A slice of Pi...

[Gina]

Ah that's better

[Stephen]

On the subject of lack of EQDir/ASCOM : I just remembered that Skywatcher open sourced the mount API.

All we need is developer (don't look at me just yet, I'm snowed under with OU!) to get busy and put something together

[ncjunk]

You mean we might need 2 or four of them? to do what? run stellarium?

no not stellarium.

Just Maxim, run 3 cameras, 2 autofocusers, ACP, EQMOD, FTP server.

most of the drivers and software is windows so it will need to run WINE.

So it isn´t going to work with the software I use and need on my astro pc.

But programming you´re own control, drivers and software will, as long as you don´t plan on transcoding video on the fly and have the spare time.

[themos]

I'd be pleasantly surprised if WINE is all you need for device control to work. I fear otherwise.

[Gina]

Last time I tried there was no USB support in WINE. Anyone know otherwise?

[skygazer]

Have any of you seen this

http://blog.laptopmag.com/usb-stick-contains-dual-core-computer-turns-any-screen-into-an-android-station

Paul

Sent from my Android tablet

[JamesF]

Doesn't WINE still need an x86 processor to run? The Raspberry Pi is ARM-based.

I have a bundle of SheevaPlugs that I intend to use for various applications, but I might be tempted to get one or two of these to experiment with. I like the fact that they have a graphics card on-board, but I'd really like to have seen one with more RAM. Still, I'm happy reverting to development in C if necessary.

James

[pete_l]

With the Raspberry Pi being launched at £22 do you think there will be a move away from Arduino for astro hardware mods?

It has "potential" (which I believe means: it sounds possible on paper, but nobody's tried one out yet). The good thing about it is that it has USB hosting hardware - so, if anyone writes drivers then it would be possible to connect peripherals to ti. However it does need people to write those drivers ...

Since it's ARM based, not Intel x86 based all the low-level software that exists for PCs won't work (and the RPi isn't based on a PC architecture) - although someone has got a Linux version working, or at least talking to a display, keyboard and mouse.

Also, it's not particularly fast - only 700MHz. Having said that my first "astro" laptop only ran at 300MHz and had less memry than an RPi, and that was perfectly good enough for telescope control, webcams etc.

For me, the real benefit of a RPi is that it can run a WiFi connection and store data on a microSD card. It does have some programmable I-O pins, like an Arduino, so it could be handy for remotely operating an observatory, a weather station, maybe even a remote-controlled webcam. Although all of these functions are already readily available, running standard Windows on a Mini-ITX / EPIA PC card (about 5 inches square) for about £100. Less if you search around on eBay.

I suppose that only time will tell.

[JamesF]

From a Linux point of view, the processor makes little difference. If there's a Linux driver for a USB device on any architecture then it's very likely to work on the RPi. ARM-based Linux is fairly mature now, too. It's been around quite a good deal longer than many people realise. I think pretty much any every-day USB device would work when plugged into it.

James

[Gina]

That's what I like about Linux - plug-n-play - no drivers required

[malc-c]

I've been watching this since last year when the pre-production version was covered on the BBC. To be fair, it's basically similar spec to a top end PDA of a few years back, but with standard connectivity and the ability to program rather than run WindowsCE.

I think it has potential, will certainly do well in schools and will re-kindle the fun of programming (remember all those hours we used to spend keying in code from magazines into our ZX spectrum / Dragon32 etc ) - Who knows it might be the next Zinclair ZX81 !!!!!!!!!

[Gina]

I had a ZX81 (think I still have ) complete with wobbly (enormous) 16K memory and a stinky printer that burnt holes in foil backed special paper My how things have advanced since then

[malc-c]

Mine had a 3rd party 64K pack, and a real keyboard -I mounted the lot inside a large instrument case from Maplin.... - spent 16 hrs a day on that thing... probably why my eyes are so bad now !!

[JamesF]

In the cellar I still have an Acorn Atom, several BBC Micros/Masters, an Electron, the BBC teletext adapter and at least the 6502 and Z80 tube processors, possibly the 16032(?) one as well. A good few years ago I wrote a BBC Micro emulator for Linux. Worked very nicely. Here are a few screenshots:

Not that I'm a sad old geek or anything, you understand

Sadly I'm really not convinced that the RPi is going to rekindle the interest in programming that the likes of the Sinclair, Acorn/BBC and other machines did back in the mid 80s though I'd love it if it did. Back then, computers were fascinating because few people had even used one, let alone been able to have one at home. These days they're almost beneath notice and to produce anything comparable to what is already available elsewhere is so much work.

Perhaps what they need is not just the computer, but a whole range of different things it can be interfaced to easily, even if they're in kit form or as plans.

James

[laser_jock99]

Looks really interesting - hope to pick up one soon.

[malc-c]

In the cellar I still have an Acorn Atom,

James

OMG...

James, I used to buy them in kit form, assemble the kits and then sell them on at £10 less than the ready assembled ones to get beer money when I was between jobs in '82 !!

I know what you mean about the buzz in the early to mid '80s when Acorn, Sinclair, Dragon, Oric etc etc were all developing new machines, and the computing press went from three monthly publications to around a dozen over night. I remember spending hours typing in the code from a magazine and then days trying to debug it only to find an apology in the following months issue including a large section of code that was omitted from the original listing

[ismangil]

There's already plans for "Gertboard" to connect to Rpi to provide IO Arduino-style.

[Macavity]

I wouldn't mind one, to fiddle with! A few interesting (controversial) newspaper articles re. the "youth of today". I don't know... are teenagers "uninterested" in programming - Do they get their nerdy 70-80's parents to "fix" their I-Pod networking problems etc. *for* them?

Put me in mind on my beloved "Menta" (I still have it!) - A cute "A5" Z80-based board with a custom "assembler mnemonic" keyboard and a TV display of hex memory... Not to mention a Cassette tape (audio) storage interface!

But indeed, maybe something like the Raz-Pi(?) could do my telescope control... or something?

[JamesF]

There's already plans for "Gertboard" to connect to Rpi to provide IO Arduino-style.

For a moment I thought that might be a large add-on board produced in Bristol (the Brizzle-speakers on the forum will understand what I'm talking about), but no. Seems it's just named after the person who designed it.

James

[Gina]

Ooh arrrr! I was thinking that too

[laser_jock99]

Bad news folks- been on the phone to my contact at RS Components (one of the selected distributers) they've had 100,000 people register an interest in two days. They will only be recieving a fraction of that number of boards. Feeling lucky?

[Stephen]

No luck in it according to the email I just got, boards will be made available in order of registering

I'd say if you registered after 8am, probably not going to get one in the next batch, but as the distributors are funding the production, I'm sure they will be ramping it up based on demand.

[Reggie]

Here's the skinny, they have had unprecedented demand, they only made 10,000 units on the first run and they sold out incredibly quickly (1 report has uk stock sold in something stupid like 2 minutes), they signed a licensing deal with farnell and RS, which means that farnell and RS will now be making the boards, so they will fulfill orders far far quicker than if the foundation had plodded along with the chinese manufacturer that made the first batch.

You can forget the £22, that's a non-vat price, in fact, unit price, on farnell is £24.55 inc vat = £29.46, then shipping on top of that.

Orders will be fulfilled in order that people pre-ordered through farnell as soon as stock comes in, RS are taking names and will let people know when they are 7 days away from receiving stock, not sure if it's a first come first served basis or not, or whether people will get first refusal on a board.

They are currently limited to 1 pi per account it appears, not sure if they're able to tell whether you've ordered on farnell and RS but if you pre-order 2 on farnell, they will amend your order to 1 unit.

Model B (the only model on sale/pre-order at this moment) has 2 usb ports + it also has ethernet on board, ethernet is sharing usb bandwidth with the other 2 ports. Whilst these things won't touch a full astro laptop, they might well be a lot more accomplished than people think. I *know* that they run stellarium (How? Because I asked one of the guys that recieved a beta board to give it a try), it's not super quick but it does work, I'm sure if you chop down on the glitz then it will be 'good enough' for what we want.

There are GPIO pads on the boards, but you will probably have to solder your own header. The gpio whilst giving some of the same functions as an arduino won't necessarily be as easy to program as an arduino and to be honest, you might not want it to be, it's running an operating system, they notorious for not being realtime enough in certain situations, that having been said, there is an IO board in development called 'GertBoard', which will do a lot of the stuff that we want

Failing that you can still plug an arduino into it and interface to stuff that way. There will be a few protocols that the GPIO pins give us access to, such as spi, i2c, which is useful for sensors Not sure if there is a library for accessing and using them but once they're in the wild, it won't be long before someone writes something, if not it'll be a question of appropriating code from other ARM based chips already supported in linux.

Funnily enough, I've been watching these boards with some interest for quite a while, my idea is to simply run openPHD on one and a guidecam, hooked up to a cheap 5" composite LCD. Once the thing is guiding, I can turn the screen off, or use some remote software to see what it's doing

My second idea would be to run my dew heaters and possibly focusers from a 2nd board, now if only there were HEQ5/6 drivers in linux......

Regards,

Reggie.

[yesyes]

Oh dear. This sounds worse than the release of a new iPhone..

Did people camp in front or RS or Farnell over night?

I guess I better wait until this has calmed down a bit...

[pete_l]

Oh dear. This sounds worse than the release of a new iPhone..

Did people camp in front or RS or Farnell over night?

It was a web-only affair. There was an announcement timed for 6 a.m. and all that said was that 2 distributors were taking orders. The deluge then killed the web servers at RS and Farnell and some people may (or may not ) actually receive a "first run" RPi as a result.

I guess I better wait until this has calmed down a bit...

Always a wise move. Apart from the old adage of "never buy version 1", there's little to be gained from having a single board a few weeks before anyone else. Unless of course all you want is to try and impress your friends.

What will be interesting is whether the various manufacturers stick with the original design. The RPi people "open sourced" the circuit design, so people could make their own - or modify it for themselves. I'd be surprised if the professionals can't find ways to make the design easier to manufacture, cheaper, smaller or more functional. While standards are a good thing to promote uptake, (consider the original PC design) it doesn't have to become ossified - so hopefully over the next year there will be lots of better variants of the board coming out.