While waiting for my uConsole(s) and PicoCalc(s), I accidentally became a prepper.
No, I’m not talking about tinned tomato soup, toilet paper or gallons of drinking water. I’m talking about accessories, mods and extensions for the eagerly awaited devices.
So when the day comes, I hopefully will be prepared… 
I had two uConsole expansion cards arrive months before I got my acutal uConsole… So I guess I am a ‘prepper’ too, though you seem much better prepared!
I read here almost every day what the community has already discovered, developed and learned.
That’s why I’m really looking forward to the devices.
And for now, buying accessories and parts is the only way for me to get started.
I found out about the czech store, canceled my order with clockworkpi, ordered from the other guys and received my unit within less than a week. Had to pick it up in Germany though. Now waiting on the HackerGadgets stuff for some SDR and the NVME expansion.
n33t trick!
You do know that that only encourages the scalpers, and it is they who only make the wait times longer for everyone else… 
When I checked, only the 4G model was available for immediate purchase. The version without mobile network was not available and had to be pre-ordered.
And I am patient and enjoy the wait… 
They are an official partner of clockworkpi. No scalpers.
and they sell for a reasonable price, basically the same as you end up paying when ordering directly from clockwork once you add import taxes to europe
I am still waiting for the clockwork devices, but I continue collecting accessories, parts and updates. I am happy I bought the NVMe before the prices went crazy.
I definitely counted as this – I built myself a partially-emulated PicoCalc-like system to develop zeptoforth for the PicoCalc on well before my PicoCalc arrived, so zeptoforth for the PicoCalc was practically ready once I received it a few months later.
It is always impressive to see how great things are not necessarily created out of commercial interest, but rather out of passion.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
That’s how a lot of the software out there, including software for the PicoCalc, has come to be. We don’t create simply because we expect monetary renumeration but rather because we simply want to create for its own sake. And yes, things like the PicoCalc would not be of much use if it weren’t for people like us – even much of the initial software Clockwork collected for the PicoCalc (e.g. PicoMite, MicroPython, uLisp, FUZIX, etc.) was largely not created with compensation in mind, but the vast majority of the software worked on since then for the PicoCalc was created or ported by volunteers just because they could.
I was just about to order another CM4 and an NVMe for a second uConsole, but I think I’ll hold off until prices get back to “normal.”
In any case, I’m incredibly glad I’d already bought the other components. The CM4 now costs twice as much, and the NVMe even three times as much.
Hopefully we’ll ever see the old prices again!
to prep or not to prep…
…that’s the future bet.
why is there a pico 2w there? and whats the other board looking like a 2W? and what are they supposed to do with your uconsole? now im intrigued.
i would actually love a uconsole running on pi zero 2w if some unhinged madman makes an adapter board for it.
cm4 and nvme is how i run. smooth as butter. but beware cm4 doesnt like all nvme drives. as a rule of thumb, you need old models usually with green pcb. research a bit.
you complained about nvme prices. dont chase a fast nvme, it wont be compatible. i bought mine on cex.uk for 12Gbp, an old 256Gb Kioxia nvme. remember cm4 has only pcie1x speeds and unless the nvme drive can downstep to 1x, it wont boot.
these nvme models are known to work:
WD SN530 256GB 2230 NVMe M.2
WD SN520 2242 NVMe SSD
Samsung PM991 2230 NVMe SSD
Toshiba KBG40ZNS 2230 NVMe SSD
Kioxia BG4 2230 NVMe SSD**
**
cheap on ebay
