BirdBox2015: any takers?

I'm becoming increasingly concerned that both Raspberry Pi powered bird boxes may remain empty this season.

 

Not only has activity dropped right off, but the expected "move-in" date has now passed.

Have we just been unlucky, have I done something wrong, or are the local garden birds running late this year?

RaspberryPi: Simple Time Server

Both my birdbox systems and my Portable (garden) PiCam need to know the time & date in order to properly time-stamp video clips and events.

Up until now I have relied upon an old HP Compaq D510 to help set the correct time, but I've finally got around to replacing this with a not quite so old Pi B v1 Rev1.

Although the D510 was quite economical, my Pi replacement should consume less than 5% of the power of its predecessor.

Real Time Clock for RaspberryPi

I bought a Real Time Clock module (RTC) about 6 months ago and I've only just taken it out of its anti-static bag.

With two potential projects in mind that may require an RTC, I opened the packet, wired it to my RaspberryPi and then....not a lot happened.

So I had to take a closer look and see what was causing the problem.