Nice Idea, Horrid Design

[barnmichael]

I hope that is a prototyping test article. Plugs off the PCB is a terrible idea, especially with the USB at a right angle like that. Any slight bump to the radio or cable will likely tip the radio over and destroy the circuit board.

A much better idea would be to have two 3.5mm jacks in a straight line configuration with the USB connector, a la line lump. By using two jacks, the spacing is not near as critical. By using a variety of easily assembled interface cables, this could be used with a wide range of radios making it mush more attractive and hugely increasing the potential user base.

Just a thought.

[skuep]

Thanks for your input! The idea was to use a 3d-printed mould to create an overmolded casing similar to a regular Kenwood K1 connector.
See e.g. here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2956832

This would have enough mechanical stability in my opinion, since this overmolding is used even for commercially available Kenwood K1 connectors. Also the USB-C connector is robust enough for your smartphone, so I don't think it will be an issue.

Your second point I already discussed with other people. I did not want to build another digirig. Simple as that.

I wanted the PCB to be "the adapter cable" itself (which, in case of e.g. the digirig you have to buy as an accessory). Why? Because for me (and fellow makers) it is so simple to just order the PCB, fully assembled at JLCPCB. It's dead simple. Whereas building adapter cables is always a hassle. Not even speaking of sourcing X different adapter cables so I could potentially sell them in kits, imagine all the tooling cost. Whereas with my "PCB-solution" it would just be another PCB design (which is easily done and sourced for a few bucks). Firmware is the same.

That was my design process.

To be clear, I have nothing against the digirig, its a very fine piece of hardware, it is well supported by the owner and it is even open-source! My hat is off to that guy.

[gx1400]

This issue is worth closing? A 3d printable housing or mold would be nice!

[skuep]

Since nothing is happening here anymore, I will close it. Housing design will be handled in a new issue :-)