Ok, What Am I Building?

This started with my wife desire to have RPG LED Xmass decorations.  the cost of these can be high, but they are also limited in what you can do.  What started this was me coming across this link https://www.adafruit.com/products/2026 .  Looking into that link lead me to this https://github.com/hzeller/rpi-rgb-led-matrix.  Soon, I would be deep in the rabbit hole.

So, the idea is simple, provide a way for here to upload images to display.  However, nothing I ever do can ever be done the simple way.

I wanted her to have the ability to show Animated GIFS, Movie clips, Images, and text in many different ways.  I also wanted her to be able to control it and set up "shows" remotely from another device, web browser, or the grand over all scheme I had in mind, the home automation and control center.  We will talk about that project later.

So, I had my work cut out, and as such I needed some gear.  Off to Micro Center where I would walkout with a nice dent in my wallet.

You see I had nothing for working on electronics, and as such I needed soldering equipment, multi-meter equipment but most importantly I needed more Pi's.   I needed at least 2 more Pi's to prototype code and to test my idea.

I also needed the screen, as well as the HAT for the RPGMatrix https://www.adafruit.com/product/2345, this would simplify my use of the device, and at the same time cause me tons of aggravation of my own doing.

I also picked up a 7 inch touch screen https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/the-eagerly-awaited-raspberry-pi-display/, for the later stages of this prototype.

I also picked up some cheap micro SD cards for the new Pi's.  Later, I would come to regret this choice.  Lets just say that 4k write speed is very important for Pi's.  and if yours is to slow, it will cripple your system.

Next, setting up the new Pi's.