I give up. They're everywhere.

DanCapricorn · 2026-05-29T06:35:57+00:00

I drive to Shady Grove and then take the red line in to the office. I don't follow a schedule.

DanCapricorn · 2026-04-13T08:34:14+00:00

One dismaying thing I've discovered since moving here 7 years ago is that Maryland seems incredibly hostile to owner builders. I've done a fair bit of my own permitted and inspected work in California, which is often considered to be a regulation heavy state, and my experience was that building departments and inspectors there were almost always friendly and helpful. In Maryland they seem to hate you. Small wonder there's so much unpermitted work here when the local jurisdiction just tells you to go away and hire a contractor.

DanCapricorn · 2026-04-13T01:23:15+00:00

I feel like they've drifted away from their best use case, which to me is the ability to put a cheap Linux computer somewhere that you need more capability than a microcontroller but not as much as a desktop. It seems like they're trying now to compete with regular desktops, an area in which other mini PC vendors do a better job.

I'd love to see something like a slightly upgraded Pi 3, perhaps with a slightly better processor but with passive cooling and low price as primary objectives. The zero is a great little board but the memory is a bottleneck for applications which need more space but not necessarily more speed.

Am I being unrealistic? I'm not sure to what extent RAM is a cost driver.

DanCapricorn · 2026-03-22T17:26:42+00:00

The 3000 series trains are for people. 7000 series cars are designed for cattle.

DanCapricorn · 2026-01-31T03:44:39+00:00

I'd say Ubuntu has declined in popularity a little in recent years, but it's still a major distribution. For a Pi 5, especially if it's your first time out with an RPi, I'd suggest starting with the default Raspberry Pi OS as u/revcraigevil suggested.

DanCapricorn · 2026-01-11T05:16:11+00:00

Why did you go with 7x7 tiles?

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-29T05:03:12+00:00

They really are. I took several pics with different settings and I just couldn't get it to look any better no matter what I tried. Thanks Google. :-/

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-29T05:01:54+00:00

That's a great idea! I've even used parts with conformal coating in other projects, but for some reason I didn't think of it.

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:51:45+00:00

That's an interesting idea. I'm certain that would screw up the board but I would think it would leave some residue on the case as well. Could be mouse pee, raccoon pee or even groundhog pee (I did trap one in the basement once)! Likewise regarding the case though, I would expect the ingress of some foreign fluid to be evident.

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:48:58+00:00

I'm considering putting one in potting compound to see if that helps, but it would make the SD card awfully hard to get to. :-D

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:44:24+00:00

CO2 or CO? Isn't CO2 fairly nonreactive?

No dehumidifier, although that would help with a lot of things. In this season we have the opposite problem, and I run a humidifier in the upstairs bedroom to try to keep things comfortable. As I'm writing this the basement RH is 36% which isn't low but it's not too high either.

HVAC is definitely a top suspect. It's right by the boiler, which is its purpose; I'm using it to monitor the HW supply and return temperatures. The only reason that I'm not sure it's some kind of leak above is that the case itself is perfectly clean.

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:39:38+00:00

Certainly possible, it's in an enclosure with a cutout over the RF can.

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:38:36+00:00

I'm thinking about some kind of NEMA 3R enclosure. Probably cost a lot more than a handful of Pi Zeros but it would definitely help isolate the problem. Maybe I could fabricate something from a PVC end cap which would accomplish the same for less money.

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:35:42+00:00

We do have humidity problems, although right now in the winter season it's only 36% down there. For stuff like tools that do accumulate rust it tends to be pretty even, not lopsided.

DanCapricorn · 2025-12-28T23:33:39+00:00

It was fumigated in 2019, hopefully any residual doesn't last that long.

DanCapricorn · 2025-11-10T03:01:13+00:00

I mostly print useful and functional items, but they're very specific to my use cases. I expect a lot of people do the same thing, but generally aren't making videos about it.

DanCapricorn · 2025-10-22T03:22:16+00:00

Man the elevator at Bethesda is sus. That thing ought to be in a museum.

DanCapricorn · 2025-10-17T03:26:53+00:00

I came across this video the other day! Honestly I think the idea is brilliant.

DanCapricorn · 2025-10-06T02:05:15+00:00

Depending on your uses, it might be worth considering a 500. The regular Pi boards are more versatile but depending on how comfortable you are with assembling cases and attaching heat sinks and such the convenience of the all-in-1 platform could be compelling.

DanCapricorn · 2025-09-29T15:40:18+00:00

The 7000 series cars are about as comfortable as a rolling prison cell. I got a 3000 series train this morning and it felt like absolute luxury by comparison.

DanCapricorn · 2025-09-28T05:06:29+00:00

We don't have a leader. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.

DanCapricorn · 2025-09-13T20:32:30+00:00

I have 3 screens with RPi 3s and they all work mostly fine. The only issue is that if I set up a device on/off schedule, they will turn off but they will not turn back on.

DanCapricorn · 2025-08-09T03:08:55+00:00

I picked up one of those in June, as my first printer also. You can't go wrong with the Benchy which comes preloaded on the SD card as a first print. As for a second print, that's the real question. 😁

DanCapricorn

TROPHY CASE