This page covers what electronic devices, equipment and software I’m running right now.

What’s New?

Time since last update: 6 months.

Honestly, not much has changed!

  • I installed a new power supply into the archive server, removing an 11 year old 450W Antec unit, and replacing it with a new Fractal Design 550W unit, so slightly more capable. I’d still recommend Antec units.
  • Upgraded the Windows desktop machine to Windows 11. Windows 10 still has a year till EOL, but I may as well cut over now since you can move the Start menu from the middle to the left of the taskbar again, which I found a bit cluttered and distracting last time I tried it.

Hardware

Windows Desktop PC

My Frankenstein’s monster of a Windows box is mainly for audio and video editing, encoding, gaming and some work. It generally gets updated piecemeal.

Archive Server

Another self built machine with parts harking back over a decade in parts to 2013. It sometimes gets new parts, and sometimes gets older parts from the Windows box. It’s mainly used for file serving and media storage. I do update the disks more regularly!

Dell XPS 13

This is a 9360 model from mid 2018.

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-8250U
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Graphics: UHD 620
  • Drives: 256GB NVMe
  • Monitor: 13" 1080p
  • OS: Endeavour OS.

GMKtec NucBox 5

A small form factor mini PC. This runs my home ‘always on’ services such as Pihole and Syncthing. Almost silent and very small, but much quicker than the old Pi’s it replaces, especially on the web UIs.

  • CPU: Intel Celeron N5105 CPU & chipset
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Storage: 256GB M2 SATA SSD.
  • OS: Debian 12.

Software

Backups are handled via iDrive, using a private key for a little more security, since living in a wooden house in an earthquake zone does make me think about off-site backups quite a lot. For folder sync between machines I use Syncthing, and that’s only on LAN.

Most of the things I do are text based, so I try to keep it simple, using editors like Obsidian for most general stuff, as it helps organise things too. Photo management is mainly via digiKam and sometimes DarkTable.

I keep passwords in a Bitwarden vault and sensitive documents in VeraCrypt files.

Video editing

BlackMagic DaVinci Resolve 18.x on Windows is great for video editing, if a little overpowered for me, and I use both YouTube and Vimeo for video availability when I do put something online. I use LosslessCut for hacking away unneeded footage from my video excursions.

The Audio and the Visual

I have a FujiFilm X-T200 mirrorless camera (April 2020) with the 15-45mm kit lens, a 23mm weather sealed prime, a 16-80mm travel zoom and a cheap 60mm Macro lens from 7artisans.

For an action cam, I have a DJI Osmo Action 4. I like to use action cameras on the snowboard, bicycles, motorbikes and at beaches. For a long time I used GoPros (the 2, 5 and 7) but recently decided to give DJI a go.

In mid-2019 I indulged a long time interest in audio recording, and invested in a Rode NT1 microphone and a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface. Still loving them both.

Audio Editing

Since buying a proper microphone and audio interface, I went for Reaper as a cheap but easy to understand DAW. For the small fee it’s difficult to say how much nicer, fast and easier Reaper is than other options.

Gadgets

  • Google Pixel 6a smartphone (October 2023).
  • Kindle PaperWhite 2015 (September 2015).
  • Raspberry Pi’s of various generations (1-4) doing various things.
  • Arduino Uno and other electronics kit (2013 onwards).
  • Zoom H1 audio recorder.
  • Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones (February 2020).
  • Flexispot EQ5 Pro standing desk (December 2021).
  • Sony Playstation 5 for gaming (February 2023).

Hosting

This site and my email is housed on some space at Pair Networks.