Hello Rick,

HD>> The low price of the Pi Zero flows away, because of the costs of all the
HD>> conversion cables to connect it to the outside world,
HD>> i.e. micro HDMI to HDMI, micro USB2 to/from normal USB2A,
HD>> USB2-RJ45 dongle etc.
HD>> And then you still have less memory and less speed compaired to a Pi 3B.

RC> That's true of the rPi anyway as the cost of the keyboard, mouse,
RC> monitor and even a decent power supply ends up being significantly pricey
RC> compared to the rPi itself.

Yes, that's true, but that is not what I wanted to tell.
I was comparing the costs of the Pi Zero and conversion cables to the regular
Pi 1B, so to connect the same I/O cables (i.e. HDMI, USB2 and RJ45 EtherNet)
as I would use on a normal Pi. So I can change a Pi 1B for a Zero in one go.
Then I need at least these three conversion cables.

RC> The zero doesn't need a microHDMI to HDMI converter, just have a
RC> suitable cable.

I already have two normal HDMI to HDMI, and two HDMI to DVI-D cables. So for
a Pi Zero I only need a Micro HDMI-male to normal HDMI-Female, you see?
With that short converters I can use the normal cables.
Or should I also buy a micro-HDMi to normal HDMI-male for the Pi Zero?
and a Micro-HDMI to DVI-D one, that's also double ;-(
So one simple short micro HDMI tot HDMI female will do right.
Then I can choose to use the HDMI to HDMI cable, or the HDMI to DVI-D version
incombination with that converter cable.

Of course I also have a normal HDMI to VGA converter for use at VGA monitors
at computerclubs etc. Then I do not need to carry a monitor with me.

RC> Everything I have is micro USB using a standard cable unless it's a
RC> keyboard or mouse. You can use the zero headless just as well as anything.

I know, but I never use computers headless.
Second, I do not have a smarth phone, so no micro usb needed ;-).
The only micro USB I need are for the Pi's, and my Garmin 2595LMT
autoroutenavigator.

RC> I guess costing a PC kinda blows the budget if you want to count that.

Yes, but in reality you have to spend that to get a working combination.

Here people need inland ECDIS on their ships, and I made a solution with a Pi
3B and sell a complete configured microSDcard to them.
Then they want to know what to buy else to get a complete system.
So I made a complete description of the materials needed to get a full stand
alone working ECDIS Pi system. If you count everything, a laptop costs more.

RC> What is the RJ-45 for?  You mean an Ethernet USB converter?

Yes, is a simply Emiment EM1010 USB2 to RJ45 10/100bT EtherNet converter.

RC> You can always develop you app on a regular rPi then use the zero in the
RC> end device.

Yes, I know.
I have 5 Pi's; 2 x 1B, 1B+, 2B and 3B, but no Zero.
The Pi's 1B and 1B+ are running RISC OS, and the 2B and 3B are running Raspbian
and Ubuntu Linux.
On the raspbian version with help I have compiled and installed OpenCPN 4.6.1
with OpenSeaMap and S57 charts for Inland ECDIS as asked by European law.
For the data transfer a FTDI USB2A to RS232c cable is needed between the
Class A inland AIS-transponder and the Pi or laptop computer.
We also find out a cheap 12 or 24 Vdc= to 5 Vdc= converter for powering the Pi
3B. It is silly to first convert the ship's dc to normal power 230 Vac~ 50 Hz,
and then convert that back to +5 Vdc=/2.5 Adc= for the Pi 3B.

Now I am thinking to set up a Pi as a FidoNet mailer as a plan C.
The amount of kilo Watts will dramatically drop, compared to this current
FidoNet node on a 80486 pc with DOS 5 and an analoge V34 POTS modem.
First I have to create (buy or build) an USB HDD, because when used
intensively, a micro SDcard will soon die.
Second I need to know which Linux software I can use?
For RISC OS, I could use !ROSBink and have to find out what other software
package as a tosser, scanner and mail-editor.
I have a good FidoNet Point package !WimpLink that can be combined with
!ROSBink, but I can not use that as a FidoNet Node.
The other disadvantage is, that I then have to move mailpackets between
software programs and also have to do some manual setup of FLO-files etc.
for transferring every day.
So I think the more recent Linux software will be a better choice for
automatically importing and exporting FidoNet messages with less work?
There is much to find out and learn, but my physical energy is very limited.
So it is a slow proces, and other things in real life have higher priorities.

Henri.

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