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Ernie Rader
Good afternoon, everyone!! Please let this Email message introduce me to you. I'm Ernie Rader, W5NH, and I'm using a Raspberry Pi 400 that I've had for several months. Within the last few days, I've installed Bullseye and HamClock on a 32 GB MicroSD card, and everything's working just fine. What a great program!! My question may seem a bit elementary to some, but I'm using a 9" HDMI monitor, and the GUI interface, the mouse cursor, the terminal window, and pop-up menus are so small that many times I have to use a magnifying glass to see them. Where are the adjustments to make changes so these displays are readable? I've been able to increase the size of the terminal window with about 25 itterations of Ctrl-Shift-+, which will fill the screen eventually, but I was hoping that this setting (each time the window is opened), along with the others mentioned above, could be set once and for all. If anyone can point me in the right direction for this configuration, I would certainly appreciate your council. 73, Ernie, W5NH
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Waving hello Ernie!! Jim n6kmr
On 4/11/2022 5:40 PM, Ernie Rader
wrote:
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Charles Young
Ernie: I really like my RPi 400; Very clever package. I seriously suggest getting a bigger monitor. I am a careful shopper and I found a 19 inch HDMI monitor on EBay for about $50 (with free shipping). Our vision doesn’t get any better with age! If you enjoy messing with RPis, it is worth it. Chuck KF8TI `
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I also suggest swapping out the SD card for a small USB3 solid state drive. You'll gain a fair bit of speed and possibly improve reliability.
Nigel A. Gunn, ///shoulders.outwards.resolutions tel +1-937-971-0366
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Some monitors lie about their size to Linux. I got a 10" touchscreen that, for some reason, Linux thinks is a 27" monitor and sizes everything accordingly. Unless you have a specific reason to use the 9 inch monitor, I'd suggest something bigger. Most of my monitors are in the 19-22 inch range and come from Goodwill for $12-15 and generally work great on my RPis.
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I'd try a larger monitor, if you can. If you are determined to use the 9" monitor, search for monitor size settings. Depending on the applications there are various ways to tell Linux what size your monitor is. Michael WA7SKG Ernie Rader wrote on 4/11/22 5:40 PM:
Good afternoon, everyone!!
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Ernie Rader
Good morning, Chuck!!
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And thank you Nigel for your suggestion of the outboard SSD instead of the MicroSD card. I do appreciate your replying to my groups.io message. Under normal circumstances, your suggestion for a larger monitor would be quite valid. However, my wife (Rita, and KD6BNV) and I are retired, and we live full-time in our big RV where space is somewhat limited. I have a 51” flat-screen TV that I’ve tried, but that’s the other end of being extreme, and the resolution is a bit poor. Besides, it’s clear across the room (maybe 10 feet away), and the whole idea of a larger monitor gets degraded by distance and resolution. My little 9 incher can easily be brought right up next to my nose, but that’s a bit awkward at times as well. I’ve right-clicked on the task bar, and clicked on “Panel Settings” and “Panel Appearance” making adjustments there, and that’s helped quite a bit. I’ve also clicked on the raspberry logo in the top-left corner of the startup menu, gone from there to “Preferences”, and then to “Raspberry Pi Configuration.” From there I’ve looked at “Display” and changed the “Headless Resolution” to 1920x1080. That’s helped too. Maybe those are the only settings that can be made, and if so, a bigger monitor may be my only “resolution.” (pun). I was just hoping that maybe a setting in /bin/?/?/???? in the boot-up syntax might make a larger configuration change, and settings I’ve enumerated above might be backed off a bit. It might also be worth mentioning that I’m using a fresh MicroSD card with Bullseye for the OS. I understand that this is a relatively new distro, and one that many may not be that familiar with. I know I’m certainly not. I was directed to use this with a very handy program called “HamClock.” What a wonderful and informative piece of software!! I would recommend this to everyone in a ham radio environment as the amount of information it presents is phenomenal. I’ve taken to leaving it on all the time I’m using my station. I think at this point if I’m unable to glean any further information here in this regard, I may take a chance and contact the HamClock author and see if he has any suggestions. I would think that if he’s clever enough to author such a detailed program, he might also know how to make the changes I seek. Thank you both again for your efforts, and I’d be happy to detail any further information here as my quest continues. 73 to all, Ernie, W5NH P.S. At 79, I really do understand vision deterioration. Where did it go? Nigel Gunn, G8IFF/W8IFF <nigel@...> wrote:
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Clark Martin
I’m typing this on a Mac connected to a 15” portable monitor. I really like these portable monitors. It’s about 1/2” thick, takes either HDMI or USB C for input. The stand folds into a cover. They come in a few sizes. It is quite readable (at the moment I have it set to less than the maximum resolution but I still have plenty of screen real estate.
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Me Too. Although not inexpensive, these thin, 1920 X 1080P, 15.6 inch,
Lepow displays may also be used with your cell phone which will power them. They are available in touch-screen too eliminating the need for a keyboard and mouse (to some extent). Check eBay for deals. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=lepow&crid=38SXKSEGSOG2Z&sprefix=lepow%2Caps%2C447&ref=nb_sb_noss Best regards, Larry WB6BBB On Wed, 13 Apr 2022 23:12:21 -0700, "Clark Martin" <kk6isp@...> wrote: I’m typing this on a Mac connected to a 15” portable monitor. I really like these portable monitors. It’s about 1/2” thick, takes either HDMI or USB C for input. The stand folds into a cover. They come in a few sizes. It is quite readable (at the moment I have it set to less than the maximum resolution but I still have plenty of screen real estate.On Apr 11, 2022, at 5:40 PM, Ernie Rader <ernie@...> wrote:
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Jorge
Hi Ernie! First of all I'm cheap. I was looking for a monitor that I can use on POTA activation with my Pi 400. I use to have a Windows 7 laptop that finally broke and was on a closed and I learned that you can repurposed the laptop screen for use it like a second display or in my case, the monitor for my Pi 400.
It's a project on itself, but works. Here are the steps I take: . I carefully remove the screen from the broken laptop, leaving the hinges attached to the screen. . Carefully removed the bezel and the screen from the back plate and keep all this parts for later reassembly. . In the back of the screen I found the model number and take a picture of the sticker to be sure. . I Google "LP173WD1(the number in the sticker) screen controller drive board" and find an Amazon link to a vendor of my particular screen for $37 Canadian. . I ordered it and received it in about 15 days. The board came with the cables and other little boards for basic controls (power, settings, bright, contrast, etc). . The board powers with 12V (I use an old 12V 800 mah) and the inputs are HDMI, VGA and even composite. . I connect everything, reassembly the screen on the bezel and used a piece of wood to attached the hinges. Please excuse my English, 73, Jorge VE3EAD
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Ernie Rader
Thanks, Jorge!!
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I’m still squinting, but have come to the conclusion that nothing will make my little 9” display show things any bigger. I too am cheap, but have resigned myself to getting a larger display using the 9 incher for something else. Thanks for your informative Email, Ernie, W5NH
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On Thu, Jun 2, 2022 at 01:06 PM, Ernie Rader wrote:
Thanks, Jorge!! Hi Ernie, You could use your TV set connected via HDMI. I really enjoy occasionally such a large display when I take with me a RaspBerry Pi 4 on vacation. Add a mouse and a keyboard and your are done. 73 de Bernard, f6bvp / ai7bg
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M M
Clark -
Would you please supply make and model, and where you got it? I am in the process of designing and building a Raspberry Pi monitoring system to each of the mountaintop tower sites, and that sounds like a great portable monitor to add to the 4x4 service truck. Thanks in advance Mike WA6ILQ
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M M
And after I posted that I read Larry's message......
Mike WA6ILQ
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If you have an old android tablet lying around (you can pick them up for <$50 for sure) you can use VNC Viewer to display the GUI remotely. I do that with a Pi I have connected to my CNC machine.
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Terminal Window, top left, click the icon to find the terminal window font setting
other display settings are in rasp-config GUI display settings are in the preferences. Adafruit.com includes a suggested display setting for their displays you can use as a guide. Some fiddling is required for your display. Wimaxit 11” HDMI display with speakers (ebay or amazon) seems to be optimum for portable , not too small or too large and it will operate down to 7.5 volts on the DC input.
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