Mesh radio, local-first systems, field nodes, sensors, antennas, and communications built to keep working.
Esoteric Networks is the radio, mesh, sensing, and resilient-communications branch of the ecosystem.
The work begins with a practical question: how do people keep finding one another when ordinary infrastructure is absent, overloaded, expensive, or simply beside the point?
Current experiments span LoRa, Meshtastic, local-first services, solar field nodes, RFID presence systems, antennas, gateways, and small networks that belong to the people using them.
.- - - - - - - - - - - -.
/ BALLOON NODE \
/ solar / LoRa / event mesh \
'-------------+------------------'
)))
))) ))) )))
[ CAMP NODE ]---[ FIELD GATEWAY ]---[ CAMP NODE ]
ESP32 Raspberry Pi Heltec
\ | /
\ | /
+---------[ LOCAL MAP ]---------+
|
[ HUMAN OPERATORS ]
radios / phones / curiosity
PACKETS MAY TAKE THE SCENIC ROUTE. THAT IS STILL A ROUTE.
Modular solar field nodes for monitoring honeybee colonies, collecting sensor data, and carrying telemetry over LoRa/Meshtastic networks. Designed to observe living systems while also participating in the communications infrastructure around them.
What is Meshtastic? >>A planned ESONET bridge for handing messages, bulletins, short text pages, and small files into Reticulum/LXMF paths that can later move across internet links, local Wi-Fi, RNode/LoRa, and Solar Hive field nodes.
What is Reticulum? >>RAIN RFID readers in tool sheds, LoRa backhaul, and a human-friendly search layer that answers “Where is the miter saw?”
A moored high-altitude relay intended to give temporary event infrastructure a wider horizon and a very visible conversation piece.
Pi-hosted DNS, dashboards, monitoring, maps, and useful services that keep working on the local network even when the wider internet wanders away.
Exploring practical field nodes that combine position, messaging, resilient radio links, and a design another human can actually operate.
Meshtastic + ATAK >>| LAYER | HARDWARE / METHOD | CURRENT WEATHER |
|---|---|---|
| LoRa | Heltec V3, RFM95W, LILYGO T-Beam | signals developing |
| Gateway | Raspberry Pi 3 / 4 / 5 | several tiny servers humming |
| Power | Solar, LiPo, MPPT controllers | sunlight being negotiated |
| RFID | SparkFun RAIN reader + circular antenna | objects becoming locatable |
| Monitoring | Prometheus, Grafana, Pi-hole | graphs successfully graphing |
| Antennas | Omni, circular polarization, NanoVNA | standing waves under observation |
Theoretical range is charming. Confirmed interfaces and repeatable behavior are better.
A network can be valuable without touching the commercial internet at all.
Bench success is only the opening argument. Heat, rain, batteries, and tired humans deliver the verdict.
Useful infrastructure includes training, labels, maps, expectations, and somebody who knows why the red light is blinking.
[2026.08] ESONET: Public web client and Telnet access are online. Reticulum and Meshtastic have been marked as future network paths rather than imaginary finished features.
[2026.08] RETICULUM: Defined the handoff as a proposed ESONET gateway for messages, bulletins, short text pages, and small files across mixed transports. The full ANSI BBS remains on its proper higher-bandwidth paths.
[2026.08] SOLARHIVE: Re-centered the project as modular solar field nodes for monitoring honeybee colonies, with LoRa/Meshtastic carrying telemetry and allowing the nodes to participate in the surrounding mesh.
[2026.07] RFID: Chose the SparkFun RAIN platform for documentation and support rather than chasing maximum advertised range.
[2026.07] LORA: Evaluating T-Beams, ESP32 nodes, gateway options, circular antennas, and practical bench power.
[FIELD] RULE: Every cable needs a label before darkness, rain, or festival brain arrives.
curator@network:~$ ping the horizon _
This page is one room inside the larger Esoteric Systems ecosystem.
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