For all of my years puttering around computers and IT, I've never built a Raspberry Pi.
Until now.
I built one to power what's known as a Hamclock* that amateur radio hobbyists use to keep an eye on contact listings, what amateur radio bands are open (it's a shortwave/High Frequency thing, just roll with it) and what solar activity is.
Oh, and it has a nice graphic of the earth showing parts of the earth that are in daylight or night:
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| This is DL1GKK's Hamclock, which looks much more detailed that the graphic I have. From DL1GKK. |
Geochron makes those as well, but the digital ones cost $500 and the physical machines cost much more than that. My Hamclock is basically the cost of the Raspberry Pi, parts to put it together, and a spare monitor and/or keyboard + mouse.
Anyway, I figured I'd put Raspberry Pi in this week's Meme Monday.
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| Okay, let's get the low-hanging fruit out of the way. See what I did there? From Instagram. |
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| And yes, this is another popular meme type. From ifunny.co. |
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| When the most current powerful version of the Raspberry Pi came out, the Raspberry Pi 5, it was a bit difficult to find one in stock at first. From Zuyun Zeng. |
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| Again, unless you're in the know (and you are now) this would kind of make sense. From Memedroid. |
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| Apparently Raspberry Pi enthusiasts are a bit excited about their hobby. From Memedroid. |
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| But just like any other electronics project, you can go down the multi-week rabbit hole when you start on a new Raspberry Pi project. From imgflip via Medium. |
*Because of course ham radio would be involved.
I've thought about getting a Raspberry Pi, but I don't have any project that would need one. I hope it is a lot of fun and a long-term pleasure for you.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I look at this thing and I realize it's probably more powerful than a 486 or an OG Pentium, and I just kind of cry a little inside.
DeleteFor the record, here's the pricing for the stuff (from Microcenter):
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W: $15
Micro Connectors Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero 2 W Starter Case Kit: $18
Raspberry Pi USB 3.0 Hub USB C: $15
The Starter Case Kit included a micro HDMI to HDMI adapter, a small power supply , a micro USB to USB adapter, a small screwdriver, a few heatsinks, a HAT pin connector you can solder to your Pi Zero (I didn't need that), and a small acrylic case you can put together for the Zero or Zero 2 W. Considering the price of those items individually, all that for $18 is really nice.
I had a 32 GB micro SD card that I used to flash the Pi OS onto, and from that point I was operating on the Pi itself. If you're at all used to LINUX/UNIX the commands are familiar.