# Raspberry Pi?



## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Anybody play with Raspberry? What did you do? Was it supper frustrating, or fun?

Curious...

Mon


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

It is beyond my level of interest, but I worked with an engineer that thought they were better than real pie. He loved them, but you gotta want to tinker a lot.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I've been working with PBX software lately and the Raspberry Pi is if interest to a lot of system admins for some reason. I'm told that the Raspberry Pi 3B+ is good for 5 to 10 extensions, which is a pretty limited installation. But honestly, I don't know why a system admin wouldn't just use an old desktop for the job. There is really no advantage to miniaturization with a PBX installation. Here's a link to the Rasp Pi 3B+ install package for a PBX.

http://nerdvittles.com/?p=21255

The primary use for those things is situations where low power consumption and miniaturization are important, while computer resources are not too demanding. Robotics is a good example of an application where you would be looking at a Raspberry Pi.

They're delightfully inexpensive, at around $40. Then you need a mini SD chip for a hard drive, an enclosure, and a mini usb cable for power cord. By the time it's all setup you'll have maybe $80 in it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263798486269

Be ready to work with Linux because the supported 32GB mini SD chip isn't really big enough for Windows.

Personally, I don't have a reason to fool with the Raspberry Pi myself.


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## 4tu (Jul 24, 2018)

I am nor interested as I can buy a off lease recent computer for less than 200 dollars that will accept windows or linux. and there is a bit of knowledge to install or add software that you may need for making this a TV or video console.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

4tu said:


> I am nor interested as I can buy a off lease recent computer for less than 200 dollars that will accept windows or linux. and there is a bit of knowledge to install or add software that you may need for making this a TV or video console.


The Raspberry Pi isn't usually used with a monitor. Access is normally accomplished by ssh session from a workstation, similar to admintrating a remotely located server from a workstation. It's pretty much all command line interface stuff. It just doesn't have enough resources for much more.

It's a pretty rudimentary device that's usually configured to do specific tasks. It's not the kind of thing you would want to use for a workstation computer.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

frogmammy said:


> Anybody play with Raspberry? What did you do? Was it supper frustrating, or fun?
> 
> Curious...
> 
> Mon


I have 5 or 6 Raspberry pi's of various versions around the house. Some are Just IOT devices, some are full on computers. 
They are pretty easy to setup and run. If you have a HDMI display device then all you need is a PI board, SD card and a keyboard/mouse. The key to making a pi work well is a good power supply. WHile they have a mini USB connect for power they cant really be power with a USB port on your computer. YOu need 2+ amps to power one correctly. 

Here one of mine with a 7 inch panel, camera and mini keyboard. I have a headless pi that acts as an web interface for my weather station and one that links with my solar charge controller. Several others are play boxes for IOT experiments.

I find them fun to play with and there is lots of people with them to ask for help if you run into issues.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Gary in ohio said:


> I have 5 or 6 Raspberry pi's of various versions around the house.


When I look at those things I wonder about processor heat. Do you do anything to get rid of heat, like an extended surface heat sink or a powered fan? I know that those Atom processors don't make a lot of heat, but still...


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Raspberry Pi:
3.1415


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Nevada said:


> When I look at those things I wonder about processor heat. Do you do anything to get rid of heat, like an extended surface heat sink or a powered fan? I know that those Atom processors don't make a lot of heat, but still...


My P3 has heat sinks on the CPU, The pi zero's I dont use anything. THe pi 2's depend on what your using them for. Heavy graphical then yea a small heatsink will help, headless you dont need anything.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

I use raspberry pies to provide music, access the audio books on the plex server and podcasts in the barn and shop where radios don't work due to the metal skin. I use them to control the lighting in the chicken coup as well as open and close the coup, chicken door. They also monitor and control the air settings on our power composting system. I'm a bit of a nerd....


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

TroyT said:


> I use raspberry pies to provide music, access the audio books on the plex server and podcasts in the barn and shop where radios don't work due to the metal skin. I use them to control the lighting in the chicken coup as well as open and close the coup, chicken door. They also monitor and control the air settings on our power composting system. I'm a bit of a nerd....


Cool stuff


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

I play around with Arduino which is similar if less powerful processor and while i still struggle with the programing the possibilities are endless.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

damoc said:


> I play around with Arduino which is similar if less powerful processor and while i still struggle with the programing the possibilities are endless.


If you're doing something simple or with a lot of analog data collection the Arduino is a good option. I've played with connecting Arduino's to Raspberry Pi's via USB. It' keeps the code size on the Arduino small and simple.


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