Portable Tactical Comms Terminal — Video Walkthrough & Wiring Schematic

After months of iteration, I finally have a working prototype of my portable comms terminal. This build is designed for off-grid communication — FM/AM reception, packet radio via AX.25, LoRa mesh capability, and a local message board that works over WiFi without any internet connection.

Video Walkthrough

The video covers the full assembly process, component selection rationale, and a live demo of the terminal operating in the field. Timestamps are in the video description for those who want to skip to specific sections.

Hardware Overview

Base unit: Raspberry Pi Zero 2W in a custom milled aluminum enclosure
Radio: Si4732-based wideband receiver + SX1276 LoRa module
Display: 5" resistive touchscreen (800x480) with sunlight-readable backlight
Antenna: Collapsible dual-band whip antenna with BNC quick-connect
Power: 10,000mAh LiPo pack with solar charge controller (MPPT), ~18 hours runtime on receive-only
Software: Custom Python GUI, direwolf for packet radio, Meshtastic firmware on the LoRa module

Wiring Schematic

The full wiring schematic (KiCad format) is linked in the video description and available on my GitHub. Covers power distribution, SPI bus routing for the radio modules, and GPIO pin mapping. If you are building something similar, this schematic should save you hours of datasheet diving.

Replies (3)

u/terminal_sage• 1 week ago

This is excellent work. The KiCad schematic is very clean — easy to follow even for someone who does not do PCB design regularly. One question: what is the antenna isolation like between the FM receiver and the LoRa module? Are you seeing any desense on the LoRa when the FM receiver is active?

u/harborlight• 6 days ago

Great video walkthrough. I like the decision to go with the Pi Zero 2W instead of a full Pi 4 — keeps the power draw manageable for field use. Have you considered adding a GPS module for location tagging on received transmissions? Would be useful for logging.

u/arcadeghost• 6 days ago

u/terminal_sage Good catch — there is about 8dB of desense when both are active. I addressed it with a bandpass filter on the LoRa input and by time-multiplexing the FM receiver when LoRa is actively transmitting. u/harborlight GPS is on the list for v2. Planning to add a NEO-6M module with external antenna.

c/cyberdecks

Portable Tactical Comms Terminal — Video Walkthrough & Wiring Schematic

Video Walkthrough

Hardware Overview

Wiring Schematic

Replies (3)

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