Install Ham Clock app with Raspberry Pi

Steve Saner (KDØIJP) will be showing how to install the Ham Clock app onto a Raspberry Pi. The Club will install the Bullseye Operating system on your Raspberry Pi and then install the Ham Clock Application.

The intended audience of this workshop is for people that have little to no experience with the Raspberry Pi, though others with more experience are certainly welcome to join. 

Here’s a web page with information about the Raspberry Pi HamClock.

The goals of the workshop will be to learn how to set up a Raspberry Pi and then how to use that Raspberry Pi to make a HamClock application that you can use in your shack.

Equipment Needed:

• Raspberry Pi Computer (RPi)– HamClock will work on about any model but should have built-in WiFi. Model 3B+ works well but if want to use the latest perhaps Model 4. There are numerous versions of the Raspberry Pi available on Amazon. Here’s a kit on Amazon that includes most of the accessories you would want.  The best price I have found lately is from Adafruit. Adafruit also has most of the accessories you might want. You will need to choose how much memory you want. 2GB is fine, which is $45.00. If you are willing to spend a bit more, 4GB for $55.00 might be a good option as it will make your RPi useful for more different projects. The 8GB option is fine too, but overkill for most projects.
  
• Power Supply for the RPi. If you already have one great. The Official Raspberry Pi Power Supply 5.1V 3A – Note that the power supply for the older models does not work with the RPi 4.
• Optional: Heat Sink, Case and Cooling fan
• HDMI cable to connect your RPi to a monitor. If you need one you can pick one up at Walmart, Office Depot, or Best Buy. You could also get one from Amazon.
  *Important*: If you are using a RPi version 2 or 3, then the above described HDMI cable is all you need. However, if you are using the RPi 4, it has a Micro-HDMI connector on it and you will need an adapter.
  
• Monitor – We’ll have a few there that you can use. Might have to kind of take turns.
• USB Keyboard and Mouse. You will need a simple USB keyboad and mouse for doing the initial setup of the RPi. Once you have the HamClock up and running, you don’t necessarily need the keyboard and mouse any more. Any cheap USB keyboard and mouse should work. I’ll have some at the workshop, so if you don’t have something, that’s fine. Here is a set you could consider:
  
• Micro SD Card. *This is important* You will need a microSD card which will act as the storage (hard drive) for the RPi. I’d recommend that you get one that is at least 32GB in size. They are available locally from places like Walmart, Office Depot or Best Buy. Here is a decent option from Amazon. Doesn’t hurt to get a couple of these as they do sometimes go bad. Here is a two-pack.
  
• Micro SD Card reader/writer. You need some way to write data onto your Micro SD Card. The most common way is an adapter that plugs into a USB port. I will have a couple at the workshop, so you don’t necessarily need to buy one now if you don’t want to. If you do want to get one, something like this would work.
  
• Computer/Laptop. You will need to use a regular computer or laptop running a normal operating system (such as Windows, MacOS, or Linux) to download a Raspberry Pi software image and then using the USB writer (above) copy the image onto the Micro SD card. We plan to have one or two laptops available for this at the workshop .

You are welcome to participate in this workshop in several ways. You may come and watch and learn what you can. You are, however, encouraged to bring the necessary equipment to follow along and build your own HamClock. Finally, if you are experienced in the ways of Raspberry Pi and/or HamClock, you are welcome to come and offer assistance to others.