{"id":44,"date":"2021-08-14T16:27:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T16:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.unixcat.net\/?p=44"},"modified":"2021-08-14T16:27:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T16:27:21","slug":"goings-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.unixcat.net\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Goings On"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I wish I had some progress to post about, but I will take a few moments to just talk about some scraps of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m seriously considering moving this blog to a static site, and have been looking at Hugo<\/a>. I like the idea of composing posts in a text editor, and then regenerating the site when neede<\/p>\n\n\n\n

d. I would probably integrate this blog (or a blog like thing) with the front page, ie have a similar layout, style, etc., and maybe add more static-type pages. I might even stop using the wiki, which was kind of my first thought of how this would go: Blog for routine or semi routine updates, wiki for more ‘permanent’ stuff, like how-to guides. I may just keep the wiki around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had considered writing my own static site generator, probably throwing something together in Perl. I’m not sure it’s worth doing that. One of the drivers for this was an idea I had about a system to accept comments via email, which I could integrate with my own static site generator. I may just look at doing something with Hugo for that, we’ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog does get a decent amount of comments, but most (practically all) of them are spam. I could probably just not bother with it at all, but in the days of my whatsmykarma.com site, some legit comments actually would trickle through. I’ll have to see. I’m going to have to play with Hugo quite a bit, then look at migrating away from WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve had some electrical projects in mind for a while, the first of which is a buck converter, which I’ve posted about before. One of the parts I was using (a MOSFET) doesn’t seem to be available, so I’ll probably just pick a new one. At this point I need to work on the layout, so I’ll have some KiCad work ahead. That should be fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point of that is to not just design the buck converter, but also do the controls. And layout… And conceive of it as a ‘product,’ not just a circuit I put together. In other words, a box with terminals that will have usefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leads me to my other project, significantly more of which remains in my imagination right now. And that is an inverter\/charger – a power inverter that can also rectify, acting as a battery charger. Kind of like a UPS, but not exactly uninterruptible. I mean, it should be, ideally, but the intent is more for seamlessly switching AC loads to another source and charging a battery, as opposed to keeping computers from going down. Think off-grid power system verses data center application. (Of course, there’s overlap in terms of the technology and applications.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first incarnation of this would go from 12 VDC (nominal) to 120 VRMS AC, sine wave output, at about 250 watts. There are a couple reasons for this project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n