PA system announcer [Total beginner]
August 15, 2023, 18:44
Hey all! I'm brand new to Raspberry Pi and I have 0 experience with them, but from what I know, I think they would be the best option for my project, which goes as follows:
- I need a device, that will play a sound through a PA system at set times. 9:00, 11:00, 13:30, etc.
- It should choose a random sound every time from a pool of possible files in a folder, and each time should be able to have its own folder, so that they can have different types of announcements.
- and lastly, it should have a 3,5mm aux output on it.
I think this should be possible with a Raspberry Pi, right? And if it is, I would love to hear any recommendations for what I would need for it, and what has to be done to set it up!
As I mentioned, I've never done anything with Raspberry Pis before, so don't be afraid to write things in uh, a simple way. π
Raspberry Pi is just a computer (Hardware) and you describe a program (Software) ?!
And what have you done to research this?
All Raspberry Pi have a 3,5mm except the "Zero" and "Pico" series.
Well this is a project that has low HW demands (play audio at certain times). So the HW is up to the task and "Raspberry Pi OS" is there to service you and most programming languages is available with libraries that can deliver the functionality you need.
But there is a BUT, that audio output is noisy (S/N is low), to address this there is external analog outputs available that is either connected via USB or I2S. An you could also use the HDMI's analogue output feature, but then you need a HDMI to analogue converter with analogue output jack.
There is also the possibility to connect a MP3 player module that can play audio files from an attached SD card.
Och trevlig att trΓ€ffa pΓ₯ andra frΓ₯n norra halvklotet π
Hmm, the PA system's speakers are old horn speaker type PA speakers, so I think the poor audio quality might not be too big of a problem, to be honest. π€
I would just need the possibility to have a set of folders for each announcement: 9:00, 11:00 and 13:30, and then the code would have to randomly pick one file from one of the folders when there is an announcement to make at that time.
Well you can choose bash (my recommendation) or python and create cron jobs to do the scheduling.
Just ordered the Raspberry Pi π
Interestingly, a store in Denmark was the cheapest option
Parts arrived for the project π
Nice to see a idea begin to take form into something π
But you caught it so...
Yeah, they'll send me the right ones free of charge along with the correct cable (and some other parts too π
) that I ordered.
+ got free shipping for them
I've actually got another one arriving in the mail too, haha. That one will come with a sound card HAT and a case that fits the Raspi with the HAT on it. That one I'll use for the announcer
This one I can use at home for experimenting and learning in the meantime :)
Managed to get it to work pretty well now! The sound file here is purely a placeholder. π (it is a clip from a game stream)
Now with the announcer seemingly working fine, I'll have to make the audio cables and fit all the parts onto the electronics box I have
Decided to swap the rotary switch for this instead
Turned on the Raspberry Pi yesterday, the LCD screen lit up with blank digits on the top row and nothing at all happens when I try to run the code. Even the green LED does not light up. π€
Thonny doesn't give any errors for it
Try to check the wiring
And did any moisture get into it that may break any circuits, or even create some kind of resistance?
Moisture can't be it
Will check the wiring again when I have the time to, but it looked fine to me
Or maybe some internal issue?
The Pi seems to work fine π€
I wonder if me adding the power button onto it could have caused it
I used this tutorial
https://youtu.be/wVnMZ4DXDNo?si=sIijR9Rg46YFr963
Maybe power usage is too high for the LCD to work
Idk, and make sure the power usage is enough to power the device and LCD
Might have to make some very simple program that lights up a single LED or something and see if it works
Ahh, the new Raspberry Pi 5 has an integrated RTC
Tempting....
RTC is nice when you don't have any internet available otherwise it's a waste.
Indeed, and I do not have it available for the project
And I like the TTP223 as power button π