Hello Im new to this Hobby

[Ricon65rn]

Di i need a rasberry pi if i am using my computer with software installed?

 

[Skymaster]

H Ricon and welcome to ACL.

That depends on your computer. If you have Windows or Linux, you can use xSchedule to send data to your controllers, rather than using FPP installed on a Raspberry Pi. That said, the latter is a more popular option as it doesn't require your computer running all the time.
If you are using a Mac to sequence, xSchedule was deprecated on the Mac quite a while back and is no longer an option, so you must use FPP in this instance.

 

[Ricon65rn]

Thank you for the reply, Question ? so i can download xlights and FPP on the Rasberry pi directly?

 

[Skymaster]

xLights, no. It's not designed to run on a Pi, it is designed for a full computer usage.

FPP - yes - the easiest way is to use the Raspberry Pi imager software, go to Other OS -> Special Purpose OS -> Falcon Player - and then from there select the version to write to the SD card.

 

[Ricon65rn]

do you reccomed a certain Pi vendor?

 

[Skymaster]

I buy mine from a few different places, but they are all Australian based, and I notice you have a US flag on your profile. That would render my recommendations not particularly useful

 

[Ricon65rn]

Thank you Skymaster for your help. if i have any other questions is it allright to reach out in the future?

Thank you

 

[Skymaster]

Of course - always drop a question in the forums - there are loads of active members who are always willing to help. You can also stop by the chat room, it's generally "staffed" 24x7 with regular folk from AU, NZ, USA dropping in often.

 

[merryoncherry]

They're a little more expensive than they should be, but Amazon generally has them. Another US-based recommendation I have heard is Micro Center.

 

[Ricon65rn]

They're a little more expensive than they should be, but Amazon generally has them. Another US-based recommendation I have heard is Micro Center.

Thank you

 

[MikeKrebs]

Find Raspberry Pi computers in stock - rpilocator

Find Raspberry Pi computers in stock - rpilocator

rpilocator.com

If you get genuine raspberry pi, they are in fact all the same. The main differentiator is the accessories you get with them. I only have a couple but I like to buy them with power supplies, cases and heatsinks. Add a 32GB sdCard right away and you be set. That makes me gravitate to Amazon to get the packages but the pishop makes it easy to add them in.

For a starter system, I would go with the 3b+ with 1GB memory but a 4 would be good as well. rpi4 tends to run warmer than the 3b+ but many many are in use in blinky flashy land. rPi 5 is just out and FPP hasn't been built for it yet and it sounds like it is slightly power hungry (but still way below running a PC to do the work) and I would avoid that unless you like bleeding edge stuff.