Raspberry PI - help me to get started

[GrayTech]

Hey guys!

I heared many cool things about the Raspberry PI and recently I thougt that it would be nice to do someting with one. But to be honest, I know nothing about it . What do I need to purchase besides the Raspberry PI and what is the difference between thie different models? Do I have to know/learn a programming language? Are there other things should to know? And what are some cool projects for a beginner? It would be nice if you can help me to get started!

[JefferyD90]

5 minutes ago, GrayTech said:

Hey guys!

I heared many cool things about the Raspberry PI and recently I thougt that it would be nice to do someting with one. But to be honest, I know nothing about it . What do I need to purchase besides the Raspberry PI and what is the difference between thie different models? Do I have to know/learn a programming language? Are there other things should to know? And what are some cool projects for a beginner? It would be nice if you can help me to get started!

Get the Raspberry Pi, a appropriate power source, and at the VERY least a 8GB MicroSD card (get a class 10 or higher)...  16GB gives you enough to actually do stuff.

[GrayTech]

1 minute ago, JefferyD90 said:

Get the Raspberry Pi, a appropriate power source, and at the VERY least a 8GB MicroSD card (get a class 10 or higher)...  16GB gives you enough to actually do stuff.

 I could get something like a starter kit.

[JefferyD90]

Just now, GrayTech said:

 I could get something like a starter kit.

If you want, I didn't.  Because I wanted specific stuff.

[Wrb]

When you buy one, make sure you get a Raspberry pi 3 or a variant of that and I'd suggest a USB WiFi dongle if you can't connect it via Ethernet. The older ones don't have as many features. 

 

As for ideas, sign up to the official newsletter here https://www.raspberrypi.org/weekly/. They send you info, updates and showcase some things other people have done with them. I find this helpful to work out ideas. So far all I've done is Retro Pi, which is emulators of older consoles on a pi. So I'd definitely check that out as well.

[manikyath]

10 minutes ago, JefferyD90 said:

Get the Raspberry Pi, a appropriate power source, and at the VERY least a 8GB MicroSD card (get a class 10 or higher)...  16GB gives you enough to actually do stuff.

8GB is plenty to "do stuff", but based on cost per GB, and where they actually use quality silicon, i'd suggest a 16GB either way

 

1 minute ago, Wrb said:

When you buy one, make sure you get a Raspberry pi 3 or a variant of that and I'd suggest a USB WiFi dongle if you can't connect it via Ethernet. The older ones don't have as many features. 

you just contradicted yourself there... pi3 includes a wifi chip.

 

on topic: you need the pi itself, a 5 volt source (like a phone charger) that ends or can be adapted to micro usb (preferably a very good make, at least 2A), a micro SD card, a computer that can access said SD card to write an OS to it (my preferred way is buying a micro sd card with an included adapter, and using a laptop with an SD card slot), a HDMI display, and usb peripherals of choice.

 

if you intend to do anything high load on a pi, i suggest looking into cooling solutions, for regular ordinary operation a strip of metal bent upright and stuck to the main chip is *okay*

[Factory Factory]

13 hours ago, GrayTech said:

Hey guys!

I heared many cool things about the Raspberry PI and recently I thougt that it would be nice to do someting with one. But to be honest, I know nothing about it . What do I need to purchase besides the Raspberry PI and what is the difference between thie different models? Do I have to know/learn a programming language? Are there other things should to know? And what are some cool projects for a beginner? It would be nice if you can help me to get started!

Here's the minimum/least cost to do anything:

 

1 Raspberry Pi Zero

1 micro SD card with a way to read it on your main PC (8 GB class 10 is a good'un, 16 GB is good too and usually not really more expensive)

1 micro USB cable, like you'd use to charge a phone. 3 feet or shorter is better to start with

 

For about $10 to $15 (assuming you can find the Pi Zero for $5 in stock at retail), you have a shrinky-dinky little Linux machine with exposed GPIO headers that you can do cool things with (albeit a limited number of things with just those few pieces). If you set up the Pi Zero as an ethernet gadget (https://learn.adafruit.com/turning-your-raspberry-pi-zero-into-a-usb-gadget/ethernet-gadget), you can connect to it, give it internet access, and use it via SSH for the command line and/or VNC for a GUI, and you can set it up for future projects. The Pi Zero sips power - you can easily run it off a computer's USB port.

 

You don't need to know any programming languages, but you do need to read and follow guides and instructions, get used to the Linux command line, and be ready and willing to fail. After you have played around with it a bit, you can start learning a little Python (which is a relatively easy programming language, but a very powerful one) to make the Pi dance to your whims. As you get ideas for projects, you can add bits and bobs in the direction you want to go, like get some electronics components and a soldering iron to control things by the GPIO pins, or get a case and a mini HDMI adapter and a USB OTG adapter to turn the thing into a media center or a retro game emulation box. Or you can mix the two and make your own custom handheld gaming geegaw.

 

If you want to go big, the Pi 3 and a good number of accessories, as detailed by other posters above, is also really good. I have a Pi 3 and a few Pi Zeroes, as well as a handful of Arduinos of different sizes (including Adafruit Trinkets and Digisparks). They're all useful for different things, and none are terribly expensive.

 

Personally, I like having a project in mind to help me learn. Like, fan controllers are popular - you could get some thermistors (heat-sensing electronics) and transistors (electronically-activated switches) and turn a Pi Zero into a fan controller for your PC. Stick a few buttons and switches onto the front to tweak the fan curve or totally override it. Or do an RGBLED controller for your case where you can change the colors by tweeting. Or go to Project Euler to do programming puzzles, and use the slow CPU on the Pi as a way to force yourself to code efficiently.

[GrayTech]

Thanks for your help and project ideas @Factory Factory! I'll probably get the PI 3.

Can I power the PI 3 with a 5V 2.1 amp powerbank?

[Factory Factory]

Yes, as long as you use a short cable to minimize voltage drop and it really puts out 2.1 amps. I run my 3 off a 5V 2A port on my charging station, and a 6 foot cord flashes the low voltage warning light, whereas a 3 foot, thick wire cord or a 6-inch standard cord do fine.

 

Just go easy on the power-hungry USB peripherals. The "2.5A" recommendation budgets 1.2A and change for USB devices powered by the Pi. Stick to just a mouse and keyboard or one major powered USB device or use a powered hub and there won't be any problems.

[GrayTech]

2 minutes ago, Factory Factory said:

Yes, as long as you use a short cable to minimize voltage drop and it really puts out 2.1 amps. I run my 3 off a 5V 2A port on my charging station, and a 6 foot cord flashes the low voltage warning light, whereas a 3 foot, thick wire cord or a 6-inch standard cord do fine.

 

Just go easy on the power-hungry USB peripherals. The "2.5A" recommendation budgets 1.2A and change for USB devices powered by the Pi. Stick to just a mouse and keyboard or one major powered USB device or use a powered hub and there won't be any problems.

Thanks!

Do you have any other project ideas for beginners and what should I do first when I get my PI 3?

[GrayTech]

Is the Samsung microSDHC Evo Plus UHS-I Class 10 good enough for the PI 3?

And should I use a 5V 2 amp or a 5V 3 amp charger.

[Factory Factory]

Oh yeah, that's a high-quality card.

 

As for projects, that's a Google away, like "beginner Raspberry Pi projects". But you'll often find that most project ideas want you to make a semipermanent setup. You can fix this by using something like the Adafruit Pi T Cobbler https://www.adafruit.com/product/2028, which lets you easily hook up the GPIO pins to a project securely, but temporarily.

 

I kind of like the idea of a meArm/uArm robot, personally. Or you could hook up a webcam or the camera module and make a basic conformal neural network to read text labels and tie that into the arm to make a little retrieval system.

[GrayTech]

1 minute ago, Factory Factory said:

But you'll often find that most project ideas want you to make a semipermanent setup.

Yea, that was my problem. Thanks, I'll check out this cobbler!

[GrayTech]

OK! I thin I know what I want to do with my PI!

[elkenrod]

4 hours ago, GrayTech said:

OK! I thin I know what I want to do with my PI!

That's great, I have two (raspi2 and pizero) just sitting in the drawer, I have no idea what to use them for.  Tell me

[GrayTech]

17 hours ago, elkenrod said:

That's great, I have two (raspi2 and pizero) just sitting in the drawer, I have no idea what to use them for.  Tell me

I'll probably try to "connect" my PI to my PC. I want to set up something like a fan controller, a temperature sensor for my case and maybe even some LEDs. This will probably be connected to a small display or something like that.  I know that the PI isn't connected to my PC when I do this but I think you understand what I mean.

[GrayTech]

Should I get a 5V 2 amp/2.5 amp/3amp charger? @Factory Factory

[Midnitewarrior4]

37 minutes ago, GrayTech said:

Should I get a 5V 2 amp/2.5 amp/3amp charger? @Factory Factory

go for the 3 amp, more power for peripherals and the board itself plus you can get away with a longer cord

[GrayTech]

Just now, Midnitewarrior4 said:

go for the 3 amp, more power for peripherals and the board itself

So 3 amps are no problem for the PI?

 

[Factory Factory]

As long as you're not forcing the matter, no. Standard power supplies for computers are constant-voltage power supplies, not constant-current.