July 18, 2025: A tiny AllStar node with the UCI90, Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and a K-1 speaker-mic. Also, a new HF antenna is coming soon, plus a full-duplex handheld!
The Pi Juice UPS HAT is a pretty nice addition to a Raspberry Pi that needs to stay online while mobile. I have several, although they were about half the price I see on Amazon this afternoon. They can run on a battery that was used on a Motorola phone, or you can wire up a few 18650 cells into pads on the HAT.
I should have mentioned the various RPi UPS hats available. Thank you for filling in this gap! I was going for low cost so I skipped right on by them, but a UPS hat could solve a lot of problems, not the least of which is assuring a stable 5V supply to the RPi.
The PiJuice hat looks like a great product but it appears to be no longer available from that source. The PiShop has it (https://www.pishop.us/product/pijuice-hat-a-portable-power-platform-for-every-raspberry-pi/). Even though the RPi Zero 2W platform is not explicitly identified as being compatible, it probably is. My issue is spending $90 for the UPS hat when a power bank that one may already have on hand and a momentary on-off switch might do the trick for far less out of pocket.
I really like this. I bought two things from Allscan - and I cannot for the life of me figure this out. I am a General, and I do HF, but I cannot figure out all the things HT/UHF/VHF. It’s quite embarrassing. The only thing I’d like is everything one box - the pi, the power supplies, batteries, and a small screen, etc. - only three connections on the outside - power, speaker, mic. I’d design one, but my second impasse of technical naïveté is AutoCAD design to create STL files for my 3d printer.
I'm chuckling (laughing, actually) about "technical naïveté." I *want* to get into 3D printing but I don't think I have the time to commit to it.
I think a lot of people just want an appliance: plug it in, configure with your license and other details, and it just works. It's not a lack of competence as much as it is a lack of time. David's AllScan UCI90 and a K-1 speaker-mic is getting closer to this kind of appliance. Plug it into your RPi, configure it, and you're ready to go.
I've had several conversations over the past year with David about wanting these devices to feel like a radio. I don't like talking to/through a computer screen. I want a microphone in my hand, on my desk, or in a headset. I want to have to push the button to transmit. That at least *feels* like the RF radios we are used to.
Now that David has a variety of things I can use, I'm getting close to a project where I take a vintage piece of gear, put all the bits and pieces inside, and have minimal connections and knobs on the outside. It would be a restomod: old, vintage appearance but modern innards with high-quality audio. *That* would be a prized station on my desk :-)
By the way, I hooked up the UCI90 and a Pryme-brand speaker-mic to a new Raspberry Pi 5. I think it sounds better than when I used the RPi Zero 2 W. (Perhaps there is simply more headroom with the RPi 5.) And then I connected my Icom mobile speaker to the UCI90 and the audio was even better!
David has a picture with a ANR200 with a retro KENWOOD speaker and a KENWOOD desk mic - I want THAT, and then hide the modern equipment. Perhaps I’ll look for an old speaker to hide it in and just do the same …. Once I figure out the last 10% of making this work while spending 90% of the project’s time configuring it!! LOL. 😂
Exactly. I have a couple of old phone patch units with a nice analog meter, a mic connector, and some knobs to turn. Part of the reason I started fiddling with the RPi Zero 2 W was to see if it had enough capability to handle AllStarLink/Asterisk, and it does. The small size of the RPi lends itself to something like what you are talking about.
I love this idea, Tom - I’ll race you, and see who can GIT-R-DUN first! The meter would be icing on the cake - and I am wondering out loud here, if I could put a frequency counter in there too!!!! I’m so glad I found your RandomWire … is it a blog/site - either way, thank you for your contributions!
Oh, and the prompt for the AI was something like: write an upbeat song in a jazzy style that talks about how amateur radio connects people all over the world, across cultures, and celebrating the Random Wire newsletter as a way to help make those connections.
The Pi Juice UPS HAT is a pretty nice addition to a Raspberry Pi that needs to stay online while mobile. I have several, although they were about half the price I see on Amazon this afternoon. They can run on a battery that was used on a Motorola phone, or you can wire up a few 18650 cells into pads on the HAT.
https://www.crowdsupply.com/pi-supply/pijuice-zero
I should have mentioned the various RPi UPS hats available. Thank you for filling in this gap! I was going for low cost so I skipped right on by them, but a UPS hat could solve a lot of problems, not the least of which is assuring a stable 5V supply to the RPi.
The PiJuice hat looks like a great product but it appears to be no longer available from that source. The PiShop has it (https://www.pishop.us/product/pijuice-hat-a-portable-power-platform-for-every-raspberry-pi/). Even though the RPi Zero 2W platform is not explicitly identified as being compatible, it probably is. My issue is spending $90 for the UPS hat when a power bank that one may already have on hand and a momentary on-off switch might do the trick for far less out of pocket.
WaveShare has a much less expensive product at $24 but the onboard battery is rather small: https://www.waveshare.com/ups-hat-c.htm. That device is also available on Amazon for almost $10 more: https://amzn.to/46cdMbE
Finally, DFRobot has one for $20 but it doesn't include the battery, so some additional procurement would be necessary.
I really like this. I bought two things from Allscan - and I cannot for the life of me figure this out. I am a General, and I do HF, but I cannot figure out all the things HT/UHF/VHF. It’s quite embarrassing. The only thing I’d like is everything one box - the pi, the power supplies, batteries, and a small screen, etc. - only three connections on the outside - power, speaker, mic. I’d design one, but my second impasse of technical naïveté is AutoCAD design to create STL files for my 3d printer.
I'm chuckling (laughing, actually) about "technical naïveté." I *want* to get into 3D printing but I don't think I have the time to commit to it.
I think a lot of people just want an appliance: plug it in, configure with your license and other details, and it just works. It's not a lack of competence as much as it is a lack of time. David's AllScan UCI90 and a K-1 speaker-mic is getting closer to this kind of appliance. Plug it into your RPi, configure it, and you're ready to go.
I've had several conversations over the past year with David about wanting these devices to feel like a radio. I don't like talking to/through a computer screen. I want a microphone in my hand, on my desk, or in a headset. I want to have to push the button to transmit. That at least *feels* like the RF radios we are used to.
Now that David has a variety of things I can use, I'm getting close to a project where I take a vintage piece of gear, put all the bits and pieces inside, and have minimal connections and knobs on the outside. It would be a restomod: old, vintage appearance but modern innards with high-quality audio. *That* would be a prized station on my desk :-)
By the way, I hooked up the UCI90 and a Pryme-brand speaker-mic to a new Raspberry Pi 5. I think it sounds better than when I used the RPi Zero 2 W. (Perhaps there is simply more headroom with the RPi 5.) And then I connected my Icom mobile speaker to the UCI90 and the audio was even better!
David has a picture with a ANR200 with a retro KENWOOD speaker and a KENWOOD desk mic - I want THAT, and then hide the modern equipment. Perhaps I’ll look for an old speaker to hide it in and just do the same …. Once I figure out the last 10% of making this work while spending 90% of the project’s time configuring it!! LOL. 😂
Exactly. I have a couple of old phone patch units with a nice analog meter, a mic connector, and some knobs to turn. Part of the reason I started fiddling with the RPi Zero 2 W was to see if it had enough capability to handle AllStarLink/Asterisk, and it does. The small size of the RPi lends itself to something like what you are talking about.
I love this idea, Tom - I’ll race you, and see who can GIT-R-DUN first! The meter would be icing on the cake - and I am wondering out loud here, if I could put a frequency counter in there too!!!! I’m so glad I found your RandomWire … is it a blog/site - either way, thank you for your contributions!
I love your jingle. Please share the platform and cue
That was a very quick, first pass by the AI with no refinement by me. I used Songer: https://songer.co/?ref=uNBGrmjsqd&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=referral_2c
Oh, and the prompt for the AI was something like: write an upbeat song in a jazzy style that talks about how amateur radio connects people all over the world, across cultures, and celebrating the Random Wire newsletter as a way to help make those connections.