Due to the size of the Raspberry Pi and the necessary accessories, TorBox is very easy to use on the road. Below, we show you the recommended minimal accessories for portable use. Nevertheless, all the stuff still fits into a waterproof, compact plastic container. Below the images, you find further information about the items used with the corresponding links.
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Although the Raspberry Pi takes up little space, the problem lies in the fact that the official power adapters to the Raspberry Pi are not very compact and therefore waste valuable space. There are smaller power adapters, such as the 12W USB Power Adapter by Apple shown in our example, but when directly connected to the Raspberry Pi, they can cause power problems. This also applies to power banks: the power supply is usually not sufficient for a long stable operation of the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B was still satisfied with 12W, but Model B+ and the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B require at least 15W (see here: Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Review and Performance Comparison and this Power Consumption Benchmarks). There is also another problem with the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: because of a flaw in how the USB-C power input is behaving, currently, the Raspberry Pi 4 B does not work with most third-party power adapter and power banks. By contrast, the PiJuice HAT works reliably with almost all Raspberry Pi versions and models, and virtually any power adapter or power bank can be connected to it, so the somewhat weak standard battery doesn’t run out too quickly. With the PiJuice alone, TorBox can be operated for an estimated 1-2 hours, depending on the load.
Used Items
- Raspberry Pi 4 Model B with a Pimoroni’s chunky heatsink in combination with a Pibow Coupé 4 case. With that case, the PiJuice HAT can be easily attached/detached on/from the 40 GPIO pin.
- 12W USB Power Adapter by Apple (until now, we didn’t found a smaller powerfull power adapter; however, we will test out the SlimQ). If you have additional space, I recommend to take an official power adapters to the Raspberry Pi with you.
- Ansmann Powerbank 5V / 10.8Ah mini black
- A low power consumption USB WiFi adapter
- Two USB Type A to Micro-A cable (depending of your need)
- SD cards and SD card adapter (depending of your need)
- The box shown in the image was purchased from Ikea (here and here).