Meshtastic has quickly become one of the most exciting new tools in the radio and hacker communities. Using inexpensive LoRa radios and open-source software, it allows anyone to build decentralized, off-grid messaging networks that work without cellular infrastructure or the internet.

This talk introduces Meshtastic and the technologies that make it possible. We’ll cover the basics of LoRa radio, how mesh networking works, and how Meshtastic ties together radios, microcontrollers, and mobile apps into a simple communication platform.

Attendees will learn what hardware is required, how easy it is to set up a node, and how Meshtastic networks are being used at events like DEF CON and in off-grid environments around the world.

If you’re curious about building your own mesh network—or want to understand why everyone is suddenly carrying strange little radios—this session will show you how to get started.

Modern amateur radio is no longer just voice communication. Today, radios routinely exchange digital data, text messages, telemetry, and even machine-learning encoded voice signals.

This talk introduces the world of amateur radio digital modes and explains how computers and radios work together to communicate using sound. We’ll explore some of the most popular digital modes used by operators today, including FT8, JS8Call, WSPR, APRS, and several emerging digital voice technologies.

Attendees will learn what digital modes are, how they differ from traditional analog radio, and why they have become so popular. The session will also highlight new developments in the digital radio ecosystem, including open-source digital voice systems and long-range LoRa APRS experimentation.

If you've ever wondered what those strange buzzing sounds coming from a radio actually mean—or how to start experimenting with digital radio yourself—this talk will show you how to get started.

You crammed, you passed, you got a callsign. And now your radio is sitting in a box while you wonder what you're actually supposed to do with it. This talk is a guided tour of the rabbit holes waiting for you on the other side of your license exam, organized by how deep you want to fall. Technician class? You can hit satellites with a handheld, track yourself on a map with APRS, or chase hidden transmitters through the woods with a directional antenna and questionable judgment. Upgrade to General and suddenly you've got the HF bands: a global playground where you can work 200 countries in a weekend via a mode a Nobel laureate invented, argue with the laws of physics via antenna wire, and wage legal warfare against your HOA.

Meshtastic does exactly what it says: it carries your text off-grid to whoever shares your channel key. The risk is what people assume it does on top of that. The mesh does not keep your secrets and does not vouch for your neighbors, and a growing number of people are betting real stakes on both, using it for protest logistics, disaster response, and off-grid safety where "trusted friends on a channel" is exactly the wrong threat model. We go looking for the beasts that live in that gap, impersonation, forgery, silent packet-dropping, traffic analysis, and node-database floods, each shown live on a real mesh with a custom firmware fork and a Python toolkit. The uncomfortable part is how little it took: two developers who do not write firmware for a living built the whole offensive stack with AI assistance in about 16 days of evenings. This is not a dunk on Meshtastic. It is a field guide to its actual threat model, and to operating like you know the difference.