I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard • Hacker News Board

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#351

Post by AuthAuth » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC

IanCal wrote: post #269

AuthAuth wrote: post #18

This is awesome but I still find it funny that he said he wants a healthy relationship with technology then goes and fits his entire house out with technology. It doesnt seem like any of this would really be useful as you'd have to enter all the useful data manually(calendar). For example the washing machine. You dont need real time information because you know how long it takes since you've done it 1000s of times an…

A healthy relationship with technology isn't the same as not using technology. > It doesnt seem like any of this would really be useful as you'd have to enter all the useful data manually(calendar). You have to enter calendar data somewhere, right now I often have the same info or different subset split between my calendar, work ones, my wifes one and the one on the wall. Even the paper version requires having entere…

I dont wait for the noise. I dont wait for the washing machine to finish. I put it on and then at some point later in the day I hang it out. No one is struggling to know if the washing machine is on you can hear it.

Spending $1000s on this setup and running it 24/7 is a waste in every regard except hobby enjoyment.

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#352

Post by giwook » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 7:25 PM UTC

hdjrudni wrote: post #264

keyle wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks good, the refresh rate... does not! 200ms for partial refresh, ouch. The ease of integrations might make up for it, though.

is 200ms actually an issue if you're just using it to display static content?

Nope.

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#353

Post by embedding-shape » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 7:31 PM UTC

firesteelrain wrote: post #302

encrypted_bird wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OpenMeteo is pretty amazing too, and doesn't require an account or API key, which is nice.

I incorporated OpenMeteo into a project recently and got frustrated with their aggressive rate limiting. If in the US, weather dot gov has an excellent, free API. Or, OpenWeatherAPI which works internationally and has support for more things that weather dot gov does not. OpenWeatherAPI will also synthetically provide weather data based on their models if there is missing station data

> I incorporated OpenMeteo into a project recently and got frustrated with their aggressive rate limiting

Which one? They seem to do 600 calls / min, 5.000 calls / hour, 10.000 calls / day, 300.000 calls / month, how many times do you need to look up the weather for personal use? Fine, maybe you want 3 different locations, you can still call each of those sufficiently with those rate limits, no?

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#354

Post by embedding-shape » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 7:34 PM UTC

IanCal wrote: post #236

bayesianbot wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something like LD2410 [0]. IIRC there's newer ones that report accurate position and even heart beat rate, but I've forgotten the names of those.. [0] https://dronebotworkshop.com/ld2410c-human-sensor/

Here’s one https://thepihut.com/products/60ghz-mmwave-breathing-and-hea... Same kind of tech but higher frequency.

> The MR60BHA2 is a 60GHz wave sensor that detects breathing and heartbeat patterns. Using its radar technology, it can monitor vital signs without direct contact, even through materials like clothing or bedding. You can use it for sleep monitoring, health assessments, and presence detection.

This is kind of crazy, I had no idea this was a thing. And here I have PIR sensors all over the place and hacks around those, that definitively sounds much better. Besides being more expensive and weaker range, any drawbacks for using it for motion sensing?

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#355

Post by j45 » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 7:46 PM UTC

AuthAuth wrote: post #122

j45 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology working for you is different than you working for technology.

This guy spent months working on this. He was working for technology.

More than a little while with it friend :)

Free scrolling = free labour for those brands.

Where every screen can be a rabbit hole to consume something other than what the dashboard has it's a worthwhile consideration.

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#356

Post by oneneptune » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 7:59 PM UTC

embedding-shape wrote: post #353

firesteelrain wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I incorporated OpenMeteo into a project recently and got frustrated with their aggressive rate limiting. If in the US, weather dot gov has an excellent, free API. Or, OpenWeatherAPI which works internationally and has support for more things that weather dot gov does not. OpenWeatherAPI will also synthetically provide weather data based on their models if there is missing station data

> I incorporated OpenMeteo into a project recently and got frustrated with their aggressive rate limiting Which one? They seem to do 600 calls / min, 5.000 calls / hour, 10.000 calls / day, 300.000 calls / month, how many times do you need to look up the weather for personal use? Fine, maybe you want 3 different locations, you can still call each of those sufficiently with those rate limits, no?

a redis geospatial index + redis distribution locks you can build a performant cache layer that is consumed by a ton of people and stay well under that rate limit.... the weather data only updates every 5 minutes too, so you can use that for your cache ttl.

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#357

Post by ryanckulp » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 8:06 PM UTC

IanCal wrote: post #235

boneitis wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gonna piggyback here to second this and chime in to say I went with the BYOD screen linked within your link for $49 (SKU 104991005). It's definitely more barebones and probably not even as cost-effective if you're still planning on buying the "lifetime" TRMNL API access. I don't have easy access to a 3d printer, so I just have mine sitting on an extra phone stand I had lying around that can be had for a few bucks fro…

FWIW you need to pay for the trmnl key ($50) to use your own device with their servers, but if you run a server yourself you don’t need to pay. I’m very tempted, a lot lower resolution than a kindle but it’d be pretty cool.

you can point a higher def Kindle to TMRNL, either our closed source web app or free to an open source server.

https://github.com/usetrmnl/trmnl-kindle https://github.com/usetrmnl/trmnl-koreader

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#358

Post by ryanckulp » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 8:09 PM UTC

kelipso wrote: post #201

ryanckulp wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what do you think it should be called? for ~$15 optional one time bucks people get 24/7 access to the entire engineering team, me, prioritized feature dev, and can earn monthly payouts from our Creator Fund. we don’t charge a subscription, obviously i’m partial but this model has serves us well. and most of the developer edition fee goes right back to the community via bounties, perks, etc.

Developer Access or something like that, and put part of your comment in there. I would remove the word Unlock entirely, it implies you’re locking code, as opposed to providing a service.

we call it Developer Edition, i think this is functionality the same. https://trmnl.com/blog/developer-edition

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#359

Post by bavaga » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC

rmccue wrote: post #314

bavaga wrote: post #249

This article makes me want to finally start the dashboard project that's been living in my procrastination backlog for years. One of the main blockers has been the cost of larger, high-resolution e-paper displays. I was considering using an ESP32 to drive one, but the display pricing always felt like the convenient excuse. Reading through the helpful comments here, I'm starting to think there might be more viable opt…

I’ve been procrastinating on one as well, but I can recommend the Inkplate devices, which come with a ESP32, battery, and a case (optionally); handy platform to hack on. (If only it were so easy to finish the project…)

Thanks for the hint!

Re: I built Timeframe, our family e-paper dashboard

#360

Post by JoshTriplett » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 8:34 PM UTC

connorshinn wrote: post #177

JoshTriplett wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen any that include a touchscreen? Would be nice for extremely simple home controls (e.g. thermostat, music).

Agreed! I was able to track one down (at least I think): https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/31-5-e-ink-13-3_16013... A bit more expensive than the one I linked previously at $1,400, though it's a full color display. It's unfortunately missing a description, so the only evidence that it's a touch screen is in the title itself. Would obviously require some due diligence with the manufacturer. I'm sure there are oth…

> Operation System ANDROID7

> Communication 4G Wifi BLUETOOTH

A world of no in so many ways. Nothing still running Android 7 should be connected to the Internet, and in any case I don't want a display that has a computer and networking in it (though I realize some people do want that). I'm specifically trying to find an E-ink touchscreen that's just a display, to be attached to a real computer whose software can be updated and customized.

Thank you for the pointer, though!