Hardware
Here’s a list of the basic hardware you will need to buy. Some users will already have things like the video display and cables so their cost will be less.
- Raspberry Pi
- Video display(PC monitor or TV)
- Video cable
- Micro USB charger
- Wireless a keyboard/mouse with unified receiver
- USB Wi-Fi adapter
- SD card and an SD card reader
The average cost for most users is ~$100. You can find a more in depth parts list here
If you have a 1920 x 1080 monitor or a 1080p TV laying around unused, you’re probably best off using that. If you want to step your game up, you can purchase a display specifically for your RaspberryPint. We typically recommend monitors over TVs, unless you want something larger than 27″.
The three most important features for a display used as a digital taplist are (in order of priority): Panel type, VESA mounts, and USB hubs. Here’s why.
Panel Type
The panel is what actually displays the image. Behind it is a backlight, which provides the brightness that comes through the panel. Clearly, this is an important piece of the display.
On a digital taplist, we’re primarily interested in screen size, viewing angle, clarity, coating. The best bang-for-your-buck happens to be the 22-24″ range. Anything smaller, and you’re likely losing 1920 x 1080 resolution. Anything larger, and you start to pay a steeper and steeper premium.
There are main families of panels: TN, VA and IPS.
The TN and VA families of panel both use a thin-film to produce good image quality at a low price. They both have the same downfall in that their viewing angles are absolutely terrible. When viewed more than 15º off-center, they appear to fade drastically. Colors appear to distort with a heavy tint, or even invert. They make an excellent choice when used on a budget and placed at a computer whey they will always be viewed on-center. However, they are typically a poor choice for wall-mounting because of their extremely narrow viewing angle. When oriented vertically, their viewing angle becomes even smaller and color aberrations multiply during off-center viewing.
The IPS panel produces an excellent image with superb color reproduction. Their downfall is that they are typically more expensive than TN/VA panels. They also tend to be slightly thicker and experience some motion lag in fast-moving sequences due to RTC overshoot. That said, they will display an image with great fidelity, even when viewed at extreme angles.
We highly recommend the use of an IPS panel if using a monitor.
VESA Mounts
VESA mount holes allow you to use a wall mount. Not all monitors have them and without them, they cannot easily be wall-mounted. With some of the more popular monitor models, Chinese sellers on eBay have rigged up an adapter that replaces the monitor’s base and presents VESA mount holes instead. Unfortunately, they’re ~$25 and typically don’t save you anything once you pay for shipping.
For monitors, 100 mm x 100 mm VESA is most common.
75 mm x 75 mm is also sometimes seen. Quality wall mounts typically accept both sizes, sometimes even up to 200 mm x 200 mm.
USB Hub
If the monitor has a built-in USB hub, you can skip the AC/DC charger altogether and power the Pi directly from the display. That’s one less cord to string up the wall!
For the purpose of powering a Raspberry Pi, it does not matter if the hub is USB 2.0 or USB 3.0.
You can also connect the USB hub’s “upstream” port to your Raspberry Pi with a USB A to USB B cable to make use of the unoccupied USB ports. Peripherals can then be seamlessly plugged into the monitor instead of the Pi, which has been known to help alleviate stability issues stemming from power-hungry devices. A USB can provide at least 500 ma to each port, while the Pi can only provide 200 ma (split between its two ports!).
How To
Adding a beer to your Recipe Database is very simple.
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on My Beers.
Step 3) You will see a list of all current beers, at the top of that page you will see a blue “Add Beer” button. Click the “Add Beer” button
Step 4) You will be prompted with a form to fill out requesting the following information:
- Beer name
- Style
- SRM
- IBU
- OG
- FG
- Tasting Notes
You will need to fill out this form.
Step 5) Click the Save button on the form.
Congratulations your beer is now added to the beer Recipe Database!!
Changing the Background Image is a simple process, just follow these steps:
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on the Background Image tab.
Step 3) You will see a Current Image: preview of the current Background image, below this you will see a Choose File button. Click this and then browse to the image you want and select it.
Step 4) Click the Upload button once you have chosen the logo you want. This will update the current logo with that image.
Step 5) Congratulations You have changed the Background Image!!
[nbox type="error"] **Please note if you do not see the change please clear cache or reload page by hitting (Ctrl+R)** [/nbox]
Changing the Brewery Logo is a simple process, just follow these steps:
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on the Brewery Logo tab.
Step 3) You will see a Current Image: preview of the current logo, below this you will see a Choose File button. Click this and then browse to the image you want and select it.
Step 4) Click the Upload button once you have chosen the logo you want. This will update the current logo with that image.
Step 5) Congratulations You have changed the brewery logo!!
[nbox type="error"] **Please note if you do not see the change please clear cache or reload page by hitting (Ctrl+R)** [/nbox]
Changing the Header text is a simple process, just follow these steps:
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on the Headers tab.
Step 3) You will see an input box with what the current value is (If you have not changed this yet it will show Currently On Tap). Remove what is in this box and put in your desired text.
Step 4) Click the Submit button once you have changed the text to what you want and this will automatically update the header and you can see this by going to your live tap list.
[nbox type="error"] **Please note if you do not see the change please clear cache or reload page by hitting (Ctrl+R)** [/nbox]
Restoring the Background Image is a simple process, just follow these steps:
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on the Background Image tab.
Step 3) You will see a Current Image: preview of the current Background image, and below the Choose File button you will see a Restore Default background Button, Click this.
Step 5) Congratulations You have restored the default background image!!
[nbox type="error"] **Please note if you do not see the change please clear cache or reload page by hitting (Ctrl+R)** [/nbox]
Setting the number of taps you have is a simple process, just follow these steps:
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on the Edit Taplist tab.
Step 3) At the top of the page you will see a input box with the title of Number Of Taps. in this box is where you will change the number from the default value to how many you have.
Step 5) Once you have input the number that represents how many taps you have click the “Update Number Of taps” button.
Step 6) Congratulations, you have updated the number of taps for your taplist.
[nbox type="error"] **Please note if you do not see the change please clear cache or reload page by hitting (Ctrl+R)** [/nbox]
Showing and Hiding columns has been made easy using our admin panel. Just follow these steps:
Step 1) Log into your admin panel by clicking the logo on the top left or adding /admin to your hosted url. Then you will need to log in using you admins username and password.
Step 2) Now that we are logged in lets go to the left navigation bar and click on the Show/Hide Columns tab.
Step 3) You will see a list of the following columns:
- Tap Column
- SRM Column
- IBU Column
- ABV Column
- Keg Column
- 4K Monitor Support
Each column has a option for on or off, select the desired status of each column.
Step 4) Click the Save button once you have set the desired options for each column This will update the columns on your taplist.
Step 5) Congratulations you have successfully updated your columns!!
[nbox type="error"] **Please note if you do not see the change please clear cache or reload page by hitting (Ctrl+R)** [/nbox]
Issues
Pull up lxterminal and run the following:
[nbox type=”notice”]cd /var/www/python
python flow_monitor.py[/nbox]
Now make a pour, on the lxterminal you should see it recording a pour. If you don’t then there is something wrong with the way you have your flow meter wiring setup, please review. If you DO see it make a pour and the screen updates then this means that when your pi restarts this script is not running automatically so please check your /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart file and add the following AFTER the line for the browser
[nbox type=”notice”]@/usr/bin/python /var/www/python/flow_monitor.py &[/nbox]
