Hello

[MonoBY]

Hi,

I'm Dan from Germany.

I use a Pi Zero with Battery and Moode in AP Mode in my car and a Pi3B+ with AMP Hat at home.

[the_bertrum]

Hi Dan,

I'd be interested in your batter setup. I have an idea to make my radio more portable.

Welcome to the forum.

[TheOldPresbyope]

I'd be interested in your batter setup. 

Well, that depends. Cricket, rounders, North American baseball, Finnish pesäpallo, ...? Requirements vary  

I assumed Dan meant a moOde system taking power from his car's electrical system. I would think the principal requirement there is noise conditioning since there's plenty of juice (my nominally 12 V car battery is rated ca. 50 amp-hours and the alternator is rated at 50 A/120 A).

In any case, yeah, dish some details.

Regards,
Kent

PS - actually, our car is new enough to have an auxiliary USB socket. The first time my partner plugged in her iPhone to charge, we were startled to hear a track from her phone start playing through the car's "entertainment system"---what we oldsters still call the radio. That's an obvious path to exploit if I wanted a moOde player in the car.

[the_bertrum]

Cricket all the way Kent

I was hoping it might be some other battery than the 12 v car system, I'm collecting ideas in that area. But either way details will be interesting.

[MonoBY]

Hi Dan,

I'd be interested in your batter setup.  I have an idea to make my radio more portable.

Welcome to the forum.

Hi Robert,

I need the battery because I have no 5V USB in my car.

There are (at least) two battery solutions for the Zero:

1. Waveshare UPS HAT © for Raspberry Pi Zero
2. PiSugar

Both have their pros and cons.

The soundcard I use ist the Hifiberry DAC Zero, it was available for some time as a "Raw" version without the parts soldered, so I was able to use a 3,5 mm line out jack.

There's currently no case for the hardware but I can live with it.

Dan.

[TheOldPresbyope]

@MonoBY 

Thanks for putting up with my off-topic banter and for posting the links.

The Waveshare HAT looks interesting to me. Have you actually used it? My only experience with pogo pins is in NDTE (non-destructive test equipment) where they are very reliable but used only for brief moments  in a static, lab testbed. I wonder about the long-term reliability of their connections in a mobile/portable system out in the field, so to speak.

Regards,
Kent

[MonoBY]

@MonoBY 

Thanks for putting up with my off-topic banter and for posting the links.

The Waveshare HAT looks interesting to me. Have you actually used it? My only experience with pogo pins is in NDTE (non-destructive test equipment) where they are very reliable but used only for brief moments   in a static, lab testbed. I wonder about the long-term reliability of their connections in a mobile/portable system out in the field, so to speak.

Regards,
Kent

Hi Kent,

I've been using the Pi Zero with the Waveshare UPS Hat quite often for the last ca. 2 years (almost every day i drive to work) and I had never any problem with the pogo pins. But I never used it on rocky/bumpy roads

The 1000 mAh battery is not very large of course, but it's ok for me. Surely not a solution for long distances. A large powerbank might help out (or a 5V USB port in the car).

But the battery is a standard model with a plug that can be replaced easily (on the PiSugar the battery wires are soldered), an it is held in a safe position.

On the downside, the power drains if you forget to switch the Hat off with the physical power swtch. And there is no easy way to monitor the power of the battery. There's Python code available, but I can't use it on my access device (smartphone browser).

[the_bertrum]

Interesting links, thanks very much.