John Cooke GM8OTI talked about the Raspberry Pi micro-computer and its several models, and two simple radio applications, at the LRS meeting on 8 March 2017 to a packed room at the Braid Hills Hotel.

 

Publicity shot of the Raspberry Pi model 3B from the internet

 

John's talk covered these topics:

1. Why the Raspberry Pi?

2. What is a Raspberry Pi?

3. First radio application - ADS-B aeroplane tracking

4. Second application - fldigi

5. What next?

John describes himself as a 'hacker' who loves to investigate new things. In his computers he prefers the Linux operating system.

The Raspberry Pi was conceived by Eben Upton at Cambridge University, inspired by the BBC Micro computer, as an educational computer costing only £25. Launched in May 2011, it had sold 10 million units by September 2016.

Click for video interview with Eben Upton. (48 mins)

Click for Raspberry Pi website.

 

 The Model B, launched on 29 February 2012 for £25 (incl. VAT)!.

 

Underside of the Model B.

 Underside of the Model 3B, launched on 29 February 2016. Price £31 incl. VAT in August 2016.

 Top of the Model 3B.

 

 The Model Pi-Zero working. Cost ~£5.

 

The first application of the Raspberry Pi that John described was for ADS-B aeroplane tracking. 

The receiver could be a USB-DVB-T stick (£10) or (better) an RTL2832U + R820T, on 1.09GHz.

The antenna could be just a piece of wire but John uses an 8-element vertical collinear made from coax.

 

 ADS-B demo showing the locations of all the aeroplanes detected and identified.

Click for website 'ADS-B using dump1090 for the Raspberry Pi' (David Taylor GM8ARV)

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John's second demonstration was fldigi which can be used for PSK-31 etc.

 

Tuning the FT-817 for the fldigi demo.

 

fldigi display.

Click for fldigi website.

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Funcube demo.

 

Funcube display

 

The Funcube dongle for schools to track Funcube satellites costs 'only' £150 but the DVB-T dongle performs almost as well and costs only £10. It is used with the Raspberry Pi -Zero.

Click for Funcube website.

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 After his talk, John was thanked and presented with ... Raspberry tarts ... by LRS President Andy Sinclair MM0FMF.