Overview
SHARI (SA818 Ham Allstar Radio Interface) PiHat NeoPi5 is a ham construction project designed by N8AR that implements a Raspberry Pi hosted Allstar node in an Argon40 Neo case for the Raspberry Pi5. It includes a NiceRF SA818S embedded UHF (420 – 450 MHz) or VHF (144-148 MHz) radio module. SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 is designed as a kit for construction and use in the amateur radio service by licensed amateur radio operators who can assure that their assembled SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 kit meets FCC mandated operating requirements including RF frequency, deviation and required power levels at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies.
A SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 uses a custom PC board (PiHat type) which plugs into the GPIO connector on top of a Raspberry Pi5. Two wires from the PiHat are soldered to pads on the Pi5 for a USB connection. Programming of the SA818 module uses the GPIO RX and TX signals from the Pi5 UART.
Three LEDs indicate the CONNECTION STATUS (blinking green), COS (yellow) and PTT (red)] . SHARI PiHat RF output power is around 250 to 500 milliwatts.
SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 is available in two models –
- SHARI PiHatU (70 cm)
- SHARI PiHatV (2 meters)
Features
- Uses a Raspberry Pi5
- Uses the Cmedia CM108B USB audio IC
- Uses a NiceRF SA818S UHF or VHF embedded radio module
- 250 to 500 milliwatts RF output power
- LTCC low pass filter ensures compliance with FCC Part 97 requirements for harmonics and spurious emissions
- Small, portable with self contained radio and antenna
- Kit includes PCB with all surface mount parts installed
- You modify the case, assemble the SA818 and through-hole parts to the PC board, make 2 soldered connections to the Pi5 and complete final mechanical assembly
- Rugged RFI-resistant metal enclosure that also is a heatsink for the Pi4B CPU/RAM
- 3D printed hole location tool simplifes drilling holes in the case.
- 3D printed light shield and USB filler plug
- SA818 radio module settings changed using the SA818-prog program (included with the HamVOIP Allstar image) running on the Raspberry Pi5
Temperature Considerations
A thermally conductive pad is used to heatsink the Pi5 CPU, PMIC and RAM to the aluminum Neo case. An internal fan is located on the otherside of that portion of the aluminum. So air is drawn in from the bottom of the case over this aluminum and then is discharged through aboad duct with heatsink fins. The Raspberry Pi5 firmware controls the fan speed to cool the Pi5.
Construction
SHARI PiHat(U or V) NeoPi5 is a kit construction project. It consists of the parts shown in the photo below.
The kit builder supplies the Raspberry Pi5, the Pi5 power supply and a microSD card to complete the self-contained Allstar node.
SHARI PiHat uses a single circuit board. The circuit board contains installed surface mount (SMD) parts as well as two through-hole parts, a surface mount SMA connector and the SA818 (UHF or VHF) radio module.
Construction Manual
A comprehensive step-by-step construction/assembly manual to construct an Allstar node using the SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 kit is available.
Allstar Node Setup and Configuration
The HamVOIP image does not run on the Pi5 so the ASL3 image must be used. Setup using the ASL3 Allstar image information is available on Youtube from several sources. Here are two of them:
Setup using the ASL3 Allstar Image
Here is an outline of how to setup ASL3-Version 19 as well as Supermon and Allmon3.
SA818 Radio Module Programming
Recommended settings for the SA818 radio module and simple USB in the ASL3 image (version 19 and above) are:
Ordering Information
SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 is designed as a kit for construction and use in the amateur radio service by licensed amateur radio operators who can assure that the kit they are using meets required operating requirements including frequency, bandwidth and required power levels at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies. There are two SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 kits:
SHARI PihatU NeoPi4 (UHF-70cm, 420-450 MHz)
SHARI PiHatV NeoPi4 (VHF-2 meters, 144-148 MHz)
SHARI PiHat Neo Pi5 is available as a parts kit (UHF and VHF). You supply the Raspberry Pi5, Pi5 power supply and microSD card . Please be sure to download and study the SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 Construction manual to be sure you own the required tools and possess the required mechanical and soldering skills to build the kit. We will solder the SA818S radio module onto the PCB for an additional $5.
If you want us to assemble ad test complete SHARI PiHat for you with us supplying the Pi5 and power supply also, then an assembled PiHatU or PiHatV starts at $255.
Shipping to US destinations is $9 via USPS Mail provided your order fits in our standard shipping box. Payment via Paypal is preferred.
SHARI PiHat NeoPi5 model, options and price information is contained in the following order form.
Complete the order form and email it as an attachment to kits4hams@gmail.com. We will check your order, add it to our waitlist and notify you with an approximate waiting time, and then send you a invoice when it is ready to ship.
Support
Support of SHARI is provided via the SHARI group at http://www.groups.io/g/shari
The purpose of the SHARI group is to serve as the main hardware support source and discussion group for hams building and using the SHARI Allstar Node. Support of the Allstar distribution you install in your Raspberry Pi and use in conjunction with SHARI is best obtained from the source of the Allstar distribution (i.e. allstarlink.org or hamvoip.org).