10/12/2025 1 PM - Created the schematic

Today I decided to learn how to use EasyEDA to create the schematic (following this tutorial). I thought it would be really hard, but after following a short YouTube video to learn how to use EasyEDA, I understood it pretty well. Honestly all you have to do is to create connections to things that need to be connected. I was kinda confused about nets and capacitors, and I went down a rabbit hole of tutorials (which luckily didn't go too far)...
I thought I was doing great, and I was almost done making the schematic. Then my computer randomly shut down and, of course, there was no auto save and I didn't save, so I had to start over, which sucked.
Eventually I did manage to make a working schematic (I think):

10/12/2025 6 PM - Routed most of the PCB

I spent the day routing most of the PCB for my USB Hub. This was a lot harder than the schematic, since the traces couldn't overlap, and I had to learn how to use vias and grounds. With traces that can't overlap and vias and grounds to figure out, I had to learn as I went. While working, I was also busy figuring out the controls, but I feel like I've gotten a lot better.
Unfortunately, I also learned that USB's have a great deal of timing involved, so I had to adjust the trace length to perfectly match each other, which was a lot of hard work.
I'm pretty happy with where I got today, and I'll probably polish it up later.

10/12/2025 9 PM - Completely finished routing the PCB

I completely finished routing the PCB!
I made some slight changes to the distances of the USB signals, and I also added the power LED on it. I also changed the traces near the top near the male USB to make it easier to solder, and changed up the labels + added a title.
foreshadowing this isn't the last jounral entry

10/13/2025 - Small routing adjustments

I made a few super small adjustments to the PCB - you probably wouldn't notice.

1. I adjusted the trace length from the microcontroller to USB0 (the main usb), so that the signals would be synced up (I forgot about that last time).
2. Changed the placement of a few small parts like the LED, resistor, and capcitors.
3. A few more wiring simplifications.

New PCB

3D!

10/14/2025 - Added Ground Pours + Stitched Vias

Today I was going to ship my project, but before I did, I shared it in the blueprint channel to see if anyone had suggestions. I was told to use ground pours and stitched vias. I had never worked with them before, so this was all new.
After a bit more research, I learned that a ground pour is a large area of copper that is all connected to ground.
I tweaked a lot of the settings, like the islands and the isolation from other traces. I also learned that spokes connect pads to ground to make soldering easier.
I realized that this would have made soldering much harder, and I was trying to figure out how I could possible remove some of the fill from a region. You wouldn't believe this, but it took me like 1 hour of banging my head on the table to figure out that I needed to make a new fill that was blank...
Anyways, here's my new PCB and 3D:

10/15/2025 - Last touches

I switched LED's because the one I was using was unavailable (I think). I also added another no-copper region. I made sure all my parts were right, and that they were available and cheap.

I then struggled to figure out how to order it, but I managed to get the config right!

10/17/2025 - Edge cut changes

Small fixes for the edge cuts after review. Nothing much to say here except I have to fill in the min characters so I guess I could talk about the fact I swicted the edge thickness from 0.8mm to 0.1mm, hopefully they won't annoy me now.
I need an image so here (basically the same but thinner edge cuts):

12/15/2025 - Got the parts, and it works!

Tested it and it works! The only problem I have with it is that the LED is too bright and the chip gets hot sometimes. Also, I should have made it the other way. My laptops only have ports that are on the right side, which means I have to put the USB Hub Ports facing away from me, which is annoying.

1/10/2026 - final review + picture

coming back to this project, I have a few more things to say after a month or so of using it:

1. the led is too bright for me, and I think it consumes too much current. I think a larger resistor would be very useful
2. the usb a ports tend to be on the right side, which points the devices away from the user (that sucks)
3. when ordering only 2 pcba, I thought they would send the parts so I could solder the rest myself, but they didn't, so i only have 2 working ones (no parts for the other 3 :(
4. when testing, the main chip gets quite hot, so a heatsink may be be needed for sl2.1a (since it works only up to 100*C)
5. Also, when testing, I found that sometimes devices disconnect for a very short amount of time (less than a second) every once in a while. This is weird, and I have no clue what may cause it.
6. Lastly, I feel that the board sags when I simply plug it in, so I have to have a bottle cap to hold it up on the other side 💀

yeah so thats the result of all my testing.
I feel that in general, it works really well, but it sometimes gets hot and sags a little (and its not very convenient if you don't have USB-A ports on the left side)

4/12/2026 8:36 PM - assembling

so actually, i didn't assemble this myself (it was pre-assembled by jlcpcb). however, i had 3 more raw pcbs, and so i decided to take out some of my money and get some components on lcsc to solder.

buying ts

i actually got these components a few weeks ago, and then i began to solder. i had this merged with another order i did, so i wouldn't have to pay extra shipping. also, as a side note, i changed the resistor value from 150 to 300 since the previous led was too bright.

attempt 1

i did the super small capacitors, and my joints were very sketchy. after doing 5 out of the 6, which took forever, and i even lost one in the crack of my floorboard, i had the bright idea to make sure gnd and 5v weren't shorted, and they were. yeah...

i decided whatever, and tried to move onto the main chip, but i couldn't get it down without bridging, and after an hour of trying to unbridge pins, i gave up and desoldered it.

4/12/2026 8:38 PM - try #2

attempt 2

so then i procrastinated a good month or 2, and today i finally had another crack. first, i decided to spend some time setting up a new workplace to help benefit my soldering

i soldered on the rest of the capacitors, and while adjusting one of my old capacitors, exploded it with my tweezers. then i found that C1 was the one that was bridged. after taking it off, i put a new one on it, and there was no more bridge

then, i soldered on the tiny tiny diode, which was suprisingly easy compared to everything else so far.

then, i cleaned up the pads for the sl2.1a, so i could put a new one on, then i soldered that one down. it was going great, and i thought i would be done in no time, but these 2 pins would just not unbridge each other.
vcc's pad must have broke or something since it was expanded, and it kept bridging to d+, and after half an hour of trying to brute force it with my iron, i gave up. (in fact, i even tried another iron at my house to no avail)
then, i had the bright idea to use the new heat gun i got to reflow it. i threw on a ton of flux, then i tried. at first, all it looked like was the flux getting pushed out by the air. then, when i turned it off, it looked perfect!! the two pins didn't look like they were bridged anymore.

but, as soon as i tested it with the multimeter, it beeped, so they were still stuck together.

i had another go with my irons, with nothing, as well as trying to reflow again. nothing.

i reflowed again, still nothing. the bridge was so small it looked like a human hair.

the bridge spot

then i almost gave up. in an angry attempt i just used my tweezers to try and break it off, and suprisingly, it worked! they weren't connected anymore!

then, i happily soldered the rest of the resistor, led, as well as all the usb parts, which was cake compared to what i did before.

final product: