The 52-pin slot anatomy, the expansion-card catalogue, schematic-grade card design, and the DIY builder's guide

Section	Topic
1	About this Volume
2	The Mini PCIe Slot
· 2.1	The 52-pin connector pinout
· 2.2	What the V3.14 mainboard exposes
· 2.3	PCIe Gen 2 ×1 vs Gen 3 ×1 bandwidth
· 2.4	The non-PCIe pins (USB / SIM / LED / reset)
· 2.5	What works in the slot, what doesn’t
3	The Schematic-Grade Card Design Pattern
· 3.1	The Clockwork LTE Modem as reference
· 3.2	What every expansion card needs
· 3.3	PCIe AC-coupling, ESD, decoupling
· 3.4	SIM card socket if WWAN
· 3.5	Antenna IPEX routing
· 3.6	Power-budget contributions
4	The Expansion-Card Catalogue
· 4.1	Catalogue summary
· 4.2	Openterface KVM Ext.
· 4.3	Joe’s USB Extension Board
· 4.4	HackerGadgets AIO V1
· 4.5	uEther Ethernet + USB-C
· 4.6	Clockwork LTE Modem
· 4.7	QuadBit uPico (RP2040 GPIO)
· 4.8	QuadBit uHub
· 4.9	Niche and pre-release cards
5	HackerGadgets AIO V2 — Detailed Reference
· 5.1	Subsystem-by-subsystem specifications
· 5.2	The GPIO power-gating gotcha
· 5.3	The ribbon-orientation hazard
· 5.4	The pre-Jan-15 USB-C power defect
· 5.5	Standalone vs with-adapter modes
· 5.6	7-antenna vs 4-antenna mounting kits
· 5.7	First-30-minutes setup (AIO V2)
6	NVMe Storage Paths
· 6.1	NVMe via Mini PCIe + M.2 adapter
· 6.2	NVMe over USB-C
· 6.3	Boot from NVMe
7	The 40-pin GPIO Header
· 7.1	Pinout (Pi-standard)
· 7.2	What HATs work
· 7.3	What HATs don’t (form-factor obscured)
· 7.4	The side-header pass-through community mod
8	Antenna Routing
· 8.1	IPEX / U.FL pigtail anatomy
· 8.2	4-antenna vs 7-antenna mounting kits
· 8.3	Stock antenna quality + alternatives
· 8.4	Internal vs external mount
9	Power Budget
· 9.1	AXP228 capacity reminder
· 9.2	Per-card draw measurements
· 9.3	Cumulative loadout tables
· 9.4	When to upgrade the battery
10	DIY Card Builder’s Guide
· 10.1	KiCad starter project
· 10.2	BOM with LCSC/Mouser part numbers
· 10.3	JLCPCB fab parameters
· 10.4	Test-fit advice
· 10.5	Reference designs (open hardware)
11	Common Assembly Gotchas
· 11.1	Antenna board mount orientation
· 11.2	HackerGadgets adapter screws
· 11.3	Ribbon-cable orientation
· 11.4	IPEX connector seating
· 11.5	Mini PCIe slot ZIF tab
12	Vol 12 Cheatsheet Updates
13	Resources
14	Footnotes
15	Index

1. About this Volume

The expansion-card slot is the uConsole’s distinctive feature. Every other handheld in this hardware class — the GameShell, the DevTerm, the PinePhone, the Pinebook Pro — has a fixed peripheral set. The uConsole has a 52-pin Mini PCIe slot in the back, exposed through the case, that lets you change what the device is without re-flashing or rebuilding.

Plug in an LTE modem, the uConsole is a cellular hotspot. Plug in an RTL-SDR + LoRa + GPS combo card (the HackerGadgets AIO V2), the uConsole is a portable RF rig. Plug in an Openterface KVM card, the uConsole is a portable BIOS-level KVM. Plug in a USB-hub card, the uConsole is a five-USB-port pocket Linux box. Same hardware, different identity.

This volume is the reference for what’s available, how it’s wired, what it costs, and what it costs you in power and antenna real-estate. It’s also the engineering reference for building your own card — because the expansion-card ecosystem is small enough that “I’ll just build the one I need” is a credible answer.

A reader of this volume has digested Volume 2 (so they know the schematic context — what the Mini PCIe slot is wired to on the mainboard side), Volume 3 (so they know the compute-module-side bandwidth — CM4 is Gen 2 ×1, CM5 is Gen 3 ×1), and Volume 6 (so they know which cards depend on kernel-driver work). What’s left is the slot itself, the cards, and the build.

2. The Mini PCIe Slot

The uConsole’s expansion bay holds a standard 52-pin Mini PCIe card¹ in full-size dimensions (50.95 mm × 30 mm). The slot is electrically wired to the compute module’s PCIe lane, plus a USB 2.0 lane, plus the SIM card pads, plus a few control signals. It is not a standard Mini PCIe slot in the strict sense — it omits some of the spec’s auxiliary pins and adds a few uConsole-specific routes — but anything that fits a Mini PCIe form factor will physically slot in.

2.1 The 52-pin connector pinout

The Mini PCIe connector has 52 pins arranged as 26 + 26 (top + bottom row). In the uConsole’s V3.14 mainboard, the assignment maps closely to the standard:

Pin	Standard Mini PCIe	uConsole V3.14 wiring	Notes
1	WAKE#	Routed to GPIO (GPIO_05)	For wake-on-event from card
2	3.3V	3V3 from AXP228 ALDO	Card power; ~500 mA max
3	(reserved)	NC
4	GND	GND
5	(reserved)	NC
6	1.5V	NC	Not provided on the uConsole (most cards don’t need)
7	CLKREQ#	Routed to PCIe controller	Card requests reference clock
8	UIM_PWR	Routed to SIM card socket	SIM Vcc
9	GND	GND
10	UIM_DATA	Routed to SIM card socket	SIM I/O
11	REFCLK-	PCIe reference clock differential pair	100 MHz
12	UIM_CLK	Routed to SIM card socket	SIM clock
13	REFCLK+	PCIe reference clock differential pair
14	UIM_RESET	Routed to SIM card socket	SIM reset
15	GND	GND
16	UIM_VPP	NC	Programming voltage; not used on modern SIMs
17	(reserved)	NC
18	GND	GND
19	(reserved)	NC
20	W_DISABLE#	Routed to GPIO (GPIO_06)	Wireless-disable; pulled high to enable card
21	GND	GND
22	PERST#	Routed from PCIe controller	PCIe reset (active low)
23	PERn0	PCIe RX differential pair	RX-
24	3.3V_AUX	NC (use pin 2 for 3.3V)	Suspend power; not provided
25	PERp0	PCIe RX differential pair	RX+
26	GND	GND
27	GND	GND
28	1.5V	NC
29	GND	GND
30	SMB_CLK	NC	SMBus clock; not exposed
31	PETn0	PCIe TX differential pair	TX-
32	SMB_DATA	NC
33	PETp0	PCIe TX differential pair	TX+
34	GND	GND
35	GND	GND
36	USB_D-	USB 2.0 differential pair (D-)	Routed to GL850G hub via mainboard
37	GND	GND
38	USB_D+	USB 2.0 differential pair (D+)	Routed to GL850G hub
39	3.3V	3V3 from AXP228	Second 3.3V (high-current, for cards that need it)
40	GND	GND
41	3.3V	3V3 from AXP228	Third 3.3V
42	LED_WWAN#	Routed to status LED (front of case)	Card asserts low to drive LED
43	GND	GND
44	LED_WLAN#	Routed to status LED (front of case)	Same
45	(reserved)	NC
46	LED_WPAN#	Routed to status LED (third LED)	Same
47	(reserved)	NC
48	1.5V	NC
49	(reserved)	NC
50	GND	GND
51	(reserved)	NC
52	3.3V	3V3 from AXP228	Fourth 3.3V

Three concrete observations about this map:

Four 3.3V rails (pins 2, 39, 41, 52). A WWAN modem under load can pull 1+ amp peak on transmit; the multiple parallel 3.3V pins exist to spread that current across the connector contacts. The uConsole ties all four to the same AXP228-fed rail.
The USB 2.0 lane (pins 36, 38) means an “all-USB” expansion card (the Joe’s USB Ext, the QuadBit uHub) can ignore PCIe and just present USB devices to the GL850G hub.
The three LED pins (42, 44, 46) drive case-front status LEDs — a card can blink them to indicate “WWAN connecting” or “card active.” Most cards don’t bother; they’re a nice touch when used.

2.2 What the V3.14 mainboard exposes

The V3.14 schematic² shows that the slot’s PCIe pair (pins 23/25 and 31/33) routes to the CM connector’s PCIe pins (Vol 2 §12). The USB pair (pins 36/38) routes to the GL850G hub’s downstream port 4 (Vol 2 §9.1). The SIM pads (pins 8/10/12/14) route to a microSIM socket physically next to the Mini PCIe slot. The 3.3V rails come from the AXP228’s SYS_3V3 net. GND is global.

The signal pairs are routed differential (matched-impedance, length-matched) on the mainboard PCB to preserve the PCIe Gen 2 (CM4) or Gen 3 (CM5) signal integrity. The traces are ~20 mm; a length-mismatch budget of ~5 mil is preserved.

2.3 PCIe Gen 2 ×1 vs Gen 3 ×1 bandwidth

The CM4 has PCIe Gen 2 ×1 (5 GT/s). The CM5 has PCIe Gen 3 ×1 (8 GT/s). The Mini PCIe slot is the same physical slot for both. Effective throughput available to a card:

Compute module	PCIe spec	Raw	After 8b/10b (Gen 2) or 128b/130b (Gen 3)	Practical (kernel + protocol overhead)
CM4 (BCM2711)	Gen 2 ×1	5 GT/s	~500 MB/s	~400 MB/s
CM5 (BCM2712)	Gen 3 ×1	8 GT/s	~985 MB/s	~800 MB/s
Radxa CM5	Gen 3 ×1	8 GT/s	~985 MB/s	~800 MB/s

Cards that saturate the bus include NVMe SSDs (consumer-grade NVMe is 1500-7000 MB/s native; Mini PCIe is the bottleneck), GbE network interfaces (1000 Mbps = 125 MB/s — well within budget), high-bandwidth SDRs (HackRF at full 20 Msps is ~640 MB/s — saturates Gen 2). Cards that don’t saturate include LTE modems (~100 Mbps), WiFi (≤300 Mbps for Wi-Fi 5), low-bandwidth SDRs (RTL-SDR at 2.4 Msps is ~10 MB/s).

2.4 The non-PCIe pins (USB / SIM / LED / reset)

Beyond the PCIe pair, the slot exposes several useful signals:

USB 2.0 (pins 36, 38): 480 Mbps; ~35 MB/s practical. Cards can ignore PCIe and use USB only — this is the “USB hub on a card” pattern (Joe’s USB Ext, QuadBit uHub).
SIM socket (pins 8, 10, 12, 14): standard SIM electrical interface for WWAN cards. The microSIM socket is on the mainboard — the card just uses these pins to talk to it.
W_DISABLE# (pin 20): a GPIO route from the SoC. Pulled high enables the card; pulled low disables. Originally intended for “kill switch” wireless disable; cards can also use it for power gating.
WAKE# (pin 1): card asserts low to wake the SoC from suspend. Routed to a SoC GPIO with wake-source capability.
PERST# (pin 22): PCIe reset. The SoC’s PCIe controller drives this low to reset the card; deassert to bring the card up.
LED pins (42, 44, 46): card drives these low to light the case-front LEDs.

2.5 What works in the slot, what doesn’t

Class	Works?	Caveats
WWAN/LTE modems	Yes	SIM goes in the mainboard’s SIM socket; antenna IPEX in the card
WiFi/Bluetooth combo cards	Yes (older)	Modern Pi has built-in WiFi; Mini PCIe WiFi cards are mostly redundant
Mini PCIe → M.2 adapter for NVMe	Yes	Form factor is the constraint; works fine on V3.14_V5 + CM5
RTL-SDR / HackRF on USB	Yes (USB-only)	The card uses USB pins; PCIe is unused
HackerGadgets AIO V1/V2	Yes	Mixed-mode card — see §5
Mini PCIe SSDs (legacy mSATA)	No	mSATA needs SATA pins which the slot doesn’t provide
TPM 2.0 modules	Yes (LPC)	Some Mini PCIe TPMs exist; Pi doesn’t expose LPC, so these don’t work
FireWire / IEEE 1394	No	Needs PCIe + specific drivers; Pi mainline kernel lacks them
GbE Mini PCIe	Yes	uEther is the canonical example
Capture cards (HDMI in)	Sometimes	PCIe-based work; USB-based work; depends on driver

3. The Schematic-Grade Card Design Pattern

If you want to build your own card, this chapter is the reference for what every uConsole expansion card must include.

3.1 The Clockwork LTE Modem as reference

The Clockwork-shipped LTE modem card³ is the canonical reference design. Its schematic isn’t published, but the pattern is recognisable in any community-built card. Its features:

A Quectel EC25 LTE modem IC.
A SIM card socket that interfaces with the SIM-routing pins on the slot.
An IPEX (U.FL) antenna connector for the LTE antenna.
A few decoupling caps and ESD protection on the USB lines.
Minimal additional logic — most of the work is in the EC25 itself.

This is the minimum-viable card — one chip, one connector, a SIM, and an antenna. Total parts count under 30. PCB is two-layer.

3.2 What every expansion card needs

Regardless of what your card does, the structural requirements:

Requirement	Why
52-pin Mini PCIe edge connector	Mechanical + electrical interface to the slot
Mounting screw hole (50 mm pitch)	Card secures with the M2.5 standoff at the slot’s far end
3.3V power from pins 2/39/41/52	All four pins paralleled; bulk decoupling near the IC
GND continuity across all GND pins	Star ground or ground plane; minimum 100 mil ground bus
PCIe AC-coupling if using PCIe	Series caps on TX pair (PCIe spec mandates 75-200 nF); RX is host-side coupled
PCIe ESD protection (optional)	Low-cap TVS diodes on the TX/RX pairs
USB ESD protection if using USB	TVS diode array (USBLC6-2SC6 or similar)
Pin 22 PERST#	Tied to the IC’s reset input (active low)
Pin 20 W_DISABLE#	Tied to a power-enable input on the IC if present
Pin 7 CLKREQ#	Tied to a CLKREQ output on the IC if PCIe-aware
Form-factor compliance	50.95 × 30 mm (full-size) or 50.95 × 50.95 mm (half-size — won’t fit)
Component height ≤ 5 mm	Slot stack height; taller components hit the case
No tall components on the back side	Back side faces the mainboard; mainboard components are 0-2 mm high

3.3 PCIe AC-coupling, ESD, decoupling

PCIe Gen 2/3 differential pairs require specific care:

AC-coupling caps on TX (PETp0/PETn0): 100 nF X7R, 0402 package, as close to the connector edge as physically possible. The host couples the RX pair internally; you don’t add caps on RX.
ESD protection: optional but recommended. Use low-capacitance (< 1 pF) TVS diodes — Nexperia PESD0402-040 or similar. Excessive capacitance kills Gen 3 signal integrity.
Decoupling near the IC: 1 µF + 100 nF in parallel for each 3.3V power input. For high-current ICs (modems pulling 1A peaks), add a 10 µF bulk cap and pay attention to ESR.

For USB 2.0:

ESD protection: USBLC6-2SC6 is the standard part. One per USB port.
Series resistors: 22 Ω on D+/D- if your trace is long (> 50 mm); not needed for short traces.

3.4 SIM card socket if WWAN

The mainboard already has a SIM socket; you don’t need one on the card. The card’s SIM-routing pins (pin 8/10/12/14) connect to the card’s modem IC SIM input. If your modem has its own SIM socket, that’s redundant — leave the slot’s SIM pins NC.

For dual-SIM modems (rare on Mini PCIe), you’d add a SIM mux IC and a second physical socket on the card.

3.5 Antenna IPEX routing

Most cards need at least one antenna. The IPEX (U.FL) connector is the standard:

Place IPEX as close to the IC’s antenna pin as possible — long antenna traces add loss.
50 Ω impedance on the antenna trace. On a 2-layer 1.6 mm FR4 PCB, that’s a 28 mil (0.71 mm) trace width with the bottom layer as ground reference.
Avoid via stitching through the antenna trace.
Add a π-network footprint (3 SMD locations: series, shunt, series) on the antenna trace for impedance tuning. Even if you don’t populate it, the footprint lets you tune later.

The uConsole’s antenna pigtails terminate in IPEX; the card-side IPEX socket mates to it.

3.6 Power-budget contributions

Every card contributes to the AXP228’s load. Vol 2 §3 covers the PMIC’s capacity. A rough budget:

Card class	Idle draw	Peak draw	Notes
LTE modem (idle)	50 mA	1500 mA	Peak on transmit
WiFi/BT (idle)	30 mA	400 mA	Peak on transmit
RTL-SDR	200 mA	280 mA	Steady when streaming
HackRF One	700 mA	1100 mA	Peak on transmit
GbE NIC (idle)	80 mA	200 mA	Cable activity
GPS	30 mA	50 mA	Steady when fixed
LoRa (idle)	5 mA	130 mA	Peak on transmit
RTC	1 µA	5 µA	Negligible
USB hub (no devices)	10 mA	10 mA	+ downstream devices
Mini PCIe SSD (idle)	100 mA	800 mA	Reads/writes

Adding up the AIO V2’s full loadout (LTE-class peak, WiFi-class peak, all radios at once) gets you to 4-5 amps peak on the 3.3V rail — well within the AXP228’s specified capacity but a meaningful chunk of the 18650 pack’s discharge rate. Vol 11 covers when to consider higher-capacity cells.

4. The Expansion-Card Catalogue

The full catalogue as of mid-2026, drawing from the uconsole.net expansion-card roundup⁴ and the HackerGadgets product pages.

4.1 Catalogue summary

Card	Creator	Price (USD)	Status	Country	Licence	Slot use
Openterface KVM Ext.	TechxArtisan / Openterface	$89	Pre-order	Hong Kong/China	Open-source FW + host SW	USB
Joe’s USB Ext. Board	Joe / RadiationJoe	$28	In-stock (Tindie)	Bulgaria	Design files released	USB
HackerGadgets AIO V1	Vileer	$78	Shipping	USA	Unknown (closed)	USB + PCIe
HackerGadgets AIO V2	Vileer / HackerGadgets	$78.99 / $92	Pre-order, ship 2026-06-01	USA	Unknown (closed)	USB + PCIe
uEther Ethernet + USB-C	Ákos Melczer	$45	Out of stock	Germany	MIT (open-source)	USB
Clockwork LTE Modem	Clockwork Pi	bundle-only	Bundled w/ uConsole	China	Closed	PCIe + USB + SIM
QuadBit uPico (RP2040 GPIO)	Vitaly / dotcypress	$55	Discontinued	Ukraine/USA	CC-BY-SA-4.0	USB
QuadBit uHub	Vitaly	$42	Discontinued	Ukraine/USA	Fully open-source	USB

Three cards are open-hardware (uEther, uPico, uHub) — meaning if you can’t buy them, you can fab your own.

4.2 Openterface KVM Ext.

Turns the uConsole into a Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) appliance. HDMI-in (capture from a remote computer’s HDMI output), USB HID emulation (act as keyboard + mouse to that computer). Built around the open-source Openterface project (https://openterface.com).

Use case: portable BIOS-level KVM for sysadmins or field engineers. You wheel up to a misbehaving server, plug HDMI from server to uConsole, plug uConsole’s USB-A to server, and the uConsole acts as the server’s monitor + keyboard + mouse. No network required — works at the BIOS / pre-OS level.

Where to buy: https://shop.techxartisan.com/products/openterface-kvm-ext-for-uconsole ($89 + shipping).

Open-source firmware; community Discord at discord.gg/ruAD9kcYbq.

4.3 Joe’s USB Extension Board

Three USB-C 2.0 ports on an expansion card. Uses the Mini PCIe slot’s USB pair only — PCIe is unused.

Use case: any time you need more USB ports. Cards that take up the slot but only use USB are common because the GL850G’s existing ports are limited.

Where to buy: Tindie listing under “radiation_joe / uConsole-USB-Ext-Board” ($28).

Design files are public; Joe demonstrates the internal-USB-port integration trick on his Tindie listing — letting you bring a USB device (small flash drive, fingerprint sensor, etc.) inside the case via the card’s internal headers. Forum discussion: https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/alternative-to-the-uhub-also-found-on-tindie-has-anyone-gotten-one/16508.

4.4 HackerGadgets AIO V1

The first-revision all-in-one SDR/LoRa/GPS/RTC/USB-hub card. $78 USD on https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-rtl-sdr-lora-gps-rtc-usb-hub-all-in-one-extension-board.

Superseded by the V2 (§5). The V1 is still shipping for users who don’t need V2’s USB-3 + RJ45 features. Differences from V2:

USB-A external port (vs V2’s USB-C external).
USB 2.0 only (V2 supports USB 3.0 with adapter).
No RJ45.
Same RTL-SDR + LoRa + GPS + RTC + USB hub feature set.

If you don’t need the upgraded networking, V1 is cheaper and shipping (V2 is pre-order).

4.5 uEther Ethernet + USB-C

A clean wired-networking card with a single RJ45 + a USB-C 2.0 port. Built around the Microchip LAN9500 USB-2-to-Ethernet bridge.⁵ Open-source MIT-licensed design from Ákos Melczer.

Notable: this is the canonical “DIY Ethernet card for the uConsole” — design files at https://hackaday.io/hacker/43349. If you can’t buy one (out of stock most of the time), you can fab your own.

Use case: stable wired networking when WiFi isn’t reliable (corporate networks with WPA2-Enterprise, lab environments, anywhere captive-portal-WiFi annoys).

Forum: https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/uether-extension-module/16149. uconsole.net review: https://uconsole.net/uether-expansion-card-adds-wired-networking-easily-to-the-uconsole/.

4.6 Clockwork LTE Modem

Bundled with uConsole kits at order time. Built around the Quectel EC25 modem with GNSS (GPS + GLONASS + BeiDou + Galileo) and the standard SIM socket interface.

Quectel EC25 supports LTE Cat-4 (150 Mbps down / 50 Mbps up) on a wide bandlist (cat varies by SKU — EC25-E for Europe, EC25-A for North America, etc.). Carrier-grade modem; commonly used in IoT applications.

Configuration: standard ModemManager / NetworkManager interface. After boot, mmcli -L lists modems; configure APN via nmcli or NetworkManager GUI.

This is the only official Clockwork-built expansion card. Cannot be purchased separately. If you didn’t bundle one with your uConsole kit, the uconsole.net catalogue notes “you may be out of luck.”

4.7 QuadBit uPico (RP2040 GPIO)

Vitaly (github.com/dotcypress) built this as a uConsole expansion card with an embedded RP2040 microcontroller. It exposes the RP2040’s GPIO via Double-Double PMOD-compatible connector, plus a USB-C port for programming and a controllable LED.

Use case: add I/O capability to the uConsole via the RP2040 acting as a co-processor. Useful for: I²C sensor reads, CAN-bus comms, custom protocol handlers, real-time tasks the Pi can’t reliably handle. The same chip as in the PicoCalc — cross-reference to PicoCalc Vol 3 if you’ve worked with that.

Discontinued. Vitaly is no longer producing this card (forum thread https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/upico-expansion-card/11320/94). However, the design is certified open hardware (CC-BY-SA-4.0). Files at https://github.com/dotcypress/upico. If you want one, fab it yourself — JLCPCB will turn around 10 boards in 5 days for ~$30 + parts.

4.8 QuadBit uHub

Same designer as uPico. A 3-port USB-C hub on the Mini PCIe form factor with internal speakers support and an internal FFC footprint for adding a 4th USB port to the case.

Discontinued. Forum: https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/uhub-expansion-card/11436. Fully open-source — schematics, PCB design, and 3D-printable cover bracket are all in the public repo.

For DIY USB-hub cards, this is the recommended reference design.

4.9 Niche and pre-release cards

Cards under development or limited availability as of mid-2026:

HackerGadgets NVMe board — pre-release; Mini PCIe to M.2 NVMe adapter sold by HackerGadgets specifically for the V3.14_V5 + CM5 NVMe-boot path. Status varies; check hackergadgets.com.
HackerGadgets AC1200 WiFi card — Mini PCIe Wi-Fi 5 card with the MTK7615 chipset. Sold as a HackerGadgets accessory; replaces the on-CM4 WiFi if you want monitor-mode-on-5GHz capability.
TechxArtisan future cards — they hint at additional Openterface variants and a USB-Ethernet combo card; not shipping as of 2026-05.
Several abandoned community projects — search the Clockwork forum for dormant threads.

5. HackerGadgets AIO V2 — Detailed Reference

The most-feature-rich expansion card available. Worth its own chapter.⁶

5.1 Subsystem-by-subsystem specifications

Subsystem	Chip / Spec	Detail
RTL-SDR	RTL2832U + R860 tuner	100 kHz – 1.74 GHz; TCXO; 5 V bias-tee software-toggleable (status LED on side); HF direct-sampling 100 kHz – 28.8 MHz
LoRa	Semtech SX1262	860–960 MHz band; 22 dBm max TX; TCXO; Meshtastic out of the box
GPS	(chip not specified)	Multi-mode GPS / BDS / GNSS; supports both active and passive antennas
RTC	NXP PCF85063A	CR1220 backup battery; addresses uConsole’s lack of native RTC
USB Hub	(chip not specified)	One outside Type-C (side); one internal Type-C; one internal 2.0 mm pitch pin header
RJ45	(chip not specified)	1 Gbps; requires the new adapter board from the uConsole upgrade kit to function
Power gate	GPIO-based	SDR / GPS / LoRa / Internal-USB are OFF by default — see §5.2

The card is $92.00 USD on sale (regular $78.99) as of mid-2026, available at https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-aio-v2. Pre-order with estimated ship 2026-06-01.

5.2 The GPIO power-gating gotcha

This is the most-frequent first-encounter problem with the AIO V2:

By default, after power-on, the SDR / GPS / LoRa / Internal-USB subsystems are POWERED OFF. They appear “faulty” or “missing” — the kernel doesn’t see them, lsusb doesn’t list them, GQRX can’t find the SDR.

This is intentional. The card uses GPIO-controlled FET switches to power-gate each subsystem so the card doesn’t constantly draw the cumulative power of all four radios. You must pull a specific GPIO high (in software) to enable each subsystem you want active.

The setup guide at https://hackergadgets.com/uconsole-aio-ext-guide lists which GPIO controls which subsystem. The pattern:

# After AIO V2 install + boot, before using SDR:
echo "out" | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<n>/direction
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<n>/value

# After this:
lsusb         # RTL-SDR now appears
rtl_test      # confirms it

This is the single most common confusion with the AIO V2. Vol 12 cheatsheet should call it out prominently.

5.3 The ribbon-orientation hazard

A destructive gotcha:

Installing the AIO V2’s ribbon cable in the wrong orientation, then plugging in the charger, will permanently damage the uConsole mainboard.

The card connects to the mainboard via a flex ribbon cable. The ribbon has a clear “this side up” indicator (a coloured stripe on one edge) but it’s possible to seat it 180° flipped. Without power, this is harmless — you boot, nothing works, you check the ribbon, you fix it. With power applied (charger plugged in), the wrong-orientation ribbon shorts the AXP228’s VBAT rail to one of the GPIO inputs at 5V, which exceeds the GPIO input voltage rating and burns out the SoC’s GPIO buffers.

Always verify ribbon orientation before plugging in the charger. This is in the AIO V2’s setup guide (https://hackergadgets.com/uconsole-aio-ext-guide) and the legacy 02-inputs/uconsole-full-loadout-manual.md.docx §4.2 Phase 3.

If you’ve fried your mainboard this way: it’s a board replacement; there’s no firmware-level fix. Ask Talking Sasquach how he learned this lesson the hard way.

5.4 The pre-Jan-15 USB-C power defect

Manufacturer-disclosed issue:

Orders shipped before January 15 may have an internal USB-C port that doesn’t deliver enough current to drive an AC1200 WiFi card.

Compensation/repair plan: https://hackergadgets.com/blogs/news/statement-regarding-aio-v2-internal-usb-c-power-supply-issue-and-compensation-plan.

If you ordered an AIO V2 before 2026-01-15 and have an AC1200 card you can’t get to work: contact HackerGadgets via the Contact Us form. They’ve handled this professionally; the repair is a board swap.

Note: some orders had shipping labels created before Jan 15 but weren’t physically shipped until after. Verify per-unit before assuming you’re affected.

5.5 Standalone vs with-adapter modes

The AIO V2 has two operating modes that change feature availability:

Mode	RTL-SDR	LoRa	GPS	RTC	USB Hub	RJ45
Standalone	✅	✅	✅	✅	USB 2.0	❌ dead
With AIO-V2 adapter	✅	✅	✅	✅	USB 3.0	✅ (1 Gbps)

The AIO-V2-compatible adapter is the HackerGadgets uConsole Upgrade Kit at https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-upgrade-kit. Required for full AIO V2 functionality. Sold separately.

For users on the V3.14 mainboard (older), the standalone mode is what you get. For users on the V3.14_V5 mainboard (newer) with the upgrade kit installed, the full feature set unlocks.

Vol 3 §4.1 covers why this is — the V3.14_V5 routes a second USB lane and the second PCIe lane that the V3.14 leaves on the floor.

5.6 7-antenna vs 4-antenna mounting kits

Two variants of the antenna-mounting kit ship:

Variant	Antennas	What’s mounted
4-antenna	4	GPS + WiFi + LoRa + SDR
7-antenna	7	All of above + 3 spare slots

As of late 2026, the 7-antenna mount is the default ship. If you want the original 4-antenna mount instead, contact HackerGadgets in advance. The 4-antenna kit is still produced for users who want the simpler external profile.

5.7 First-30-minutes setup (AIO V2)

After you’ve physically installed the card and antenna kit:

# 1. Power on. Verify uConsole boots normally.
#    (If not, check ribbon orientation — see §5.3.)

# 2. Verify card detected on PCIe + USB:
lspci    # should show PCIe-attached devices from the card
lsusb    # before power-gating, internal hub may not enumerate

# 3. Enable SDR subsystem (specific GPIO from setup guide):
echo "out" | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<sdr_gpio>/direction
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<sdr_gpio>/value

# 4. Verify SDR:
rtl_test     # should report tuner R820T2, sample rate options, etc.

# 5. Enable LoRa:
echo "out" | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<lora_gpio>/direction
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<lora_gpio>/value

# 6. Enable GPS:
echo "out" | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<gps_gpio>/direction
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/class/gpio/gpio<gps_gpio>/value

# 7. Verify RTC:
sudo hwclock -r --rtc=/dev/rtc1
# Should print current time. If not, CR1220 may need replacement.

# 8. Configure the GPIO-enables to apply at boot:
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/aio-v2-power.service <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Power on AIO V2 SDR/LoRa/GPS subsystems
After=local-fs.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/aio-v2-power-on.sh
RemainAfterExit=yes

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo tee /usr/local/bin/aio-v2-power-on.sh <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
for gpio in <sdr_gpio> <lora_gpio> <gps_gpio>; do
    echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$gpio/direction
    echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$gpio/value
done
EOF

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/aio-v2-power-on.sh
sudo systemctl enable --now aio-v2-power.service

Now SDR/LoRa/GPS are enabled at boot. Vol 9 picks up here for actual SDR workflows.

6. NVMe Storage Paths

For storage that’s faster than SD/eMMC/USB. Vol 4 §10 covers boot-from-NVMe; this section covers the hardware paths.

6.1 NVMe via Mini PCIe + M.2 adapter

A Mini-PCIe-to-M.2-NVMe adapter card slots into the Mini PCIe slot and exposes a M.2 2230/2242 slot for an NVMe SSD.

Compatible adapters:

Adapter	Form factor	Price (USD)	Notes
HackerGadgets NVMe board	Custom for uConsole	~$30	Designed for V3.14_V5 + CM5; snug case fit
Generic Mini-PCIe-to-M.2 NVMe adapter	Mini PCIe	$10-20	Sold on AliExpress, eBay; verify M-key support
Geekworm X870 (older)	Mini PCIe	$25	Pi-focused; uses PCIe ×1

The small M.2 form factors (2230, 2242) fit the uConsole’s case. Larger formats (2280) physically protrude.

Throughput on the CM4 is Gen 2 ×1 = ~400 MB/s practical; on the CM5 is Gen 3 ×1 = ~800 MB/s practical.

6.2 NVMe over USB-C

The cheap path: a USB-C-to-NVMe enclosure. The uConsole boots from USB-MSD (Vol 4 §9). Throughput is capped at USB 2.0 (~35 MB/s) on V3.14, USB 3.0 (~400 MB/s) on V3.14_V5 + CM5.

Enclosure	Form factor	Price	Notes
Samsung T7	Generic	$80	USB 3.2 Gen 2; stable; tested with Pi
SanDisk Extreme Portable	Generic	$80	Same
Crucial X9	Generic	$70	Same
ORICO M.2 NVMe enclosure	DIY	$30	You provide the SSD
Sabrent USB-C to M.2 NVMe	DIY	$40	Higher quality than ORICO

For the V3.14 + CM4 user, USB-C NVMe is a convenience (capacity, hot-swap) more than a speed choice. For V3.14_V5 + CM5, USB-C NVMe is genuinely fast.

6.3 Boot from NVMe

Cross-reference Vol 4 §10. The short version:

CM5 native NVMe (V3.14_V5 + adapter): edit BOOT_ORDER=0xf416 in EEPROM. Boots from NVMe directly.
CM4 NVMe via Mini PCIe: requires pivot-root. Boot from SD/eMMC, then transition to NVMe rootfs. Less elegant; needs custom kernel cmdline.
NVMe over USB-C: boots like any other USB MSD. EEPROM BOOT_ORDER=0xf14.

7. The 40-pin GPIO Header

The uConsole exposes a Pi-standard 40-pin GPIO header on the side of the case. Useful for HATs (Hardware Attached on Top), GPIO sensors, and hardware experiments.

7.1 Pinout (Pi-standard)

The header is the standard Pi 4 / Pi 5 / Compute-Module GPIO layout — 40 pins, 2×20, 0.1” pitch. The signal map is identical to a Pi 4 — GPIO 2–GPIO 27 exposed plus power, ground, ID-EEPROM bus, and the second I²C bus.

Specific pin map (BCM numbering):

Pin	Function	Pin	Function
1	3.3V	2	5V
3	GPIO 2 (SDA1)	4	5V
5	GPIO 3 (SCL1)	6	GND
7	GPIO 4	8	GPIO 14 (TXD0)
9	GND	10	GPIO 15 (RXD0)
11	GPIO 17	12	GPIO 18 (PWM0)
13	GPIO 27	14	GND
15	GPIO 22	16	GPIO 23
17	3.3V	18	GPIO 24
19	GPIO 10 (MOSI)	20	GND
21	GPIO 9 (MISO)	22	GPIO 25
23	GPIO 11 (SCLK)	24	GPIO 8 (CE0)
25	GND	26	GPIO 7 (CE1)
27	GPIO 0 (ID_SD)	28	GPIO 1 (ID_SC)
29	GPIO 5	30	GND
31	GPIO 6	32	GPIO 12 (PWM0)
33	GPIO 13 (PWM1)	34	GND
35	GPIO 19 (PCM_FS)	36	GPIO 16
37	GPIO 26	38	GPIO 20 (PCM_DIN)
39	GND	40	GPIO 21 (PCM_DOUT)

Same as Pi 4 — every existing Pi GPIO documentation applies.

7.2 What HATs work

HATs that are physically small enough to fit the uConsole’s case-side header:

Sense HAT (small, fits) — environmental + IMU sensors.
Pimoroni Enviro family — small footprint, good for environmental monitoring.
PaPiRus eInk — small eInk displays.
RGB LED HAT — small.
Custom HATs you fab yourself — anything you design to fit the form factor.

These all work because they don’t extend much beyond the header itself.

7.3 What HATs don’t (form-factor obscured)

HATs that don’t fit because they’re full-Pi-sized:

HiFiBerry DAC+ family — extends well beyond the header.
Adafruit DC + Stepper Motor HAT — full-Pi-form.
PoE HAT — Pi-shaped, doesn’t fit.
Camera HATs — usually full-Pi-form.
NVMe HATs that mount on top — wrong form factor.
Most big-button HATs — designed for desktop Pi use.

For these, you connect via flying leads to the header rather than direct mounting.

7.4 The side-header pass-through community mod

A community mod replaces the side header with a longer, externally-accessible header — exposing all 40 pins outside the case for breadboard wiring. Documented on the Clockwork forum.

Useful for: hardware-hacking workflows where you want to clip-on signals quickly, or for a permanent breadboard companion.

Steps (high level):

Open the case.
Desolder the original 40-pin header.
Solder a longer 40-pin header through the case-side slot.
Re-close the case with the new header protruding.

Forum thread for full details: search https://forum.clockworkpi.com/c/uconsole/ for “side header pass-through.”

8. Antenna Routing

Multi-antenna setups are common (AIO V2 has 4-7 antennas). This chapter is the antenna reference.

8.1 IPEX / U.FL pigtail anatomy

IPEX (also known as U.FL or “small RF connector”) is a tiny RF connector for board-to-cable transitions. The card-side has a male IPEX surface-mount socket; the cable side has a female IPEX plug; the other end of the pigtail is typically SMA-male for connecting to an external antenna.

Standard pigtail length: 100-150 mm. Insertion loss: ~0.3 dB typical at 1 GHz.

The uConsole’s case-side has 4 (V3.14) or 7 (V3.14_V5 with the 7-antenna kit) IPEX-female-to-SMA-female feed-throughs. You connect a card-side IPEX cable to one of these to bring the antenna outside the case.

8.2 4-antenna vs 7-antenna mounting kits

The HackerGadgets antenna-mounting kit (sold with the AIO V2 or separately):

4-antenna kit (older default): mounts 4 antennas on the back panel. Sufficient for AIO V2’s GPS + WiFi + LoRa + SDR set.
7-antenna kit (current default as of late 2026): mounts 7 antennas. The extra 3 are for users adding cellular, additional WiFi, or expanded SDR coverage.

The 7-antenna kit ships by default. To get the older 4-antenna kit, contact HackerGadgets in advance.

8.3 Stock antenna quality + alternatives

Talking Sasquach’s community fact (02-inputs/community_video_transcripts/):

“this antenna sucks”

The stock antennas shipped with the uConsole are budget rubber-duck antennas optimised for compactness, not gain. Better alternatives:

Antenna	Use case	Notes
Great Scott Gadgets short-form-factor SDR antenna	50-1500 MHz SDR	Compact; doesn’t snag on bags; good gain in this range
Diamond Antenna SRH77CA	2m / 70cm ham	Rubber duck for 144/440 MHz
ANT700 (HackRF stock antenna)	300-1100 MHz	Decent broad-band; portable
RTL-SDR Blog dipole kit	Very wideband (~30-300 MHz)	Telescopic; tunable dipole
External quarter-wave (HF)	<30 MHz HF	Long; needs external mount
LoRa fiberglass omni 2-3 dBi	868/915 MHz	Better LoRa range than stock

Replacement is typically just unscrewing the stock SMA antenna and screwing in the replacement — no soldering, no case-opening.

8.4 Internal vs external mount

Community fact from @hugov392 on YouTube:

“The antenna board is designed to be mounted to the outside of the back cover, not sandwiched in between the case parts.”

There’s been some confusion among uConsole assemblers about whether the antenna board (the small PCB carrying the IPEX-to-SMA feed-throughs) goes:

Inside the case (sandwiched between the back panel and the mainboard) — what some users have done.
Outside the case (mounted to the outside of the back panel) — what the design intends.

Both work — the cables route either way. But the outside mount is the intended design and is documented in Talking Sasquach’s video at 6:02.

The outside mount needs slightly longer screws (which HackerGadgets supplies separately for users who choose this option).

Recommendation: outside mount. Cleaner cable routing, no risk of pinching cables when closing the case, and the screws ship for it.

9. Power Budget

Cards add to the AXP228’s load. This chapter quantifies.

9.1 AXP228 capacity reminder

From Vol 2 §3:

Battery input: 2× 18650 in parallel, 6.0 Ah at 4.2V nominal.
3.3V rail: AXP228 DCDC3 + ALDOs, ~5A peak combined.
5V rail: DCDC4 + boost converter, ~2A peak.

A 5A peak on the 3.3V rail at 3.3V × 5A = 16.5W — well above the AXP228’s 15W typical max. The peak is brief (modem TX bursts); average draw is what matters for sustained operation.

9.2 Per-card draw measurements

Approximate measurements:

Card	Idle	Typical use	Peak	Notes
Clockwork LTE Modem	50 mA	200 mA	1500 mA	Peak on TX, brief
HackerGadgets AIO V2 (full)	100 mA	500 mA	2000 mA	All radios on, peak on LoRa/SDR TX
HackerGadgets AIO V2 (SDR only)	80 mA	280 mA	320 mA	RTL-SDR steady draw
uEther	80 mA	150 mA	200 mA	Cable activity
Joe’s USB Ext (no devices)	10 mA	10 mA	10 mA	Card itself; downstream devices add their own
QuadBit uPico (idle)	30 mA	100 mA	200 mA	Depends on attached I/O loads
QuadBit uHub (no devices)	8 mA	8 mA	8 mA	Card itself
Mini PCIe NVMe SSD (idle)	100 mA	400 mA	800 mA	Heavy reads/writes
Openterface KVM Ext.	50 mA	200 mA	400 mA	HDMI capture is the main load

9.3 Cumulative loadout tables

Common loadouts:

Loadout	Typical draw (mA)	Estimated runtime (3000 mAh × 2 = 6 Ah pack)
Stock uConsole + CM4 (no card)	600	~10 hours
Stock + LTE modem (idle)	650	~9 hours
Stock + AIO V2 (SDR streaming)	880	~7 hours
Stock + AIO V2 (full — all radios on)	1100	~5.5 hours
Stock + uEther + LTE	750	~8 hours
Stock + uPico + RTL-SDR via uHub	800	~7.5 hours
Stock + NVMe + AIO V2 + Pi CM5	1300	~4.5 hours

Vol 11 covers battery-life analysis in more detail and quantifies the CM4-vs-CM5 gap.

9.4 When to upgrade the battery

Stock 18650 cells are 3000 mAh. Higher-capacity options:

3500 mAh 18650 (e.g., Panasonic NCR18650GA, Samsung 35E): swap-in replacement, +17% capacity. ~$10/pair.
3600 mAh 18650 (e.g., Panasonic NCR18650B): same swap. ~$12/pair.
Custom 21700 cells (much larger; need case mod): ~25% more capacity but require case modification.
External USB-C power bank: doesn’t replace internal cells but supplements. 10000 mAh USB-C bank gives ~5 additional hours.

For full AIO V2 loadouts (~1100 mA typical), upgrading from 3000 to 3500 mAh extends runtime by ~50 minutes — meaningful in the field.

10. DIY Card Builder’s Guide

If the available cards don’t fit your need, build your own.

10.1 KiCad starter project

A starter project for a uConsole expansion card:

uconsole-mycard/
├── uconsole-mycard.kicad_pro
├── uconsole-mycard.kicad_sch     ← schematic
├── uconsole-mycard.kicad_pcb     ← PCB
├── lib/
│   ├── minipcie.kicad_sym        ← Mini PCIe edge connector symbol
│   ├── minipcie.kicad_mod        ← Mini PCIe edge connector footprint
│   └── ipex.kicad_mod            ← IPEX/U.FL footprint
├── BOM.csv
└── README.md

The Mini PCIe edge connector is not a separate part — it’s a PCB edge with gold-plated fingers in the right places. KiCad’s library has connector-card-edge:Mini-PCIe as the canonical footprint.

Recommended starter: clone an open reference (uPico, uHub, uEther) and modify. All three have public KiCad sources.

10.2 BOM with LCSC/Mouser part numbers

Standard parts:

Part	LCSC P/N	Mouser P/N	Notes
100 nF X7R 0402 cap (PCIe AC-couple)	C1525	81-GRM155R71H104KE19	Per PCIe lane
1 µF X7R 0402 cap (decoupling)	C15849	81-GRM155R61A105KE15	One per IC power input
10 µF X7R 0402 cap (bulk decoupling)	C19702	81-GRM188R61A106KAAL	High-current rails
USBLC6-2SC6 ESD protection	C7260	511-USBLC6-2SC6	USB 2.0 ESD
PESD0402-040 TVS (PCIe ESD)	C57579	622-PESD0402-040	Low-cap; PCIe Gen 3 safe
IPEX U.FL surface-mount socket	C40663	798-MM8430-2610RJ8	Antenna IPEX
0 Ω jumper resistor (0402)	C17168	81-RC0402JR-070RL	Configuration jumpers
Mini SIM card holder	C145736	575-1010881111100	If WWAN; surface-mount type

LCSC pricing is generally cheapest; Mouser has higher minimum-order overhead. For prototype runs, JLCPCB’s parts library overlaps strongly with LCSC (both are owned by the same conglomerate).

10.3 JLCPCB fab parameters

Recommended for uConsole expansion cards:

Layers: 4 (signal-ground-power-signal stack)
Thickness: 0.8 mm (matches commercial Mini PCIe card thickness)
Surface finish: ENIG (gold-plated edge fingers required for the connector — HASL won't work)
Edge plating: required (gold fingers must be plated)
Min trace/space: 5 mil / 5 mil (PCIe Gen 3 traces need this for impedance control)
Impedance control: 90 Ω differential pair, 50 Ω single-ended (request via JLCPCB's "specific impedance" option — costs extra)
Solder mask: matte black or matte green (standard)
Quantity: 5 pieces minimum (cheapest tier; ~$30 + shipping)
Lead time: 5 days standard, 24 hours rush (3× cost)

Total cost for 5 prototype cards: ~$30 fab + $50 parts (LCSC bulk) + $20 shipping = **$100 for 5 prototype cards**.

If you want the parts placed by the fab (no DIY soldering), JLCPCB’s PCB Assembly service runs ~$5-15 per board on top.

10.4 Test-fit advice

Before populating, test-fit the bare PCB:

Print the PCB outline at 1:1 scale on paper.
Compare against the slot in the actual uConsole case.
Verify the screw hole at the far end lines up with the M2.5 standoff.
Verify component clearance — nothing protrudes more than 5 mm above the board surface.

After fab:

Inspect under magnification — short detection at the edge connector fingers.
Slot a bare board into the uConsole (no parts) — verify it seats fully.
Verify no shorts to the case with a multimeter.
Then populate.

Common first-prototype mistakes:

Edge-connector fingers placed wrong (1-2 mil off — connector won’t seat).
AC-coupling caps placed too far from the edge (50+ mil from edge — Gen 3 signals degrade).
Antenna trace impedance wrong (50 Ω miscalculated — antenna performance suffers).
Power and ground planes split (hard-to-find ground loops cause noise).

10.5 Reference designs (open hardware)

Three open-source designs you can fork and modify:

Design	Repository	Use case
uPico (RP2040 GPIO)	`https://github.com/dotcypress/upico`	RP2040 co-processor card
uHub (3× USB-C hub)	(in `uPico` repo, sibling directory)	USB hub card
uEther (Ethernet + USB-C)	`https://hackaday.io/hacker/43349`	Wired networking card

All three are licensed for fork-and-modify (CC-BY-SA-4.0 or MIT). Cloning + modifying one of these is the fastest path to a working uConsole expansion card.

11. Common Assembly Gotchas

The reference list of “things that go wrong during assembly.”

11.1 Antenna board mount orientation

Symptom: antennas don’t seat properly; case won’t close cleanly; antennas at odd angles.

Cause: antenna board mounted inside the case instead of outside.

Fix: re-mount antenna board to the outside of the back panel (per the design — see §8.4).

11.2 HackerGadgets adapter screws

Symptom: stock screws too short; can’t engage the threads when the AIO V2 is installed with the antenna mount.

Cause: the HackerGadgets adapter increases case stack-up height; longer screws are needed.

Fix: use the longer screws HackerGadgets ships separately (in the AIO V2 kit). Don’t force the stock screws.

11.3 Ribbon-cable orientation

Symptom: nothing works after AIO V2 install. Charger plugged in: device damaged.

Cause: ribbon cable inserted 180° flipped.

Fix before applying power: re-seat the ribbon, verify the coloured stripe matches the silkscreen indicator on both ends. Do not power on until orientation is verified.

If you’ve already applied power with a wrong-orientation ribbon: mainboard is likely damaged. See §5.3.

11.4 IPEX connector seating

Symptom: antenna doesn’t pick up signal; SDR sensitivity is poor.

Cause: IPEX/U.FL connector partially seated. The connector has a “click” when fully seated; if you don’t feel it, it’s not seated.

Fix: press straight down on the IPEX connector with a small flat tool (don’t pull on the cable). A clear tactile “click” confirms seating.

11.5 Mini PCIe slot ZIF tab

Symptom: card won’t seat; fingers don’t engage.

Cause: ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) tab not depressed during card insertion. The Mini PCIe slot has a small clip at one end that holds the card down once seated; you must depress this clip while inserting.

Fix: depress the clip with a finger or small tool before inserting the card. Insert at a 30° angle, then push down to engage the clip on the other end.

12. Vol 12 Cheatsheet Updates

The following one-pagers go into Vol 12:

§1 (Mini PCIe pinout): the 52-pin map from §2.1, condensed.
§2 (Power budget): the cumulative loadout table from §9.3.
§11 (AIO V2 setup): the GPIO-power-gating commands from §5.7, the ribbon-orientation warning.
§15 (Error → fix matrix): the assembly gotchas from §11, the AIO V2 issues from §5.
§17 (Antenna selection): the antenna alternatives table from §8.3.
§19 (DIY card BOM): the parts table from §10.2.
§21 (Resources): the catalogue summary from §4.1.

13. Resources

Source	URL
uconsole.net expansion-card roundup	`https://uconsole.net/the-definitive-uconsole-expansion-card-roundup-2025/`
HackerGadgets AIO V2 product page	`https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-aio-v2`
HackerGadgets AIO V1 product page	`https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-rtl-sdr-lora-gps-rtc-usb-hub-all-in-one-extension-board`
HackerGadgets uConsole Upgrade Kit	`https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-upgrade-kit`
HackerGadgets AIO V2 setup guide	`https://hackergadgets.com/uconsole-aio-ext-guide`
Openterface KVM Ext.	`https://shop.techxartisan.com/products/openterface-kvm-ext-for-uconsole`
Openterface project	`https://openterface.com`
Joe’s USB Ext on Tindie	`https://www.tindie.com/products/radiation_joe/uconsole-usb-ext-board/`
uEther on Tindie	`https://www.tindie.com/products/wtdstore/uether/`
uEther GitHub	`https://hackaday.io/hacker/43349`
uEther forum thread	`https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/uether-extension-module/16149`
uPico GitHub	`https://github.com/dotcypress/upico`
uPico forum thread	`https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/upico-expansion-card/11320`
uHub forum thread	`https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/uhub-expansion-card/11436`
Clockwork LTE modem (in uConsole product page)	`https://www.clockworkpi.com/uconsole`
PCI-SIG Mini Card spec	`https://pcisig.com/specifications`
KiCad	`https://www.kicad.org/`
LCSC Electronics	`https://www.lcsc.com/`
JLCPCB	`https://jlcpcb.com/`
Mouser	`https://www.mouser.com/`
Microchip LAN9500 (uEther’s chip)	`https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/LAN9500`
Quectel EC25 (Clockwork LTE modem)	`https://www.quectel.com/product/lte-ec25-mini-pcie/`
Great Scott Gadgets	`https://greatscottgadgets.com/`
Talking Sasquach video on uConsole + AIO V2	`https://youtu.be/4vNxTOFThdg`

14. Footnotes

(Footnotes are listed inline above; this section is a placeholder anchor for the index.)

15. Index

A — Adapter (AIO V2 upgrade kit) — §5.5. Antenna IPEX — §3.5, §8. Antenna mounting (4 vs 7) — §5.6, §8.2. Antenna orientation gotcha — §8.4, §11.1. AIO V1 — §4.4. AIO V2 — §5 (full chapter). AXP228 capacity — §9.1.

B — BOM — §10.2. Boot from NVMe — §6.3 (cross-ref Vol 4 §10).

C — Cards (catalogue) — §4 (full chapter). Catalogue summary — §4.1. Clockwork LTE Modem — §3.1, §4.6. CR1220 (RTC battery) — §5.1. Cumulative power — §9.3.

D — DIY card — §10. DPMS (cross-ref Vol 6) — N/A this volume. Decoupling caps — §3.3. Discontinued cards (uPico, uHub) — §4.7, §4.8.

E — Edge connector — §10.1. ESD protection — §3.3. Ethernet (uEther) — §4.5.

F — Fab parameters — §10.3. First-30-minutes (AIO V2) — §5.7. Form-factor (Mini PCIe) — §2.

G — Gen 2 vs Gen 3 PCIe — §2.3. GPIO power-gating gotcha (AIO V2) — §5.2. GPIO header (40-pin) — §7. Great Scott Gadgets antenna — §8.3.

H — HackerGadgets AIO V1/V2 — §4.4, §5. HackerGadgets adapter screws — §11.2. HackerGadgets NVMe board — §4.9, §6.1. HATs (compatible) — §7.2. HATs (incompatible) — §7.3.

I — IPEX/U.FL — §3.5, §8.1, §11.4.

J — JLCPCB — §10.3. Joe’s USB Ext — §4.3.

K — KiCad — §10.1. KVM (Openterface) — §4.2.

L — LAN9500 — §4.5. Lakka (cross-ref Vol 5 §9.3) — N/A this volume. LCSC — §10.2. LED pins (42, 44, 46) — §2.4. LoRa (AIO V2) — §5.1. LTE modem — §4.6.

M — M.2 NVMe adapter — §6.1. Mini PCIe — §2 (full chapter). Mini SIM socket — §3.4.

N — NVMe — §6 (full chapter). Niche cards — §4.9.

O — Openterface KVM — §4.2. Open-hardware (uEther/uPico/uHub) — §10.5.

P — PCIe AC-coupling — §3.3. PCIe Gen 2 / Gen 3 — §2.3. PCF85063A (RTC) — §5.1. Per-card draw — §9.2. PERST# — §2.4. Pinout (Mini PCIe) — §2.1. Pinout (40-pin GPIO) — §7.1. Power budget — §9.

Q — Quectel EC25 — §4.6.

R — Reference designs — §10.5. Ribbon-orientation hazard — §5.3, §11.3. RTC (PCF85063A + CR1220) — §5.1. RTL-SDR (AIO V2) — §5.1.

S — Schematic-grade card design — §3. Side-header pass-through mod — §7.4. SIM socket — §3.4. SX1262 (LoRa) — §5.1. Standalone vs adapter mode (AIO V2) — §5.5.

T — TechxArtisan (Openterface) — §4.2. Test-fit advice — §10.4.

U — uEther — §4.5. uHub (discontinued) — §4.8. uPico (discontinued) — §4.7. USB 2.0 lane — §2.4. USB pre-Jan-15 power defect (AIO V2) — §5.4.

V — Vileer (HackerGadgets creator) — §4.4, §5.

W — W_DISABLE# — §2.4. WAKE# — §2.4. WWAN — §3.4.

X, Y, Z — None.

PCI-SIG Mini Card Electromechanical Specification v2.0 (2012). The original Mini PCIe spec was designed for laptop-form-factor expansion: WWAN/LTE modems, WiFi cards, secondary storage. The uConsole adopted the form factor because the parts ecosystem is huge and the connector is cheap. ↩
02-inputs/schematics/clockwork_Mainboard_V3.14_Schematic.pdf. The Mini PCIe slot is on page 4 of the schematic; the SIM socket is page 5. V3.14_V5 (clockwork_Mainboard_V3.14_V5_Schematic.pdf) makes one change: pin 36/38 USB pair routes through a switching mux that can also be wired to a USB-3.0 PHY on the CM5. ↩
The Clockwork LTE modem is bundled with the uConsole kit and not sold separately. Built around the Quectel EC25 modem. Documented at https://www.clockworkpi.com/uconsole. ↩
02-inputs/community_blog_pulls/uconsole_net_expansion_card_roundup_2025.md. The roundup is the canonical index maintained by uconsole.net since 2024. ↩
Microchip LAN9500 datasheet at https://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/LAN9500. The chip is a USB 2.0 to 10/100 Ethernet bridge — adequate for the uConsole’s USB 2.0 budget, can’t deliver gigabit. ↩
Primary source: 02-inputs/community_blog_pulls/hackergadgets_aio_v2_product_block.md — extracted from the HackerGadgets product page at https://hackergadgets.com/products/uconsole-aio-v2. Pull date 2026-05-08. Setup guide: https://hackergadgets.com/uconsole-aio-ext-guide. ↩

Add-on Hardware, Mini PCIe, DIY Boards

Contents