Raspberry Pi Club

Posted on March 21, 2024 Updated on April 5, 2024

Raspberry Pi Computers have been around for a long time now, but I still find them fascinating. When I was teaching in a primary school, I used the original Raspberry Pi v1 with some of the older children during our lunchtime Computer Club. We also used the BBC Microbit Computers to learn some simple Python programming. We even had a Raspberry Pi v1 set up in our Computer Area for children to use and experiment with themselves. When Raspberry pi v2 came out we invested in a Robot that could be driven by it, we got it working eventually after some help from some of the tech guys. It was fun using the Raspberry Pi, but I have to admit that my higher level programming skills are very limited, so I just keep everything simple.
On the Amateur Radio front, my first encounter was with Packet Radio. On my main computer I used software programmes such as EasyTerm and Soundmodem to set up my Packet Radio station. Later I decided to have a go at making a portable set up with a Raspberry Pi v2 and Baofeng Handheld Transceiver. This used a software package called Direwolf, with this you can set up a complete station on a Raspberry Pi. With some help from other amateurs I managed to get it up and running and to make it portable by adding a 5″ Monitor Screen. This is still running to this day monitoring the Packet Radio frequencies.

When SDR Software became available for the RPi I experimented first with RPi v2 and then later with v3. I with  qtcsdr and gqrx software along with a USB SDR dongle. Although they worked on RPi v2, it became frustrating with frequent crashes and freezing. In the end I bought a Version 3 Raspberry Pi and the software worked perfectly and the waterfall was much smoother.

Shortly after this, I became interested in tracking High Altitude Balloons (HAB) on the 70cm band. At first I used RTTY to receive the telemetry, but this was not very reliable, so I decided to build a LoRa receiver using a RPi v3. The receiver boards are available very cheap from China. It worked very well and when the software is installed it produces a LoRa Gateway to receive signals and report back to HABHUB. LoRa is a very efficient mode as the balloon fitted with LoRa only runs a few milliwatts of RF. As well as telemetry, LoRa also sends Slow Scan Digital pictures from the camera fitted on the balloon. 

The next Raspberry Pi that I bought was the RPi v4b, this has a built in sound output and two HDMI outputs to drive two monitors. I fitted it into a case and used it for everyday use with it’s own monitor on the wall in my room. My intention at first was to build up a Retro Gaming Computer using RetroPi software. I made up a RetroPi boot disc and bought a Controller to try out some games. At this stage I realised that I was out of my depth when it comes to gaming, so decided to leave it for the time being until I know more about the weird world of retro gaming! Instead, I experimented with a RPi Model 2 camera by using some of the Raspcam commands to take photos and videos. Later, I downloaded the QV4L2 Workshop software which allows you to capture and display in real time on the screen as well as experimenting with camera settings. The camera was fitted into the case to make it more convenient.

I have seen a nice piece of software called HamClock. This is a real time Amateur Radio resource for the shack. Ideal to have installed and displayed on the monitor. The software and instructions for installing it are available at: https://www.clearskyinstitute.com/ham/HamClock/
Instructions are in the Desktop Tab on the main site. Once installed, you can set up your own HamClock resource base displaying your callsign and other real time applications. This was a nice project to set up on my Raspberry Pi 4b which runs perfectly.

Just when you are getting to grips with Raspberry Pi 4b, along comes the Raspberry Pi 5!
This is faster and more powerful than previous versions, but the operating system and infrastructure is a little different. I am still trying to get my head around the changes. Some software doesn’t work on RPi 5 without changes. (Including QV4L2 Workshop) I bought one anyway in the hope of learning some more about it’s capabilities. Up to now I have the latest operating system installed and everything is working well. I have just sent for a RPi Model 3 camera in the hope that I can get this working as a project. My Raspberry Pi 5 is fitted into a very nice mini tower with an OLED systems display, fan and coloured LEDs, like a mini gaming machine. These are available on eBay.