Raspberry Pi Collection 2021

 It has been a while since I last showed off my collection of Raspberry Pi computers.

Left column:

• Raspberry Pi 1B
• Raspberry Pi 1B
• Raspberry Pi 3
• Pimoroni Octocam (Raspberry Pi Zero W)
• Pimoroni Pirate Audio (Raspberry Pi Zero W)
• Pimoroni Enviro (Raspberry Pi Zero W)

Right column

• Pimoroni Breakout Garden (Raspberry Pi Zero W)
• Raspberry Pi 4 4GB in Heatsink case
• Raspberry Pi 4 8GB in Heatsink case
• Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

This is not quite the full collection, the Raspberry Pi Zero with the official Raspberry Pi camera is, well not to hand.

My Raspberry Pi collection

This is my collection of Raspberry Pis.

None are retired, some see more use than others.

My First Raspberry Pi

This was bought in a sale at Maplins in (I think) 2013. It was in a deluxe starter set with a case, a wireless keyboard with track pad, a WiFi dongle, powered hub and power supply. I bemused the member of staff by checking the Raspberry Pi it was made in the UK.

The Raspberry Pi (1) required a USB WiFi dongle (visible in the photograph above).

It is currently in use as a command line only MariaDB SQL server, though there are a number of other SD cards for it in the SD Card box.

Second Raspberry Pi

This was another sale item from Maplins. This starter set was the base level one that had a conventional wired keyboard and mouse, WiFi dongle, powered hub and power supply.

I also bought another case, similar to the one above.

Later I bought a number of add on boards that I could not get into the case. Maplins (again) had the Pimoroni PiBow cases, and so I bought one of those.

They are made of laser cut acrylic slices that you stack on top of each other and the board is held securely inside). As supplied, there was a clear panel over the top of the board, but by shuffling the top panel to the bottom, you can have an open top that allows access to the GPIO.

This side shot shows the slices, and you can see the intended top slice on the bottom. The pattern visible on the clear (ex top)  slice is where the various access ports and grill are visible.

Pimoroni now do a range of cases without the top panel, the Breakout Garden Pi Zero makes use of one of them.

This one is used where I want to access the GPIO pins directly. It has been used on the Raspberry Pi Foundation Physical Computing course and measuring temperature using a DS18D20 sensor.

Raspberry Pi 3

This was bought in WH Smiths of all places (and I also bought the camera), the bonus was the I had a discount card! It has an Official Raspberry Pi case.

The case allows some access to the GPIO, but a number of HATS interfere with the support pillar visible in the photograph below.

This is a most travelled Raspberry Pi, it gets to go on holiday (I have an micro SD card with various podcasts and iPlayer programmes. It also allows me to back up photographs if required).

It normally has my development micro SD in place, with all the languages and tools I use.

The OctoCam

This is one of Pimoroni's projects in a box.

 It comprises a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a 5Mp camera, Mini HDMI to HDMI cable, an On The Go cable and optional headers and stickers.

This uses the MotionEyeOS to function as a web cam.

Breakout Garden Pi

This is detailed here.

This is a Raspberry Pi Zero W with pre-soldered header in  a Pibow Zero W case combined with a Pibow Breakout Base.

This normally runs as a temperature (plus humidity and pressure) display using a BME280 breakout board with the results displayed on the 1.12" screen.

Raspberry Pi Zero W

This Raspberry Pi Zero W is in an Official case and uses the top plate with the camera mount.

The camera was bought at the same time as the Raspberry Pi 3. Fitted in the Zero case provides a suitable housing. It is part of a project to scan ISBN numbers (and will be powered by a USB battery pack).

Pirate Audio headphones' amp

Another Pimoroni project.

This uses a Pi Zero with pre-soldered header and the board to produce a music server.

As I have a large number of CDs, it also incorporates python software to copy files from CDs.

Details of the project here.

Raspberry Pi 4

The Raspberry Pi 4 is in a Pimoroni Heat Sink case. It uses micro HDMI sockets and is powered via a USB C socket. It is currently due to take over the development Raspberry Pi slot.

LinkSprite GPS Shield

The LinkSprite GPS shield provides GPS data for Arduino and compatible microcontrollers.

Another purchase from Maplin, this has not particularly good instructions. The photograph on the instructions page is unclear as to how to set up the shorting pins to select the serial port.

The shield takes an SD card, note that due to its advanced age, it only takes SD cards - not SDHC and above. It is a bit difficult to find 2GB cards.

References:

http://linksprite.com/wiki/index.php5?title=GPS_Shield_With_SD_Card_Slot_for_Arduino_V2.0_B

Ciseco Xino RF microcontroller

The Ciseco Xino RF is an Arduino Uno compatible microcontroller with a built in radio module.

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Maplins stocked the Raspberry Wireless Inventor Kit for the the original Raspberry Pi. It included a Xino RF micro and a matching radio card for the 26 pin connector on the original Raspberry Pi. There was a set in the Maplins closing down sale which was about the same price as an Arduino Uno (but with added LEDs etc) so I added it to my collection (I bought one with my original Model B).

The Xino RF can be used as an Arduino with the added advantage that it uses a Mini USB for power (the DC in port is the highest point on the board, unlike on the UNOs where the USB-A connector with a metal case is the highest point. There is a sketch available that will return it to the Wireless Inventors mode.

LinkSprite LCD Arduino Shield

The LinkSprite 16x2 LCD Shield is a display shield for Arduino compatible microcontrollers.

Maplins (late supplier of electronic bits) stocked a range of LinkSprite products. One of many problems was they had a lot of rather ancient stuff that sat on shelves and was more of interest to archaeologists. With the loss of Maplins, it can be difficult to identify the particular items, but LinkSprite does still have a products wiki here.

Do be aware that the pins used by this LCD shield do not match those on the Arduino examples sketches. To make it more confusing, the example code on the LinkSprite site works (by setting the values in the initialization call) but has not had the pin selection changed in the comments.

If you use the Arduino LCD Shield "HelloWorld" example code, you need to change the pins used :

•  LCD RS pin to digital pin 8
•  LCD Enable pin to digital pin 9
•  LCD D4 pin to digital pin 4
•  LCD D5 pin to digital pin 5
•  LCD D6 pin to digital pin 6
•  LCD D7 pin to digital pin 7
•  Wiper to LCD VO pin (pin 3)

//const int rs = 12, en = 11, d4 = 5, d5 = 4, d6 = 3, d7 = 2;
const int rs = 8, en = 9, d4 = 4, d5 = 5, d6 = 6, d7 = 7; 

Ensure that the pins are not in use by any other shields or added hardware.

References:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/LiquidCrystal
http://linksprite.com/wiki/index.php5?title=16_X_2_LCD_Keypad_Shield_for_Arduino_V2
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HelloWorld