Got that one wrong!

Reader, you may recall I had decided to make a low power media streaming server using a Raspberry Pi 5 (RPi5) with attached usb hard drives.

The RPi5 works when connected to a standard usb power source.   However there is a low power warning if the RPi5 detects the power source is insufficient to power attached external devices (eg, usb hard drives).

The Raspberry Pi company sell a high power device for the RPi5.   It's rated at 27 Watts.  All RPi's operate on 5 Volts.   The advice from the Raspberry Pi company is a RPi5 requires a minimum of 5 Amps.  Their power source is rated at 5.4 Amps.

Purchasing an official RPi5 power supply has two disadvantages.  1.  Delivery would take two weeks.  2.  The postage added 33% to the total cost.

Looking for an alternative I found a local computer store selling a usb power source rated at 30 Watts.  Not only was it cheaper, but more powerful.  I purchased one and the RPi5 worked.

However this morning I found the RPi5 had stopped working ??????   I couldn't get it to start with the external usb hard drives connected.   When these were disconnected the RPi5 would start but displayed the following screen message.

The problem couldn't be the power supply as it's rated at 30 Watt (6 Amps).   Perhaps it was the cable between the power supply and the RPi5.

I connected my USB Tester between the power supply and the RPi5

There was 5V and only 0.77A.

After a period of various trials I reverted back to the original power supply

The RPi5 worked.  Albeit the external usb hard drives were not attached and I wasn't getting the low power warning

Next I plugged in the four usb hard drives and they were recognised.

But the system has lag and sometimes freezes.   Obviously the original power supply doesn't have enough power.   But it's doing better than the 30 Watt device.

The 30W power supply is marked as 30W.   It's grey text on a grey case so you will have to take my word for it.

Then I realised there was some tiny grey on grey text on the side of the case.  I've done a Kate and enhanced it

The problem has been revealed.  The power supply is rated at 30W when drawing 15V @ 2A.   The RPi5 needs 5V and the device can only supply a maximum of 3A (5Vx3A=15W)  My 30W supply can only produce 15W at 5V.   This is insufficient to adequately power the RPi5 when the usb hard drives are attached.

Bugger!

Rule ONE and Ants

Yesterday I forgot Rule ONE and consequentially wasted half a day. 

I'm going on an outback trip over the Easter holidays and decided to check the camper trailer domestic wiring.  I mentioned in the previous post that I'd upgraded all the external 12V trailer sockets and yesterday I wanted to ensure everything was working correctly.

There were no issues with the domestic system; except I'd failed to reconnect the main positive cable to the battery terminal.  That was resolved rather quickly and I then decided it might be a good idea to check all the trailer lights (indicators, brake, trail lights, etc).  I backed the 4WD up to the towbar and connected the trailer plug.   To my surprise nothing worked!  I "jiggled" the connect and one indicator light worked.

There remainder of the day was spent fault finding.  Eventually I found a loose connector but that only got the brake and trail lights working.  More searching an fault finding suggested the wires to the left and right indicator lights might be broken.  These are routed through the chassis frame and are very hard to access or replace.  Running out of daylight I slept on the problem.  

During the night I remembered the right indicator light had worked when I'd jiggled the plug connection to the 4WD.  Rule ONE…. Look for the simple things first!   This morning I wire brushed the terminal pins on the trailer plug and reconnected it to the 4WD.

All the lights worked!

Meanwhile, Jan has been complaining about ants in the kitchen and bathroom.  We think it's the long spell of hot and dry weather that is attracting them into the house in search of water.  They are very small and can squeeze through the most minute of cracks. 

We think we've identified the entry and exit locations in both rooms.  I used masking tape to prepared the areas before applying silicon sealer.

They are desperate and persistent little creatures and I won't be surprised if they find other gaps.

The HAT

After a week of watching the postman pass our letterbox on his e-trike yesterday he finally stopped and delivered the Raspberry Pi Jan had ordered from the UK.  It was the final component for my latest Raspberry Pi 5 project.

A desktop computer has a motherboard.  When a sub-board is plugged into the motherboard the sub-board is usually called a daughterboard.  It's slightly different with a Raspberry Pi.  The added sub-board is referred to as a HAT (Hardware Added on Top).  

In my case the HAT is actually a "Bottom Board" and fits underneath the Raspberry Pi.  The new HAT will enable me to convert the Raspberry Pi storage from a micro SD Card to a NVMe storage module.  The latter is much faster and more reliable.

(Clockwise left to right) NVMe M.2 512GB storage module,  Raspberry PI 5 with heatsink and fan. NVMe Bottom Hat

I made several trial assemblies before being satisfied with the final configuration.

 

After starting the Raspberry Pi the operating system was transferred from the micro SD Card to the NVMe module.  Next, I needed to change the Boot configuration file to ensure the computer would boot from the new Bottom Hat.  Then the Raspberry Pi was then turned off, the micro SD Card removed, and the system restarted.  

Wow…. It is so much faster!

The plan is to use it  to replace the existing energy hungry desktop computer, which is our dedicated network media server. 

The current heatwave has meant each time there has been a slightly cooler day I've gone for a training bike ride.

 

I've been attempting to establish what distance I can potentially cycle with assistance from the lithium battery.  To date I've been able to cycle 80km using less than 50% of the battery capacity so I should be able to travel 160km with the 19Ah battery.   Yesterday I purchased a 40Ah battery from Aliexpress which will be delivered to the UK.  Based on my current experience it should be good for 360km or more.

The other outdoor tasking I've been working on is a modification to the sockets on the outback camper trailer.  There are four external Anderson sockets.  One on either side of the trailer as inputs for the portable solar panels.  The third is a 12V outlet and the fourth is the input for a 12V battery charger.  

When the sockets were initially installed I tried to complete the task "on the cheap" by just using the Anderson plugs.   This hasn't proved to be a successful as I want.  Despite me sealing the back of the plugs with silicon the fine Australian bulldust gets into the terminal area at the front.   I've now purchased four Anderson plug mounting enclosures in an effort to resolve the issue.

 

The task is taking longer than expected because I've discovered it's only comfortable to do the work early in the morning and just before dusk.  The rest of the time it's just too hot!

E-sim, Communications & Modifications

Late last year we replaced our two Samsung 4 mobile phones I had purchased in 2012 whilst in Riyadh.  They worked, but the battery life was considerably shortened after 11 years of use.

After some research they were replaced with two relatively cheap Oppo A58 phones.  We hardly use our phones and don't use mobile data, so reliable and cheap were the main criteria.

I'm going to need mobile data during my planned Europe cycling holiday.  Probably voice as well as I will likely have to make calls for accommodation reservations.  Hence the need to research mobile phone plans.  I'll need a plan for 40+ days with a good data allowance.   An electronic SIM card (e-SIM) looked a good option until I discovered the Oppo A58 didn't have the required internal e-SIM hardware.

Then I discovered esim.me.   This is a device that looks like a SIM card but actually adds the e-SIM functionality to the phone in lieu of a conventional SIM card.  It doesn't work with all phones, but apparently the Oppo A58 is one that it does work with.  The basic esim plan will work on one phone and costs EU24.95 (A$50).   Obviously I'd need to add the $50 to any e-SIM plan when doing a comparison with other plans.

It didn't take me long to establish the esim.me + e-SIM was more expensive than a conventional SIM plan.  Eventually I selected the Orange Holiday Europe 50GB plan valid for 28 days (A$82).  It comes with a French phone number.  Obviously I'll need to renew it to cover the entire period I'm in Europe.  That will require me to "complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) process to keep using it after the first 30 days as per French law".  I'll need to research this condition.  Switzerland and the UK are not in the EU but the plan includes both of them. 

There have also been a couple of minor modifications to the bike.

I had realised I had a spare waterproof male/female 2 pin cable from the grandson's AIS Antenna project which could be used to make a connection for the bike headlight.   The headlight was permanently wired to the bike and fitting a plug would enable it to be removed when the bike was being packed.

The second modification was to the front carrier rack.  I cut the steel bow off.

The bow was at 90° to the carrier base and whilst it wasn't in the way, removing the bow makes it much easier to dismantle and pack the rack.  I filled the cut off hollow ends of the tube with body filler before painting them with high gloss black.

Re-positioning the Bags

After making several cycling trips with the loaded new front pannier bags attached it became apparent they were adversely affecting the bike balance and steering.  I could probably have accustomed myself to the imbalance, but decided to see if the bags could be re-positioned.

In the above photo you can see the bags were originally attached to the top of the front carrier rack.

This next photo shows them attached to the lower horizontal carrier bar.

 

This lower bar isn't parallel to the ground and consequentially the bags are on an angle.  The original purpose of the lower bar is to both prevent the bags touching the front wheel and provide a lower anchor support for the bag. 

However in this lower position the bags can't touch the wheel as the bottom of the bag rests against the arm of the bike fork.   I was concerned the bags might flap around, but that hasn't happened.

The steering and balance has significantly improved and I'm now regularly going on training rides with all four loaded bags attached to the bike.

Planning for the long cycling trip continues as I research more detail.   An accurate gpx track for EuroVelo 15 (The Rhine Route) has been completed.  I'm now adding camping grounds as waypoints.

Eurovelo 5 is slightly more problematic.  The start point is Canterbury, UK and the finish is Brindisi, in southern Italy.  It reputedly follows the original pilgrims route to Rome.  However there are numerous sections of the route that are undeveloped.  I have assumed this means there is no designated cycle path.  Consequentially I've been examining maps and tracing out my own route between the developed sections.   One of my route criteria is to avoid, where possible, main roads.  I've been assisted with this by using Hike and Bike country maps downloaded from the internet.  These are then installed into the Garmin Mapsource or BaseCamp programs.   To identify places of interest and campsites I'm using the Open Street Map and Google Maps. 

After my experience cycling in Taiwan I don't trust Google Maps for route planning.  However it is useful to find campsites, along with their contact details.

My search for a suitable ebike battery continues.   I've also done some preliminary research on flights.   The bare bike weighs 24.5Kg.  To this I need to add the components removed from the bike for air travel, along with my panniers and gear.  Consequentially I'll need a baggage allowance of two bags with a combined weight of not less than 40Kg.  The options are to fly Economy class and pay for excess baggage, or upgrade to  Premium economy which has a greater baggage allowance (depending upon the airline).  The cost of economy plus excess baggage is very similar to premium economy.  Any fool can be uncomfortable and I'll probably travel using the latter.   Cathay Pacific looks like the best option.

Still to be identified:

• Best mobile phone plan
• Preferred options for crossing the English Channel