Raspberry Pi 64 bit OS Boot from USB

The X857 mSATA shield makes a nice, clean package for a USB boot Raspberry Pi 4 with SSD

For some time now, I have been trying to get the Raspberry Pi 4 to boot from USB. A couple reason to make this change are, the integrity of SSD over the SD card is substantial, and of course the benefit of greater data transfer speeds. 

As more Pi fans jump on this wagon, hardware is becoming available for this specific upgrade. One example of this is the Gookworm X857 mSATA shield for the Raspberry Pi 4. This fits directly under the Pi 4 and connects with one of the USB-3 ports. Under the shield, I mounted a 120 GB mSATA SSD. 

To boot from USB on a Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB or 8GB), install the new Raspberry Pi 64 bit OS and the USB boot configuration will be exceptionally easy. Here are the simple steps to follow.

1. Download, install, and update the Raspberry Pi 64 bit OS to a SD card
2. Copy the SD card to a SSD and connect the SSD to the Raspberry Pi 4 USB-3
3. Open Raspberry Pi Imager, write Raspberry Pi 4 EEPROM boot recovery to a clean SD card
4. Shut down, remove the OS SD card, insert the EEPROM boot recovery SD card
5. With the SSD connected to a USB 3, and the EEPROM SD card in, power up the Raspberry Pi
6. A constant, fast flashing green LED and green screens means it worked
7. Shut down, remove the SD card, and restart
8. Grin at your new USB boot Raspberry Pi 64 bit system

The mSATA drive installed with the armor case bottom (upside down)

I'm Dreaming of a DX Station

To the tune of White Christmas, by Bing Crosby

Lyrics by Ken K9KMS

I'm dreaming of a DX station

Just like the one at HRO
Where the waterfall glistens
As my station listens
To hear grid squares from afar, afar

I'm dreaming of a DX station
With every contact card I write
May my mic be ready and tight
And my amplifier not throw smoke tonight

I'm dreaming of a DX station
Just like the one at HRO
Where the waterfall glistens
As my station listens
To hear grid squares from afar, afar

I'm dreaming of a DX station
With every contact card I write
May my mic be ready and tight
And my amplifier not throw smoke tonight

Yaesu FP-1030A Power Supply Meter Lights

I'm not sure why it's made this way, but the Yaesu FP-1030A linear power supply has no light for either the volt or amp meter. If you're like me, you wish the meters had lights too. After all, what good is a meter if you can't read it? Well, adding LED lights to the meters is very easy to do, and here's how.

A short virtual drive over to amazon.com and I landed on a 56 count box of 12 volt LED lights, in seven colors, for $7.09 with free Prime shipping. Not too shabby. I couple days later, the LEDs were here and ready to be installed.

Fourteen number 1 Phillips screws later, I had the cover off and the front pulled slightly away to allow access to the three screws holding the dual meter in place. Loosen the two bottom screws with one turn, remove the top screw, and the meter pulls out easily. Between the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, warm white, and white color LEDs, I chose white so it matches the light in my new Diamond GZV4000 switching power supply.

With a 2-inch piece of electrical tape, I secured one LED to the bottom of each of the two meter housings, with the LED light placed directly under the clear, fluted portion of the meter cover. Then I took some clear silicone caulk and applied a small amount of silicone to the LED and the bottom of the meter cover, enough to provide a good "weld" to secure the LED and help distribute light from the LED to the cover flutes. This works very well, by the way.

With the wire leads coming straight backwards from the bottom of the meters, I fed the wires over and soldered them to the feed wires at the back of the 10 amp cigar socket. These terminals were the most accessible to solder without further dismantling. A brief test found everything working, so I replaced the cover and put the power supply back in service. Now the Yaesu FP-1030A looks as nice as it works!

Update - Sep 20, 2021

Don't buy the LEDs I listed above, as mine have since gone completely dim. Now I'm looking for some better LEDs.