over SDI is that SDI cabling is both expensive & bulky
Ethernet is also used for en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_(networking) digital sound capture/distribution & obviously it's also by used for all the usual home management solutions, which also have switched away from proprietary solutions based on en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDI-12
When your looking at reducing sound can I recommend looking at Matt Risingers channel especially if you want to build an enviroment with other insulation beyond sound insulation with tools such as carbon loaded vinyl sandwiched between dartboard.
For example plugging up any air leaks at the start can give a stable comfortable & fresh work space if combined with an air cleaning heat exchanger based HVAC that can be swapped out as funding is available. In my case as I am in Northern Europe, to enhance the effect of SAD light panels I am adding InfraRed heat panels as they radiate like the sun & helps combat my SAD
i have that same cart. i love it sooo much.
It's sturdy, and not too terribly expensive.
Well done! Can't wait to see the progress!
The hikvision cameras are nice and cheap, but the plugin and reliance on IE is a pain.
Spoofing browser user agent works well enough to change most of the settings, tho can't update firmware, etc. from it. Have mine set up nicely in frigate.
5:20 This is one of the things I said to a lot of people who didn't want to move to CFL or LED lighting because they "don't believe in climate change." Climate change or not, you're going to save a ton of money on your electric bill.
Yeah... there's at least 10 reasons I prefer the LED tubes, and emissions / carbon and such are not in the top 5. Though I do care about that, fewer toxic gasses in my breathable air, I can get behind that lol
Great project. Go on!
You can grab the camera feeds from the nvr and record somewhere else. …Zoneminder …
Yeah, but I want a nice all in one box, and would be happy to drop the Hikvision unit out of service.
Be careful if your building is shared. A friend's office was burgled, and they got in via the ceiling tiles.
Simple dark screen material over that front glass works great on the cheap. How many folks have tried to come in thinking this is a new Subway store opening?
Hahaha, nobody so far. Luckily this storefront is out of the way a bit. But I did have someone sit outside and hold an entire phone conversation one time.
Cant wait till you move in, looks like this is going to be a great project :)
So, meet your new neighbors, on one side you have a vacuum repair shop, and on the other they build custom extra loud guitar amps.
Hey Jeff, Orchid core VMS is free for PI installs and is something to look into. Installs over raspberrypi OS, and they are still releasing current updated versions of it. They have taken down the tutorials/forums that had a lot of information about setting it up, however I backed up some of the threads before they were taken down. I actually ran this install for my house for 2 or 3 years.
I know you said you wanted something cheap for security. But ADT is super easy to crack, and likewise the one you just put in. All one needs to do is roll up with a transmitter on same freq with higher power than your sensors and wala, system disabled.
Some of those systems at least will put out an alert if jamming or interference are detected.
Hey, if that ADT alarm is a DSC, you might be able to integrate it with Home Assistant and make use all of its sensors. Wendell did a video of it a while back.
it's a Vista 20p - the ADT SafeWatch Pro. A far better system than the simplisafe being wired in. You could probably integrate it with Hass too.
I took major issue with his reasoning for installing an alarm having just taken out a really solid system, main one being "I just want to be alerted if a door gets opened". He mentioned the LPL video about simplisafe. From what I remember, LPL demonstrated how the simplisafe system won't even know that the door was ever opened, completely defeating Jeff's objectives.
If I were recording in this space, I would build a very small "test room" say 6.5 foot cube on the inside and probably 8 foot or bigger cube on the outside just to see if I could attenuate the train noise enough to record.
Side quest: web scraper to get the train times so you know when to have a break.
It's funny to see how different even everyday things are in the US. We have no Touch famous LED tubes with ballast because all of our LED replacement tubes come with Dummy Starter that you screw in, where the Ballast used to be... Not even to mention the "difference between residential and commercial ballast" :O
4ft fluorescent tubes can run off of a 240v supply using the most basic circuit: a choke as a ballast and a starter to preheat-start it. The arc voltage is over 120v so we need a step-up transformer to run them. Once you already have a transformer it's trivial to make it a rapid start ballast which does not use a starter.
And the difference between residential and commercial ballasts is simply quality. Residential grade is the absolute cheapest and commercial grade is a bit less cheap.
@@eDoc2020 ahh that's the downside of 120v vs 230v residential Power 👌
@@TecSanento I've also noticed that a magnetic rapid-start ballast provides less flickery light than a series magnetic ballast. That combined with our higher line frequency means our old-school 120v lights are less headache-inducing.
This is going to be a lot of fun to watch!
I honestly liked your basement videos.
Love to see the crash cart, I use the exact same thing in my server room.
I removed ballasts and installed my LED tubes directly. One less thing with limited life that will break.
Quite true; if the bulbs weren't on some sort of fire sale I would've gone that route, as I did that for all the fixtures at my house and those LED replacement tubes have been going for years without issue. Ballasts are annoying.
I love the new space. Have you considered not building the studio? I ask because the audio, as far as I can hear, is great already. Either way, I'm looking forward to all the new projects.
The audio gets a lot worse when the HVAC is running or its raining :(
Also, I want to have a bit more control over lighting since the lighting in the open space changes a lot based on the time of day (full bright sunlight vs overcast or cloudy).
Wish your hard work will paid off soon.
Jeff -- I'm glad you found out why HikVision was banned here in the US and that you've clearly told people about the problem. Of course, that problem also extends to the hundreds and thousands of other brands that Daihua and HikVision own.
Quote: "Having a studio with a higher ceiling is huge" Pun intended?
Nothing is more permanent than a temporary workaround.
Yeah camera dvr are strange at times.
DON'T use any glue on the drywall installation, use screws only.
Don't forget to allow for bike parking for all the e-bikes that those eleventy-six different companies want to send you to "review"... Seriously, I love a good renovation/build project. It's fun to hear how plans have already changed from what you were discussing in the first vlog. It's clear you are thinking things through carefully.
Ha! I have considered getting a small bike, as this place is within biking distance of my house. I would need to plan a spot for it inside, as there isn't any kind of bike rack outside.
@@JeffGeerling as someone who has cycled to work for 20+ years, if I may... Don't get a "small" bike. I would urge you to visit a local bike store and get a good bike, properly assembled and tuned by an actual bike mechanic. You will far far far more enjoy riding if the bike is properly fitted to you, and is properly assembled and tuned. If you're mostly riding roads or trails, then a light commuter bike would be best, or a heavier frame with fat tires if you're riding dirt and gravel.
The problem with getting a bigger space is it lets you get more stuff. 😅
As a permanent solution, I would recommend konnected so that you can use your existing sensors that you already have in place
Reminds me of UA-camr Simulator except it's real life and you have to deal with spiders and trains.
Another problem with Hikvision/Dahua cameras is they're vulnerable to a backdoor that lets you view the cameras completely remotely without any special activity/software, you can just make a browser request with a fixed URL and it will pull a still from the camera. So make sure they don't point at anything sensitive :) I refuse to use them because they're horribly insecure and have lots of backdoors and security vulnerabilities that we may still not know about. (and yes I know everything else does as well too, but Hikvision/Dahua doesn't update any of their firmwares or anything even remotely close to frequently enough and their catalogue of vulnerabilities lasts since when the equipment first was released) If you want to use them, put them on their own wired network, and segregate them from the internet.