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Hello everyone!

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Thank you for joining me for my presentation about the Ostwerk initiative here at Defcon 28 Safe Mode.

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I would like to thank you all for giving me an opportunity to show you the presentation I put together.

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And if you have a passing interest in amateur radio, I hope you find it interesting.

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A quick heads up, most talks or presentations like this are usually an expert lecturing about a topic they are very familiar with to an interested audience.

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This is kind of the opposite, where today I'm an amateur radio enthusiast presenting more of a concept to people who know much more than I do.

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A concept that's very fluid and open to change right now depending on community input.

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Alright, let's begin!

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Please keep in mind that this is my first Defcon, so this is a learning experience especially for me.

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If you have any questions during this presentation, feel free to ask them in the appropriate moderated channel in the Defcon Discord server.

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And at the end, I hope to have, not necessarily a Q&A, but more of like a moderated roundtable style discussion about your thoughts about this project, its strengths, and what it needs.

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And I've never been part of something like that before, so I'm interested to see how this goes.

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I'm willing to take a gamble that many of you know what a lightsaber is.

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For those that don't, it's basically a laser sword from a popular movie franchise.

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In the stories, with rare exceptions, if you wanted a lightsaber of your own, you had to build it to your own exacting specifications.

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So where the switches are, the way it fits in your hand, the weight and the balance, it's all perfectly attuned to the builder.

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Well, what if Ham Radio could have their own version of the lightsaber?

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Right off the bat, what I hope to accomplish with this presentation is a way to simplify and encourage the planning and construction of amateur radio kits.

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If that doesn't interest you, then you are free to duck out now.

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It won't hurt my feelings.

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I understand your time is valuable.

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And we'll both be happier if you were spending your time by doing something that interests you.

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So, to those of you who already have an enthusiasm for amateur radio, you're probably not going to learn anything brand new, but I want to keep some of the principles here in mind when you're Elmering a new ham that wants a radio of their own.

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Alright, enter the Open Source Tactical Wireless Emergency Radio Kit, or TWRK, or TWRKstation.

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A TWRK is a custom kit built by a radio enthusiast to operate in times of an off-grid situation.

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So you can build one for relaying voice messages into or out of a disaster zone, or you can set up a data network node, or keep track of contacts during a contest, or you can administer a TWRKstation Parliament.

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Each kit is custom-built by the owner to be dependable, not just for casual use, but especially for emergency situations as well.

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And it's my hope that this presentation motivates you to create a TWRKstation of your own, or assist someone in the creation of their own TWRKstation.

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I'd now like to walk you through a sample TWRKstation.

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It is a voice TWRKstation that I built that has data capabilities on board.

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It can't broadcast or receive data, but you could use the computer on board for contest logging or local networking.

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This TWRKstation is sealed up in a durable plastic case, and it's extremely water-resistant and dust-proof with the lids closed.

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There's no external access ports, so you have to open the kit if you want to charge it or hook up the antenna.

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Here it is open but undeployed.

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The keyboard, the microphone, and the mouse kind of float around in there loose.

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The switches and thumbscrews in there do a good job of keeping them from sliding around, but I still would like to add some kind of cushioning in there to avoid rattle damage.

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So flipping that blank panel that was in the lower part over, you'll see that there is a remote faceplate for an ID4100.

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Also under that panel is the fuse box and the cables that feed into the Raspberry Pi.

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And the lower left is the power controller, which switches automatically between external power and the lead-acid batteries that are on board.

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And then on the right are the pass-throughs that pass through the microphone.

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There's pass-throughs that go for the USB and the audio cable into the Raspberry Pi.

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And there is USB ports that are not pass-throughs, they're just charging ports.

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The top left of the panel has the power controls and the power display.

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The switches engage the battery, the red one does, and then the black switch below selects between the main battery and the on-board backup.

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There's a power display that shows the voltage and amperage used by the kit, so it's easy to estimate the remaining power at current use.

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And here's the fully deployed torque station.

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Just to let you guys know, the monitor on the right is being powered off of AC power that goes to a USB-C cable, so it's not being powered off the kit right now.

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That would be pretty trivial to do, I just need to find a reliable USB hub that is powered enough to keep all the hardware on-board powered up.

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So my prototype kit is done, for the most part, but it's actually not.

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The kit has a few issues.

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For one thing, it's really heavy.

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I want a long battery life, and sealed lead-acid batteries are cheap, but the kit can't be carried for more than a minute or two.

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The radio I have is a decent radio, but I want to switch over to HF bands.

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The kit has a big clunky antenna switch that I'm not going to use very often.

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And I discovered some new power pole mounts I want to incorporate into the design.

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So now I know what to improve.

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I can budget to get new batteries and a compatible charger, ditch the auxiliary battery in favor of bringing a solar panel, and upgrade the radio to an HF radio.

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I'll also need to design up a new mounting panel for all of these new parts.

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So that was version one of the kit, and some of the challenges that I'll need to overcome.

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Now, after I go over the three pillars of the AUSTORC initiative, I'll demonstrate the operation of the upgraded TORC station at the end of the video, which may give some of you ideas for the kit you may want to build.

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The AUSTORC initiative has three pillars that I think would make it successful.

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One is enthusiasm for the construction of TORC stations.

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A second pillar is the online platform torcbench.org, where TORC station constructors, or TORCsmiths, can compare notes.

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And the third pillar is the TORCsmith Code of Conduct.

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And let's get into these in detail.

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First off is the kit open source.

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Are there schematics or diagrams or a bill of materials available online somewhere so that I can build my own copy of the kit and put my own spin on it?

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Second, the kit should be tactical.

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It should be constructed to work with other TORC stations in the event of an emergency.

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The kit should also have some degree of durability.

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Just think about how many tears you're going to roll down your cheeks if the kit fell off a table or a tailgate.

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The kit should be wireless.

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Six hours of operation is a good ballpark, and more is always better, but more means either more weight or more cost, so balance your options carefully.

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The kit can be used for emergencies or everyday use.

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If you plan on using your kit every day, be aware of heat buildup and have proper ventilation.

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Or better yet, just invest in a dedicated base station maybe.

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The guideline is actually a pretty loose one, and it was added mostly because the acronym needed a vowel.

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Next, the kit should have a radio in it.

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Usually a mobile rig, a 12-volt kind of mobile rig, but it's encouraged to throw a cheap HT or other kind of walkie-talkie style radio into a power or utility kit just to have one on hand just in case.

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The final guideline is that everything is conveniently located into one single package.

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The kit has everything it needs built in by the owner, and delicate components should fold into the kit for protection during transport.

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Alright, now let's get into the major types of Torque Stations you might see.

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These are by no means all-encompassing, but should act as a starting point when designing a Torque Station.

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First off is the Voice Torque, a very common, easy-to-make kit.

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It can be made from a used radio and a sealed lead-acid battery in some kind of durable case.

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It's accessible for get-on-the-air and tech licenses.

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Second up is the Data Kit, and those are similar to the Voice Kits, but they have some kind of computer on board to take advantage of digital radio modes.

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The computer can be a Raspberry Pi, or a laptop, or a Surface tablet, whatever.

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Just some way to decode digital information and to get it out onto the air.

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SATCOM kits are designed for satellite interfacing, and they're usually paired with a special antenna.

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And there's CW, HF, or Weak Signal Kits, and you want to be considerate of the Weak Signal Kits because they're pretty sensitive to the EMF noise.

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Those are some of the main types of kits that you're probably going to interact with or build.

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And let's take a look at some of the Support Kit ideas, some of the Advanced Level Kits.

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The Auxiliary Power Kits supply power to your Torque Stations.

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You also need to think of a way to replenish power if there's no grid.

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Solar is a pretty popular option.

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Next up, Antenna Kits provide masts, feed line, and the antennas necessary for broadcast and reception.

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Some kits are as simple as a spool of wire, and others have complex folding mechanisms.

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Troubleshooter Kits are stocked with all the tools, adapters, duct tape, zip ties, everything you need to keep everyone on the air and happy.

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And remember to always thank your troubleshooter.

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And if a Torque Station Parliament gets too cumbersome, someone can step up as Net Ops to take care of the administrative side of things during a crisis.

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They can act as one point of contact and direct the appointment of a Power Comp Troller to oversee the power consumption in a multi-day grid down situation.

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So lots of coordination options available if you'd like.

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Finally, we have a few rare Torque Stations.

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These are a couple Torque Stations that you won't see in the wild that often.

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First off is the Llama.

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Big and heavy, the Llama is for the person that overpacks for every trip.

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It tries to do too much and doesn't tend to do anything very well.

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The rarest type of kit is the Mi...

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Alright, so those were the Torque Stations.

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Let's move on to Pillar 2, or the online platform.

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This is kind of the weakest Pillar for me.

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I am not a web expert at all.

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I have a lot of ideas based on stuff that I've seen online, but I don't really have a way to implement them.

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So this is where I'm going to need the most help.

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But here are some of the ideas that I've got.

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The website should have a link to their own forums, hopefully.

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A place people can submit photos and designs to be featured in the gallery.

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A place where people new to the hobby can stop in and have any questions answered.

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The website will also have a feature similar to PC Part Picker.

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Where you can pick out and design your own Torque Station.

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And have it tell you approximately how much power you'll need.

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The website will also hopefully feature a regional map.

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That assists Torquesmiths to find each other.

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And maybe display power levels and capabilities of a particular registered region.

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So if you want to compete against nearby towns.

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As to who's got the most power standing by in the event of an emergency, that would be kind of fun.

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One additional item would be a portal where student radio groups could design an ideal Torque Station and find a place to get help with fundraiser or grant writing or sponsorships.

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A few more website ideas.

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Again, I have no idea how to implement these, so this is all wishful thinking right now.

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The website might have a Torcathlon information.

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And I'll discuss what that is later.

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The site would have not just a kit builder, but a kit panel builder.

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Where people could design custom panel for their kits.

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Drag and drop pre-sized holes or pre-sized cutouts.

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For parts that they know they want in their kit.

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In the same vein, the site could have a makerspace locator where torquesmiths could find a local makerspace to help with tools or 3D printing or laser cutting.

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Anything for constructing Torque Stations.

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Maybe we could make some arrangements for partnerships or sponsorships or discounts or something.

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Finally, the site could have an online marketplace where you could buy patches, stickers, small custom trinkets that could make your kit stand out.

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You won't be able to buy Torque Stations because that defeats the purpose of the whole initiative.

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If you want a Torque Station, you have to build one yourself.

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The third and final pillar is one that I'm sure people will gloss over.

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The Torquesmith Code of Conduct.

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Just a handful of principles that I hope people will live by if they want to build their own Torque Station.

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A good Torquesmith is courteous.

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If you build your Torque Station properly, it should attract a little attention from people who may have a passing interest in our hobby.

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So be ready to be peppered with a few questions every once in a while when you're using your Torque Station.

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A good Torquesmith is competent.

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A Torque Station is built to the exacting specifications of its creator, and any shortcomings of the kit lie with the builder.

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So know how to operate your kit, and know about how much power you have left at all times in an off-grid situation.

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Also know how to budget your remaining power responsibly.

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A good Torquesmith values their community, both online and offline.

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Ideally, you would know a couple nearby Torque Station owners, and agree on a schedule to make contact should the worst happen in a grid-down situation.

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Also see what you can do in a disaster to supply comfort and relief to those negatively affected.

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A Torquesmith values their own personal honor.

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They would never cheat a contest, and would never reveal the contents of the mystery box.

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A Torquesmith shows their work.

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There are people out there who are interested in seeing what you've made.

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I know I am.

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What makes your kit special?

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How does it fit into your lifestyle?

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Finally, a Torquesmith knows that there's always room for improvement, whether it's cheaper components, or farther range, a better battery life, whatever.

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A Torquesmith knows that their kit is never finished, and it's just a jumping-off point for better things.

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So those were the three main pillars of the Ost-Torque initiative, and here are some bonus slides at the end.

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I'm going to go over something I came up with called the Torqueathlon, and then we'll take a tour of a Torque Station that I built, a Llama Class.

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So what if there was a competition where teams could show off their ingenuity and hustle?

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Basically a small course is set up with obstacles to climb over or struggle through that would resemble maybe a post-disaster situation and teams of Torque Station owners would try to race against the clock to carry their stations any way they want through the course,

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and then when they get to the finish line they use them to relay some traffic through a remote judging station at the end.

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Costumes and theme teams are encouraged, and a reminder should go out beforehand saying that public intoxication of all types is frowned upon.

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Alright, so here is my latest kit.

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There's a little red patch on the top where I adhere a suction cup antenna.

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There's about four latches on the kit that keeps the kit airtight, watertight, dustproof.

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I still don't have a decent solution to keep everything from sliding around.

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I've got the keyboard here, and I've got the microphone to uncoil.

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Check for product shifting during transport.

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Everything looks good.

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I'll get ready to mount the software radio antenna.

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Just onto the lid, onto that red square of vinyl that I put on there, because the suction cup doesn't adhere to the coarse plastic of the kit.

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So I need something smooth to stick the suction cup onto.

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A little GPS antenna, a little USB GPS antenna that sticks to a metal clip for locking the kit shut.

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Antenna connector, I'll get that screwed on.

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Alright, let's get ready to hook up the external power.

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I've got my Shanktronics power brigand supplying all the power I need for the kit.

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Turn it on, and I can see the display on the kit turns on.

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Alright, let's get the Raspberry Pi fired up.

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I've got the power switch there next to the passthrough for the USB and the audio for the Raspberry Pi.

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I've got the dual monitors hooked up, and oh well, I've got this USB switch was powered on, or the USB hub there was powered on.

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So now that the computer's booted up, I'm just going to control it with the Logitech keyboard here.

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I'll fire up my FL rig.

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And I'm going to boot up my radio data software package, WSJTX.

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And unfortunately, the kit is not cooperating with me.

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The radio's receiving, but it's not putting audio from the radio into the Raspberry Pi.

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And that's a problem I really need to troubleshoot here.

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Moving along, I can fire up GQRX which I have pre-programmed to decode the local classical radio station.

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But the cool thing about the SDR is that I can program any channel I want to into here, any channel that the SDR is able to decode.

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00:22:53,120 --> 00:23:01,340
Alright, now for the moment you've all been waiting for, a closer look into the Snaccess panel.

198
00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:08,340
So we remove the panel and inside we have an array of snacks.

199
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We have a post-snack treat, we have some crunchy snacks, we have some sweet snacks, and we also have some more salty snacks.

200
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:28,840
And then all the snacks get tucked right back away into the Snaccess compartment.

201
00:23:30,860 --> 00:23:33,360
And we replace the Snaccess panel.

202
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:41,640
I hope to incorporate some kind of magnets or maybe 3D print a latching solution for it sometime in the near future.

203
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,800
Alright, let's power down the kit.

204
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:51,740
I'll log off the Raspberry Pi and then flip off the power switch here.

205
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,960
That terminates power to the monitors and the Pi.

206
00:24:01,690 --> 00:24:03,510
Turn off the radio.

207
00:24:05,750 --> 00:24:08,350
And then disconnect the battery.

208
00:24:08,350 --> 00:24:11,030
We've been running off battery power this whole time.

209
00:24:11,850 --> 00:24:18,010
Battery power disconnected and as a safety measure I'm going to turn it from battery power to external power.

210
00:24:18,770 --> 00:24:24,210
So in case the switch gets bumped for some reason it doesn't drain the battery.

211
00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:33,130
And for those of you who are interested, here is a kind of a blocky wiring diagram for how the kit works.

212
00:24:33,130 --> 00:24:40,890
I've got the two ports, a solar port for power input and a 12 volt port for external power input.

213
00:24:41,150 --> 00:24:47,050
And then the 12 solar goes into the PowerWorks solar charge controller and then that charges the battery.

214
00:24:47,250 --> 00:24:54,890
And then I have the big red battery cutoff switch and then that goes down to a selector switch that selects between the battery and the external power.

215
00:24:55,150 --> 00:24:57,250
And then that feeds into the fuse block.

216
00:24:57,450 --> 00:25:04,290
And then the fuse block shoots out the 12 volt leads to all of the hardware in there that runs off of 12 volts.

217
00:25:05,230 --> 00:25:08,450
Alright, you've made it to the end of the pre-recorded portion.

218
00:25:08,470 --> 00:25:13,950
If you're still interested, you're welcome to visit the website twerkbench.org to see what we have so far.

219
00:25:13,950 --> 00:25:21,630
And if you want to voice in the direction this project goes, you can join the Discord community by visiting our Discord server online.

220
00:25:21,790 --> 00:25:32,730
The link there is on our website at twerkbench.org And I'm going to do a live Q&A now and hopefully a demo if my equipment cooperates to round up my presentation time.

221
00:25:32,890 --> 00:25:41,210
So please stick around and we can hopefully have a moderated discussion where we can share ideas and where this initiative should go moving forward.

222
00:25:50,950 --> 00:25:57,290
Cool, so we have Swiss Ninja here and I'm live on video feed and I think he's ready to give us a nice demo.

223
00:25:57,290 --> 00:25:59,990
Before you start though, I do have a starting question.

224
00:26:00,990 --> 00:26:09,110
Is there any sort of mod or thing you've made that you've tried to make and just messed up so bad that you just said, nope, this is going in the trash, I have to start over?

225
00:26:10,690 --> 00:26:23,590
No, but leading right up to this presentation, the audio input that goes from my HF transceiver to the Raspberry Pi won't detect the audio signal.

226
00:26:23,590 --> 00:26:26,770
Like, I know that the audio signal exists but it's not going into the Pi.

227
00:26:26,770 --> 00:26:35,850
I wanted to show off a couple data modes that would be able to be received on the Raspberry Pi but that won't be in today's presentation.

228
00:26:37,870 --> 00:26:51,650
I was curious if anyone had any quick questions or anything that maybe I didn't cover in the video or any suggestions, because it looks like the chat topics are a little empty right now.

229
00:26:51,650 --> 00:26:53,650
Did anyone have anything to ask or add?

230
00:26:57,290 --> 00:27:06,310
So, I'm curious if anyone does anyone have any experience with working with a volunteer software team or web development team?

231
00:27:06,310 --> 00:27:22,490
Because a big part of the initiative here is the website and the website we have right now is very basic and I'm learning web stuff as I go along, but I wouldn't mind supercharging it with a couple team members.

232
00:27:22,490 --> 00:27:27,110
Has anyone worked with a volunteer team in the past to get something like this done?

233
00:27:33,990 --> 00:27:36,130
I'm not aware of any personally.

234
00:27:36,590 --> 00:27:42,110
I mean, I'm curious are you also releasing all these plans and open source stuff on something like GitHub as well?

235
00:27:42,550 --> 00:27:43,770
Oh, absolutely, yes.

236
00:27:43,770 --> 00:27:51,350
So, I hope that other people can join in and, like I said, copy plans, like they can take a look at the Twerkstation I built.

237
00:27:51,530 --> 00:28:09,530
That's kind of what this stemmed from, was I saw kits online and I would say that, oh, those are so awesome but I could never have one of those and then one day I decided to put a kit together for my father at the behest of my mom.

238
00:28:09,530 --> 00:28:30,630
She was curious how we could all get together in the event of an emergency and I said, oh, well, ham radio, and I wanted to get an all-in-one solution that they could use after getting their ham radio licenses to get on the air with me in the event of a grid down situation and so I would see the kits online and I would say,

239
00:28:30,630 --> 00:28:51,530
oh, those are awesome and then I decided to just build one myself and it was surprisingly easy and I just want to let people know that I want to remove the barrier to entry to making kits for themselves, like a big one is the panel of the kit, like, I can actually start moving stuff around here,

240
00:28:51,530 --> 00:29:12,390
like being able to laser cut, I have a laser cutter in my garage and being able to laser cut a panel whenever I need a new one is a huge blessing, but I want other people to be able to have that access too, like to nearby maker spaces, places where they would be able to download plans for a panel and then be able to have them cut out,

241
00:29:12,390 --> 00:29:25,770
so that would probably be a portion of the website would be being able to coordinate people to be able to make their own things, or this panel that the radio is inset in is 3D printed.

242
00:29:25,890 --> 00:29:27,470
I've got my own 3D printer.

243
00:29:27,670 --> 00:29:31,030
I know a lot of people, that's a barrier to entry, they don't have their own.

244
00:29:32,070 --> 00:29:40,050
I'd like to be able to connect people that want to have their own inset panel mount things like I've made or that they've designed their own.

245
00:29:40,050 --> 00:29:44,790
I want to connect them with online resources to be able to get them printed out.

246
00:29:47,050 --> 00:29:49,770
Cool, we do have a couple of questions here from the audience.

247
00:29:50,250 --> 00:29:53,010
One is, what if you need more room for snacks?

248
00:29:53,010 --> 00:29:57,450
I'm assuming there's going to be some sort of snack expander box or something like that.

249
00:29:57,910 --> 00:30:02,510
Yeah, there's always... you can get extra kits to put extra snacks in.

250
00:30:02,510 --> 00:30:06,550
You can always sacrifice extra battery power, get a smaller radio.

251
00:30:07,010 --> 00:30:15,610
Right now, this design of the 3D inset panel for my radio face is just kind of basically a prototype.

252
00:30:15,710 --> 00:30:19,930
There's a lot of wasted space around the edges you can see, so it still needs refinement.

253
00:30:20,570 --> 00:30:26,690
I hope to post the plan files online so that people can download and print them.

254
00:30:26,690 --> 00:30:29,290
Actually, this panel itself is on Thingiverse.

255
00:30:29,450 --> 00:30:39,230
If you Google or if you use the search for JiguG90 it should pop up as one of the 3D printable items.

256
00:30:40,670 --> 00:30:43,570
And then I also hope to have sticker templates.

257
00:30:43,570 --> 00:30:46,890
I like the industrial style of stickers so that's my kit.

258
00:30:46,890 --> 00:30:53,370
Some people might have something less colorful or more colorful, more informative, maybe more minimalist.

259
00:30:53,490 --> 00:30:59,470
So I hope to have vector files online available for stickers if you want to download them yourself.

260
00:31:01,090 --> 00:31:03,030
Great, that's great to hear.

261
00:31:03,090 --> 00:31:04,910
Some more questions coming in here.

262
00:31:04,910 --> 00:31:09,590
What type or brand of case do you use in this kit?

263
00:31:10,270 --> 00:31:14,170
This is a Harbor Freight Apache case.

264
00:31:14,290 --> 00:31:16,370
I hope to put a...

265
00:31:17,490 --> 00:31:28,970
I've done some upgrades to the kit and I hope to have a completed bill of materials done once my presentation... I've been prepping for the presentation here for a while and I hope to have a completed bill of materials done.

266
00:31:28,970 --> 00:31:33,370
But the case itself is an Apache Harbor Freight case.

267
00:31:33,370 --> 00:31:35,010
They're very affordable.

268
00:31:35,210 --> 00:31:38,790
They're very similar to Pelican cases.

269
00:31:38,830 --> 00:31:47,010
They come with a foam block that you can pick apart inside for cushioning parts.

270
00:31:47,010 --> 00:31:50,730
I took the foam out so that I had greater airflow through the kit.

271
00:31:52,570 --> 00:32:00,830
And I guess here as a Defcon exclusive, I usually don't show off the inside of my kits, especially when they're under construction.

272
00:32:00,830 --> 00:32:04,450
But if there's interest, I'd like to show off kind of what's inside the kit.

273
00:32:04,970 --> 00:32:12,470
Normally I would have thumbscrews on the side that I would undo, but I haven't gotten around to those yet.

274
00:32:12,530 --> 00:32:14,790
I'll remove the SNAXS panel.

275
00:32:16,390 --> 00:32:18,710
And the wires are still kind of a mess.

276
00:32:19,130 --> 00:32:25,310
I've got a battery , a lithium iron phosphate battery that I just put in the kit last week.

277
00:32:25,370 --> 00:32:29,610
I have a USB hub that comes out of a Raspberry Pi underneath .

278
00:32:29,610 --> 00:32:35,590
And I need a better solution, maybe some kind of little shelf to build in here to separate everything out so there's better airflow.

279
00:32:35,590 --> 00:32:37,730
And then the radio here is in the back.

280
00:32:37,850 --> 00:32:44,030
I have an RTL-SDR software radio that goes into the Raspberry Pi.

281
00:32:44,370 --> 00:32:51,450
And of course I have the SNAXS off to the side and a fuse block that the 12 volts come off of.

282
00:32:55,210 --> 00:33:04,370
Cool, we've got a question about maybe using magnets to hold down the panel on the keyboard, like the Rayworth magnets.

283
00:33:04,370 --> 00:33:05,770
Is that something you've looked at?

284
00:33:06,550 --> 00:33:10,150
Yeah, that would not be a bad idea at all.

285
00:33:10,750 --> 00:33:18,390
The keyboard has a weird kind of curve to the back, so I would have put like a Velcro or something maybe on there that would snap down.

286
00:33:19,450 --> 00:33:21,050
But magnets would be a good idea too.

287
00:33:21,050 --> 00:33:29,130
I just need a way to either epoxy or anchor the magnet to the keyboard or maybe to the box and then maybe put a plate on the back of the keyboard.

288
00:33:29,130 --> 00:33:37,670
See, these are all great ideas that you could post to the Twerkstation Discord or the forums if we ever get them up and running.

289
00:33:39,170 --> 00:33:40,550
Absolutely, absolutely.

290
00:33:40,550 --> 00:33:44,650
A question here in the chat about have you considered using solar for power?

291
00:33:44,650 --> 00:33:47,110
And maybe there might be some interference with that.

292
00:33:47,610 --> 00:34:02,810
Oh, so that was another thing that was brought up in our Discord chat a few days ago was someone had a question about solar controllers and noises and if anyone had experience with expensive versus cheap ones.

293
00:34:02,810 --> 00:34:05,670
I actually have a solar panel on the way.

294
00:34:05,670 --> 00:34:07,790
It's going to be here tomorrow.

295
00:34:09,530 --> 00:34:15,590
Someone posted a bargain online for one of them and I snatched up a nice folding one.

296
00:34:17,110 --> 00:34:23,690
But yeah, so I had a couple batteries in my version 1 of the kit so that I'd have a lot of power.

297
00:34:23,690 --> 00:34:46,150
And in this version 2, you saw the one lithium-ion phosphate battery in the back that was about 1,500 mAh and I labeled the switch with 1,400 mAh and then I have the switch labeled 1,400 mAh so that I have a little cushion left over.

298
00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:51,660
I'd love a 1,500 mAh battery.

299
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,660
Yeah, that would be great.

300
00:34:54,800 --> 00:35:02,500
A question here about you mentioned no selling jerk benches, but what about individual parts?

301
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:10,100
I would like to have in the Bill of Materials links to parts that people use.

302
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:27,140
Or when I built my computer a few years ago, the PC part picker website would continually scan other websites would scour for prices and tell you who had the lower price and if there were any sales going on.

303
00:35:27,140 --> 00:35:38,300
Ideally there would be some kind of functionality that's like very, very, very far down the road, but for parts, ideally I would just put my Amazon links for where I got all the parts.

304
00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:39,980
Basically all the parts of the kit.

305
00:35:39,980 --> 00:35:45,280
What kind of kicked off the kit plan design was this red kill switch that I installed.

306
00:35:45,540 --> 00:35:54,020
I've always loved these growing up and being able to buy them by a 5-pack was incredible.

307
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,680
I love being able to buy stuff like that online.

308
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,660
These power connectors are 3D printed.

309
00:36:01,660 --> 00:36:04,740
Those were made by... I found them on Thingiverse.

310
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:13,680
Most of the stuff I was able to source online, which I wouldn't have been able to do about 10 years ago.

311
00:36:13,740 --> 00:36:18,880
So being able to source stuff online is a great benefit to the ham radio hobby.

312
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:21,840
Great.

313
00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:23,640
A question from Twitch.

314
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:28,020
What are the temps inside the case when everything is powered on and running?

315
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:30,800
It depends.

316
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,180
I haven't used a heavy duty cycle.

317
00:36:34,180 --> 00:36:38,520
I can't imagine it's very warm with just the Raspberry Pi running.

318
00:36:40,420 --> 00:36:44,920
If I was broadcasting a lot with the radio, the temps might get pretty warm.

319
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,920
I thought about putting active cooling in.

320
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:50,600
I've got empty space up here above the display panel.

321
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:56,200
If I wanted to put a couple case fans up here just to move air through, I could move some of the air slots around.

322
00:36:56,340 --> 00:36:59,820
So this is basically the prototype version of this panel.

323
00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,940
It's made out of MDF wood that I spray painted black.

324
00:37:02,940 --> 00:37:08,160
I hope to source a plastic panel from the local plastic store.

325
00:37:08,460 --> 00:37:14,600
They make a nice textured plastic, a black textured plastic that I think will look really sharp.

326
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,740
But it's going to be more expensive than the MDF.

327
00:37:17,740 --> 00:37:22,540
I want to make sure that the layout is done before I get the final panel cut.

328
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:25,720
Yeah, great.

329
00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:27,760
That sounds pretty awesome.

330
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:39,940
We've got a question here about when it comes to selecting components, what part do you suggest that people don't skimp out on when it comes to parts and what parts do you think people can maybe buy the cheaper version of?

331
00:37:41,580 --> 00:37:43,420
That is a very good question.

332
00:37:43,420 --> 00:37:52,640
And that's actually part of the reason I kicked off the Ostwerk initiative was to help answer that question for me so that I'd be able to select parts for my kits.

333
00:37:53,140 --> 00:37:58,700
I know a lot of people out there have bought parts and they know what works and what doesn't.

334
00:37:58,700 --> 00:38:02,180
This is a learning experience for me, but it's kind of an expensive one.

335
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:18,280
So before I pull the trigger on an expensive solar charge controller, which I imagine if you want low noise like on the HF bands, you'd probably want you probably don't want to skimp on your charging controller.

336
00:38:19,820 --> 00:38:22,420
I've noticed a little bit of noise running the Pi.

337
00:38:22,420 --> 00:38:33,540
I don't know if I'm going to be able to shield that, if I'd be able to build a little shielded shelf maybe around the Pi where airflow could go but RF noise can't.

338
00:38:33,780 --> 00:38:40,760
So there's lots of ideas for improving the kit and they can always be improved, but I don't have any suggestions right off the bat.

339
00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:54,140
But I would imagine probably your charging controller, especially if you use expensive batteries or... and that's another thing you want to consider when picking parts is make sure your charging chemistries are compatible.

340
00:38:54,160 --> 00:39:02,100
When I made the first version of this kit, I used lead acid batteries and then they were super heavy, but I had to upgrade to...

341
00:39:02,100 --> 00:39:10,820
well, I didn't have to upgrade, but I wanted to upgrade to lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are lighter, a lot more expensive, but they also use a different charging chemistry.

342
00:39:10,820 --> 00:39:22,860
I can't use the lead acid charging system that I had in the old kit in this new kit, so I had to budget for a new charging system for the kit that was compatible with the lithium iron phosphate batteries.

343
00:39:27,230 --> 00:39:29,510
Great, yeah, there's a couple comments here on Twitch.

344
00:39:29,510 --> 00:39:43,850
One person talks about, you know, if you don't want to take a charge controller, taking a lot of space, maybe have a different torque station that's like a power module, you know, a power type torque station that does all that just in its own separate box.

345
00:39:45,510 --> 00:40:07,350
Yeah, that was an idea, like one of the power torque stations, like I want to have a power interface kit so people would be able to tap into different powers or different, like electric vehicles or solar, wind, water, like a kit that would be able to convert a variety of voltages down to the kit voltage.

346
00:40:07,950 --> 00:40:18,830
And so, yeah, that's something for people to consider whether they want to build it into their kit or whether they want to carry an external kit that would house that functionality.

347
00:40:19,030 --> 00:40:25,890
But the kits would hopefully be compatible not only with each other, but with other torque stations as well.

348
00:40:27,730 --> 00:40:39,990
Yeah, I've also started to see a rise in popularity of the, you know, battery generators, quote unquote, where it's just basically a battery box with a bunch of power distribution that you can now buy off the shelf, which is kind of nice for like, hey,

349
00:40:39,990 --> 00:40:42,910
I just need power and I need lithium power and off-grid.

350
00:40:43,530 --> 00:40:45,730
We've got a question... yeah, go ahead.

351
00:40:45,890 --> 00:40:47,490
Oh, no, I was going to say, yeah, those are great.

352
00:40:47,970 --> 00:40:52,710
Yeah, I have not splurged on one yet, but hopefully soon.

353
00:40:53,130 --> 00:40:59,590
A question here, could you talk a bit more about the antennas and or connectors you use for the antennas that hook up to this kit?

354
00:41:00,890 --> 00:41:07,810
Yeah, I use just the standard UHF antenna connector.

355
00:41:09,070 --> 00:41:12,590
Actually, it's probably easier if I just took off my nanoVNA here.

356
00:41:13,510 --> 00:41:18,250
So this is a nanoVNA I have kind of velcroed to the kit.

357
00:41:18,250 --> 00:41:23,150
It's used as an antenna analyzer and I use this type of connector.

358
00:41:25,190 --> 00:41:31,610
I'm going to embarrass myself here, PL259 or SO238, or 239, I mean.

359
00:41:32,710 --> 00:41:41,330
But it's just this standard type of antenna connector and then I have a box around here with different adapter connectors for the antenna.

360
00:41:41,550 --> 00:41:50,970
But the antenna that I like to use right now is I got from my brother a B &W AP10A.

361
00:41:51,210 --> 00:41:53,170
I don't have the whip on it right now.

362
00:41:53,170 --> 00:41:57,190
There's a whip that extends off the top that I can raise and lower.

363
00:41:57,190 --> 00:42:07,590
And it also has a tunable loading coil that I can adjust for the HF frequencies to get a better reception or better broadcast on those frequencies.

364
00:42:08,370 --> 00:42:17,070
But that just has the same type of screw that screws on to the kit there, the bulkhead connector.

365
00:42:20,620 --> 00:42:21,540
Very nice.

366
00:42:21,540 --> 00:42:24,580
You can always just say UHF connector and you're good.

367
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:30,560
I think SO is socket and PL is plug, I think is what it is.

368
00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,740
So I think that's all we have for questions right now on the chat.

369
00:42:35,740 --> 00:42:38,520
Is there anything else you guys want to show or talk about?

370
00:42:43,020 --> 00:42:51,320
No, just curious if anyone has thought of any like if this has inspired anyone to make their own kit or if anyone has any ideas.

371
00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:52,420
Actually, here's an idea.

372
00:42:52,420 --> 00:43:05,280
So for in-person the Ham Radio Village, what if we could maybe start a fundraiser to make three or four torque stations for a get on the air station.

373
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:09,220
And then at the end, give them out to school groups.

374
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:13,220
So we'd have like a fundraiser kind of thing to make the stations.

375
00:43:13,220 --> 00:43:18,860
And then after they're used for people to get on the air, they can just be donated out.

376
00:43:18,860 --> 00:43:21,040
Would that be something people are interested in?

377
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,140
Yeah, definitely something to take the pulse on.

378
00:43:25,140 --> 00:43:35,940
I was just completely off the top of my head and you could have potentially even prior to DEF CON said, okay, well, build your best torque station and come join the competition.

379
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:42,640
Yeah, that could be part of the torque-cath-a-lon maybe if that ever takes off.

380
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:46,700
I mean, it's not DEF CON if there's no soldering irons involved.

381
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:53,560
Maybe build one within like an hour to the competition or something maybe.

382
00:43:56,610 --> 00:43:57,390
Cool.

383
00:43:57,390 --> 00:44:01,930
Well, thank you for putting this presentation together and hanging out and chatting with us.

384
00:44:01,930 --> 00:44:03,370
I thought this was pretty awesome.

385
00:44:03,710 --> 00:44:05,170
We even got a comment in the chat.

386
00:44:05,170 --> 00:44:06,990
Someone says it's very inspiring.

387
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So that's great to hear.

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Thank you for coming.

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I thank you all for joining me and thank you to the staff for putting this on.