[HLUG] Hello / Starting with Raspberry Pi

[Alex Hempton-Smith]

Hi Pete,

I've briefly read things about the openenergy monitor so will look at it closer.

The combination of hardware and software is what's quite exciting for me, so the addition of liquid feeds sounds like a good addition. I can't imagine it would be particularly difficult, just a valve attached to the main water intake, a frame to hold the canister upside down in situ with a small pipe from the canister to the valve, then allow gravity and the 'pull' of the water pressure to do the work. 

Regarding magazines, I've always been put off buying these sorts of things because they tend to be quite pricey. Not sure how much the Linux or Pi ones are though.

With regards to just getting started with some 'Pi hacking' are there any starter kits about that you would recommend? Or just buy the bits and pieces separately from eBay?

Cheers,
Alex

Sent from my iPhone

> On 15 Jun 2016, at 13:02, Pete via Herefordshire <herefordshire at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
> 
> Hi Alex;
> This is an interesting intersection of several of my own areas of interest. Perhaps you could use an existing small scale monitoring set up like openenergy monitor
> https://openenergymonitor.org/emon/
> 
> and tie the scheduling and moisture monitoring into that.
> I would also be interested in exploring ways to include controlled release of fertigation (liquid feeds to plants) but there is a bit of hardware bodging to sort out for this...
> 
> You may already know that Linux Format mag now runs a Pi section every issue, and there are specialist mags just for the Pi- automating home systems is a well covered topic !
> 
> Meet soon,
> Pete H@
> 
>> On 14/06/16 22:24, Alex Hempton-Smith via Herefordshire wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> Just joined this group and I'm hoping to attend the next meeting, great to see this group exists in Hereford.
>> 
>> I've mainly experienced Linux by interacting with server environments and doing some basic SSH commands. However I'm reasonably proficient at PHP so I'm looking forward to learning another language, something I can use with hardware.
>> 
>> I'd really like to get started with Raspberry Pi development, but I'm not sure where to start. I have an idea for some home automation projects that might be somewhere to start from.
>> 
>> Perhaps something basic on a Raspberry Pi Zero for automatically watering the plants. Opening a solenoid water valve for 5 minutes when it gets to dusk time, isn't forecast rain in the next 6 hours (weather and sunset web API's) and hasn't already rained that day (a moisture sensor). Then maybe elaborate on that with a dashboard I can access via wifi, send a text message when they've been watered (Trello API) and calculate how much water has been used...
>> 
>> Does anybody here have any experience with Raspberry Pi projects, and any suggestions for good ways to get started?
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Alex
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> 
> -- 
> Herefordshire LUG mailing list
> Web:  http://www.herefordshire.lug.org.uk
> List: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/herefordshire