The Raspberry Pi Thread [5]

caperjack · 05 Jun 2020

I think all that stuff is neat/cool ,, but because i don't understand coding and my memory just isn't working to remember what i read ,nuttin sinks in ,I'll stay away from it .

alphanumeric said:

Just now picking away at editing the Enviro+ all-readings.py file. I'm pretty sure I have so my mini LCD will work. It's this one
0.96" SPI Colour LCD (160x80) Breakout – Pimoroni Store
Which is the same one used on the Enviro Plus. it's just wired up a little different. The back light uses a different GPIO pin etc. I just copied the config settings from one of its examples into the enviro one. That "should" have it work in my Breakout Garden. The example worked as a test anyway.
Might have some issues errors as a result of removing the light sensor code. I won't know until I do my first test run. Not going to happen tonight though. I don't have the ambition to hook it all back up to my monitor and keyboard etc.

alphanumeric · 05 Jun 2020

A lot of it is guess work, for me it is anyway. I'm sure I'll get some errors, I'll be pleasantly surprised if I don't ,lol. I'll just google the ones i get and hope for something that points me in the right direction. If I get stuck I'll post them on the Pimoroni forum.
I'm hoping if I get something working with that mini LCD, that I can port that over to the Unicorn Mini. They both use SPI, and similar code. At first glance it looks similar. My ultimate plan is to replace the Sense Hat in one of my Weather Clocks with the Unicorn Mini. The only thing I'm using on the Sense hat is the 8 x 8 LED matrix, and the joystick. I can replace the joystick functions with the buttons on the Unicorn Mini, 4 of the 5 anyway. I only really need 3 functions. Dimmed or full bright and shutdown.
Getting the mini LCD and BME280 working with the enviro code "should" be the easy way forward. That's my thinking anyway. If I do manage to reach my end goal I can do something else with that display. depending on how things work out with my double replacement order, I could end up with two of them to play with.

alphanumeric · 05 Jun 2020

I've had a few

so I may ramble on a bit, lol.
Anyway, I try to start with working code, that's in the ball park or similar to what I want to do. That's why I went with what I did above.
Then when you change it, and it doesn't work, you know what broke it etc.
That's why I'm comparing the LCD displays example (that works) against the Enviro example that needs changes. The Enviro has the same hardware, it's just all on one board and wired up slightly different. And a couple of extra bits I don't have, yet.

caperjack · 05 Jun 2020

your doing great ,I under stand almost all of it ,lol just curious if you know of anything use full i could display on the display-o-tron Display-O-Tron HAT – Pimoroni Store

alphanumeric said:

I've had a few

so I may ramble on a bit, lol.
Anyway, I try to start with working code, that's in the ball park or similar to what I want to do. That's why I went with what I did above.
Then when you change it, and it doesn't work, you know what broke it etc.
That's why I'm comparing the LCD displays example (that works) against the Enviro example that needs changes. The Enviro has the same hardware, it's just all on one board and wired up slightly different. And a couple of extra bits I don't have, yet.

alphanumeric · 06 Jun 2020

I have a couple of the 16 x 2 versions of that display. Not the Displayotron, just that display that's mounted to it. I've used them with my Arduino.
One of mine has the i2c or SPI backpack on it. Looks like yours uses SPI. Near as I can tell from the pinout.
It's asci so you can display just about any character of text etc on your keyboard on it. It's meant for text messages.
You could show day date time. Random words of wisdom. Crazy eight ball stuff I guess, lol. Just got up, so let me think on it for a while and get back to you. Google the 16 x2 display projects and you'll find loads of stuff. Mostly for Arduino though.
16 x 2 display projects - Google Search

caperjack · 06 Jun 2020

Thanks for the info ,i'll check it out a bit more .. I followed one of this guys tutorial a couple of yrs ago [seems like that anyway ] but it just stopped ,like the guy died or something ,i'll try some of the other ones see what happens maybe ,might be a bit to complicated for me ,lol ..Build a Raspberry Pi Vehicle Interior Monitor - Screen Test - Please Release Me

alphanumeric · 06 Jun 2020

This may be worth a look see, if you haven't already been there, I can likely do some of this with my display.
Display-O-Tron Breakout with Raspberry Pi - Pimoroni Yarr-niversity

caperjack · 06 Jun 2020

thank , i'll have a look ,,put a new water softener in the other night ,broke a clip that held one of the lines tight and now its leaking a small amount of water ,got a replacement part coming from the usa ,so 5 or 6 days wait ,, and the softner is in the closet of what use to be Danielle's bed room ,now my computer room is a mess ,one doesn't realize how much junk they collect till they take it all out of the storage closet ,the rooms a mess ,lol chance to get rid of some of the junk ..

alphanumeric said:

This may be worth a look see, if you haven't already been there, I can likely do some of this with my display.
Display-O-Tron Breakout with Raspberry Pi - Pimoroni Yarr-niversity

alphanumeric · 06 Jun 2020

I have a couple of ceiling fans to replace. I'll wait till its raining again and cool to do it. I put some new solar powered LED deck lights up yesterday. The winter was hard on the old set and half weren't working or only lit up for a short while. I have two of the old ones that still work and stay lite all night. I'm going to swap the batteries into those from the other ones to sort the good batteries from the worn out duds. If I end up with some good ones I'll put them in the dud lights and see if I can get a few more working. I need to clean up the battery contacts a bit. The wire wheel on my dremel should do it, it I'm careful with it.

caperjack · 06 Jun 2020

dollar store sells batteries that work ok for awhile ,but there cheap to replace ,i use them in a few step light and driveway markers

alphanumeric said:

I have a couple of ceiling fans to replace. I'll wait till its raining again and cool to do it. I put some new solar powered LED deck lights up yesterday. The winter was hard on the old set and half weren't working or only lit up for a short while. I have two of the old ones that still work and stay lite all night. I'm going to swap the batteries into those from the other ones to sort the good batteries from the worn out duds. If I end up with some good ones I'll put them in the dud lights and see if I can get a few more working. I need to clean up the battery contacts a bit. The wire wheel on my dremel should do it, it I'm careful with it.