AIOC_EasyEDA

This project briefly introduces
how a program written in an STM32 microcontroller enables a device to exhibit the same characteristics as the CM108 sound card, allowing control of the PTT (Push-to-Talk) via DireWorf software. It also features serial port control of the PTT and can be used with APRSDroid on mobile phones.
This project redesigned some circuitry using LCSC EDA, maintaining functional compatibility with the original. The original author, skuep,
has attached a GitHub page with a brief explanation of how to use it in the "How to use" section.
Additional notes:
Because many audio plugs use low-quality plastic that is not heat-resistant, the soldering points and audio contacts are often pressed together with plastic. Therefore, soldering audio plugs must be done quickly. If the soldering speed is too slow, the high temperature may cause the plastic to melt and deform, leading to poor contact or a short circuit. Poor contact may cause partial functional failure, while a short circuit may trigger transmission when the handheld radio is plugged in. Therefore, when soldering audio plugs, it is essential to operate quickly and minimize the soldering temperature.
If the audio plug does not readily accept solder, consider using "stainless steel flux." However, please note: Flux increases the contact area of ​​the solder, which leads to a significant increase in heat transfer efficiency, making the plastic plug more susceptible to melting. Therefore, please use it with caution.
During transmission, the radio can easily interfere with USB communication. This interference manifests as an inability to stop transmission once PTT transmission is controlled via software. This is likely because electromagnetic waves interfere with USB communication, preventing the command to stop transmission from reaching the AIOC. Therefore, using a high-quality and as short as possible USB cable is essential.
The plug plastic is also soluble in board cleaning solution, so avoid contact with board cleaning solution after soldering the plug.
Use when both QR codes correspond to white and black silkscreen printing. White silkscreen printing is used by default.
AIOC
This is the Ham Radio All-in-one-Cable. It is currently in beta testing phase - Be wary! Please read this README carefully before ordering anything.
What does it do?
The AIOC is a small adapter with a USB-C connector that enumerates itself as a sound-card (eg for APRS purposes), a virtual tty ("COM Port") for programming and asserting the PTT (Push-To-Talk) as well as a CM108 compatible HID endpoint for CM108-style PTT (new in firmware version 1.2.0).
You can watch the videos of the Temporarily Offline and HAM RADIO DUDE YouTube channels below.


Features

Cheap & Hackable Digital mode USB interface (similar to digirig, mobilinkd, etc...)
Programming Cable Function via virtual Serial Port
Compact form-factor (DIY overmolded enclosure is currently TBD)
Based on easy-to-hack STM32F302 with internal ADC/DAC (Programmable via USB bootloader using DFU)
Can support Dual-PTT HTs

Compatibility
Software

Direwolf as AX.25 modem/APRS en+decoder/...
APRSdroid as APRS en+decoder
CHIRP for programming
... and more

Tested Radios (so far)

Wouxun UV-9D Mate (CHIRP + APRS)
Baofeng UV-5R (CHIRP + APRS)
BTECH 6X2 (CHIRP)

Future Work

Overmolded enclosure design (DIY using 3D-Printed mold and Resin/Hotglue)
Maybe integrate a TNC Modem with KISS interface? (I am not sure if that is worth the effort)
"High-Performance" VOX emulation with advanced features (eg pre-triggered VOX to activate PTT a few milliseconds before data, reduced tail time)

How To Fab

Go to JLCPCB.com and upload the GERBER-k1-aioc.zip package (under kicad/k1-aioc/jlcpcb)
Select PCB Thickness 1.2mm (that is what I recommend with the TRS connectors I used)
You may want to select LeadFree HASL
Select Silkscreen/Soldermask color to your liking


Check "PCB Assembly"
PCBA Type "Economic"
Assembly Side "Top Side"
Tooling Holes "Added by Customer"
Press Confirm
Click "Add BOM File" and upload BOM-k1-aioc.csv
Click "Add CPL File" and upload CPL-k1-aioc.csv
Press Next
Look Through components, see if something is missing or problematic and press Next
Check everything looks roughly good (rotations are already baked-in and should be correct). Save to Cart



This gives you 5 (or more) SMD assembled AIOC. The only thing left to do is soldering on the TRS connectors (see here).
The total bill should be around 60$ US for 5 pieces plus tax and shipping from China.
How To Assemble
This is the process I use for building. See photographs in images folder.

You need to use Monacor PG-204P and PG-203P or compatible TRS connectors (2 solder lugs and a big tab for the sleeve connection)
Cut the 2.5mm and 3.5mm TRS sleeve tab where the hole is located
Put both TRS connectors into the 3d-printed solder guide (or a cheap HT that you don't mind potentially damaging). Make sure, that they are seated all the way in. If the holes in the solder guide are too small, you can ream them using a 2.5mm and 3.5mm drill bit.
Insert the AIOC PCB into the solder guide
Solder sleeve tab on the back side for both TRS connectors first
Turn around PCB and solder remaining solder lugs

How To Build
For building the firmware, clone the repository and initialize the submodules. Create an empty workspace with the STM32CubeIDE and import the project.

git clone
git submodule update --init
Start STM32CubeIDE and create a new workspace under /stm32
Choose File->Import and import the aioc-fw project in the same folder without copying
Select Project->Build All and the project should build. Use the Release build unless you specifically want to debug an issue

How To Program
Initial programming
The following steps are required for initial programming of the AIOC:

Short outermost pins on the programming header. This will set the device into bootloader mode in the next step.
Connect USB-C cable to the AIOC PCB
Use a tool like dfu-util to program the firmware binary from the GitHub Releases page like this:dfu-util -a 0 -s 0x08000000 -D aioc-fw-x-y-z.bin
Note that a libusb driver is required for this. On Windows there are additional steps required as shown here (DFuSe Utility and dfu-util). On other operating systems (e.g. Linux, MacOS), this just works ™ (provided libusb is installed on your system).

Remove short from first step, unplug and replug the device, it should now enumerate as the AIOC device

Firmware updating
Once the AIOC has firmware loaded onto it, it can be re-programmed without the above BOOT sequence by following these steps.
Note This requires firmware version >= 1.2.0. For older firmwares, the initial programming sequence above is required for updating the firmware.

Run dfu-util like thisdfu-util -d 1209:7388 -a 0 -s 0x08000000:leave -D aioc-fw-x-y-z.bin


This will reboot the AIOC into the bootloader automatically and perform the programming.
After that, it automatically reboots the AIOC into the newly programmed firmware.
Note Should you find yourself with a bricked AIOC, use the initial programming sequence above
How To Use
The serial interface of the AIOC enumerates as a regular COM (Windows) or ttyACM port (Linux) and can be used as such for programming the radio as well as PTT (Asserted on DTR=1 and RTS=0).
Note before firmware version 1.2.0, PTT was asserted by DTR=1 (ignoring RTS) which caused problems with certain radios when using the serial port for programming the radio e.g. using CHIRP.
The soundcard interface of the AIOC gives access to the audio data channels. It has one mono microphone channel and one mono speaker channel and currently supports the following baudrates:

48000 Hz (preferred)
32000 Hz
24000 Hz
22050 Hz (specifically for APRSdroid, has approx. 90 ppm of frequency error)
16000 Hz
12000 Hz
11025 Hz (has approx. 90 ppm of frequency error)
8000 Hz

Since firmware version 1.2.0, a CM108 style PTT interface is available for public testing. This interface works in parallel to the COM-port PTT.
Direwolf on Linux is confirmed working, please report any issues. Note that currently, Direwolf reports some warnings when using the CM108 PTT interface on the AIOC.
While they are annoying, they are safe to ignore and require changes in the upstream direwolf sourcecode. See https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/issues/448 for more details.
Notes on Direwolf

Follow the regular setup guide with direwolf to determine the correct audio device to use.
For the serial and CM108 PTT interfaces on Linux, you need to set correct permissions on the ttyACM/hidraw devices. Consult Direwolf manual.
Configure the device as follows[...]
ADEVICE plughw:,0 # <- Linux
ADEVICE x 0 # <- Windows
ARATE 48000
[...]
PTT CM108 # <- Use the new CM108 compatible style PTT interface
PTT DTR -RTS # <- Alternatively use an old school serial device for PTT
[...]


Notes on APRSdroid
APRSdroid support has been added by AIOC by implementing support for the fixed 22050 Hz sample rate that APRSdroid requires.
It is important to notice, that the exact sample rate can not be achieved by the hardware, due to the 8 MHz crystal.
The actual sample rate used is 22052 Hz (which represents around 90 ppm of error). From my testing this does not seem to be a problem for APRS at all.
However, since APRSdroid does not have any PTT control, sending data is currently not possible using the AIOC except using the radio VOX function. See https://github.com/ge0rg/aprsdroid/issues/324.
My previous experience is, that the Android kernel brings support for ttyACM devices (which is perfect for the AIOC) so implementing this feature for APRSdroid should theoretically be no problem.
Ideas such as implementing a digital-modes-spefic VOX-emulation to workaround this problem and let the AIOC activate the PTT automatically are currently being considered.
Voice your opinion and ideas in the GitHub issues if this seems interesting to you.
Notes on CHIRP
CHIRP is a very popuplar open-source programming software that supports a very wide array of HT radios. You can use CHIRP just as you would like with a regular programming cable.
Download:

Start CHIRP
Select Radio->Download from Radio
Select the AIOC COM/ttyACM port and start

Upload:

Select Radio->Upload to Radio
That's it