A disclaimer: Not a single cable tie was harmed in the making of this backpack cyberdeck, and considering that we lost count of the number of USB cables [Bag-Builds] used to connect everything in it, that’s a minor miracle.
The onboard hardware is substantial, starting with a Lattepanda Sigma SBC, a small WiFi travel router, a Samsung SSD, a pair of seven-port USB hubs, and a quartet of Anker USB battery banks. The software defined radio (SDR) gear includes a HackRF One, an Airspy Mini, a USRP B205mini, and a Nooelec NESDR with an active antenna. There are also three USB WiFi adapters, an AX210 WiFi/Bluetooth combo adapter, a uBlox GPS receiver, and a GPS-disciplined oscillator, both with QFH antennas. There’s also a CatSniffer multi-protocol IoT dongle and a Flipper Zero for good measure, and probably a bunch of other stuff we missed. Phew!
As for mounting all this stuff, [Bag-Builds] went the distance with a nicely designed internal frame system. Much of it is 3D printed, but the basic frame and a few rails are made from aluminum. The real hack here, though, is getting the proper USB cables for each connection. The cable lengths are just right so that nothing needs to get bundled up and cable-tied. The correct selection of adapters is a thing of beauty, too, with very little interference between the cables despite some pretty tightly packed gear.
What exactly you’d do with this cyberpack, other than stay the hell away from airports, police stations, and government buildings, isn’t exactly clear. But it sure seems like you’ve got plenty of options. And yes, we’re aware that this is a commercial product for which no build files are provided, but if you’re sufficiently inspired, we’re sure you could roll your own.
Thanks to [KC] for the tip on this one.
Regulators would go nuts if they even imagine that exists.
That’s a pretty good reason I’m willing to assembly one of those.
You might exceed FCC limits by having so many radios on certain bands, but other than that there is nothing particularly prohibited (but you can slap on some PAs on the SDRs if you want it to be)
Very focused on appearance. Much style. Had to check. Yep, Italian.
…and people complained about having a cellphone at your ear or in your pocket all the time. I do love the smell of cooking meat, though.
What here screams enough power to cook anything???
i keep thinking about this photo from the whole earth catalog in the late 90s of a ‘toasternet’. it was about half a dozen mismatched computers piled haphazardly on a desk, with each having its own designated chore — mail server, file server, etc. and even at the time that struck me as a little odd, because if that was a ‘real installation’, they would presumably have the budget to not build it entirely out of oddball one-offs. so the assumption is that it’s a ‘mail server’ for hobbyist use, presumably with a userbase limited to dude’s immediate social circle and a volume of less than 100 messages a day.
so to me each of these tasks is obviously just a certain amount of RAM and an absolutely dismissable amount of CPU time and disk storage…and putting them on separate PCs seemed a little gratuitous at the time. even then, i thought of each of these tasks as different lines from a ‘ps’ listing, rather than different computers. and then as time has progressed since that snapshot, RAM in particular has grown so massive that it seems quaint to dedicate a whole computer to one of these chores unless you were really doing a volume of requests.
but also at the time i could relate to the obvious motivation…the guy had just collected every computer he could get his paws on, and invented tasks to justify the work of getting them working again.
this strikes me as “i bought a bunch of radios because they were so cool but then i found out i never use them so i put them in a neat box and tried to monetize photos of the box”. i don’t understand the use and the use is the only thing i’d be interested in understanding :)
I can’t believe I don’t remember that toasternet.
But yes, this. It’s stylish equipment porn, fabricated to stimulate interest in the modified backpack, frame, and brackets he’s selling. It’s a certainty he never got all the pieces actually working.
A non-waterproof backpack that’s also now full of both holes and electronics? I live in England, it’s a no from me.
Beautiful, but I can’t help myself from noticing the amount of metal around all of the antennae.
Or the amount of antennas around all the antennae. They’re gonna couple…
To be fair, some of those “antennas” are closer approximations to dummy loads.
I’ve always wondered what the range is on these devices. Mostly as every radio assumes the antennas are in free air, for which these creations violate this assumption. Even a simple piece of plastic near an antenna can detune it enough to have impact, I just never know if it would be significant enough for owners of these devices to care. As in, you can get 4x range, but the backpack looks a lot more suspicious.
It just needs a large LED timer visible on the back with a bunch of different colored wires coming out of it.
People don’t realize that TSA agents really do have a sense of humor!
Yeah, they always.have a hearty laugh together after a thorough cavity search.
A work of art. Should be in a gallery somewhere.
Arguably the best use for it.
Self-enforced celibacy.
it comes with a grounded lead lined codpeice.
and id give it all up for one explosively pumped flux compression generator, and appropriate emp-generating coil. then make a fortune selling them to ai doomsday preppers.
i have a right to protect myself from all tyrants, human and robotic.
This bring me to mind that for some reason HaD didn’t cover the reports of explosive beepers/pagers. is it is a no no don’t go there theme?
“Everybody else” is covering it, to make it worthy of Hackaday (IMO) information relating to what was done to the hardware, software, or firmware would be needed.
I’ll wait for that.
I see. Yeah , it would be interesting to know the technical details, once again relatively low tech methods are used to commit war crimes. But war never changes. I guess human nature needs an upgrade in order to achieve piece. This was new low :(
peace.
Explosive beepers/pagers/walkie-talkies are problematic as a DIY project. There are easier ways for hackers to blow themselves up. blowing up others is a no no. Providing enough technical detail to be interesting would probably incur a high risk of getting banned or demonetized.
I’d say, write the article!
The problem is that so far I’ve only seen rumors. The biggest one is that there were explosives hidden inside the batteries. Considering the explosive charges were tiny, it wouldn’t limit the actual performance in a noticeable way. But again, rumors.
Nice build, but i doubt it was made from aluminum. It was probably made from aluminium.
Their website says it’s plywood and inox. Inox being a word for stainless steel in some languages. I definitely don’t get that impression from looking at it. The plywood must have be very carefully sanded and painted.
https://bagbuilds.com/products/base-frame?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=85e2e5e77&pr_rec_pid=8341492990286&pr_ref_pid=9758491181390&pr_seq=uniform
FYI, inox is the suffix to Victorinox, because the blades were made from stainless steel.
(Victoria? was his wife’s? name)