PROJECT: CYBERDECK MK-I

POCKET LINUX TERMINAL · PHYSICAL QWERTY · RADIO SUITE · VPS UMBILICAL_

SHEET1 / 2

SCALENTS

DATEJUL 2026

REVA — PLANNING

◈ Same deck, different skin — launch the PIP-BOY terminal edition. Green CRT, scanlines, live inventory & radio map. ►

00 · The Idea

Phones killed keyboards. Laptops don't fit in a pocket. This machine splits the difference: a 3D-printed clamshell around a cheap used flagship running real Linux (postmarketOS), a thumb keyboard, a software-defined radio, an off-grid mesh node — and a permanent SSH umbilical to my VPS, where my agents (codex, claude, the job-scraper fleet) already live.

The phone is the brain. A ₹374 microcontroller is the nervous system. The lid has a second screen that never turns off. Total cost: less than half of what an imported Linux phone kit sells for in India — and this one is mine, part by part.

01 · Inspiration

The spark: the Mobile C-deck — a 3D-printed phone-and-keyboard clamshell with swappable phone inserts, built by the hackaday cyberdeck community. It proved the concept, and it's where the shared-chassis idea comes from.

Mobile C-deck — hackaday.io community build — REF — MOBILE C-DECK · hackaday.io community build · view the full project →

02 · My Take — General Arrangement

Everything from here is my spin on that concept: real Linux (postmarketOS), a software-defined radio, an off-grid mesh node and an e-ink ops board, in a clamshell I 3D-print myself.

Layout rule: the inside faces stay minimal — open the clamshell and you see only the phone and the keyboard/trackpad, nothing else, to keep it thin. The e-ink ops board sits on the outside of the lid (readable while closed) and all I/O lives on the outer edges. Electronics and battery hide inside the base body, behind the keyboard.

Cyberdeck exploded view render — FIG-01 — GENERAL ARRANGEMENT, EXPLODED · e-ink (outer) → phone → hinge → keyboard+trackpad → electronics/battery + I/O

Cyberdeck open, mini-laptop view — FIG-01b — OPEN · phone in the lid, keyboard + trackpad in the base

FIG-01c — SIDE PROFILE · e-ink outer / phone inner / electronics + I/O in the base body

03 · System Schematic

One rule organizes the machine: the phone computes, the Pico touches hardware. Everything meets at a powered hub.

FIG-02 — SYSTEM SCHEMATIC · buses + power

04 · Capabilities

CAP-01

MISSION CONTROL

The lid e-paper is a permanent ops board for my VPS: job-scraper results, agent runs, quota meters — visible even with the deck powered off.

e-paper 4.26" · VPS push over SSH

CAP-02

RADIO SUITE

RTL-SDR receiver: track aircraft (ADS-B), decode weather-satellite imagery, listen to airband, sniff every 433 MHz sensor in the neighborhood.

100 kHz – 1.75 GHz · SMA on panel

CAP-03

OFF-GRID MESH

Meshtastic node on India's license-free 865 MHz band. Text + GPS between trek-mates with zero cell coverage; a hilltop solar repeater links valleys.

LoRa · no SIM · no license needed

CAP-04

ALIVE CASE

Proximity sensor wakes the panels as a hand approaches. Ambient light auto-dims LEDs at night. Addressable underglow through a translucent printed shell.

APDS9960 · WS2812B · PETG glow

05 · Detail: The Ops Board

FIG-03 — LID PANEL, DETAIL · e-paper widget layout

06 · Detail: Mesh Over Terrain

FIG-04 — MESH TOPOLOGY · one hilltop node joins two valleys

07 · Build Phases & Budget

0 PROOF OF CONCEPT · ₹8–12k
Used Poco F1 (₹6–10k) + Bluetooth thumb keyboard (₹1.6k) + Termux. Does SSH-on-a-handheld feel right? One evening answers it.
1 DECK-IFY · + ₹3k
Flash postmarketOS. Print the clamshell (translucent PETG). Add Pico, in-case hub, WS2812 underglow, status OLED, IR blaster. It becomes a machine.
2 RADIO + POLISH · + ₹10k
RTL-SDR + panel SMA + telescopic antenna. 4.26" e-paper ops board in the lid. Acrylic windows, hex grille, decals. Meshtastic node.

TOTAL ≈ ₹21–25k vs ₹60,000 quoted for an imported PinePhone + keyboard in India — half the price, triple the capability.

08 · Key Specifications

ITEM	SPEC
Compute	Xiaomi Poco F1 — Snapdragon 845 · 6 GB RAM · 4,000 mAh · USB OTG verified working under postmarketOS
OS	postmarketOS (Alpine Linux, mainline-adjacent) · fallback: Android + Termux on identical hardware
Peripheral controller	Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) as USB-CDC sidecar — owns LEDs, IR, sensors, lid panel
Radio	NooElec NESDR (RTL-SDR) · Meshtastic LoRa node @ 865 MHz (IN license-free band)
Displays	Phone 6.18" main · 4.26" e-paper persistent ops board in lid
Uplink	SSH → VPS (agents run server-side; deck is the cockpit) · claude-code runs on Alpine natively if needed

BUILD CONFIGURATIONS FULL SPECIFICATION →