What is a Raspberry Pi, and what do you do with it?

It’s a single board computer. I run a pi-hole ad blocker and a piVPN so that I can have ad blocking on any network. I also have a couple database and web servers running on Raspberry Pis.

I’m trying a stand-alone with Mycroft (out whatever is caused now) but it’s flaky as heck. Not worth it.

I am more of a strawberry pie guy, myself.

RPi is a very popular SBC (Single Board Computer). It uses an ARM chip, more technically a SoC (System on Chip) where many functions of a "regular" computer's main board are consolidated into a silicon wafer.

What can you do with it? Pretty much anything you can do with any general-purpose computer. It is designed to be low-power, so it will be slower than most off-the-shelf desktops and laptops. It also generates far less heat, and noise and occupies much less space. There are a number of models of various size, from a Pi Zero (about 2.5" x 1") up to the new RPi 5. See models and specs at https://raspberrypi.com/.

I am currently running three of them. A 400 as a media server to watch downloaded content on my TV, a 3B as a general-purpose Internet server (DNS, e-mail, etc.), and a 4B just to tinker around with. A little under-powered for gaming, etc. There are these things called "hats" that connect to the Pi to extend its capabilities (sensors, networking, HD sound, etc.)

If you buy them from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, they are incredibly cheap (but always sold out). Demand and scarcity has driven up pricing so you will pay 4-5X the price (as part of a "development package) on Amazon.

There are a number of other SBC designs, some far more capable that the RPi, but none so well-supported by a large community of users.

There is a ton of information on-line including descriptions of projects that people have built around the Pi. Some quite impressive. There is somewhat of a geel factor involved, but if you are at all interested in computing, and not "just a user," you may find them very interesting and worthwhile.

Ya, ya, ya. Practical uses and such. The BEST use is for a retro gaming console.

I play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, old PC-DOS games, SEGA Genesis, and others on mine.

AWESOME. You just need a Pi, cables for power and HDMI, and some USB video game controllers. The rest of the software can be downloaded for free. The website below has plenty of information, and there are tons of YouTube videos walking through the process.

https://retropie.org.uk/

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I am more of a strawberry pie guy, myself.

You mean strawberry RHUBARB, right?

Recalbox running on mine for some vintage gaming. Also works for some N64 & Dreamcast roms.
Have thought about resetting & setting it up as a plex server/controller.

I was invited to teach a high school programming class a few years back. We used RPi's to develop (crude) distributed programming techniques. Pretty fun seeing kids go against the norm and do something academic. Teaching that changed my philosophy of some of the younger generation. I never did see much use for them outside of education but I'm seeing other forum members have. Nice! They were dirt cheap in the day, and just going to their site, they still are. Seems like about $150 to make them ready for whatever?

Just got a Pi5 8GB this week. Several "Authorized" retailers have them in stock at suggested retail ($80).

quote:

Originally posted by TomV:
Just got a Pi5 8GB this week. Several "Authorized" retailers have them in stock at suggested retail ($80).

At $80 is it worth it? Or should I pick up another zimaboard.

Back when they popped up on the scene, it was put out that they were a very small and very inexpensive computer to distribute to children for computer code training.

That then got snatched up by the masses who put them to all kinds of uses. I planned on getting one as a cheapy Windows machine to have when needed sine I’m a Mac guy, but I never did. If I got one now, it would be in the form of a music streamer.

I'm guessing that Bill is asking because he encountered the Pi in his researching of ham radio.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I'm guessing that Bill is asking because he encountered the Pi in his researching of ham radio.

Ding, ding, ding... we have a winner! That is exactly what prompted the question.

One of the YouTube videos I watched regarding antenna testing for the Boofwang radios had a link to the guy's Amazon store (Ham Radio Tube), and one of the items he offered was Raspberry Pi kits for what seemed like a dirt cheap prices. That got me to wondering exactly what they were, and what people did with them. I figured they were some type of computing device, but beyond that I was clueless...

You can setup a Pi as an access point for web based radio services.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Ya, ya, ya. Practical uses and such. The BEST use is for a retro gaming console.

I play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, old PC-DOS games, SEGA Genesis, and others on mine.

AWESOME. You just need a Pi, cables for power and HDMI, and some USB video game controllers. The rest of the software can be downloaded for free. The website below has plenty of information, and there are tons of YouTube videos walking through the process.

https://retropie.org.uk/

Just curious, did you buy a pre-assempbled "console" or a kit ala the Picade, or did you piece it together? Which model Pi are you using? Are you using a regular flat panel HDMI display, or one of the mini displays that are sold by the Pi vendors?

quote:

Originally posted by bronicabill:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I'm guessing that Bill is asking because he encountered the Pi in his researching of ham radio.

Ding, ding, ding... we have a winner! That is exactly what prompted the question.

One of the YouTube videos I watched regarding antenna testing for the Boofwang radios had a link to the guy's Amazon store (Ham Radio Tube), and one of the items he offered was Raspberry Pi kits for what seemed like a dirt cheap prices. That got me to wondering exactly what they were, and what people did with them. I figured they were some type of computing device, but beyond that I was clueless...

I had heard about the raspberry PI when I built my first computer, but I ran into it again after looking into Ham and GMRS radio stuff, What I am thinking about doing is maybe running one with a RTL-SDR dongle so that I have like a really neat waterfall scanner for multiple frequencies. Never had heard about an RTL-SDR but this is a really affordable way to get a multiple spectrum spanner for really cheap.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
It’s a single board computer. I run a pi-hole ad blocker and a piVPN so that I can have ad blocking on any network.

I'd love to set mine up for ad blocking, but last time I tried ad blocking I found that many sites halted and said, "disable your ad blocker to see this site."

Is that still an issue?

quote:

Originally posted by architect:

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Ya, ya, ya. Practical uses and such. The BEST use is for a retro gaming console.

I play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, old PC-DOS games, SEGA Genesis, and others on mine.

AWESOME. You just need a Pi, cables for power and HDMI, and some USB video game controllers. The rest of the software can be downloaded for free. The website below has plenty of information, and there are tons of YouTube videos walking through the process.

https://retropie.org.uk/

Just curious, did you buy a pre-assempbled "console" or a kit ala the Picade, or did you piece it together? Which model Pi are you using? Are you using a regular flat panel HDMI display, or one of the mini displays that are sold by the Pi vendors?

Mine came as a kit, CanaKit IIRC
I wanted to fully self contained unit that's embedded in a keyboard, but this one works well.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
It’s a single board computer. I run a pi-hole ad blocker and a piVPN so that I can have ad blocking on any network.

I'd love to set mine up for ad blocking, but last time I tried ad blocking I found that many sites halted and said, "disable your ad blocker to see this site."

Is that still an issue?

It happens from time to time but I can just switch the ad blocker off temporarily or switch to the other WiFi that doesn’t use the ad blocker. You can also whitelist sites.