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Project Boondock Echo

Remote Radio Message Recording, Queueing, and Transmission (for Normal and Emergency Communications)

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Radio reception in mountainous terrain is sporadic. During an emergency, poor communication can cost lives. The proposed solution is internet-backed time-shift radio.

This project uses commercial off-the-shelf handheld radios and a microcontroller-based internet gateway to receive and store messages on a server where they can be queued for playback locally or through a remote repeater. This solution allows increased communication in mountainous terrain with limited capital expenditure. Radio operators can capture traffic during a pileup, monitor multiple frequencies of interest, and replay important messages.

https://youtu.be/Q4VXa9YBc1A (Problem Statement)
https://youtu.be/5CJuMuLHsgM (Video Submission)

The Proof-of-concept for Boondock Echo is complete. The project's goals (including several stretch goals) are implemented and working: denoising, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, message queuing, half-duplex communication, user interface, etc.


Boondock Echo

Boondock Motivation

La Habra Heights is in an area of local peaks and valleys.  We service four communities with a local "fire watch."   We have a commercial radio license, and many of us are practicing HAMS.


The Problem - How Boondock Echo started

1. Repeaters cannot cover the whole area: 

During an emergency (fire or otherwise), we cannot reach all of our members with a single repeater.  No one location will work.  And since we are in an urban/wildland interface, we can only put repeaters in non-ideal locations. 

2. Impossible to listen to multiple stations:

Also, during an emergency, all hell breaks loose as far as communications go.  It's not unusual for me to monitor 6-8 frequencies (2-3 repeater frequencies, fire from 3 agencies, police gen & tac, ham freqs), and when they all talk at once, which invariably happens, it's a stressful mess.)

Solution - How Boondock Echo system works

  • Radios feed the audio to  Boondock Echo.
  • Boondock Echo detects sound, records it, and sends it to the cloud.  
  • We drop additional Radio + Boondock Echos at select places through the local area as "listening posts."  
  • Radios scattered throughout the city would be tuned to the repeater frequency.  
  • The ones in the communications tent would be tuned to police/fire/ham bands.
  • All audio gets tagged with freq & time stamp and sent to a server.
  • A computer & web interface lets us prioritize and playback all the messages, and nothing gets lost.
  • Some radios can transmit to all the repeaters with a click of a button.  
  • The command tent would pick the messages to send, the Boondock gateways would play it back over the repeaters.

Now we can listen to multiple Radio frequencies and prioritize the messages that need to be transmitted to listeners. And we can reach the areas repeaters won't reach.

Wait... there is so much more to Boondock...

  •  The Boondock Echo device can function as an answering machine for amateur radio operators.
  • Cloud services allow the Boondock Echo device to perform noise cancellation, speech-to-text, and text-to-speech conversion, and more!  
  • Future development of the software can allow remote station operation through a smartphone. 


Technical Overview

Boondock Echo is a combination of hardware and cloud-based software. For this build, we are using the off-the-shelf module and parts, but we plan to build a custom PCB with the right electronics suited for this application. The hardware chosen for this project has a Li-Ion charger, an Audio in, an Audio out, several pushbuttons, and terminals to attach speakers. Custom firmware is built for an ESP32-based kit built for audio applications.

An ESP32-based station connects to the radio using a traditional audio jack. And built-in battery keeps it running for hours.

Boondock Echo program listens to the radio, and when it detects sound, it starts recording on the SD-Card attached to it. It keeps monitoring for silence. When the radio is silent, it stops the recording and sends the recorded audio file to a cloud-based server.

The audio files are processed and queued for listening to and sending to boondock for transmission. Boondock or multiple Boondocks, play the audio file. As the Radio detects audio, it starts transmitting it on the channel it is tuned to.

When the audio file is on the cloud, we can use advanced technologies like Audio-To-Text, Text-To-Audio, automated background noise reduction, volume normalization, etc., to enhance the usability of the system further.


Enclosure and 3d print

3-d Printing the Enclosure.

Build and Assembly

Barebone board can be purchased online. We designed an enclosure to fit a battery, ESP32 Audio kit, a power on/off switch, and a speaker. The enclosure is press-fit, but you can add screws to make it sturdier. You can fit a 3-cell battery module in it....

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V3-Boondock-Top.stl

Version 3 Boondock Top - As shown in the project images

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 1.41 MB - 10/22/2022 at 17:38

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V3-Boondock-Text.stl

Version 3 Boondock Top - As shown in the project images

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V3-Boondock-Buttons.stl

Version 3 Boondock Top - As shown in the project images

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V3-Boondock-Bottom.stl

Version 3 Boondock Top - As shown in the project images

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BooddockEcho_1.0_Top.stl

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View all 7 files

  • 1 × Handy-Talkie (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J48STLB or similar) ($25) Inexpensive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074XPB313 or similar
  • 1 × ESP32 based Audio interface (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5XKG5NK or other vendor) Audio interface to the Radio.
  • 1 × Audio cable 3.5mm to 3.5 mm RTS (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017PT8XWU or similar) Audio cable for radio speaker out to Boondock Echo input
  • 1 × Audio cable 3.5mm to 2.5 mm RTS (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDVLLDE or similar) Audio cable for audio level adjuster to Handy-Talkie microphone input.
  • 1 × Audio Level Adjuster 3.5 mm male to 3.5 mm male (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X6HY268 or similar) To reduce clipping

View all 9 components

  • Boondock Echo is available

    Kaushlesh C. ( KD9VFU )01/26/2024 at 13:45 0 comments

    Hi All,

    We are thankful for support, encouragement, and advice.

    Today, we went live with Boondock Campaign. Please check it out if you want your own Boondock Echo, and want to support  the Project.


    https://www.crowdsupply.com/boondock-technologies/boondock-echo


    Boondock Echo Crowd Supply Campaign

  • Almost time to go-live!

    Mark J Hughes10/26/2023 at 17:16 0 comments

    Hello all and thank you again for your continued support.  We had far more people offer to help beta-test than we have units available to beta-test.  Which is a good problem to have, and a bad problem to have.

    But there's good news!  A Crowdsupply campaign is in the works!  You can sign up now!  https://www.crowdsupply.com/boondock-technologies/boondock-echo

    You can also visit www.boondockecho.com/#contact to leave us your contact information and we'll notify you when the product is available for pre-order!

  • We're in Pre-Beta

    Mark J Hughes05/22/2023 at 22:26 0 comments

    Hello everyone, apologies for a long time between updates.  We've been busy working, and have neglected to communicate here at Hackaday.io.  We've been hard at work since winning the $10,000 from Hackaday/Supplyframe.  Here's where we're at:

    The Boondock Echo team has five members: three full-time programmers, hardware engineers, and one adviser.

    We designed and built a prototype board -- it failed spectacularly due to bad parts acquired during the silicon shortage.  So we reverted to the dev-board we used during the Hackaday contest.  We've added a "side-kick" board that allows us to attenuate the signal and potentially interface with other radios.  

    The MVP (minimum viable product) features work -- you can hook up a boondock echo to a baofeng radio tuned to a particular frequency and capture all traffic.  No internet is required.  You can also (via the UART interface) transmit audio at prescribed intervals, start and stop recordings, set up the wifi, control the sensitivity, file length, etc.  In an emergency, you can put one or more Boondock Echos on frequencies of interest and capture all the traffic.  If there are two or more transmissions at once, you listen to one transmission, and play the missed one back a few moments later when it's convenient.  Or, if you are away from your radio for a time and want to find out if you missed any important contacts, you can play back any traffic you missed while you were away.  

    But the Boondock Echo really shines when you give it access to the internet.  There you can de-noise, transcribe, translate, and transmit messages to one or many boondock echos at once.  For around $50 (final price tbd) for a radio and a Boondock Echo, you can deploy a miniature repeater network across your city or around the world.

    We'll make some videos in the upcoming weeks/months to demonstrate functionality and post them here.  But in the meantime, here's our path forward.

    We're currently in the middle of a "pre-beta" test.  We've given two Boondock Echos to expert Amateur Radio operators we know to be fault-tolerant.  They've got them for one more week before we debrief them about their experiences.  Then we'll take their feedback, improve the software and hardware experiences, and deploy to another 18-20 people.  After that, we'll do 100.  Our plan is to scale slowly and learn as we go.

    If you'd like to participate, please leave your contact information in the form below!

    https://forms.gle/rEmz7MUJ2ZoFD2Fs6

  • Preparing a Prototype

    Mark J Hughes12/17/2022 at 03:11 0 comments

    We've added hardware designers and two software developers.  Would you like to be part of the initial testing?  Participants will receive a prototype board but will have to supply their own radios and internet access.  (Baofengs are available on Amazon for <$25).  Participants should also have an active amateur radio license.

    Sign up here!  https://forms.gle/QPXUH5DNkQaPSe5J6

  • Boondock Echo Audio capture Test

    Kaushlesh C. ( KD9VFU )10/23/2022 at 12:33 0 comments

    In this video sample, Boondock Echo is listening tand captures the audio.

    Boondock is connected to the Radio with a custom-made cable. Audio out on the Radio is much higher voltage than the mic in, so we use resister divider-based audio attenuation.

    In the first example, Baofeng Radio is tuned and listens to NOOA Weather radio. Weather radio transmits audio continuously. 

    In the second example, we are using second radio to transmit. The Radio has a Dummy load attached as an antenna so as not to transmit to nearby stations.

  • What is the Future of Boondock Echo

    Kaushlesh C. ( KD9VFU )10/22/2022 at 20:05 0 comments

    Boondock Market

    Boondock Echo started as a project to support emergency communications such as the La Habra Heights "Fire Watch".  However, that is a myopic use for such a versatile device. The more we use the Boondock Echos, the more ideas we have for new use cases.  

    We now believe there is a large global market for Boondock devices. 

    Over the past 30 years, society has grown accustomed to text chat, voicemail, and other services that provide asynchronous support for synchronous communication. There is every reason to believe that commercial and individual radio customers would like that same support.

    Anyone who uses a radio will want a Boondock Echo.

    Advanced Features

    Once the recorded audio is uploaded to a server, "the cloud" provides advanced processing capabilities. Cutting-edge AI technologies can automatically denoise, transcribe, translate, and retransmit audio.  Storing data in the cloud will allow anyone to track the history of transmissions, and time-shift the conversations.

    With Boondock Echo, Speech-to-Text, a Translation Service, and Text-to-Speech, an English-speaking person in California with a 1-watt handi-talkie can talk to a French-speaking person in Paris.

    Business Model

    Boondock Echo Interfaces are one-time long-term investments.  While we expect that most users will want more than one Boondoch Echo interface, we expect the lifespan of each interface to measure between 5-10 years (longer if possible.)  Wherever possible, parts will be interchangeable or user serviceable.  This is an attempt to reduce waste.  It is unlikely that it would ever be possible to find a path to profitability with a product-based model with a ten-year life cycle.   So we won't even try -- Boondock Echos interfaces will be sold just a bit above cost.

    The main revenue stream will be the "Software-as-a-Service" (SaaS) model.  Users who purchase a Boondock Echo device or who make their own can run their own server, or they can pay a modest fee per device per month to send their messages to our server for processing.  There, users will enjoy all the advanced features mentioned above and new features as we implement them.  While the code base will be open-source, we believe that most users would rather not spin up their own servers, and would rather be part of a larger supported community than go it alone.

    In short, by centralizing the Boondock Servers and offering the service at a modest profit, we will be able to take advantage of economies of scale that make it more economical for users to subscribe to our server than to run their own, especially when personnel costs are taken into consideration.

    Planned Features

    • Drastically reduce the size of the Boondock Echo interface
      • Battery Backup for stationary interfaces
      • Fully encapsulated inline interface for harsh environments (fire, police, construction, military)
    • Simplify the Boondock Echo setup
    • Link to a phone using Bluetooth
    • Fully offline Boondock Server
    • Ability to change Radio frequency remotely
    • Analyzing the importance and sentiment of audio
    • Relay DTMF codes
    • Implement KISS protocol
    • Add APRS and digital modes

    Manufacturing Boondock Echo

    We have already seen several issues with off-the-shelf hardware. The ESP32 Audio kit is excellent, but there is much room for improvement. We would like to make a custom PCB with the right analog and digital components to suit the needs of a Ham Radio.

    Here are the things we want to do

    1. Design a custom PCB 
    2. Pick from available components
    3. Design enclosure for injection molding
    4. Design custom cables for radio
    5. Sample PCB testing 
    6. PCB mass manufacture with paneling
    7. Mass-manufactured PCB testing ( Bed of nails )
    8. PCB components pick and place

  • Boondock Echo server setup

    Kaushlesh C. ( KD9VFU )10/21/2022 at 23:11 0 comments

    Boondock has two core components. One is the Boondock Echo device with custom-built firmware, and the second is the webserver. Boondock echo records the audio files and sends them to the cloud. And a web-based interface can be used to listen to audio files and transmit the audio using a radio connected to Boondock Echo. When you want to play an audio file, the server sends an MQTT message to Boondock Echo with a link to the audio file on the cloud. 

    To set up Boondock web server, you will need:

    • Web server (Linux server is preferred)
    • Apache Web server
    • MySQL database
    • MQTT Broker
    • Google Cloud services account

    After downloading the code from the Github link, you will find the source code to set up the web server. Boondock server can be hosted on windows or a Linux-based web server. You can find cloud service providers like AWS, Google, or Azure. in this example, we are hosting on Amazon Lightsail, which is a part of AWS. You will find a link to a video, showing the setup process in detail. here is the summary of steps to perform.

    1. Setup Linux-based Web Server

    In this example, we are using Amazon services for hosting the server. Amazon lightsail provides pre-configured images with Apache & PHP. Pick a suitable image.

    Pick LAMP ( PHP 7 ) Image. it comes with PHP & Apache server fully installed. Follow the steps and complete the server setup. 

    It takes about five minutes to complete. 

    Once complete, you will see your newly minted server. Notice the public IP 54.211.22.238. You will use this IP to access the server.

    With all setup, you can open the IP address on the browser, and you will see the success page. This means that your server setup is complete.

    You can read this Amazon tutorial for more details on setting up servers.

    2. Install MQTT Broker

    Installing an MQTT broker is simple. Go to your Lightsail server page, and access the server command line. Lightsail gives a convenient browser-based SSH. Click on the terminal icon to launch the web-based command line interface.

    In the terminal, run the following commands to install MQTT Broker.

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install mosquitto
    sudo apt-get install mosquitto-clients

    After you install MQTT Server, you need to set up authentication. here is a fantastic tutorial on setting up Mosquitto authentication. Make sure you write down the MQTT username and password. You will need that when programming your Boondock Echo.

    Follow the Link to set up your Boondock Echo

    3. Install MySQL Server

    Amazon Lightsail also provides database as a service. in this example we are using Amazon lightsail database. However, you can easily use a locally hosted MySQL server.

    Open your lightsail account, and select Databases. Click on Create database button.

    Pick MySQL database type, and pick your monthly plan. I recommend the base plan if you are expecting only a few users. Follow the instructions and create the database.

    it takes up to 20 minutes for this step to complete. 

    4. Create tables on MySQL Server

    Lightsail gives you easy access to the database hostname, username, and password. Copy and save the credentials.

    I like using MySQL Workbench to create the tables. Connect to your MySQL database, and create the table using the database script provided in the source code.

    Once loaded, your will have a database named bdk with the necessary tables, stored procedures, and functions.

    5. Update the PHP configurations

    Boondock server code needs the right configurations to access the MySQL Server and the MQTT Server. Modify  the _config.php file before uploading the files to the Apache web server.

    <?php
    
    # This is the Server configuration file
    # If you host your database and MQTT on same server, use localhost, or replace with the server
    
    $mqtt_server   = 'localhost'; # Localhost or IP Addrss of MQTT Server
    $mqtt_port     = 1883; # MQTT Port
    $mqtt_clientId = rand(5, 15);
    $mqtt_username = 'boondock'; # MQTT username you...
    Read more »

  • Programming Boondock Echo Firmware

    Kaushlesh C. ( KD9VFU )10/21/2022 at 22:28 0 comments

    The source code has been generated using Visual Studio Code with PlatformIO Extension. Follow the steps and links to set up the Development Environment.


    Setting up environment

    Install Git-SCM. Download the latest version of Git using the link Download Git for Windows. After downloading Git-scm, follow the instructions and install git. Git-SCM is necessary for Visual Studio code, and download the latest codebase.

    Install PlatformIO for Visual Studio Code

    Microsoft Visual Studio code supports extensions. PlatformIO is one of the extensions. PlatformIO makes it easy to program any microcontroller. As we are using ESP-32 it makes it a breeze to program with PlatformIO. Link to installing platform IO on Visual Studio Code

    Here is a list of my favorite Visual Studio Extensions that will make programming easier.

    Download the code from the Git repository.

    After setting up your development environment, download the latest code from the git repo.

    Link to Boondock Github

    The repository has detailed instructions for each folder. Here is a summary.

    • 3d.print : Has the STL files to print the Boondock Echo case
    • boondock-echo-Rx : Source code for Rx only mode
    • boondock-echo-Tx : Source code for Tx only mode
    • esp32.audio : Common Source code
    • web.server : Source code to setup your web-server. 

    Compiling the uploading code

    Considering you have already assembled your Boondock Echo, you need to connect Boondock Echo using a micro-USB cable to start programming.

    Click here for Boondock Echo Assembly

    In Visual Studio, open the folder named esp32.audio. The next step is to update the server information in the config.h file

    Change the server names, usernames, and passwords, and compile the code. The image below shows the buttons to compile and upload the code.

    Click here for details on how to set up server, getting the right serverName, mqttUser, mqttPassword

    Once successfully compiled, your Boondock echo is ready to use.

  • Cabling Issues

    Mark J Hughes09/26/2022 at 16:30 0 comments

    There are two issues with the direct cable connection between the radio and the ESP32 Audio Board we're using.  Fortunately, each issue is easy to solve with a slight cable modification

    1)  Audio level clipping

    The ESP32 audio board provides high-voltage speaker-out audio levels and the radio expects low-current mic-in audio levels.  It's a difference of several orders of magnitude.  Fortunately, it's very easy to put a resistor inline between the two and burn off the extra energy as heat. 

    2)  PTT inadvertently triggered.

    Radios with 3.5/2.5mm audio interfaces tend to use a trick to trigger Push To Talk : they short-circuit the shield pins.  The ESP32 uses the shield pins as "ground" connections.  That means if you  connect the radio mic to the ESP32 audio out with a 3-wire cable, and then connect the ESP32 audio in to the radio speaker with a 3-wire cable, the radio will transmit.  That's because the ESP32 audio board uses shield on both boards as "ground."  Plugging in either cable is fine.  Plugging in both cables is a problem.  

    If you take a look at the Baofeng schematic, you'll see why.  Typically R79 in the Baofeng pulls that net to logic high.  But when shorted through an external PTT button, R161 pulls to logic low.  So it's just a matter of placing a diode (quite literally any diode you have on hand, I used a 1n4001 on the mic audio shield pin between the radio and the audio board, with the cathode towards the boondock echo side).  Another solution is just to disconnect the shield pins entirely..  

  • Preparing for the Future of Boondock Echo

    Mark J Hughes09/23/2022 at 18:18 0 comments

    KC is putting all of his energy into the Boondock Echo web interface.  We have all basic features incorporated at this time.  We can receive messages and push them to the server and pull messages from the server to transmit.  KC is working on the web interface to add advanced features such as noise cancellation, speech-to-text, and more.  

    Should we win the prize, we plan to create a custom PCB that plugs into a handi-talkie and derives power from the audio connectors.  However, there's no time to develop and iterate before final judging.  Additionally, custom hardware hurts us here since we can achieve all our current goals with commercial off-the-shelf components for well under $100.

    But since I'm not half the programmer KC is, there's not much for me to do in the source code modifications that wouldn't just slow KC down.  

    So I'm working on other roadmap features for the Boondock Echo.  Future feature tackled last night was Remote tuning

    Remote tuning

    Baogeng-UV5R

    Remote tuning of a Baofeng HT appears to be a non-trivial task.  I can quickly open the HT radio and interface the keypad with a microcontroller, but that might be difficult to make a long-term solution, and there's an excellent chance it will void any FCC certification the radio has.  There is no direct serial interface, but it might be possible to use a microcontroller as a device programmer through the speaker/microphone port.  Then find out where in device memory the current frequency is stored and change it.  Not terrifically difficult, but even if it is technically possible, it might require power cycling the HT, and it would take a little while to decode the memory bit map.  

    Anytone-778UVII

    The Anytone-778UVII is an inexpensive ($129) 25 W mobile radio with an RJ-45 jack on the front that accepts a remote handset.  The handset has 17 push buttons, a PTT switch, an up switch, a down switch, and a button lock.  And since it's an RJ-45 plug/jack, it's trivial to listen in on communications between the handset and radio (tap pos 1 and 8).  Once I probed and found the data pin and set the RS232 specs (9600, 8N), decoding took 10 minutes.  Here's what the radio sends when you push the PTT

    This is the most complicated data packet the handset has in it.  53 and 54 are the ASCII codes for "ST" or "Start Transmission".  04 is "EOT" or "End of Transmission", 07 is "BELL", etc.  In short, they made this thing very, very easy to understand.  I'll play with this a bit more when an antenna dummy load arrives.  Right now, the radio detects the high SWR and shuts off immediately.  I expect the radio keeps churning out 00 bytes to indicate continued transmission as long as the PTT button is pressed.

    Each key is similarly easy to understand.  A 7-byte data packet contains the packet header, data, and then Line Feed and Carriage Return

    The key information is encoded in the 5th byte.  And again, it couldn't be easier to understand.  The programmers used the ASCII codes for each key 0-9, "/" for "A/B" button, "*" and "#" are the relevant ASCII codes for those characters, and "PA", "PB", "PC," and "PD" are just ASCII codes for "A", "B", "C", and "D" respectively.  

    ButtonData stream from Handset
    A/B 41 4C 7E 4B 2F 0D 0A
    0 41 4C 7E 4B 30 0D 0A
    1 41 4C 7E 4B 31 0D 0A
    2 41 4C 7E 4B 32 0D 0A
    3 41 4C 7E 4B 33 0D 0A
    4 41 4C 7E 4B 34 0D 0A
    5 41 4C 7E 4B 35 0D 0A
    6 41 4C 7E 4B 36 0D 0A
    7 41 4C 7E 4B 37 0D 0A
    8 41 4C 7E 4B 38 0D 0A
    9 41 4C 7E 4B 39 0D 0A
    * 42 4C 7E 4B 2A 0D 0A
    # 43 4C 7E 4B 23 0D 0A
    PA 44 4C 7E 4B 41 0D 0A
    PB 45 4C 7E 4B 42 0D 0A
    PC 46 4C 7E 4B 43 0D 0A
    PD 47 4C 7E 4B 44 0D 0A

    So, to send a command to set the frequency...

    Read more »

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  • 1
    What will you need : Order the components

    You can purchase the items from different sources. And the links to purchase are added.

    Here are the bare minimum parts to get started

    • ESP32 Audio Kit
    • Micro USB Cable to program the device
    • A Baofeng UV-5R or similar radio

    Linked below is a video on assembly. The first part of the video talks about the parts you will need.

    Link to Video

  • 2
    Setting up Development Environment

    The development environment can be set up on a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer. You will need a USB port on the computer to connect the USB cable from the computer to the Boondock Echo UART port for programming. Follow the steps...

    You will need these additional tools for setting up the database and transferring the files to your web server.

    • Download and install Filezilla ( LINK )
    • Add Amazon Lightsail server SSH connection ( LINK )
    • Download and install MySQL Workbench ( LINK )
  • 3
    Assemble Boondock Echo

    You can program and test your boondock without an enclosure. But we recommend you 3d print the enclosure to protect the board.

    Open the link for details

View all 6 instructions

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Discussions

xBeau wrote 11/02/2023 at 19:46 point

@Mark J Hughes is the source code available on another repo anywhere? The github Source Code v1 link 404's and all I can find is the archive on the readme https://web.archive.org/web/20220907095826/https://github.com/kaushleshchandel/boondock

AI Thinker is a bit abstract with the implementation under the can and trying to dig in if this is using the AC101 or ES8388 codec, the latter I'm at least familiar with and working on some MicroPython support.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Mark J Hughes wrote 11/02/2023 at 20:18 point

Hi xBeau!  Yeah, we're trying to clean up and condense everything into a single repo for launch.  https://github.com/Boondock-Echo/Boondock-Hardware should get you started.  And we are open sourcing everything as we deem it "ready" for people to start looking at (e.g. we remove any sensitive information)

Just as a warning -- we discovered that there are multiple ESP32-A1S variants that all use the same top-side markings  Some have the AC101, some have one of two ES8388 configurations.  And there's no way to know until you pop the metal shield off the module.  We're not sure if that's an attempt to counterfeit or skirt FCC rules.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Mark J Hughes wrote 08/19/2022 at 19:27 point

If anyone has additional ideas or would like to help KC program, please reach out!

  Are you sure? yes | no

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