The phone, however small, seems to take up a lot of valuable desk real-estate. And also, when plugged into the correct adapter, it can use one of the HDMI monitors and become pretty much a 2nd computer. It seems these two hands should meet and become friends.
We already had plans to test the phones as secondary “desktop” devices, so we bought one of the USBC docking stations: HDMI, 3xUSB3, multi-card reader and charging capabilities.
Next came the question of: How to mount it.
I made a test version out of cardboard and duct tape, my usual first attempt at something. This proved the concept, but was too thick and heavy and not stiff enough to do the job properly. So I recycled that and started v2.
We have lots of recyclable plastic in the house, and even more if you don’t mind dumpster diving in the complex’s recycling bins, which I don’t. So I dug around for something that would be strong enough, and landed on an empty vinegar bottle. It has a large rectangular shape that can be cut out, and thicker plastic in the corners for things that need more support. I hung it up in front of the fireplace for a while with a mass hanging on it, to straighten it up a bit and make it easier to work with.
I took the V1 of the cellphone mount, reworked it to have better placement, and duct-taped it into place. This allows easy insertion and removal of the phone, plugged in to USBC and headset or not. It holds the phone securely when it’s in place, and also gives access to all side buttons.
Then I cut holes into the other end, which I had lined up with a flattened, thicker plastic corner, for the vesa mounting part. I didn’t cut them in slits the first time, so there was some bowing in the plastic. The slits allow it to flex and lay flat.
Next the docking station was stuck to the back of the mount with more command strips, let those all dry, and then mounted it finally back onto the monitor.
Once I used it a bit and confirmed it was all OK, the right side of the mount, where the brown line is, was cut and removed. So it’s much more streamlined now, and works great!
Now we start to work on the 3D Printed V3!