Back up your Garmin activity data on a Raspberry Pi

 python programming, software installation  5 Responses »
Jul 282020
 
Back up your Garmin activity data on a Raspberry Pi

Anyone who owns a Garmin watch, bike computer or other activity logging computer can’t have failed to notice the 3 day outage on Garmin Connect over the weekend of 24-26th July 2020. Being denied access to a large portion of my data made me swiftly evaluate my (lack of) backup strategy. I expect it also forced quite a lot of people to dig out their USB cables to upload activities to Strava. I have most of the more recent activity data (bike rides and walks) still on my devices, but a whole year’s worth (June […more…]

How much power does the Pi4B use? Power Measurements

 Electronics, Raspberry Pi Hardware  13 Responses »
Jun 252019
 
How much power does the Pi4B use? Power Measurements

Each time a new Pi comes out, I usually publish some power consumption figures, mainly for those people who want to estimate battery durations. So my tests are quite simple. Procedure With just an HDMI screen and a USB keyboard/mouse dongle connected, the Pi current usage was measured using my non-invasive UNI-T clamp meter and a slightly mutilated Anker USB-C lead (to be able to clamp round just the red +ve wire I have to open it up) connected to the Tronsmart 3A power supply I’ve been happily using with my Pi4B. In the past […more…]

Raspberry Pi 4 launches with BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 64-bit SoC running at 1.5GHz with dual 4K display capability

 Product Launch, raspberry pi, Raspberry Pi Hardware  16 Responses »
Jun 242019
 
Raspberry Pi 4 launches with BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 64-bit SoC running at 1.5GHz with dual 4K display capability

Raspberry Pi 4B launches today. It’s a fresh new generation of Pi with brand new silicon – the Broadcom BCM2711, quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC running at 1.5GHz. The new VC6 GPU is able to drive dual 4Kp30 displays and can handle H.265 decode at 4Kp60. It has true Gigabit ethernet (independent of USB), USB 3.0 and dual 4K HDMI outputs (micro). There’s also 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless and a choice of 1GB, 2GB or 4GB LPDDR4 memory (depending on which model you select). Pi4B is the same form factor as […more…]

Development of a new product – RasPiO Breadboard Pi Bridge (BBPi)

 Electronics, raspberry pi  5 Responses »
Mar 262019
 
Development of a new product - RasPiO Breadboard Pi Bridge (BBPi)

Today I launched the RasPiO Breadboard Pi Bridge (BBPi for short). It’s a PCB that breaks out all the GPIO ports of a Raspberry Pi in order on a half-size breadboard, complete with a Perspex platform to hold it all nicely together. It’s a clean, robust and elegant solution for simple electronics tinkering with Pi. This is what it looks like… If you want to snag one of the last 26 (at the time of publication) early-bird offers, use the code EARLY at the checkout, but be quick. Development Process I thought it would be […more…]

Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt5 Road Testing

 Electronics, python programming, Raspberry Pi Camera, Raspberry Pi Hardware  5 Responses »
Dec 212018
 
Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt5 Road Testing

The installation ‘proper’ was finished in the previous post (part 4), so I grabbed a small ‘weather window’ and went out for a 16 mile ride on one of my regular routes to test out the system. It was very windy and rather cloudy but I was very keen to see how the bike dashcam would perform in a real-life situation. What can I say? It worked perfectly as an electronic rear-view ‘mirror’ all the way round. With the Perspex ‘wedge shim’ it was pointed at exactly the right angle. I could see whether there […more…]

Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt4

 Electronics, Laser Cutting, Making, python programming, Raspberry Pi Camera  18 Responses »
Dec 192018
 
Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt4

In part 3 the hardware and software were all working and attached temporarily to the bike. So now it was time to have a quick test ride up and down the street. Having shot some trial footage, I realised immediately that I needed to change the angle to point the camera down more. Once that was done by shoving a piece of foam in between the saddlebag and Pi (at the top) it became usable. The 4.2″ screen is a decent size and is easy to see while riding. You can clearly see what’s behind […more…]

Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt3

 Electronics, python programming, raspberry pihardware  3 Responses »
Dec 182018
 
Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi - "Live project blog" pt3

In part 2 we got as far as a proof of concept, but I decided I didn’t like the screen I had because the touch overlay made it reflecty and ‘ghosty’. But I can’t find a decent small HDMI screen without a touch overlay. Another revelation followed… What About Composite? MAJOR CHANGE OF DIRECTION #2 I remembered I’d used a small composite screen with RasPiCamcorder 2. But I couldn’t find it. I vaguely remember I might have broken it somehow, but I bought another one on Amazon for £12.99 (it’s 480 x 272 pixels). And […more…]

Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt2

 Electronics, python programming, Raspberry Pi Camera  15 Responses »
Dec 172018
 
Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi - "Live project blog" pt2

In part 1, I covered the initial concept’s ‘evening 1 musings’. Now it’s time to get going on the project and see if we can make it work… Getting Access Point Running on 3A+ I went through this procedure… Set up wireless access point on Raspbian Stretch stopping at the part “Add routing and masquerade” as it seemed unnecessary (there is no ethernet port on a Pi3A+). Then I could log into the 3A+ from my mac. I connected up the screen and tested it with the camera. The AP seemed OK with the screen […more…]

Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi – “Live project blog” pt1

 Electronics, Raspberry Pi Camera, Raspberry Pi Hardware  6 Responses »
Dec 142018
 
Making a fairly simple bike dashcam with Raspberry Pi - "Live project blog" pt1

Anyone who follows me on twitter can’t fail to have noticed some cycling related comments recently. Yes, cycling is the current interest. I’ve ridden about 1100 miles in the last 6 months and have learned enough to bore you to death with talk of heart zones and various items of clothing you can buy to make winter rides more bearable. But I won’t! Although I will say that I’m reliably informed by close friends that simultaneously wearing both my balaclava in ‘full ninja’ mode AND my cycle helmet cover makes me look like a ‘tit’. […more…]

New Raspberry Pi Family Photo including Pi3A+ plus Zero WH

 raspberry pi, Raspberry Pi Hardware  8 Responses »
Dec 112018
 
New Raspberry Pi Family Photo including Pi3A+ plus Zero WH

When a new Raspberry Pi model is released, I like to add it to the Pi Family Photo. The aim of doing this is to maintain a record of pretty much all of the versions of the Raspberry Pi which could be purchased by the public. (I don’t include prototypes.) What’s New This Time? A few people commented at the last update (Pi3B+) back in March that I hadn’t included the Zero WH. The reason for that was that I didn’t own one. I hadn’t considered it a ‘new Pi’ because it was the same […more…]

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