In order to measure the current draw by the Pi we used a PortaPow hand-held current and power meter. It can measure the milliamp-hours used over a specific period of time. We tended to run a test for 10 minutes and multiply the milliamp-hour total by 6 to get the average current used. Taking an average helped smooth out any fluctuations and gave a more reliable value.
The Pi was connected to a monitor (via HDMI) and a keyboard (via USB). Where available the on-board WiFi was enabled for some tests. The November 2018 Raspbian image was used as this allowed us to test the newly released Pi 3 A+.
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