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Coronicles OutOfTopic

Pulse oximeter

An informative video explains about importance of oxygen level in blood as a percentage of saturation level.

Recommended oxygen level is 94+ percent. And rather than instantaneous value the trend over a few days would be more indicative of any cause of concern.

Video duration 10+ minutes.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=925062557955697&id=1725157181127

थोडक्यात महत्वाचे
कोरोना झालेल्या बऱ्याच पेशंटचे रक्तातले ऑक्सीजनचे प्रमाण सातत्याने कमी होत राहते आणि श्वास घ्यायला मात्र त्रास होत नाही

साध्या न्यूमोनियामध्ये श्वास घ्यायला लवकर त्रास सुरू होतो, त्यामुळे पेशंट लगेचच आपणहून डॉक्टरकडे जातो.

कोरोना मध्ये मात्र अशी काहीही लक्षणे न दिसता ऑक्‍सिजनचे प्रमाण कमी कमी होत राहते, म्हणूनच बऱ्याच केसेस मध्ये अचानक इमर्जन्सी उद्भवू शकते

यावर आपण घरच्या घरी करू शकू असा उपाय म्हणजे – साधे पल्स ऑक्सीमीटर हे यंत्र वापरून आपल्या रक्तातली ऑक्सिजनची पातळी मोजत राहणे

आता आपल्याकडे दोन पर्याय आहेत
एकतर रीतसर ऑक्सीमीटर इन्स्ट्रुमेंट घेऊन येणे किंवा काही निवडक फोन मॉडेल साठी फक्त एक ॲप इन्स्टॉल करून फोनचा कॅमेरा आणि/ किंवा एलईडी सेन्सर वापरून थोडी कमी अचुकता असलेले रीडींग घ्यायचे.

The app in the link below seems to be only for iPhone, does not show up on my phone playstore (must be due to incompatibility with my Redmi note4)

https://www.digidoctech.no/products-1.html

Requesting all iPhone users to try this app and be informed about oxygen levels of your own and your near and dear ones. Someone reported that Apple stopped supporting such apps.

Also there are some Samsung specific apps.

A request to readers to please report any and all who can or cannot use this or any similar app.

मी गुगल प्ले स्टोअर मध्ये काही ॲप पाहिली
माझ्या फोनला सेंसर शिवाय चालू शकेल असे ॲप सापडले नाही

So then I decided to purchase one such pulse oximeter from Bafna Surgicals near Louis wadi Thane.

It is from a brand named ChoiceMMed and costed me 2500 INR. Works on 2 pencil cell batteties and displays pulse rate per minute and oxygen level in percent.

Opinion of doctors also taken, as per them it’s good to self check anyways.

The first link of the video was shared by my school group friends and also mentioned about experience with such an instrument and about app based measurements taken.

Good to share such information in the current panic pandemic, and the instrument if available at hand can be used to help people in your locality to self check themselves.

It would be good to insist that the person must wash hands with soap before using the instrument.

Categories
Environment

Mini Weather Station (DIY)

A simple Arduino based weather station is installed outside of the window of my house in Thane, Maharashtra, India 400602.

Weatherstation Device
Weatherstation Device

Supported by the home WiFi network it keeps logging the temperature and relative humidity data to the Thingspeak platform. All / most of the components used are open-source and easily available in local electronic market or online.

And the data is logged every 2 minute thus near realtime…….

The weather data can also be viewed at the link https://thingspeak.com/channels/566830

Temperature DegC for last 2 days

Relative Humidity % for last 2 days

So far, 2 years of data has been captured at every 2 minutes. The trend is typical and repeats every year with a few changes.

Can this data be used to conclusively confirm about global warming and climate change?

May be not.

It requires many years (5 or 10?) of data to be logged and also at various multiple locations.

So, anyone interested in installing such a weather station?

The device is about 1100 to 1300 INR for the cost of components, and may take upto 2 to 5 watt of continous power consumption and about 2MB data per day.

If anyone is keen to track the local temperature and humidity, please get in touch.

It is a small device about 4 x 4 x 2 inch PVC box and need to be installed under some kind of weather shed.

All you need to have is below.

  1. A ventilated outdoor space, it can be a balcony / terrace, but no direct sunlight and no direct rainfall at least where the device will be mounted.
  2. A continously available WiFi data network.
  3. Source of electricity to power the device.

It will be really great and interesting, if we team up for multiple such stations at various geographical locations.

Categories
Environment

Carbon Footprint

This may sound to be only a jargon. But in simple words it means the amount of carbon dioxide (and heat energy) gets released in environment due to activities of a person or of a community – either individually or as a group.

And why should one be worried about this? Short answer is – more the CO2 and/or heat released in atmosphere more will be the adverse impact on weather, surroundings, flora and fauna and even the seasons and annual cycles of rain and winter and summer.

This can be calculated or estimated to a very accurate detail but will need lots of data.

So here above is a simple calculation for typical urban or semi-rural lifestyle of current days. As of corona outbreak the human activity has significantly reduced worldwide and so is the impact on environment – expected to have reduced.

Please go through the list and verify how much is your contribution.

Comments please.

Categories
Energy Saving

Energy Efficient Fan – Atomberg

Most of us have been using traditional ceiling fans with speed regulators. These are capacitor operated single phase induction motors and at the power rating of about 60-80 watt, the motors can not be manufactured to be energy efficient due to the price tag considerations.

That is where the newer companies are bringing to market the trend of super efficient fans with Brushless DC Motor (BLDC) and added features like a remote control for speed selection. The motor inherently runs at  much lesser power consumption and especially if the usage hours for the fan are 6+ per day, the additional cost pays back in 1 to 2 years depending on billing slab /tariff of your electric connection.

A commonly found and good brand is atomberg, my personal experience with this company and having purchased more than 4+ fans so far, has been excellent.

The actual power consumption was measured and to be found in range of 22 watts for lower speed to 33 watts at full speed, whereas the traditional fan crosses the 100 watts at full speed.

So go for it, it is sure to bring down your electricity bill and also in a way you will contribute to reduced impact on environment. 

Especially for those who need to replace a damaged fan or if a new fan is anyways to be purchased, this one goes as the most obvious option. Even if an existing working fan is to be replaced with this new fan, the cost paid back in about 3 years.

Add to it the comfort of a remote speed control, very useful for senior citizen.

Besides having basic low cost models shown here in the first picture which is priced at around 3000 INR, they do also have fancier and stylish models to choose from.

And I am sure there must be also other brands to explore.

https://atomberg.com/

Categories
Community Work Solar Energy

Solar Project for Vanvasi Kalyan Ashramshala…. Part 1

It all started way back in 2017 when in a small discussion with Rahul we thought of contributing for a cause through our own efforts and in a manner which will bring in recurring financial benefits to an establishment such as a school.

Such a known school was at Uttekhol, Mangaon District Raigad of Maharashtra. This is run by Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, where about 400 students stay in and learn through classical schooling classes + skills training laboratories. Most of the students are from Katkari and Adivasi, Thakur families in Kokan region.

The school requires funds for many types of expenses and one of them is electricity bill of around 100000 INR per year from over 7 different electric consumer connections / meters provided by MSEDCL. This led us to propose a solar grid tie netmetering installation for the school.

And that is is how it all started….

Categories
Water

Suranga – A fantastic source of water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yglADx4DFlE

This is about manmade cisterns / small tunnels in laterite hillocks. The seepage of rainwater makes them a great source of water round the year.

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About Us

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Water, Energy and Environment – the trio we depend on a lot besides the basics. This website is an attempt to collate various efforts and related information.