Taking a home-built portable to an airport
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@diegzumillo Not sure about international flights, but keep this in mind if you are in America. We freaked the hell out because a clock made by a HS student resembled a bomb and got him arrested.
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I was flying with my Popeye Pie to Martinique via Paris. No problem! Even with a power adapter and a controller pad inside the hand package there was no problem on the airport check. On my next travel this little joybox will surely be on board again!
About the US... Well it strongly depends on the guard imho!
@diegzumillo But if you have assembeld your device to be portable and you don't use it in that way then the main intention is gone.
Maybe you can do aportable light device:- Raspberry Zero + Case
- HDMI cable + Adapter for RPio
- USB Controller + USB OTG Adapter
- RetroPie on the SD
Then your worries about a destroyes device are gone and lot of hotels offers TV with HDMI input. So have fun!
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@diegzumillo I personally think airline security would take a dim view of a home built device, particularly a device that has a lithium ion battery but doesn't as a complete unit meet any regulations for electronic devices. Lithium ion battery fires have been responsible for air emergencies such as fires in the past, so airport security can be touchy about it. Of course this may depend on your region. I remember a documentary outlining how a lithium ion battery fire in the cargo hold of a 747 burned through cables critical to cockpit instrumentation nearly resulting in complete loss of the jet and everyone aboard, had it not been for the skill of the pilots. Incidents like that are the reason for the apprehension. I personally think you made the right call leaving it at home. It's a bummer I know, but better safe than sorry.
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@cyperghost said in Taking a home-built portable to an airport:
I was flying with my Popeye Pie to Martinique via Paris. No problem! Even with a power adapter and a controller pad inside the hand package there was no problem on the airport check. On my next travel this little joybox will surely be on board again!
About the US... Well it strongly depends on the guard imho!
@diegzumillo But if you have assembeld your device to be portable and you don't use it in that way then the main intention is gone.
Maybe you can do aportable light device:- Raspberry Zero + Case
- HDMI cable + Adapter for RPio
- USB Controller + USB OTG Adapter
- RetroPie on the SD
Then your worries about a destroyes device are gone and lot of hotels offers TV with HDMI input. So have fun!
What this guy said. That is what I will do if I ever have to travel. I think it fits well in a tablet pouch.
I think also your looks and your appearance plays a role in this. Let's be honest if your name is Achmad and you'll have a beard and carries that device with you we all know what will happen. I wouldn't be surprised if they said you planned to choke the pilot with the HDMI cable lol.
Longtime ago when I traveled to my home country, they didn't even check people out even when the metal detector went off in the airport. The flight was delayed so there was a lot of chaos, I went trough the detector and it went off. So I wanted to grab my keys out of my pocket, as soon as I did the guard just pulled me and said "no no its fine just go just go". They didn't check anyone out at all. It's kinda scary because what if someone wants to hijack the plane?
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What about international flights?
The security crew will use hand held metal detectors to detect your body and luggage.
just like this one.
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@diegzumillo One thing that can help is to keep yourself well shaved. :-)
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I love this thread. But it is helpful to have. Also @diegzumillo you may want to say what place you are going to from where.
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I travel between US and Brazil once a year. I will eventually move to Brazil (I'm in the US only temporarily) so my stuff will be shipped eventually.
But really, the biggest problem is the battery. If they get suspicious of wires and stuff the worst it can happen is a lot of inconvenience, having to explain it, lose the flight etc (OK it's a lot of inconveniences). But shipping batteries is legally complicated. Each airline has different restrictions on size and conditions. Companies that sell batteries have special licences to ship these things. That's what worries me, getting in legal problem for putting a fire hazard inside the plane. That and the fact that it might be a fire hazard! I mean, I did my best to encase it securely but I'm not a professional.
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I made a thread on using AA batteries.
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I took a 'RetroPie lightweight device' to Crna Gora (I think non slavics call it Montenegro) and the package contains
- Raspberry Zero + Case
- HDMI cable + Adapter for RPio
* USB Controller + USB OTG Adapter
* RetroPie on the SD
Also no problem and no question as I took it to my cabin luggage inside the airplane. So I can say that french, greek, polski, crna gorski and german security does not make any trouble.
The US home security guards sometimes asks to much :(
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airlines cuurently require lithium batteries to be acarried in hand luggage, not checked luggage, the theory being that a fire is easier to deal with in the cabin of the aircraft.
you are allowed batteries of up to 99wh each, and two per passenger.
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Better just to use normal batteries? @spruce_m00se I think it would. Especially if you don't have time to recharge the batteries.
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Honestly, just ask at the airport. @diegzumillo That should to the trick.
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I have had issue with airport security with a PSP and a battery pack for it. When flying international I had no issue when I had a layover in Chicago on the way back from Okinawa to Atlanta, the security there tried to pry the PSP screen off with a flat head screw driver. (I about lost it on that dude because of his sheer ignorance.) But with most security checks, an explanation of the device and a demonstration of it working was all that is needed. I think most security is understanding of our desire to be entertained while on a long flight. If anything they may ask you to remove the battery and toss it as that is the only part that should resemble anything close to explosive material on any form of x-ray. Also if you have any documentation on the Pi unit, battery, screen, and parts that show that they are electronic standard certified, you should be even better with getting through security as almost all parts that can be sold in a respective country should individually meet the government standards where it is sold.
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@ZioDarkmage Why! Doesn't shaving your beard (if you have one) help enough?
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@CodeDrawer I have no clue. I was fully shaved and with military orders (US Army) to fly on the plane. I had already went through international security but to fly locally had to go through security once again. The security agent was an idiot and I had to get his manager over there as I had no patience for him trying to damage my electronics after being on a 20+ hour flight. If he had unscrewed the screen that would have been one thing but he actually tried to get the screwdriver under it to pry it off without disassembly.
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@ZioDarkmage Yikes that is painful!
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