Electronics, RF, SDR

Building the ClockworkPi uConsole

tdsepsilon

The ClockworkPi uConsole is one of the most polished handheld raspberry pi computers on the market. From its metal shell to the driver software it just works right out of the box. Well after you assemble it first!

I recorded a quick video of the process and was surprised at how well everything went together. There could have been a bit more instruction instead of just pictures but I was able to decode it.

You will also need to source your own 18650 batteries to power the device. I got two from ACE Hardware but you can get them for cheaper if you are willing to wait for shipping.

Specs

  • ClockworkPi v3.14 mainboard revision 5
  • Raspberry Pi CM4 104000 lite (ARM Cortex-A72 quad-core, 4GB LPDDR4, WIFI 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless + Bluetooth 5.0, BLE)
  • Adapter for RaspberryPi CM4 computing module to the  mainboard.
  • WIFI gain antenna for CM4 computing module.
  • Ext. module
  • Standard HD 720p 5.0-inch IPS screen
  • Clockwork ultra-portable QWERTY Backlit keyboard
  • Battery module*
  • Dual speaker
  • Shells and bracket system & 2.5mm Hex key
  • 32GB high-speed TF-card with clockworkOS

https://www.clockworkpi.com/uconsole

Software

After the initial build you need to get a new OS image, just use curl to download it using this command.

curl http://dl.clockworkpi.com/uConsole_CM4_v1.3g_64bit.img.7z --output uConsole_CM4_v1.3g_64bit.img.7z

If you need to install another OS you may need to do some driver modifications to get the screen and keyboard working.

Applications

I have a few ideas on how to use this for applications. One is as an SDR terminal, and the other is for off grid LoRa chat. Both just plug into the USB port but custom modules could be developed to mount into the internal expansion port.

SDR

I was able to quickly install GNURadio from the package manager and connect up a cheap RTLSDR to do a quick spectrum capture. More complex flow graphs might need to be developed on a larger screen and downloaded to the device.

Meshtastic Chat

The LoRa mesh chat application can be run from a web interface connected to the ESP32 based radio module via serial. The web interface can be run locally on the uConsole, on the radio, or from a hosted version on the Meshtastic website (you will need an internet connection for this one).

What’s Next?

I am looking to possibly create my own expansion module with an SDR chip so I don’t need to mount a dongle to the outside for radio hacking. Other than that I don’t have any immediate projects for it in the near term.

Published by tdsepsilon