Category: Uncategorized

Skullcandy Hesh 2 Wireless Headphones

I’m a big fan of these headphones even though they first came out about 5 years ago. A few years ago I was having some issues with my Motorola Buds so I needed to switch to something else temporarily. It turns out we already had the Skullcandy Hesh 2 Wireless headphones in our house. Before I started using this pair of headphones I hadn’t heard much about Skullcandy. Everything that I had heard implied that it was focused on improving it’s cool-factor and not necessarily too focused on producing quality products. That all changed when I put the headphones on and paired them with my phone. It turns out that the audio was actually quite good for me.

I’m not an audiophile by any means but I do tend to be detail oriented when evaluating certain things. One of the things that I tend to notice imperfections in is consumer goods and especially electronics related consumer goods. With that said, I was quite satisfied with the sounds coming from these headphones insofar as I didn’t notice any glaring imperfections. The music that I initially listened to sounded balanced, clear, with no definitive bias toward highs, mids, or lows. As I went through all the different kinds of music I listen to I found little to complain about. Whether I was listening to Jazz, Pop, Electronic, Hip-Hop, Vocal Podcasts, or anything in between, it all sounded pretty good.

Let’s now look at some of the non-audio related features of these headphones.

  • I’ve worn them regularly for as long as 4 hours without breaks and haven’t experienced any noticeable fatigue.
  • The pairing process is fairly standard in that turning them on initially will put them into pairing mode if you haven’t paired them with any device before. Holding the power on button from the off state will put them into pairing mode no matter what (which helps pair to additional devices). Switching between connected devices is fairly easy in that the headphones remember the last few devices paired with so as long as they’re not connected to a specific device one can connect them to any previously paired device at will. This works 99% of the time reliably, which, with Bluetooth implementation variations among vendors is actually pretty good.
  • Longevity seems to be quite good as I’ve used them for at least 10 hours per week for the past 2 years without issue. There is some paint chipping in a few places on the band but overall they look as good as the first days I used them. With how consumer electronics tend to be designed for short lifetimes, this level of longevity has already impressed me.
  • Maximum wireless distance with line of sight seems to be quite good as I tend to walk around our house without losing connectivity. I estimate 30 feet from the audio source is the minimum I get without issue.
  • Battery life has continued to impress me in that I get at least 10-12 hours of battery life even after 2 years of regular usage. I believe the manufacturer estimated battery life on a full charge is 15 hours, so this is still fairly good. Charging the headphones does take 2-3 hours but these use the older micro-USB charger and don’t support any newer fast charging protocol.
  • These headphones have a pretty good microphone and I take calls on them almost every day with no issue. I’ve been told that my voice sounds clear to callers and I can hear their voices with reasonable clarity as well.

Overall I continue to be satisfied and enjoy using these headphones on a near daily basis after 2 years of regular usage. I have purchased newer headphones that support Bluetooth 5.0 and have fast charging and Active Noise Canceling features. None of them have satisfied me enough to make them my daily drivers. I do use other Bluetooth headphones periodically, but I tend to come back to the Skullcandy Hesh 2 Wireless over and over as the best overall paid of Bluetooth headphones I’ve used so far.

If you want to pick up a pair grab them at Amazon (non-affiliate link):
https://www.amazon.com/Skullcandy-Bluetooth-Headphones-Microphone-Rechargeable/dp/B00NCSIN4W/?th=1

European Multi-point Lock Home Automation

So after two years of struggling with a simple European-style multi-point lock in the United States, I can finally breath a sign of relief in that I can remotely control the lock! Well, sort of. The thing that you have to remember is that the kind of multi-point lock that we have requires the handle to be lifted (engage multi-point) before engaging the deadbolt. This makes it basically impossible to remotely lock the deadbolt if someone forgot to raise the handle.

Despite the “raising the handle to lock” caveat, everything else works. I can see when the lock has been unlocked in Home Assistant. I can also unlock the door remotely or via presence automation!

This is a huge deal as now I can notify on state changes and get my Home Assistant or node-red systems take action based on lock state (and maybe battery status, if I spend some more time).

This project all started with trying to find the right way to retrofit a multi-point locking mechanism with something that is at least electronic and preferably Z-Wave controllable. After weeks of research and cost-benefit analysis, I settled on taking the plunge on importing a Z-Wave lock from the UK. I ended up with pretty much the only viable option at a sub $2,000 price, the Yale Conexis L1:

The bad news is that Yale is not necessarily the most adept at making software to manage their decently built locks. So once my UK imported lock arrived in the US, I installed it, and was immediately stuck with being unable to download the Yale Conexis L1 Android app. Naturally, there had to be a geographic restriction on a lock. Why? I have no clue. Doesn’t seem like there’s any “licensing” issues. I’m sure someone will tell me it’s related to encryption export restrictions, but that seems a ridiculous argument for a consumer lock mechanism.

To get around the app issue, I found an APK on the many APK repositories that do not have geographic restrictions. With the help of a geographically diverse VPN I was able to activate the app as if I was in the UK. After that, I linked the app with the lock and was able to unlock it via Bluetooth. This was good but I’m not one to shy away from going further. To be fair, unlocking the door by having to pull out your phone and open an app seems pretty cumbersome when you’re trying to automate your home. So the next step was to be able to control the lock via Z-Wave.

Cue importing a Z-Wave module that is inserted into the top of the lock.

Once you install this module, you realize that it runs on EU Z-Wave frequencies. Cue importing a EU Z-Wave controller from Amazon UK. After waiting for almost 10 days to receive said controller, Amazon lost it at my front door. Marked as delivered, nowhere to be found. The next step in the journey was to order a similar controller (Aeotec Z-Stick S2 UK) from eBay. This arrived in one piece.

The next challenge was how to integrate a second Z-Wave module into an existing Z-Wave network. I ended up installing the controller into the same server as my first Z-Wave controller but spun up a second Docker container for another instance of Home Assistant dedicated to the lock. This worked well and I did a happy dance when I clicked the UNLOCK button in the Home Assistant and it actually worked.

The only thing left was to duplicate state and control over to my primary Home Assistant instance. This wasn’t too hard to do but did require some Home Assistant automations and some MQTT communications channels between the two home assistant instances. After a few hours of tweaking I now have full control of the lock from my primary Home Assistant instance!

What’s the overall message? Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Don’t give up on your home automation journey!