Sqwuak

Squawk-2.0

A radio station with a storage unit for walkie-talkies, w/ OLED screen & 3.5mm headphone jack connector SI4844 powered with Arduino Nano, PAM8403 amplifier with the pu2clr library.

About this project

The name "Squawk 2.0" originates from the popular TV show - Stranger Things (Season 5), where they had a master radio station for duplex transmission. Though this station cannot transmit any radio signals for walkie-talkies to pick up (due to legal reasons), it listens to the Citizens Band (CB) with 20 channels and a range of 2-3km. This is designed as a retro tabletop AM/FM/SW radio with the SI4844 chip, and also a handy storage device for the user. Planning to create walkie-talkies in the future that can connect to this station.

Why did I make this?

Well, I needed a storage compartment for my walkie talkies and also wanted the container to be a bit more exciting than just a regular tin box.

How do you use it?

It's pretty simple, here is a layout of all the functions of the buttons you can press:

Key features

• SW/MW/AM/FM radio broadcast with SI4844 IC
• Adjustable channel and volume with OLED screen indicator
• Storage compartment in 3D model
• Hinged door to access the compartment
• Arduino powered - open source code and customisable to your own liking
• USB-B connectivity
• 3.5mm headphone jack to listen to the radio independently without interrupting neighbours, like a Walkman
• Optimised 4-layer PCB (front, gnd_front, gnd_back, back) routing for good antenna connectivity

Schematic

PCB

A simple, 4-layer PCB. 96mm x 81mm PCB with 3 mounting holes for M3 screws.

First layer (Front)

Second layer (GND net)

Third layer (GND net)

Fourth layer (Back)

3D view

Front Back

Firmware

After assembling your PCB, use the firmware.ino file in the repository to flash your Arduino Nano. You can customise messages and timings by editing the code with the Arduino IDE.

BOM

The BOM without specific values is linked here (GitHub directory or Google Sheets. The total cost for the project should not exceed 13USD (after averaging costs out by dividing by the bulk bought quantity).

The BOM with specific values is here (Github directory or Google Sheets)

3D printed case

Use a slicer to print the following file. The 3D printed case is not accounted for in the BOM due to the variation between suppliers. The expected filament cost is around 10$ USD.

Zine page

Credits

Huge thanks to Ricardo for his amazing library and intuitive example code for the SI4844, which genuinely saved me so much time. Link to his repo and library. Thanks to the amazing community from Hack Club fallout for helping out my design as well, I couldn't have done it without them.