Compare commits
2
Commits
| Author | SHA1 | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
 nicholas
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e70b671062 | ||
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nicholas
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3646825485 |
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
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+++
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categories = ["build"]
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tags = ["bicycle"]
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date = 2025-08-12T12:15:00-05:00
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date = 2025-08-07T08:00:00-05:00
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description = ""
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draft = false
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slug = "bicycle-headlamp"
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@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Nighttime bicycle rides in the summer are ideal:
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- 🚘 little traffic
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- 🦝 nocturnal wildlife
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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.**
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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.
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## 🔦 Headlamp
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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:
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@@ -36,20 +36,24 @@ I had to settle for the **OPL5 Motorcycle LED Headlamp**:
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| Brightness | 3000 lm |
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| Color Temperature | 6500K (Cool White) |
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✅ **This will have to do**.
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{{< image src="images/opl5-motorcycle-led-headlamp.png" >}}
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{{< image
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src="images/beam-pattern.JPG"
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caption="OPL5 Beam against the wall" >}}
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## 🔋 Battery Sizing
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Since the headlamp consumes 48 W, I need a battery that can sustain this load for a couple of hours without totally draining the battery. I can see how long a given battery will endure.
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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.
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- $t$ = run time (hr)
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- $E_\text{battery}$ = battery energy (Wh)
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- $p_\text{load}$ = LED headlamp power (W)
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✅ **This will do**.
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$$
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t = \frac{12.8 \text{ V} \cdot 16 \text{ Ah}}{48 \text{ W}} = 4.27 \text{ hr}
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$$
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---
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✅ **This will work**. It is a comfortable, if not excessive, amount of energy for the headlamp.
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## 🧰 Case
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I selected a cheap weatherproof case from *Harbor Freight Tools*. It will be large enough to accommodate many sizes of batteries, since battery packs of the nature I seek are almost always composed of a bunch of even smaller batteries, typically the 18650 type batteries. The dimensions of this battery type are also its namesake: **18 mm dia. × 65 mm l**.
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@@ -63,40 +67,24 @@ I mention all of this because the height dimension of the battery packs are almo
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{{< image src="images/apache-1800-case.png" >}}
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---
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## 🔋 Battery
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Since the headlamp consumes 48 W, I need a battery that can sustain this load for a couple of hours without totally draining the battery. I can see how long a given battery will endure.
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- $t$ = run time (hr)
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- $E_\text{battery}$ = battery energy (Wh)
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- $P_\text{load}$ = LED headlamp power (W)
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$$
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t = \frac{12.8 \text{ V} \cdot 16 \text{ Ah}}{48 \text{ W}} = 4.27 \text{ hr}
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$$
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I selected a cheap, unremarkable 12 V battery with a capacity of 16Ah.
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✅ This will be fine.
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{{< image src="images/nermak-12v-16Ah-LiFePO4.png" >}}
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✅ **This will work**. It is a comfortable, if not excessive, amount of energy for the headlamp.
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---
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## 🔌 Switches and Ports
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I splurged on a nice weatherproof SPST switch and mounting bracket.
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{{< image src="images/bss-contura-iii-spst.png" >}}
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{{< image src="images/bss-contura-iii-mounting-bracket.png" >}}
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The port that will feed power to the headlamp power is some kind of 'SAE' connector, which as far as I can tell do not actually comply with any official standard. They are used for a lot of things in weird cheap Chinese electronics, and I could have selected a better connector. I selected this mostly because it matches the connector on my battery charger and it is cheap and ubiquitous. It will be adequate.
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The port that will feed power to the headlamp power is some kind of 'SAE' connector, which as far as I can tell do not actually comply with any official standard. They are used for a lot of things in weird cheap Chinese electronics, and I could have selected a better connector. I selected this mostly because it matches the connector on my battery charger and it is cheap and ubiquitous.
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{{< image src="images/SAE-connector-socket.jpg" >}}
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---
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## 🔩 Parts List
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| Part |
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|-|
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@@ -106,26 +94,9 @@ The port that will feed power to the headlamp power is some kind of 'SAE' connec
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| SAE Power Socket Port |
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| Inline Blade Fuse Holder + 5 A Fuse |
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| Blue Sea Systems Contura III OFF-ON SPST Switch + Mounting Panel |
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| Double-sided adhesive tape |
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| Spade connectors |
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| Shrink tube |
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---
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## 🛠️ Assembly
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Now for final assembly. This is all very simple and I ran into no issues.
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- Applied double-sided adhesive tape to fasten the battery enclosure to the box
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- Soldered on spade connectors to wires between switch and battery
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- Installed inline fuse
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- Sealed the power port and switch mounting holes with silicone
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- 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.
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{{< image
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src="images/battery-box-open.JPG"
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caption="Battery box inside" >}}
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Here is a **wiring diagram** of the circuit.
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All that remains is to do final assembly. This is all very simple and I ran into no issues. Here is a **wiring diagram** of the circuit.
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{{< image src="images/bicycle-headlamp-wiring-diagram.svg" >}}
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@@ -136,33 +107,17 @@ Here is a **wiring diagram** of the circuit.
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| SW1 | SPST Switch |
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| LED1 | 48 W |
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- Applied double-sided adhesive tape to fasten the battery enclosure to the box
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- Soldered on spade connectors to wires between switch and battery
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- Installed inline fuse
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- Sealed the power port and switch mounting holes with silicone
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- 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.
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{{< image
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src="images/battery-box-power-port.JPG"
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caption="Battery box power port" >}}
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I strap the battery box to the rear cargo rack with hook and loop straps.
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{{< image
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src="images/battery-box-switch.JPG"
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caption="Battery box switch" >}}
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That is all.
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{{< image
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src="images/battery-box-mounted.JPG"
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caption="Battery box fastened to the rear cargo rack with hook and loop straps" >}}
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{{< image
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src="images/headlamp-mounted.JPG"
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caption="Headlamp on handlebars" >}}
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---
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## 🚴 Test Drive
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All that remains is the test drive.
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{{< image src="images/headlamp-night-test-drive.jpg" >}}
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{{< image
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src="images/headlamp-night-test-drive.jpg"
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caption="Wide beam width" >}}
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🎉 **It works!**
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✅ Done.
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@@ -1,207 +0,0 @@
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+++
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categories = ["software"]
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tags = ["router","opnsense"]
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date = 2025-08-27T18:30:00-05:00
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description = ""
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draft = false
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slug = "router-build"
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title = "🔀 Router Build"
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author = "nicholas"
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+++
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My router (**Netgear R6400v2**) lacks many of the features I would like to use and become familiar with:
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- VLANs
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- Advanced routing, firewall
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- Monitoring, logging, alerts
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- etc.
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**I need a new router.**
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I have a few options from here:
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1. ❌ **Write custom firmware to existing router** (*DD-WRT, OpenWRT, Tomato, etc.*)
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- ➕ Fun
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- ➕ Free
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- ➖ Too much jank
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2. ❌ **Buy new hardware**
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- ➕ Very easy setup
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- ➖ Boring
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- 💲 Could require expensive/high-end router hardware
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3. ✅ **Repurpose existing hardware**
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- ➕ Fun
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- ➕ Makes use of an unused **Dell OptiPlex 5050 Micro**
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- ➕ Can run proper router OS **OPNsense**
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- ➕ Repurpose router as wireless access point
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---
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## 🪵 Router-on-a-stick (ROAS)
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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*.
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I have a couple of options:
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1. ❌ Configure the **virtual switch** on my VM host to perform 802.1Q VLAN tagging for router VM.
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- ➕ Free, no additional hardware required
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2. ✅ Configure a **managed physical switch** to handle 802.1Q VLAN tagging and trunking to the router
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- ➕ Gain additional physical ports
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- 💲 Addtional hardware required
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I want the extra ports! I got a **Netgear GS108E-400NAS**. For no other reason than it was available at my local *Best Buy*.
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---
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## 🖧 Logical Network Topology
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This diagram describes approxmiately what I my network will look like:
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```mermaid
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graph TD
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isp["🌐ISP"]
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modem["📡Modem"]
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switch["🔀Switch"]
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subgraph vm-host["VM Host"]
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router["🛡️Router (OPNsense)"]
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end
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wap["🛜WAP"]
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nas["🗄️NAS"]
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workstation["🖥️Workstation"]
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subgraph wireless["Wireless Devices"]
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laptop["💻Laptop"]
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phone["📱Phone"]
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printer["🖨️Printer"]
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end
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isp --- modem
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modem --- switch
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switch --- |"🪵 Trunk (VLANs 10,100)"| router
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switch --- wap
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switch --- nas
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switch --- workstation
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wap -.- wireless
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```
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---
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## 🔀 Switch Setup & Port VLAN Assignment Table
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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| Port | Device | VLAN Mode | PVID | Tagged VLANs |
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|-|-|-|-|-|
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| 1 | Router | Trunk | 10 | 10,100 |
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| 2 | Workstation | Access | 10 | - |
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| 3 | NAS | Access | 10 | - |
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| 4 | WAP | Access | 10 | - |
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| 5 | - | Access | 10 | - |
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| 6 | - | Access | 10 | - |
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| 7 | - | Management | 1 | - |
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| 8 | Modem | Access | 100 | - |
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---
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**Switch VLAN tagging**
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```mermaid
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flowchart TD
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lan["🏠LAN"]
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modem["🌐Modem/ISP"]
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switch[🔀Switch]
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subgraph router["🛡️Router"]
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wan_interface["🌐WAN Interface"]
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lan_interface["🏠LAN Interface"]
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end
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lan -- "`
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*🗅untagged*
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🔵access port **VLAN 10**
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`" --> switch
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modem -- "`
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*🗅untagged*
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🔵access port **VLAN 100**`" --> switch
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switch -- "*🏷️tagged* VLAN 10" --> lan_interface
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switch -- "*🏷️tagged* VLAN 100" --> wan_interface
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```
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✅ Done. Now I configure a VM for the router.
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---
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## 🖥️ VM Configuration
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I need to configure a VM to serve as a router:
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- COnfigure VM specs:
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- 20 GB vdisk
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- 3 GB RAM
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- 1 vCPU
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- Install OPNsense OS
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- Configure VM network adapter with static MAC address (spoof old netgear router MAC, keep current DHCP IP)
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- Configure host OS network adapter to carry VLAN ID 10 only
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- Configure VM network adapter to carry VLANs ID 10,100
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✅ Done. Now I can configure OPNsense.
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---
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## 🛡️ OPNsense
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{{< image
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src="images/OPNsense-dashboard.png"
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caption="OPNsense Dashboard" >}}
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##### Interfaces
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According to the plan, I need to configure OPNsense with an interface for each VLAN I configured:
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- VLAN **10** for **LAN**
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- VLAN **100** for **WAN**
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##### DNSMasq DHCP
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Since I want most of my devices to be assigned IPs dynamically, I enable DHCP on the LAN interface.
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- Start address: 10.0.10.3
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- End address: 10.0.10.100
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- 10.0.10.100 - 10.0.10.200 are reserved for static / wired devices.
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##### Unbound DNS
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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).
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**For example:**
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| Record Type | Name | Value |
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|-|-|-|
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| A | proxy.internal.domain.com | 10.0.10.100 |
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| CNAME | git.domain.com | proxy.internal.domain.com |
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##### Query Forwarding
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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.
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```mermaid
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flowchart LR
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client[💻Client] --> router-dns["`
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🛡️Router
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(Local DNS)
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`"]
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router-dns --> pihole[🕳️Pi-hole]
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pihole --> upstream["`
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☁️ Upstream DNS
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(e.g. 8.8.8.8)`"
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]
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```
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##### Firewall - GeoIP
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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.
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This nearly eliminates unwanted traffic from annoying and/or malicious bots scanning and scraping my network
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**MaxMind GeoIP database**:`https://AccountID:LicenseKey@download.maxmind.com/geoip/databases/GeoLite2-Country-CSV/download?suffix=zip`
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🎉 It works!
|
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|
||||
{{< video
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src="videos/router-traffic-graph-live.mp4"
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width="100%"
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>}}
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✅ Done.
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@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
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||||
+++
|
||||
categories = ["build"]
|
||||
tags = []
|
||||
date = 2025-10-28T16:31:00Z
|
||||
description = ""
|
||||
draft = false
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||||
slug = "truck-bed-rails-repair"
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title = "🛻 Truck Bed Rails Repair"
|
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author = "nicholas"
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+++
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## Problem
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I removed the ladder rack from my truck bed. It left behind scratched paint, bolt holes, and some rust.
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## Parts / Equipment
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-
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## Steps
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- wire brush away rust
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- clean with isopropyl alcohol
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- apply primer
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- apply top coat (opt)
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✅ Done.
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user