truck bed rails repair initial post

container/site/content/posts/bicycle-headlamp/index.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 +++
 categories = ["build"]
 tags = ["bicycle"]
-date = 2025-08-07T08:00:00-05:00
+date = 2025-08-12T12:15:00-05:00
 description = ""
 draft = false
 slug = "bicycle-headlamp"
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Nighttime bicycle rides in the summer are ideal:
 - 🚘 little traffic
 - 🦝 nocturnal wildlife 
 
-But it is not easy to see in the dark, so I bring a headlamp and okay, fine, this works. With my current head lamp I can see and be seen just fine. But there are some limitations. I see wonderfully directly ahead of me in the narrow cone of light provided, but at the edges of this light cone I see practically nothing at all, as though I am looking through a paper towel roll. The beam pattern is optimized for riding in a straight line, with little regard for what lies in the periphery. **I would like a greater field of view, so I will need a lamp with a wide beam pattern.**
+But it is not easy to see in the dark, so I bring a headlamp and *okay, fine, this works*. With my current headlamp I can see and be seen just fine. But there are some limitations. I see wonderfully directly ahead of me in the narrow cone of light provided, but at the edges of this light cone I see practically nothing at all, as though I am looking through a paper towel roll. The beam pattern is optimized for riding in a straight line, with little regard for what lies in the periphery. **I would like a greater field of view, so I will need a lamp with a wide beam pattern.**
 
 ## 🔦 Headlamp
 I start by selecting the headlamp. This is the most important component, and everything will revolve around it. My selection criteria is simple. The light must have these features:
@@ -36,11 +36,19 @@ I had to settle for the **OPL5 Motorcycle LED Headlamp**:
 | Brightness | 3000 lm |
 | Color Temperature | 6500K (Cool White) |
 
-✅ **This will have to do**.
 
 
 {{< image src="images/opl5-motorcycle-led-headlamp.png" >}}
 
+
+{{< image 
+    src="images/beam-pattern.JPG"
+    caption="OPL5 Beam against the wall" >}}
+
+Notice the sharp beam cutoff at the top. This is what allows me to have a very bright headlamp while also not blinding oncoming traffic. Also, the beam gradient at the bottom transitions from very bright to very dim, in a manner that maximizes usable light. It concentrates maximum light near the upper cutoff where it will disperse across a large surface area at long distances, while minimizing output in the near and mid field, where the illuminated surface area should be relatively small.
+
+✅ **This will do**.
+
 ---
 
 ## 🧰 Case
@@ -62,7 +70,7 @@ Since the headlamp consumes 48 W, I need a battery that can sustain this load fo
 
 - $t$ = run time (hr)
 - $E_\text{battery}$ = battery energy (Wh)
-- $p_\text{load}$ = LED headlamp power (W)
+- $P_\text{load}$ = LED headlamp power (W)
 
 $$
 t = \frac{12.8 \text{ V} \cdot 16 \text{ Ah}}{48 \text{ W}} = 4.27 \text{ hr}
@@ -113,6 +121,10 @@ Now for final assembly. This is all very simple and I ran into no issues.
 - Sealed the power port and switch mounting holes with silicone
 - Removed the battery enclosure lid since the battery terminals were ≈ 1 mm proud of the battery box lid. The battery box would still close, but it was straining the plastic and the weather sealing would be compromised.
 
+{{< image 
+    src="images/battery-box-open.JPG"
+    caption="Battery box inside" >}}
+
 Here is a **wiring diagram** of the circuit.
 
 {{< image src="images/bicycle-headlamp-wiring-diagram.svg" >}}
@@ -124,16 +136,32 @@ Here is a **wiring diagram** of the circuit.
 | SW1 | SPST Switch |
 | LED1 | 48 W |
 
-I strap the battery box to the rear cargo rack with hook and loop straps. 
 
-That is all.
+{{< image 
+    src="images/battery-box-power-port.JPG"
+    caption="Battery box power port" >}}
 
---
+{{< image 
+    src="images/battery-box-switch.JPG"
+    caption="Battery box switch" >}}    
+
+{{< image 
+    src="images/battery-box-mounted.JPG"
+    caption="Battery box fastened to the rear cargo rack with hook and loop straps" >}}
+
+{{< image 
+    src="images/headlamp-mounted.JPG"
+    caption="Headlamp on handlebars" >}}
+
+
+---
 
 ## 🚴 Test Drive 
 All that remains is the test drive.
 
-{{< image src="images/headlamp-night-test-drive.jpg" >}}
+{{< image 
+    src="images/headlamp-night-test-drive.jpg"
+    caption="Wide beam width" >}}
 
 🎉 **It works!**
 

container/site/content/posts/router-build/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
++++
+categories = ["software"]
+tags = ["router","opnsense"]
+date = 2025-08-27T18:30:00-05:00
+description = ""
+draft = false
+slug = "router-build"
+title = "🔀 Router Build"
+author = "nicholas"
++++
+
+My router (**Netgear R6400v2**) lacks many of the features I would like to use and become familiar with:
+- VLANs
+- Advanced routing, firewall
+- Monitoring, logging, alerts
+- etc.
+
+**I need a new router.**
+
+I have a few options from here:
+
+1. ❌ **Write custom firmware to existing router** (*DD-WRT, OpenWRT, Tomato, etc.*)  
+    - ➕ Fun
+    - ➕ Free
+    - ➖ Too much jank
+
+2. ❌ **Buy new hardware**  
+    - ➕ Very easy setup
+    - ➖ Boring
+    - 💲 Could require expensive/high-end router hardware
+
+3. ✅ **Repurpose existing hardware**  
+    - ➕ Fun
+    - ➕ Makes use of an unused **Dell OptiPlex 5050 Micro**
+    - ➕ Can run proper router OS **OPNsense**
+    - ➕ Repurpose router as wireless access point
+
+---
+
+## 🪵 Router-on-a-stick (ROAS)
+My VM host (where I will build my router) has only a single NIC, with only one physical port. That means I cannot replicate the exact behavior of ordinary consumer routers, which are typically configured with a dedicated WAN port, and several dedicated LAN ports. The router simply routes between the two. Very simple. I need to find a way to replicate the *function* of such a router without the same *hardware*.
+
+I have a couple of options:
+
+1. ❌ Configure the **virtual switch** on my VM host to perform 802.1Q VLAN tagging for router VM.  
+    - ➕ Free, no additional hardware required
+
+2. ✅ Configure a **managed physical switch** to handle 802.1Q VLAN tagging and trunking to the router
+    - ➕ Gain additional physical ports
+    - 💲 Addtional hardware required
+
+I want the extra ports! I got a **Netgear GS108E-400NAS**. For no other reason than it was available at my local *Best Buy*.
+
+---
+
+## 🖧 Logical Network Topology
+This diagram describes approxmiately what I my network will look like:
+
+```mermaid
+graph TD
+    isp["🌐ISP"]
+    modem["📡Modem"]
+    switch["🔀Switch"]
+    subgraph vm-host["VM Host"]
+        router["🛡️Router (OPNsense)"]
+    end
+    wap["🛜WAP"]
+    nas["🗄️NAS"]
+    workstation["🖥️Workstation"]
+    subgraph wireless["Wireless Devices"]
+        laptop["💻Laptop"]
+        phone["📱Phone"]
+        printer["🖨️Printer"]
+    end
+
+    isp --- modem
+    modem --- switch
+    switch --- |"🪵 Trunk (VLANs 10,100)"| router
+    switch --- wap
+    switch --- nas
+    switch --- workstation
+    wap -.- wireless
+
+```
+
+---
+
+## 🔀 Switch Setup & Port VLAN Assignment Table
+- First, I need to choose a subnet for my network and assign my switch an IP accordingly. I chose 10.0.0.0/8 subnet. It just looks good.
+
+- Next I cofigure my switch with a **trunk port**. This port will link to the router and carry multiple VLANs: **VLAN 10** (LAN), **VLAN 100** (WAN). This allows my router to distinguish between WAN and LAN with just one physical port. Instead of a phyiscal port to ditinguish WAN and LAN, the distinction is made virtually using VLAN tags.
+
+- This means I will also need to configure a separate port for VLAN 100 (modem/ISP uplink), so that all traffic on that port is tagged and forwarded as WAN traffic. 
+
+| Port | Device | VLAN Mode | PVID | Tagged VLANs |
+|-|-|-|-|-|
+| 1 | Router | Trunk | 10 | 10,100 |
+| 2 | Workstation | Access | 10 | - |
+| 3 | NAS | Access | 10 | - |
+| 4 | WAP | Access | 10   | - |
+| 5 | - | Access | 10 | - |
+| 6 | - | Access | 10 | - |
+| 7 | - | Management | 1 | - |
+| 8 | Modem | Access | 100 | - |
+
+---
+
+**Switch VLAN tagging**
+```mermaid
+flowchart TD
+    lan["🏠LAN"]
+    modem["🌐Modem/ISP"]
+    switch[🔀Switch]
+    subgraph router["🛡️Router"]
+        wan_interface["🌐WAN Interface"]
+        lan_interface["🏠LAN Interface"]
+    end
+    
+    lan -- "`
+    *🗅untagged*
+    🔵access port **VLAN 10**
+    `" --> switch
+    modem -- "`
+    *🗅untagged*
+    🔵access port **VLAN 100**`" --> switch
+
+    switch -- "*🏷️tagged* VLAN 10" --> lan_interface
+    switch -- "*🏷️tagged* VLAN 100" --> wan_interface
+```
+✅ Done. Now I configure a VM for the router.
+
+---
+
+## 🖥️ VM Configuration
+I need to configure a VM to serve as a router:
+- COnfigure VM specs:
+    - 20 GB vdisk
+    - 3 GB RAM
+    - 1 vCPU
+- Install OPNsense OS
+- Configure VM network adapter with static MAC address (spoof old netgear router MAC, keep current DHCP IP)
+- Configure host OS network adapter to carry VLAN ID 10 only
+- Configure VM network adapter to carry VLANs ID 10,100
+
+✅ Done. Now I can configure OPNsense.
+
+---
+
+## 🛡️ OPNsense
+
+{{< image 
+    src="images/OPNsense-dashboard.png" 
+    caption="OPNsense Dashboard" >}}
+
+##### Interfaces
+According to the plan, I need to configure OPNsense with an interface for each VLAN I configured:
+- VLAN **10** for **LAN**
+- VLAN **100** for **WAN**
+
+##### DNSMasq DHCP
+Since I want most of my devices to be assigned IPs dynamically, I enable DHCP on the LAN interface.
+- Start address: 10.0.10.3
+- End address: 10.0.10.100
+- 10.0.10.100 - 10.0.10.200 are reserved for static / wired devices.
+
+##### Unbound DNS
+I also want to use my router as a DNS server for local DNS resolution, so I enable **Unbound DNS**. This is where I can configure A records (host override), and CNAME records (alias). 
+
+**For example:**
+
+| Record Type | Name | Value |
+|-|-|-|
+| A | proxy.internal.domain.com | 10.0.10.100 |
+| CNAME | git.domain.com | proxy.internal.domain.com |
+
+##### Query Forwarding
+Now that I have given my wired devices static IPs, I can do query forwarding to Pi-Hole. This will enable network-wide ad blocking.
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart LR
+    client[💻Client] --> router-dns["`
+    🛡️Router
+    (Local DNS)
+    `"]
+    router-dns --> pihole[🕳️Pi-hole]
+    pihole --> upstream["`
+    ☁️ Upstream DNS 
+    (e.g. 8.8.8.8)`"
+    ]
+```
+##### Firewall - GeoIP
+I use [MaxMind GeoIP database](https://AccountID:LicenseKey@download.maxmind.com/geoip/databases/GeoLite2-Country-CSV/download?suffix=zip) to create a firewall alias. Then I configured a firewall rule on WAN interface which blocks any IP that matches those configured in the alias. I am blocking IPs from most countries. 
+
+This nearly eliminates unwanted traffic from annoying and/or malicious bots scanning and scraping my network
+
+**MaxMind GeoIP database**:`https://AccountID:LicenseKey@download.maxmind.com/geoip/databases/GeoLite2-Country-CSV/download?suffix=zip`
+
+
+🎉 It works!
+
+{{< video
+  src="videos/router-traffic-graph-live.mp4"
+  width="100%"
+>}}
+
+
+✅ Done.

container/site/content/posts/truck-bed-rails-repair/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
++++
+categories = ["build"]
+tags = []
+date = 2025-10-28T16:31:00Z
+description = ""
+draft = false
+slug = "truck-bed-rails-repair"
+title = "🛻 Truck Bed Rails Repair"
+author = "nicholas"
++++
+
+## Problem
+I removed the ladder rack from my truck bed. It left behind scratched paint, bolt holes, and some rust.
+
+## Parts / Equipment
+- 
+
+## Steps
+- wire brush away rust
+- clean with isopropyl alcohol
+- apply primer
+- apply top coat (opt)
+
+
+✅ Done.