Just ordered my uConsole (on a whim if I’m honest). I’d like to add an F9P board to the expansion port so I can use this as an RTK rover. I already have an RTK base station set up for farm use, so this would be useful for taking out into the field to find those rocks/etc that I flagged while seeding.
Has anyone done this? I don’t even know where to begin on designing a custom expansion port.
I’m picturing adding something like this Ardusimple F9P board. Ideally the board will fit inside the uConsole body, and just have an antenna sticking out of it. It would be even better if I can get a 900 mhz radio in there so it can communicate that way rather than via hotspot.
Where would I even begin to design this? I doubt theres enough room inside the body for the F9P and radio both, so is there an extension cable so I could build it as an attachment and wrap it around to the backside of the uConsole? Any general advice on how to begin?
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Well a good place to start is the uhub (theres a thread on it somewhere here) basically 3 usbc ports that replaces the 4g, there are pcb files freely available too on it if you want to have a look. Theres also some radio threads that might help and some of the 3d printed stuff might be of interest as most of them accommodate a decent antenna. Am thinking of getting a uhub myself and maybe making my own expansion board for music production (audio ins and outs and some midi) but yh im kind of in the same boat as you on making a custom made expansion board when it comes to experience/knowledge. Maybe the upico (made by the same guy as uhub) might be helpful on connecting up electrical components or at least help you learn. I hope some of this at least points you in the right direction.
Edit: looking at the pinout that the ardusimple f9p has, im sure it wont be too complicated to hook up to the pins for the expansion port, but yh need to look into it and developing some knowledge on the matter helps
Also i love your idea on your use case of the uconsole, i find that its perfect for on the road outdoor use, might wonna waterproof it a little but shouldnt be hard to do. Would love to know how your use case goes
I guess the first question is what will fit in there. Can’t do much about that until parts show up so I’ve got the F9P ordered, also ordered a breakout board from Wildbuckwheat via JLCPCB. The USB port should be useful.
Would love to get one of those uHub’s with the FFC kit but appears to be sold out, same for uPico so gonna keep an eye on that stock.
Step one proof of concept!
There is a usb already on the uconsole which should help and if you want a rough idea how big the uconsole is its basically the same size as a dvd/bluray case but double the thickness, might help you plan out how to build up your f9p