Model KC housing for Meshtastic/RAK 19007

This is the Model KC housing I designed for the RAK 19007, as well as a charging dock, which is intended for quick transport, deployment, and recharging from a hard shell case.

It was created with SAR use in mind, so it has the following features:

• Robust housing should be resistant to breaking.

• Ridges/grooves for silicone gaskets on housing mating surfaces.

• 2 pin LEMO 0B connector for charging in the field (if you're brave, use a 4 pin LEMO and wire up USB data to the RAK board).

• Charging dock for charging while seated in the case.

• Power switch.

• Uses an internal TP4056 LiPo charging board for charging while powered off.

• Exclusively M8 x 8mm fasteners (except the mounting screws that come with the RAK).

• Compatible with the ceramic patch antenna that comes with the GPS module.

This is a compact device which requires custom wiring, and to build one successfully you must be comfortable with soldering. Heat shrink is mandatory on all connections. To use the charging dock, two small custom PCBs must be created (one for the bottom of the radio, and one for the charging dock to hold the pogo pins). Without these small boards, charging is only possible via the LEMO 0B connector, and the two openings on the bottom of the case (where the target pads would be exposed) need to be filled with epoxy or sealant. The custom boards can of course be ordered from a PCB manufacturer, but they are simple enough that something workable can be hand made using a bare PCB blank, a sharpie, hydrogen peroxide, hydrochloric acid (aka swimming pool acid), and a small drill bit to make the through holes.

Components needed:

• SMA antenna connector if a different polarity desired compared to RAK's provided connector

• Housing designed for use specifically with Rabbit-Labs 4dBm antenna (most others should work too)

• TP4056 (with the milled indentation opposite the USB-C connector)(these seem to have inconsistent board thickness of either 1mm or 1.6mm, and may be slightly loose if 1mm)

• LEMO EGG.0B.302 & FGG.0B.302 connector, and spare USB cable to cut and solder to the FGG end

• Thin (~28ga) stranded core wire

• Heatshrink tubing

• 603449 Lipo battery

• P75-E2 Pogo Pins (1.02mm shaft diameter, 16.54mm extended length, 2.54mm compression stroke)

• Waterproof latching toggle button

• Non acetic cure silicone sealant

• 16 bolts, M3 x 8mm

• 14 M3 heat set inserts

• The custom PCBs

• 2 target discs, 0.118"x0.065" Mill Max p/n: 1618-4-57-15-00-00-03-0

If intending to build out a go-kit of 10 devices as pictured, I used this Eylar 22" Case (which has apparently gone up in price significantly).

PCB Files: sniporbob/Meshtastic_Model_KC_Housing_PCBs: PCB files for the Model KC meshtastic housing