When I was in Graduate school I was required to take a class in Computer Sciences. In the 1980’s this meant you learned one of the early software packages; i.e.; BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, etc. My entry language was BASIC. It was also my demise. Even in those days, I was more a hardware guy than a software guy. My brother and my brother-in-law both worked in the computer(software) fields, but I was just challenged by writing code. It was a major roadblock in my computer literacy, that I avoided it at all costs for 20 something years. The end result was that I was capable of operating computer directed equipment and playing video games, but don’t ask me to program any of it, because I immediately turned and ran.
In the 2000’s I was working in a hospital and was presented with the problem of estimating how many blood vials a particular physician was sending to our laboratory for analysis. For whatever reason, I was challenged to write a piece of software to do this estimate.
The easy way(which I know today) would have been to set up a spreadsheet in EXCEL. But I took this as an opportunity to venture into the programming arena again. Long and short, I conquered a few BASIC commands(no pun intended), and successfully wrote numerous lines of code to create this software program.
Enter the second decade of the 21st century, and I bought my first computerized transceiver. This is the beginning of my journeys with the BitX40. Having acquired the BitX40,
I wanted to know how it operated. To understand the operation, you needed to understand the
“Brains” of the transceiver, in this case the Arduino SBC(Single Board Computer).
Arduino is an Italian open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. It is important to remember that Arduino is considered a MicroController. Arduino boards are available commercially from the official website or through authorized distributors(such as GigaParts).
Arduino board designs use a variety of microprocessors and controllers. The boards are equipped with sets of digital and analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be interfaced to various expansion boards (‘shields’) or breadboards (for prototyping) and other circuits. The boards feature serial communications interfaces, including Universal Serial Bus (USB) on some models, which are also used for loading programs. The microcontrollers can be programmed using the C and C++ programming languages (Embedded C), using a standard API which is also known as the Arduino Programming Language, IDE.
The other well known SBC is the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi device attracted attention because they were fully fledged computers, but were small — some as small as a credit card — and inexpensive — with some of them costing as little as $35(also available from Gigaparts). As a result Raspberry Pis were used in a variety of ways, ranging from components used to power machines such as smart speakers and robots, to being connected to bigger devices, such as desktop screens. The first model sold well beyond its original target market of education,ending up in robotics, home automation, industrial automation and used by hobbyists. Originally, the Raspberry Pi project was created with the promotion of teaching basic computer science in schools in mind,leading to low cost, modularity, open design, and its adoption of the HDMI and USB standards.
Later models have much more memory (RAM), up to 16 GB while the original was much more limited in memory (512 MB or 256 MB, with the former capacity still sold), and also more limited in other areas such as having no wireless networking. It is important here to remember that Raspberry Pi is an actual computer, while Arduino is a Compiler. When working with these devices it is important to recognize the different uses of each. If you’re developing a project, it is often a good idea to think about the what and how of the project before selecting the SBC. If your project has buttons and sensors that will send signals to other devices like LED’s or buzzers, then an Arduino may be all the computer you need. If you have buttons, devices, and sensors that send data to the computer to be processed, manipulated, stored and/or displayed then Raspberry Pi may be a better choice for the computer. Also, if you use Raspberry Pi you will need to program in RPiOs, which is based in Linux.
Fast forward to 2025. Since I had the BitX40, I made the decision to learn about Arduino first. I purchased an Arduino starter kit. Through the included Arduino tutorials and “Youtube”, I’ve been teaching myself the basics of Arduino and coding in C. Am I struggling -You betcha! But, I am learning how to build and code. I also have a vision of building some interactive toys for my grandchildren. My other hope is to spark an interest in either Ham Radio or being a Maker within my one of the grandkids. We’ll see how that works out. Stay tuned, there will be future episodes of my journey.
New update; I am starting to teach Basic Electronics in a MakerSpace, so more stories and more projects coming. Again, stay tuned!
References: Wikipedia -Arduino and RaspberryPi
Disclaimer: This article was written in May 2025 and assumes the information presented is correct at the time of presentation. It is in no way a detailed discussion or instruction manual of the subject presented. Always verify equipment operating instructions with manufacturer’s instructions before proceeding.