I'm running a Pi (streaming video however, rather than audio) with a 100W solar panel and a 70Ah battery. I need to keep an eye on it as the days shorten and the weather deteriorates! I use a 12V to 5V 3A step down to power the Pi (eg https://ebay.us/orju6a) and a Witty Pi 3 pi hat ( https://www.uugear.com/product/witty-pi-3-realtime-clock-and-power-managemen...) so I can safely switch the pi on and off without having to log in. I can also use it to time start up and turning off, which probably not so important on an audio stream but means I can switch off the pi at night for my video stream. You can also use an external switch - I'm in the process of building a little light sensor so it turns on and off autmatically with the daylight.
I run a small 4G wifi modem straight from a USB port on the solar charge controller.
The whole lot can sit in this plastic trunk - https://www.diy.com/departments/form-skyda-black-49l-plastic-storage-trunk/3...
Sarah
On Tue, 10 Aug 2021 at 10:48, Grant Smith grant@soundtent.org wrote:
Hi Darren
If you want to run the stream long term over the Winter, running 24 hours a day, you need to plan for a quite big battery (around 60 - 80Ah) and a big collector (around 200W).
The power management is handled by the charge controller, which will shut the load off if the battery discharges to a certain voltage and turn it back on when it re-charges to a certain point.
The Focusrite 2nd Gen 2i2 is hard to get hold of, although second hand ones show up.. The Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2 is a good alternative, which to me sounds better than the Focusrite (itself v good imo).
Notes on the 48V setup, including the Simple P48 Mod are here:
https://paper.dropbox.com/doc/Streambox-with-Focusrite-Soundcard--BQK_MjSW7I...
I'd be happy to discuss in more detail.
Sounds like a great project!
bw grant
On 9 Aug 2021, at 16:49, Darren Copeland darren@darrencopeland.net wrote:
Hello,
I am planning to set up a solar recording/streaming Raspberry Pi.
I found Grant's document to be helpful - https://paper.dropbox.com/doc/Streambox-Off-grid-with-IQ-Audio-Code-Zero-and.... I appreciated seeing Wijnand Bredewold's pictures of his setup from July 18 posting. It gave me some ideas for making the setup compact.
I noticed there was nothing in Grant's document about power management, but maybe I overlooked it.
I was wondering what people's experiences are with the PiJuice or other alternatives? It seems that the PiJuice only works up to 10-12 ah and is currently out of stock, so perhaps there are other solutions at this time? https://uk.pi-supply.com/products/pijuice-standard
I would like to use it with an audio interface connected to the Pi so that I can use phantom powered mics for high sensitivity and no EMI noise. Grant has suggested the Focusrite 2nd Gen 2i2. I suppose there are other interfaces too that will work provided they don't require a manual button to turn on power. I am wondering how much additional power draw I have to account for with the interface? Has anyone tried the Focusrite or others in a Solar power rig?
Cheers darren _______________________________________________ Locustream / Locus Sonus Streaming Project http://locusonus.org/ To unsubscribe, send a message to locustream-request@nujus.net with unsubscribe in the subject or follow instructions here https://nujus.net/cgi-bin/mailman/options/locustream _______________________________________________
Locustream / Locus Sonus Streaming Project http://locusonus.org/ To unsubscribe, send a message to locustream-request@nujus.net with unsubscribe in the subject or follow instructions here https://nujus.net/cgi-bin/mailman/options/locustream _______________________________________________