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Raspberry Pi availability

Chuck KG5CA
 

Alas, there seems to be a worldwide shortage of Raspberry Pi computers (https://swavedigest.com/2022/03/02/raspberry-pi-4-in-short-supply-being-scalped-at-400-markup/ ).  Pretty much all sources are out of the Pi 4B models.  There are now websites to just track availability of the Pis ( https://rpilocator.com/ )

Interestingly, the shortage is not near as bad for the Raspberry Pi 400s.  They are still being carried at our local MicroCenter store.  Can the 400 operate an RMS camera system? I realize it is not form and fit, but I would at least like to get a system functioning while I wait for the terminally on-order parts to actually arrive.  The 400 is a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB.  Shouldn't that fill the bill?

Any advice is appreciated.

Chuck / KG5CA
Denis Vida
 

Hi Chuck,
the 400s work well, I recommend going with them if you don't mind the form factor. They have a huge inbuilt passive heatsink, so there's no need for a fan.

Cheers,
Denis


On Fri, Mar 4, 2022 at 8:33 PM Chuck KG5CA via groups.io <goldsmith=ieee.org@groups.io> wrote:
Alas, there seems to be a worldwide shortage of Raspberry Pi computers (https://swavedigest.com/2022/03/02/raspberry-pi-4-in-short-supply-being-scalped-at-400-markup/ ).  Pretty much all sources are out of the Pi 4B models.  There are now websites to just track availability of the Pis ( https://rpilocator.com/ )

Interestingly, the shortage is not near as bad for the Raspberry Pi 400s.  They are still being carried at our local MicroCenter store.  Can the 400 operate an RMS camera system? I realize it is not form and fit, but I would at least like to get a system functioning while I wait for the terminally on-order parts to actually arrive.  The 400 is a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB.  Shouldn't that fill the bill?

Any advice is appreciated.

Chuck / KG5CA

Chuck KG5CA
 

Denis,

Thanks for the quick response.  For now, Raspberry Pi 400 it is!
Clear skies,
Chuck
Gene Mroz
 

Chuck,

I've been using a Pi400 for over a year without any problems.

Gene
Tasman Skies, Motueka, NZ
 

Hah! I almost posted on this very topic at the end of last week, and only held off because I still could get a couple of RPi 4 4GB in NZ so thought maybe there *wasn't* a drought... but turns out, I wasn't wrong!
Dave Newbury
 

Any updates on this?  Where is everyone getting their Raspberry Pi's for building GMN camera units? I still don't see any availability here in Canada at the usual suppliers. I have the components to build a 3rd camera unit, except for the Pi itself :=(

Even for "pre orders" (which are currently sold out), the Canadian suppliers are angling to only sell in "starter kits" (with stuff I don't need, for extra $$).


DaveNL
Peter McKellar
 

I am in New Zealand and I have bought three over the last couple of months. They have all been starter kits which include a 32gb micro SD card, a case and a few cables. They just go into the draw of items that might be useful for something else. The extra cost isn't much more. I suspect that the starter kits are all that are being supplied.at the moment.

I am buying direct from the local dealer as listed on the Raspberry Pi site. They aren't listed as in stock on their web site but I order and pay up right away. They always arrive within the week.

Peter





-------- Original message --------
From: "Dave Newbury via groups.io" <dnube@...>
Date: 27/01/23 3:37 pm (GMT+12:00)
To: main@globalmeteornetwork.groups.io
Subject: Re: [GlobalMeteorNetwork] Raspberry Pi availability

Any updates on this?  Where is everyone getting their Raspberry Pi's for building GMN camera units? I still don't see any availability here in Canada at the usual suppliers. I have the components to build a 3rd camera unit, except for the Pi itself :=(

Even for "pre orders" (which are currently sold out), the Canadian suppliers are angling to only sell in "starter kits" (with stuff I don't need, for extra $$).


DaveNL

Tony Hopkinson
 

Mark McIntyre
 

Without buying one its hard to be certain, but in principle if it can run Debian or Ubuntu, then RMS should run on it.   This one looks pretty compatible. 


On 27/01/2023 12:54, Tony Hopkinson wrote:
Dave Newbury
 

Thanks Peter for the info.  Seems I'm not so lucky here, as the listed starter kits are "Pre-Orders are Sold Out", and no way to place any order.

But don't think I could bring myself to buy those starter kits anyway, considering the prices. The "MSRP" price for a Pi 4 4GB is $55 CDN (+$11 for power supply). The cheapest starter kit is $120CDN. Comes with a 32GB SD card (value ~ $10 ?) but that is of no use to me.

I've heard that much (most?) of the current supply of 4's are going to industrial/commercial customers. I feel like us individual consumers, who made Pi's popular to begin with, have been abandoned.


Dave
Denis Vida
 

Hi Dave,
you might want to look into RPi 400 with a non-English keyboard (French, Spanish, Italian). There is (or was until recently) some availability of those.

Denis
Dave Jones
 

I have just ordered the rock 4C 2gb
 
Will give it a try and report back when I get chance to test it out.
 
Dave
 
Milan Kalina
 

As the pi400 is quickly approaching 200 EUR here, I decide to order the below mentioned Rock PI4 C+, manufactured by Radxa at AE, currently being sold for ~100 EUR.
https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock4/4cplus
Be carefull to stick with pi4c+ tools, as theye are (mostly) not compatible with pi4c.
In short, no major obstacles detected, this 6-core toy finally hapilly runs RMS (currently only on daytime), briefly following 'From the scratch' RMS installation manual.
Saving and compression times as usual, as seen on pi4, using the standard ffmpeg decoding pipeline.

For those who want to go for it, here are the basics:

- choose Debian Bullseye as OS from https://github.com/radxa-build/rock-4c-plus/releases/tag/20221001-0214
- choose TigerVNC or TightVNC, and you can use RealVNC and other viewers for that.
Start the VNC server by: 
LD_PRELOAD=/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libgcc_s.so.1 vncserver :1 geometry=1920x1080 &
- numpy 1.22 is needed for opencv build 4.7.0
- Tkinter needs to be installed as 'sudo apt install python3-tk'

Milan
Nigel
 

Dave,
Anything to report on the Rock 4C?  Noting below your post a Rock 4C+ post?
Milan Kalina
 

Nigel,

have a look here:
https://globalmeteornetwork.groups.io/g/main/topic/97063968#8600

Rockpi4 C+ should run fine with this image.
No detailed user report yet, though.

Milan


čt 23. 3. 2023 v 19:58 odesílatel Nigel <n.l.bubb@...> napsal:

Dave,
Anything to report on the Rock 4C?  Noting below your post a Rock 4C+ post?

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