Category: Bought

I used to have an old-fashioned carpenter pencil in my toolbox but grew tired of sharpening it with a box knife and being too bulky to mark recessed holes. The (partial) solution: the “Pica-Dry 3030 Longlife Automatic Pencil.”

Think of the Pica-Dry as an oversized mechanical pencil with a sheath containing a sharpener. It’s that simple. Because of having the sharp tip in the middle, it’s way more precise than regular carpenter pencils. It can also mark small-ish holes that wouldn’t fit a square pencil, though often I find myself with a hole that’s still too narrow to fit the metal rod that holds the lead.

PS: I also have the Pica-Ink marker, which is good for marking plastics and metal.

Pro

• Very good belt clip
• Built-in sharpener
• Replacement lead sold separately

Con

• Still a bit too “fat” for me
• When putting the pencil in the sheath, it’s (too) easy to press the button

I’ve been dabbling in home automation for years, starting with running Z-Wave devices through a RaZberry shield on a Raspberry Pi running Domoticz. Currently, I have a NUC running Home Assistant with an Aeotec “Z-Stick Gen5+”; a device in a USB-stick form factor. Though I like the stability of my Z-Wave network, and the maximum of 232 devices doesn’t bother me, there is one issue: Z-Wave uses proprietary software and requires manufacturers to have their devices certified, making those devices more expensive than the alternative: ZigBee.

ZigBee uses an open network standard, which lies at the core of some well-known brands: Philips Hue and IKEA’s range of smart switches and plugs use ZigBee, with the latter providing a growing range of very competitively priced products. For my Home Assistant installation to control ZigBee devices, it needs to be able to connect to the network. There are multiple options to do so, but I landed on the ZigStar Stick v4. Its design is open-source, including 3D print files for its housing and print files for its PCB. While I very much appreciate that, buying a single pre-assembled item from its creator is more cost-effective, so that’s what I did.

The device is shaped like a USB stick and has an SMA antenna port (and a +3dBi antenna to attach to it; I used a slightly larger +5dBi antenna I bought on Amazon). Something I missed before purchasing, but it wasn’t a big deal, is that you must flash it with the correct firmware for your use case. It has a built-in USB-to-UART interface, and the creator offers a very user-friendly app for flashing the device. Getting everything downloaded and installed took less than fifteen minutes.

So far, I have only connected it to an IKEA USB range extender (on the first floor) and an IKEA power socket with a built-in relay (on the second floor), so I have a solid basis for a mesh network across three floors. When my three ZigBee-enabled MiLight LED dimmers arrive, I can hook up some LED strips and LED garden lights. I have no doubt the ZigStar will serve me well!

Pro

• Open-source
• Antenna included
• Works out of the box with Home Assistant and ZigBee2MQTT

Con

• Requires technical knowledge to download and flash the correct firmware; not a product for average consumers

I bought a Weber Spirit II E-310 GBS (not really; more on that later) propane gas grill at the Dutch Weber Store. I’m not quite sure what their deal is: they are not part of Weber itself, but they use their name and sell everything Weber? They offered the best deal – €50 below any other retailer or Weber.com – and in the end, their support was pretty great, too.

PS: You might notice how this same model is sold by Weber in the US for (currency converted) ~€530 while they are priced at €749 in their Dutch store. The markup, in this case over 41% (!), on anything barbecue is crazy over here.

First, about the GBS, or “Gourmet Barbecue System.” GBS Weber grills (gas grills and kettle grills) come with grates with a round hole in the middle, which holds another grate. The idea is that you spend too much money on buying Weber accessories such as a wok, pizza stone, and other things that fit in the hole after removing the center grate. In practice, it’s not that useful.

After placing the order, I noticed that the Spirit II E-310 GBS comes with two rectangular grates that sit side by side, both of them with a half circular hole in them, which fits the round center grate. I had already bought an official Weber griddle insert the size of one of the two rectangular grates. To use that, I’d have to remove one grate and the circular grate, leaving me with a griddle and one rectangular grate with half a hole in it. Weber’s solution? Buy an additional rectangular grate without the hole if you want to griddle and grill simultaneously!

I contacted the Weber Store – again, which isn’t actually Weber – to tell them how displeased I am with that approach, and I asked them whether we could arrange a solution. I suggested they replace the GBS grates with two plain rectangular ones, which are exactly the same minus the middle hole. They could use the GBS grates for spare parts, and the retail value of the replacement grates is about €15 less than a set of replacement GBS grates (I was willing to pay that price). They promptly agreed, which both surprised and delighted me.

The box the grill comes in is heavy, weighing nearly 70kg. After breaking my back getting that in the house, and starting assembly, it turned out that the undercarriage and lid were both massively damaged. I got to take the whole thing apart and arrange a replacement.

At first, the Dutch Weber Store wanted Weber the Netherlands – yes, it’s very confusing – to handle the replacement directly. Based on previous slow interactions with Weber, I asked them to replace it and work it out with Weber themselves. They agreed to that immediately, but then again, under Dutch law, they had to anyway. Still, communication was great, and they even called me on the phone to apologize.

A week later, the replacement grill arrived, which consisted of plenty of refurbished parts. Parts of the undercarriage, the wheels, and the axle had been part of a previously assembled but unused model. I guess that Weber salvages parts that can be reused from returns like mine, which is fine with me. Putting the grill together took about an hour and is easy to do solo.

Anyway, the grill itself is fine. I’m used to charcoal, briquettes, and wood, so it took two cooks to get used to using propane, but with great results. Would I buy this as a replacement for my Weber kettle, Weber Go Anywhere, or Rösle vertical smoker? No. But for a quick weekday dinner, it beats fiddling with fire after a long day of work. This one is more of a “let’s grill and not get the kitchen dirty” and less of a “let’s all sit at the table while I grill” device.

Pro

• Easy to assemble alone
• Works well for its intended use; not a charcoal replacement

Con

• Poor quality control (even the replacement came with a damaged knob)
• Doesn’t provide that charcoal taste or feeling