There’s a new IDE (Integrated Development Environment) on the block. Called Thonny, it has just been added into the Raspbian image. The MagPi has done a great tutorial and walkthrough of the features of the editor here.
I recently attended a Raspberry Jam at Pi Towers and was lucky enough to take part in a workshop run by Ben Nuttall. The workshop, which taught us how to use GPIO Zero’s remote control features, along with other examples using the library, was excellent. Ben made a risky move and got us to use Thonny rather than IDLE, the de-facto editor for Python. I have to say, I was very impressed. Instead of the pop-up execution window you get with IDLE, Thonny runs the code in a Shell tab below the coding window. This makes it feel much more integrated than IDLE, and much tidier as a result. There are a lot of features (for which take a look at the MagPi article linked above) including step-through and variable debugging in Thonny that we didn’t touch the surface of, so I can only give you a surface-level opinion. Personally, I think everyone who writes in Python should take a look at Thonny. It’s not perfect, I’m sure, but it is an excellent piece of software and well worth a go.
Alex Eames has reviewed the Pimoroni Pirate Radio kit which features a Raspberry Pi Zero W. The kit, which requires assembly, costs £40 and includes the Zero W and most of the parts you need inside a nice project box. You just need to add an SD card and Pi power supply or USB battery. Read Alex’s review here. (Photo credit: Alex Eames)
I got hold of a Pirate Radio kit myself recently. It really is very cute and is a nice blue colour with a frosted perspex front. The VU meter on the side is a nice touch, although I would’ve preferred it if it was a bit more responsive at lower volumes, but I guess that’s just a case of tweaking the Python script. The software itself is good as are the instructions for assembly and software installation, although you will need to hunt around for that pesky configuration file that lists the playlists. I managed to find it eventually but can’t remember where it is right this second. The web interface that you can use is a bit basic, but functional. The sound produced by the included speaker isn’t stellar, but then what do you expect for something that small? However, it’s easily slightly-better-than-radio-quality, so no complaints here.
I enjoyed putting the kit together (as Alex said in his review, a video might’ve been nice and a bit clearer, but heigh ho) and can recommend it to anyone who wants a little Pi-powered radio.
They’re out of stock at the moment, but you can see them on the Pimoroni shop site here or on The Pi Hut here.
Wayne Keenan wanted to build a hyper-slim camcorder. So, he took a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a HyperPixel screen, a small camera from Pimoroni, a LiPo battery and some other components, soldered and stuck them together and, voila, a tiny camera! He’s written the whole project up on Hackster where you can learn more.
He’s called it the Picorder… But I won’t hold that against him… 😉
Andy Warburton is organising a Raspberry Jam in Amsterdam on Saturday, 9th September. The event, which runs from 11am-3pm, will take place at TQ, which is in close proximity to the Flower Market. There will be show-and-tell, a workshop, a presentation about the Raspberry Pi, and more stuff going on. So, if Amsterdam is in your area of the world, take a look at the AmsterJam website here and book your free tickets from Eventbrite.
Recently, we lost our normal venue for CamJam – the Institute of Astronomy. This was through no fault of our own – Andy, who was our contact there, has recently changed jobs within the University and moved buildings. Thanks Andy for the years of support you’ve given us!
This does leave us at something of a crossroads. We have a couple of ideas for places to hold the Jam in future, but they’re currently working out as quite expensive. Given that we want to make sure that our Jams are self-funding and self-sustaining, these venues are at the upper limit of what we think we can afford, given past ticket sales.
So, we are reaching out to you, our attendees and interested parties. Do you know of any venue in Cambridge (or even the surrounding villages/towns) that might be suitable to hold CamJam? A school, community centre, town hall, college, University building or other suitable space?
We are open to any ideas you may have. Ideally, it will be somewhere where you, personally, have either a contact or a personal stake – a foot in the door, so to speak. We would like to hold a Jam in September, so we have a month or two to get things sorted. Hopefully, it will be somewhere that has the following facilities:
With any luck, someone out there has an idea of somewhere that is suitable (even if it’s ‘nearly’ right, we’d love to hear from you!) We very much want to continue with the Jams – we just need your help! :-). Contact me if you can think you can help.
