uHub Expansion Card

[Krim]

phew, thats a very high price for a small 4 port usb 2.0 hub.

The uconsole has two internal usb ports which can be used without any active components.

I just soldered the exposed USB on the unpopulated 4G card to a usb a female i cut from an usb extension cord and inserted a very small usb thumbdrive and placed everything next to the battery pack. If you dont need the additional 2 other usb ports this could be the easiest and cheapest way of adding at least one additional usb port. As this is already exposed, it is really easy to solder on, even without any knowledge.

The second port requires a little bit more experienced soldering, as it is not exposed on the 4G card itself.

[Vitaly]

Yeah, with soldering skills you can do it cheaper or just build you own uHub, cause all design files are open sourced: GitHub - dotcypress/uhub: uConsole USB Hub Expansion Card

[Krim]

building one yourself would probably as expensive as ordering one,

soldering is just an alternative for people who just want one or max. 2 ports.

[xpurple]

I ordered my uConsole about four months ago. Shipping numbers are around my range at this point so I may possibly get it at some point. Anyway, I already have my uHub ready to go for when it shows up. Super excited.

[Nick_Stevens]

Hi, can you please share a picture or any details to where you soldered to?

[Mykhailo_Chuha]

those for usb3 i’d believe

[Krim]

exactly. i’m really bad with soldering, so it doesnt look clean (i have parkinsons disease). thats the reason i’m absolutely sure everyone who owns a soldering iron could do that, too.

@Mykhailo_Chuha pretty sure you have the wrong pins, you shifted one to the left. See uConsole/clockwork_UC_4G_Schematic.pdf at master · clockworkpi/uConsole · GitHub

the second usb port could share red and black, but green and white needs to connect directly to the copper pads on the left connector (Pin 13 [green]+15 [white], luckily on the top side). You can then buy something like this USB-C Buchse Typ C 2/14/16 Pin - 2/4/6 Reparatur DIY Nachrüsten charging port | eBay and isolate it with kapton tape and simply glue it on the side to get an external usb-c

[Mykhailo_Chuha]

i found both usb ports, both works)

[Krim]

you’re right, you just picked the other GND. Didnt remembered that the USB signal is surrounded by two GND

[Nick_Stevens]

Thank you both. Time to find my soldering iron

[Vitaly]

This is nice way to add internal USB port, but this a bit sketchy for external USB port, cause those pads directly connected to USB hub on mainboard and there are no TVS diodes on those signals.

[Krim]

please correct me if i’m wrong: if i remember correctly, the RPI lacks ESP protection in general, especially on the gpio pins and usb?

however, yes ESD protection is always preferable - there are also usb-c ports with USBLC6 presoldered available.

[Nick_Stevens]

Thank you for mentioning the need for usb protection. Where would you find usb connector modules with protection?

[Krim]

i got one a while ago on aliexpress, but i cant find them anymore. in worst case, just take a breakout board and the diode array itself and simply put them together. pretty straight forward.

[Nick_Stevens]

Thank you, yes, that is an option. I just hoped to avoid more fine soldering. Will give it a try. Thanks!

[D_47]

Received mine today. Product looks very nice, packaged well. I’ll give an update once I receive my Uconsole… maybe 2025

[Snoozer94]

Just got the uhub and loving it, would recommend if you need it. The plate is a little rough to the touch but thats nothing but a little bit of sanding cant fix. Nice job @Vitaly

[wopid]

What would you think about developing an external network card? It is very lacking in the standard edition of uconsole.

[ArtieFortyEight]

Mine just arrived, very soon after I ordered (I’m talking about the uHub of course). Looks great, and I can’t wait to fit it into my uConsole, whenever that arrives…

Thank you for making a great looking, useful tool and shipping it out so quickly!

[Kirou]

I received mine the day before yesterday (France) and although I am first surprised by the finesse of the card, everything fits together perfectly! Thank you for this very nice little extension.