I bought my first Pi in (I think) 2014. It’s one of the things that got me into IT. The low price was an important feature, since I was much less reluctant to experiment and take risks with hardware that cost as much as a family meal. But nearly $400 the juice ain’t worth the squeeze.

I guess I’m lucky in that I got a pi 5 back when they were selling at MSRP. I have a couple Pi 4’s, two 3’s (one I can’t find anymore sadly), my original Pi 1 model B, an also lost Pi zero W that I successfully soldered the GPIO pin headers to, and a Pi 400 I bought on a whim.

When people ask me about experimenting with Linux I usually tell them to either emulate it in virtualBox or buy a Raspberry Pi if they want a bare metal experience. It was specifically because the Pi was cheap and thus low risk if something did go wrong.

It’s pretty seamless, honestly. You make an account and enter any details for the various networks (Echolink/D-star stuff etc)

Update 2: I was able to get the PTFE tube out of the side sensor but I tore the collet out as well and it went flying. Against all odds I was able to find it, but now I have to see if I can reinsert it.

update: It looks like I need to detach the tube from the front sensor and I can’t do that without removing the side panel which is riveted to the frame.

Update: I removed the PTFE tube and Bowden tube from the extruder. the Filament broke right before entering the extruder. I tried pushing more filament through the feeder end but I’m meeting resistance at the same depth I was before. Now I guess I have to work on disassembling the filament sensor.

This printer cost me $1600 dollars shipped and I haven’t even printed anything with it yet. It took me maybe half an hour between unboxing the A1 mini and printing my first benchy, and the a1 was I think $500 all in, and that’s including the AMS lite. Over all I haven’t had the best unboxing experience with the core one.

I haven’t even mentioned that Prusa decided to use 2 different types of screws to hold the top plastic cover on the chassis, meaning I need to keep track of them and their two different hex keys.

Thanks. Will take a look after I’ve had a full night’s sleep.

Can I do that without calibrating the filament sensors? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

Looks like one of those tornado tube things you could get at Natural Wonders back in the day. Half fill a bottle with water, screw on the tube, then screw an empty bottle onto the other end of the tube. Then turn the assembly upside down and shake it around to produce a vortex in the draining water.