Shacktopus Hacks

Shacktopus Hacks

A Collection of...

How-to articles
Packaging and mounting tricks
Design briefs
Product commentary
Interface techniques
Random tidbits

by Steven K. Roberts, N4RVE
Nomadic Research Labs

last updated Jun 30, 2005

As this new system has developed, the boundaries between "project" and "product" have become clear:

The sexy box full of glittering gizmology named Shacktopus (pictured on the photo page and the block diagram) is my personal technomadic adventure platform in the tradition of the BEHEMOTH and Microship projects: a collection of geek delights built into a pack that I will take kayaking, sailing, and on other future journeys... until, inevitably, it starts to feel a bit long in the tooth and too heavy for what it does, whereupon it will be time to start again.
The RigNexus board that integrates all the diverse widgetry into a consistent control environment is our new Nomadic Research Labs product, and we are designing it with a generalized set of audio, serial, power, control, and sensing interfaces... as well as an open and extensible software architecture to keep it alive and growing.

This distinction is essential, and helps us focus the board design on a well-factored set of tools instead of the particular functions I happen to want in Shacktopus... which, like my bikes and boats, is a very personal machine designed to support long-term adventure by rendering physical location irrelevant.

This also means that I can be very free with information about the system, since there is no reason to keep it secret (a paranoid business mode in which I am uncomfortable anyway). We're planning to open-source the RigNexus software so that others can extend the operation and invent applications we hadn't considered, and lots of details about the design of Shacktopus will be freely discussed both here and in print. I'd also like to include work from others on this page... so if you find yourself exploring along these lines, please share your hacks.

The following titles will become linked as soon as they exist...

Mounting the Yaesu FT-817 QRP Transceiver in an Embedded Application
Retrofitting a Senao Card into the Linksys WET11
Polycarbonate and Acrylic Box Fabrication
Observations on the Yaseu E-DC-21 DC-DC Converter
Packaging a Lithium-Ion Smart Battery
Supporting an Arrow Dual-Band Yagi on the Buddipole Antenna Mast

Shacktopus Home