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Net Work Alan Winstanley Our column covering Internet-related trends, and more besides, bags a label printer from China at a bargain price. Plus some current and new smart home products by TP-Link’s Tapo are examined. There’s also news on the SMR power generation front. I t’s now second nature for electronics hobbyists to source materials, tools, components or printed circuit boards directly from China, and websites such as AliExpress, Banggood and Temu are falling over themselves to attract our business. These websites sell a myriad of products, and they push heavy discounts or ‘new user benefits’ in order to hook new customers. It’s no secret that these Chinese super-sites are slugging it out for trade, and after several months of being bombarded by their pop-up adverts, I finally buckled and decided to try the newcomer Temu website for the first time. Temu’s online store is very slick and quite overpowering, but what caught my eye was an introductory ‘first time customer’ offer on a thermal label maker, specifically the Phomemo-brand M110 handheld Bluetooth printer. I’ve had my eye on such a machine for quite a while, because they are handy self-contained rechargeable devices that can print, among other things, barcodes, QR codes and labels for identifying cables. They will also print die-cut or continuous labels on small rolls. Although the makers call it a ‘business’ printer, it’s the sort of thing that can soon find uses in the home and workshop, and various coloured and transparent labels, either diecut or continuous, are sold too. Also available The M110 by Phomemo is a selfcontained Bluetooth and USB thermal labeller that prints on both polymer diecut and paper labels. 10 is the model M220 which has a wider print head and larger battery. These labellers have a street price of about £45 ($55) but Temu was offering them for just £11 ($13), and four extra rolls of labels cost about the same. Thus, their thermal labeller with refills would come in at about £25 ($30) delivered which, unlike AliExpress, included sales taxes with no hidden extras. Was this too good to be true? There was only one way to find out, and a smooth PayPal transaction was quickly completed in a few mouse-clicks. Testing Temu Six days later my first Temu order arrived in England all present and correct, in the usual kind of barcoded polybag. The rounded design of the M110 printer takes up little space, and mine was moulded in blue ABS sporting a large logo ‘window’ that looks like some sort of display screen (it isn’t). There’s a two-colour 20mm OLED status display, which is small but crystal-clear in operation. The printer contains a 1200mAh lithium battery which is charged through a USB-C port and, as per the current trend, you provide your own 5V mains charger. Labels are designed with the free Print Master app for iOS or Android. Pairing the Bluetooth printer was trouble free, and after loading the supplied roll of labels I was printing labels within a minute or two. The resolution quality was very good, and I was surprised by the comprehensive labelling software options provided: apart from plain text, it will print QR codes, EAN and UPC barcodes, as well as tables, monochrome images and icons. In fact, it goes even further by offering OCR text capturing and voice recognition, which worked very well. Label content can be dragged around or resized, and a print history is stored to allow future reprints. Initially, I found that designing labels was better done on a tablet than a smartphone. Either way, calling up (tap, swipe, double tap … etc) the text editor window to make changes was hit and miss, frustratingly so at times, and the text input field had a low contrast and occupied a tiny area on my phone and tablet screens. The software was a Printing QR codes using the M110 labeller. bit counterintuitive, but I managed to muddle through. This way of working will be fine for printing labels on the go or in awkward locations, but I eventually realised that the makers had made a strange omission: although the spec. sheet states Bluetooth, Android and iOS compatibility, not mentioned anywhere was the fact that, as I later discovered, printer drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows and macOS are downloadable from the maker’s website, along with free label creation software. There is also a Linux driver. Having installed the latest Windows driver and free ‘Labelife’ software on my PC I was soon downloading labels to the printer via a USB-C cable. The printer firmware can also be updated that way. Using the desktop software, the required label size can be chosen from the Templates menu and then text, images, QR codes and so on can be added. Designs can be saved to disk for future use. Cable label capable Confusingly, the makers describe direct thermal labels as ‘paper’ but the 40 x 30mm diecut labels supplied are made of polymer film, which is resistant to tearing, abrasion, chemicals and water. They are good quality labels with semipermanent adhesive, and they can be peeled off again without leaving a residue. The adhesive is not freezer-proof though (as my frozen pies will testify). Cable identification labels made from the same plastic material are available Practical Electronics | April | 2024 Tapo dancing corresponding runtime and usage costs displayed on the Tapo app. They double as compact, handy programmable time switches as well, and they can time up or down. In ‘Away’ mode they can act as a burglar deterrent by switching, for example, lighting randomly during predetermined periods. After installing the TP-Link ‘skill’ on Amazon’s Alexa app (Google Home is also supported), I now have voice control of lighting and TV power too, which works sufficiently well 95% of the time. It’s also possible to control them remotely with your app, and share the control of certain Tapo devices with up to eight friends and family. Coming soon is an updated Tapo smart socket, the P110M which includes an energy-monitoring chip that it claims provides overload protection. This smart device will be Matter compatible (see Net Work, April 2023). Matter is the slowly evolving new LAN protocol that promises to make the installation of smart devices as simple as ‘plug and play’. ‘Simply Regular readers will know that I’ve been trying the Tapo range of smart home controls for quite some time. Tapo is produced by TP-Link and it gives us an indication of emerging smart home trends. This interesting and ever-expanding brand is aimed at domestic users looking to add affordable smart controls to their home. Several Tapo bulbs and smart plugs (mains sockets) are in regular use by the writer which work well enough most of the time, although sometimes they can be temperamental, and I have to reboot them to restore functionality. As Tapo is intended to control small domestic appliances, personally I would avoid using them with, say, electrical heating or motorised machines like an air conditioner or hefty white goods like a washing machine, or garage door motors, alarm systems or similar more demanding applications. Some Tapo smart plugs include an energy monitoring feature, with the The Tapo P110M is a smart plug with energy monitoring that is Matter compatible. It’s rated 13A for the UK. Cable identification labels can also be produced on special diecut blanks. in various colours and are handy for electricians, network engineers and constructors. These have a printable area of 35mm x 12mm on each side, and the wraparound is good for cables up to 10mm diameter or so (12mm max), and although they are tear-resistant they are not indestructible. It was easy to print labels in the app, and the narrow section is then stuck around the cable before the main printed area is folded over to stick it all together (see photos). This idea works very well. Although the Windows software has a template for them, strangely the printable area of the cable label is not defined, and I wasted quite a few labels due to misalignment. The mobile Print Master app is a better choice here. A number of other printers is sold by Phomemo, including a fun sticker printer and a 6 x 4 shipping label machine. Other labels in the range include transparent and decorative ones for crafts or hobbies, so it’s worth browsing around the maker’s website for ideas. You can buy labels direct using PayPal from https://phomemo.com and watch for a pop-up discount voucher code when you enter the site. Printers and blank labels also appear on Temu, Amazon and other sites. 1551W IP68 miniature enclosures Learn more: hammondmfg.com/1551w uksales<at>hammondmfg.com 01256 812812 Practical Electronics | April | 2024 11 scan the provided QR code with your smartphone and the Matter device will be automatically configured to your home network. Enjoy your smart home products with ease right out of the box!’ as TP-Link puts it. It does Matter Matter aims to enable compatible Matter smart devices talk to each other, even if the home itself goes offline (eg, due to a broadband outage). A host of Mattercompatible devices are scheduled for early release by TP-Link, and anything that simplifies an often technical and onerous set-up routine can’t come soon enough. For more details visit: https://bit.ly/pe-apr24-tpl TP-Link’s ‘Kasa’ range of smart devices predates Tapo and seems more robust. Until recently, Tapo and Kasa required their own apps and were not interoperable, but following an update the Tapo app can now control both device ranges. To test this out, I tried adding an old TP-Link Kasa smart socket (HS100) to my Tapo app – this was previously impossible to do, and although the setup routine was a throwback to the earlier days of using smart home devices, it did install successfully and proceeded to update its firmware. A more compact smart socket (the Kasa KP105) is due out soon, while the new KP115 smart plug includes energy monitoring. Both devices have a current rating of 13A (UK use). Not available in the UK yet, the Kasa KP125M is a new compact size Matter-compatible smart plug. In Britain, the Kasa brand also includes smart radiator thermostatic valves to control central heating, and there is a whole raft of security cameras and video doorbells to choose from in TP-Link’s rapidly expanding repertoire of homenetworked devices. TP-Link does seem to be investing in this product line and The H100 Smart Hub with Chime works on 868MHz with compatible smart sensors and peripherals. It continues working locally even if the home broadband is down. 12 it’s one worth keeping an eye on to follow trends and developments. A hub of activity Also part of the Tapo range is the ‘Smart Hub’ (H100) which forms the heart of a sub-group of Tapo smart sensors, switches and buttons. It’s a plug-in mains-powered hub and its main feature is its built-in audio chime and ability (in theory) to connect to up to 64 devices. The spec. sheet highlights that it uses 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, but it also uses the less crowded 868MHz frequency (for UK models) to link with compatible Tapo smart devices, which TP-Link claims improves battery life ten-fold. (The same frequency band has proven extremely reliable when used by my Ecowitt weather station sensors, described in previous issues.) They are ‘cloud free’ in the sense that they will continue operating locally, even if the Internet connection goes down, provided the mains supply is still running. The app also lets you share functionality with designated friends. I tried the H100 hub with a Tapo Smart Contact Sensor T110 by adding them as devices on the Tapo app, then firmware updates were downloaded automatically. Setup was not as slick as I’d hoped for, and it took several attempts to configure everything successfully (I gave up at one point). As a surprise bonus, ten minutes later my Amazon Echo Show notified me that it detected a new device (the contact sensor) being added on the TPLink ‘skill’. The Tapo app lets you choose from 19 hub chimes such as doorbell ‘dingdong’ or alarm tones which are clear and strident (four volumes, up to 90dB). You then link compatible sensors or switches to the Tapo hub. So-called ‘Smart Actions’ then enable alarms or chimes to sound when certain triggers are detected. In my case, an alarm will sound when the contact sensor is opened or closed (my choice) and a delayed action from seconds to hours can also be set. Its hours of operation can also be dialled in like a time switch, and all triggering actions are logged in the app. I had to invest quite some time in the app before everything would function as desired: there was no quick ‘plug and play’ here. I eventually discovered that configured Smart Actions were silently stored in the app under ‘Automation’ where they could be toggled on or off or deleted. This probably explains the inconsistencies in operation that I experienced. Sticky sensors The contact sensor itself is a two-part set containing a magnet and it’s not The T110 magnetic sensor uses the H100 chime to warn of open doors or windows. It only has sticky pad fixings. particularly sturdy. The only mounting option is via the pair of sticky pads supplied, which seems a missed opportunity; you can’t screw-mount them onto a wooden door frame, for example. Also available are a PIR motion detector, a temperature/humidity sensor with LCD screen and a smart water leak sensor. The Tapo Smart Button (S200B) allows human-interactive control of other Tapo smart devices such as light switches, bulbs with a single or double tap, and a rotating action accesses more functions (eg, a dimmer). It could also be used as a nurse-call alarm for elderly care, or it could set, say, ‘Away’ mode when you leave the building. A 3D-printed doorbell adaptor plate for the S200 button is sold on eBay (stevedark001). Practical Electronics | April | 2024 Keen to sample the performance of this budget-priced range, I’ve now added a Tapo smart rotary button (S200B) and a smart water leak sensor (T300) onto my home network for trials. Iin next month’s Net Work I’ll report back on how well these low-cost smart devices are faring in practice. A wallplate version (S200D) would replace a wall light switch, but I’m not sure how robust it would be, either mechanically or network-wise. It’s also suggested for sheltered doorbell use, the hub sounding the doorchime. (Note the button would be easily pocketed.) An eBay user (stevedark001) sells a 3D-printed base and holder for Tapo smart buttons that resembles a bell pushbutton: Steve tells me it came about because visitors didn’t realise his Tapo button was in fact the doorbell! For more demanding users, the Smart Hub (H200) hub uses a mains adaptor instead and has an Ethernet port and microSD storage (512GB max), suitable for up to 64 devices and up to four compatible Tapo security cameras or video doorbells. Chimes and sensor detection are also included. More details and an online shop are at: www.tapo.com Power to the people Work continues to make the UK’s nuclear power generating industry fit for the 21st century. At the site of the Hinkley Point ‘C’ nuclear power station in Somerset, southern England, the world’s largest crane, the 750 tonne ‘Big Carl’, is doing the heavy lifting and last December it topped off the Unit 1 steel containment building with a 47-metre diameter, 245tonne lid. The French-built reactor will be installed this year and is the first new (UK) reactor to be built in over 30 years. A second reactor is also under construction which, thanks to the experience gained in rebuilding an entire industry, should take 20-30% less time to complete, says EDF Energy. The project has been plagued by delays, Covid and cost increases Putting the lid on: the world’s largest crane, Big Carl, placed a 245 tonne lid onto the Hinkley Point C Unit 1 nuclear reactor last December. A second reactor will follow. ever since it was approved in 2016, and presently the £26bn ($31bn) project is due to come on stream in 2027. (Attention will then turn to building another new nuclear station, Sizewell C.) An honest appraisal of progress is given by EDF in the video at: https://youtu.be/rxhHTpnKX8Y As regular readers will recall, I’ve previously described the concept of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR), which offers the power generation sector a faster, cheaper route to bringing nuclear power stations on stream. The idea of SMRs is that key elements would be manufactured off site, before being delivered by road for final assembly at smaller power stations. SMRs could also be located in more isolated or rural areas which will improve distribution. This factory-built, production line approach would improve efficiency and help keep the lid on costs. The International Terrington Components • Project boxes designed and manufactured in the UK. • Many of our enclosures used on former Maplin projects. • Unique designs and sizes, including square, long and deep variaaons of our screwed lid enclosures. • Sub-miniature sizes down to 23mm x 16mm, ideal for IoT devices. MADE IN BRITAIN www.terrington-components.co.uk | sales<at>terrington-components.co.uk | Tel: 01553 636999 Practical Electronics | April | 2024 13 router, switch and mesh hub running for over half an hour. It’s enough to make anybody want to live off-grid! Battle of the bots Westinghouse has been chosen to supply four SMRs for a privately funded British nuclear power station in Teesside. Atomic Energy Authority states that there are more than 80 SMR designs under different stages of development in 18 Member States, including the Akademik Lomonosov floating power unit moored in the Russian Federation, which started generating in 2020 (as shown in Net Work, March 2022). Britain’s Rolls-Royce is one of several blue-chip manufacturers scrambling to be at the forefront of SMR development, and last October the company was keen to remind us that it ‘had the only SMR technology in a European regulatory approval process, putting us almost two years ahead of any of our competitors. Securing a domestic contract is vitally important to unlock the enormous global export potential of our clean energy technology.’ The company is also keen to ‘reinforce its position as the SMR design that’s furthest advanced towards being deployed in the UK.’ Scoping for sites Rolls-Royce SMR is known to be scoping potential factory sites for manufacturing modules, including one in the author’s locality, but its SMR plans have yet to be granted full approval. Rivals in the SMR race include America’s NuScale, who were the first to have their proposals signed-off ready for production, as I reported in previous columns. NuScale has majored on the claim that they are ready to go with an approved design, and the firm says it has now started production of forgings for the first modules. Despite this, last November NuScale, by mutual agreement, pulled out of a major contract for its SMRs that were destined for a project in US state Utah, citing rising costs and non-viability. A statement by Dr Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists is more telling: he cites ‘regulatory corner-cutting’ and claims that ‘NuScale made several ill-advised design choices in an attempt to control the cost of its 14 reactor, but which raised numerous safety concerns.’ He goes on to say how it ‘reflects the fragility of the advanced nuclear power industry in the US, which has been driven by an oversupply of reactor developers and a lack of genuine demand’. The full statement is at: https://bit.ly/pe-apr24-ucsusa Despite this major setback, NuScale remains very upbeat and positive about the future, citing future projects including ones overseas that are in the pipeline. The scramble to get SMRs to market continues, and back in Britain a major step forward has been taken by a privately financed SMR project to build four SMRs in Teesside, in northeast England. Actual power generation using SMRs is still some ten years away and the Teesside plant is expected to start producing in the early 2030s. The supplier of the four reactors is neither Rolls-Royce nor NuScale, though, but America’s Westinghouse. Rolls-Royce has however been chosen as the preferred supplier for a site in West Cumbria and has its sights on delivering SMRs to the Netherlands as well. Rolls-Royce SMRs could also eventually be dedicated to producing clean fuels such as hydrogen. With the market for electric vehicles faltering, it’s worth noting that Honda and GM recently signed a joint venture to produce hydrogen fuel cells, which may ultimately find their way into vehicles of the future. Meantime a pilot project to heat an entire town, Redcar in northern England, using hydrogen has been shelved because the main source of hydrogen supply will not be available. Trials at Whitby and Ellesmere Port had also been shelved earlier. At the other end of the energy scale, for my own part, living in a rural area I still sometimes struggle with occasional power cuts. I’d just finished writing last month’s column when I had yet another unscheduled outage. Happily, my newly installed 9V and 12V uninterruptible power supplies (see previous months) held up magnificently, keeping my PC, The industry obsession with AI chatbots continues as Microsoft integrates Copilot into the Edge browser (described last month) and, eventually, the Windows d e s k t o p . G o o g l e ’s e x p e r i m e n t a l Bard chatbot was touted as ‘an early AI experiment that can boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity’ but was recently rebranded as Gemini, so you will soon be able to ‘chat with Gemini’ when searching online. A Google search reveals that the astrological sign Gemini is named after the constellation twins Castor and Pollux, so now you know! Bringing your pet dog to work was an idea that Amazon embraced at its Seattle HQ in its earliest days. Some 7,000 pooches are now registered across 40 office blocks, and more than 500 dogs are in the offices at any one time, Amazon says. It’s why you see a picture of a dog on an Amazon ‘Uh oh’ error page. Amazon is developing its own AI bot called Rufus, named after the very first dog (a Welsh corgi) ever to grace the office, where he was clearly a wellloved member of the Amazon team: https://bit.ly/pe-apr24-amz Amazon’s Rufus AI is a shopping assistant ‘bot that is currently undergoing beta house-training with select mobile app users in the US. He’ll be let off the leash across the US later this year, and presumably Rufus will obediently roll over into the UK in due course. (That’s enough dog puns.) Mozilla, the name behind the Firefox browser and Thunderbird email client, has launched a hobby project sharing journal called ‘DidThis’. It’s aimed at crafters, hobbyists, constructors, home chefs, writers, knitters, woodworkers, wedding planners, car restorers... anyone who’s got a personal project on the go and would like to share its progress and everything they experienced along the way. It could be a brilliant way of sharing electronics projects without having to resort to the vagaries of Facebook or a blog – you just use a smartphone to upload images. At the moment, DidThis works on iOS only, but an Android version is promised. Stories are kept ‘private’ by default. I think it’s a terrific idea – more details are at: Didthis.app That’s all this month – do remember that all the above web links are readymade for you on the Net Work blog at: www.electronpublishing.com The author can be reached at: alan<at>epemag.net Practical Electronics | April | 2024