Single board computers and usage of them

[Daniil]

Hello friends!
I owns, among other computing hardware, a single-board computer, OrangePi PC 2. It's a kind of a Raspberry Pi computer, but open-source and chinese - it's small, it's with Linux, it's stupid, it's cool! I used it as a RTL-SDR server - to receive data from sattelites, ISS and planes through RTL-STR dongle.

Does anybody of you have such computers? For what purposes do you use them?

[Shadow.97]

Been wanting rtl-sdr for a long time on a pi at our summer house.
Most of the time I've used my raspberry pi2+ for Pihole,https://pi-hole.net/ which is an easy way to adblock using DNS. Good for phones etc that you dont want to use adblocking browser with.
Other than that, I've used it to run basic server software like apache and "OpenWorld" by TastyLollipop. (online mod for Rimworld).
I'm currently considering using it as a server for an Arduino for monitoring moisture, temperature and turning on/off relays over the internet in the summer house. As we do not want it dropping below 1c due to freeze risk of pipes when we are not there. We also want to be able to heat the place up before arriving.
Also considering hosting webcam stream/storage for low-end security footage.

Main issue is getting a proper powersupply that can handle a few hours power outage for the pi and the modem/router and how to mount it in a decent looking way.

I often found the pi2+ to be a bit too weak for anything I want to do longterm and I absolutely hate how many SD cards I've shredded. I've paid much more for SD cards for it than I've paid for the pi+case.
Lack of 64bit arm applications is also a huge bummer which has been solved in newer revisions.
For the abovementioned reasons I've just resorted to using my server with i5 4590 in it when I've needed to host anything.

[Daniil]

Been wanting rtl-sdr for a long time on a pi at our summer house.

The main trouble with RTL-SDR in my case is that my antenna is "in a pit" (i'm living in a center of big city, and tall buildings around my house covering sight), and I'm living at a high latiude. I.e., for example, ISS is visible for me very low over horizon, and in very rare occasions, that's why I can't receive many of their transmissions.

Most of the time I've used my raspberry pi2+ for Pihole,https://pi-hole.net/ which is an easy way to adblock using DNS. Good for phones etc that you dont want to use adblocking browser with.

PiHole is a good thing!

Other than that, I've used it to run basic server software like apache and "OpenWorld" by TastyLollipop. (online mod for Rimworld).

Oh, you're also a fan of open-source game servers? I'm keeping internal MANGOS server for WoW 3.3.5 on my linux file server.

Also considering hosting webcam stream/storage for low-end security footage.

Oh, that's interesting! What software you planning to use for this? I used ZoneMinder for a long time, it's stable after install, but it's very difficult in installation.

Main issue is getting a proper powersupply that can handle a few hours power outage for the pi and the modem/router and how to mount it in a decent looking way.

That wasn't a problem for me. I.e., with OrangePi I bought a noname chinese 220V->USB power converter for 2.5 amps current - and all working fine, almost 3 years already.

I often found the pi2+ to be a bit too weak for anything I want to do longterm and I absolutely hate how many SD cards I've shredded. I've paid much more for SD cards for it than I've paid for the pi+case.

Well, yes, SD cards are a trouble. In my video security, ZoneMinder based system, SD card died after 3 years of usage, but it's died in very strange way. Under the tests it's working fine for about 1-2 hours, but in real application it's hanging the system after 10-12 hours when ZoneMinder trying to write something into database.

[Daniil]

Also considering hosting webcam stream/storage for low-end security footage.

NB! DO NOT use Armbian for this! I lost 8 freaking hours to reinstall a ZoneMinder today, until understood that it can't run on Armbian.
I'll create a guide about making CCTV security systems via webcam+SBC+ZoneMinder later.