News

Raspberry Pi Roundup

Being arguably the most popular “maker” board of the past decade, the Raspberry Pi family has been a boon to makers, tinkerers and enthusiasts. Browsing the web this week, I’ve found a few RPi related items to share!

First up, how simple can an ethernet adapter get?

About that simple. Using a trinity of resistors and an RJ45 jack, GitHub user KingyoPiyo has developed a crazy simple ethernet adapter for the Paspberry Pi Pico – the practically portless smallest variant of the RPi.  Whilst the configuration only allows for transmit (no receive) at 10Base-T,  it’s still a wonder of simplicity. With some code, patience and an eye towards the use case you have in mind for your RPi Pico, once could create an ultra smol IoT device, amongst many other things.


From ultra simple to ultra complex, DeskPi has now launched the Super6C –  a M-ITX form factor board that supports 6, yes, six, Raspberry Pi Compute Modules into one cluster. At US$199.99 plus the cost of 6 Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4s, it’s not super cheap, but just look at the awesome!

The Super6C features;

FEATURES

  • 6 RPI CM4 (Compute Module 4) supported
  • 1 Gbps RJ45 x2
  • Onboard ON/OFF and Reset button
  • PC Case front panel header
  • 12V FAN Header x3
  • DC 19v~24V or ATX 12V
  • Mini ITX Case supported

For every CM4:

  • M.2 2280 slot (PCIe Gen 2 x1)
  • TF Card slot
  • 5V FAN Header
  • Micro USB 2.0

Only for 1st CM4:

  •  USB Host A 2.0 x2
  • USB Host 2.54 4-pins x2
  • HDMI 2.0 x1
  • HDMI 1.4a x1

Cluster project? 6 something 1 PC project?  Either way, this is Super(6C) cool!


And finally, after a decade of support, RS Components is bowing out of manufacturing of the Raspberry Pi family of boards. Unfortunately, due to the worldwide chip shortage and other economic factors, RS Components ended production in June this year – not at all helping in the scarcity of the boards on the market. Farnell (element14) will still continue production, but it’s likely that newer RPi boards will be near unobtainium for the forseeable. (Raspberry Pi 3 B, B+ and 4 all show availability of October… 2023… on RS Components’ website)

Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-manufacturer-rs-group-ends-license-after-a-decade

Being arguably the most popular “maker” board of the past decade, the Raspberry Pi family has been a boon to makers, tinkerers and enthusiasts. Browsing the web this week, I’ve found a few RPi related items to share!
First up, how simple can an ethernet adapter get?

About that simple. Using a trinity of resistors and an RJ45 jack, GitHub user KingyoPiyo has developed a crazy simple ethernet adapter for the Paspberry Pi Pico – the practically portless smallest variant of the RPi.  Whilst the configuration only allows for transmit (no receive) at 10Base-T,  it’s still a wonder of simplicity. With some code, patience and an eye towards the use case you have in mind for your RPi Pico, once could create an ultra smol IoT device, amongst many other things.

From ultra simple to ultra complex...

Continue reading...