Easy way to make a tiny USB hub for Raspberry Pi

Translating an article from the Retrocution home-made website Have

you ever had a shortage of USB ports when creating a project on Raspberry Pi Zero? Besides, external USB hubs or HATS did not fit due to size limitations? If yes, or if you are just looking for an interesting project with soldering parts, which will result in something useful, then this project is for you!



I am constantly trying to shove the Raspberry Pi into any items for my projects, and several of them use Pi Zero, having absolutely no free space for the USB Hub / HAT. I searched and found several sites selling tiny boards with USB hubs, but the cost is pretty high. Therefore, I decided to make my own scarf, which is simple enough to assemble from only 6 cheap components. She has a nail-sized version for 2 ports and a slightly larger version for 4 ports. I gave general access to the board designs at OSH Park and you can order them from there:

2 Port - ORDER AT OSH Park

4 Port - ORDER AT OSH Park

Of course, the boards may continue to improve, mainly based on reader feedback. So far, they are working fine, but do not order them immediately for 100 pieces.

OSH Park sells 3-piece boards with free shipping [even international]. 3 boards for 2 ports will cost you $ 2.95, and 3 boards for 4 ports - $ 3.55. Pretty cheap! After ordering the board, the store will offer you to order a stencil (more on that later).


The reverse side of the board is 4 ports

Materials for the manufacture

FE1.1s SSOP-28 IC, 1 pc (they will have to be ordered from the Chinese to be cheaper - with eBay or AliExpress; I bought 50 for about $ 20) /

Ceramic capacitor 0603 10 uF, 3 pcs (the same thing - eBay or AliExpress)

Resistor 0603 2.7kOhm (similar)

Oscillator at 12 MHz, 1 pc (with legs; in China you can buy 100 pcs for $ 5)

The best place for such purchases is China. You will have to wait 2-3 weeks, but in the end it will be cheaper than any seller in the USA [the same is usually true for Russia / approx. transl.]. I always buy large quantities of components to last a long time.

Board assembly

The photos show the old version of the board, but the process of assembling a new one is no different.

First you need to solder FE1.1. This can be difficult because the pitch (distance between the legs) is only 0.64 mm. I already soldered them manually, however, just connecting the contacts together is enough. Sometimes you can use a soldering iron to separate the contacts (do not forget to add a flux!), But if this does not work out, try using a pigtail to remove the solder.

I did a great job soldering with a blow dryer, and now I always use this method. For this method, you can order a stencil from OSH Stencils after ordering the board. Stencils will help to apply solder paste to small areas of the board.





Using the stencil, I get a very clean chip. My stencil has cutouts only for the chip, because I ordered it before the final alteration of the board, but if you order stencils together with the boards, they will have cutouts for capacitors and resistors.



I use such a soldering hair dryer. It is very cheap ( Amazon , Ali ), it has many versions, but all of them seem to be made in different factories according to one pattern. If you do not very often solder surface mounted components, then this hairdryer will serve you. For such soldering, I highly recommend buying a silicone mat so as not to burn the table.

Then I usually put three capacitors at 10 uF. Since my template does not have cutouts for them, I just solder them manually. I add the flux, and I hold the capacitor with tweezers, soldering each side in turn. Be sure to hold it with tweezers, otherwise it will stick to the soldering iron.



Soldering capacitors, I use the same method to solder a 2.7 kΩ resistor.



After installing the planar components, I set the oscillator to 12 MHz.



When all the components are in place and the flux is cleaned, you get the coolest, tiny USB hub! By the way, the color of the boards in the photo is called After Dark - this is one of the options offered by OSH Park. Their standard is purple, but I really like how these black-copper boards look, and besides, they don’t take extra money for color!



If you choose 4-port boards, their assembly will be exactly the same.

Below are some reference images with a diagram of the connection to the Raspberry Pi Zero and USB ports.










I hope this guide came in handy. In case of questions, leave a comment or write me an email.