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ANDMan rescues a DorkNode

· 6 min read
Ben Allfree
Ben Allfree
MeshEnvy Founder

Today ANDMan showed up in Discord and asked whether a node he had found on Spanish Benchmark belonged to us. It did. ME0002, our second DorkNode deployment, orange zip ties and all, hanging on a flagpole above the Truckee Meadows rim.

The DorkNode enclosure is an adaptation of the MSPMesh design that Imperator put together thoughtfully. Backplate, hose-clamp tabs, solar integration, the whole package. On my first trip up I did not have a backplate or hose clamps in the bag. Zip ties were what I had, and they got the node on the air.

It was my first time installing any kind of node. That is the whole zero to one thing we talk about so much. Get a live repeater on a summit first. Iterate later.

ME0002 on the Spanish Benchmark flagpole, orange zip-tie mount and tattered flag above the basin

Zip ties and zero to one​

Spanish Benchmark is one of our strongest sites in northern Nevada. The summit looks out over Spanish Springs and the whole Truckee Meadows rim. ME0002 sits up there as a permanent backbone repeater, part of the network that carried traffic through the Silver Springs earthquake and has demonstrated 30+ mile links across the basin.

The radio was doing its job from day one. So was the mount, in the pragmatic sense. Orange zip ties through the mounting tabs, box on the pole, node on the map. Not pretty. Effective.

Orange zip-tie mount on the flagpole mast at Spanish Benchmark

Jank nodes and DorkNodes are a low-cost solar enclosure design that keeps proving itself in the field. Yuki recently pulled one down after a full year of service. Inside it looked pristine, like the day it was built. These builds work. They are reliable. Zip ties are a very pragmatic way to get a lot done quickly when you are standing on a windy summit with a clear line of sight and a basin below that needs coverage.

The enclosure even picked up a WANTED: Call Doofy sticker somewhere along the way, which feels like peak certification.

Orange zip ties and the WANTED sticker on ME0002

Imperator from MSPMesh noticed the mount in Discord and pointed out that our DorkNode enclosures have backplates designed for hose clamps. Fair feedback. He designed the enclosure class we adapted, and he was right that a proper mount was the next step. That is exactly the kind of community attention that turns a zero-to-one stake into something that lasts.

ANDMan takes it from one to two​

ANDMan lives close by. He offered to 3D print a pipe mount and bolt it on, or fabricate one in steel or aluminum if I preferred. I was all out of baling wire and bubble gum, so I said yes please.

He CAD'd a bracket, printed it in ABS-GF, drove back up to Spanish Benchmark, and installed it with the bolts, nuts, and black zip ties he somehow already had in the right sizes. Still zip ties, just used the way the design intended: through a proper curved backplate, enclosure square to the pole, antenna vertical. God's work in high country.

ANDMan's ABS-GF bracket and black zip ties on ME0002, close-up

ANDMan's finished mount on the flagpole mast at Spanish Benchmark

I owe him a kombucha. This is what I love about building a statewide mesh. Someone gets a node on the air with whatever is in the pack. Someone else nearby notices, prints a bracket, and drives back up the mountain. Zero to one, then one to two. The network gets stronger at every step.

Discord, for your enjoyment​

Imperator (MSPMesh) [MESH] — Zip ties certainly are an interesting way to attach it 🤣 It's 150ah, we have backplates designed for hose clamps. @benvy when you do go out there to update it I'd recommend redoing the mounting

ANDMan — I live close by. I can 3d print a pipe mount and bolt it on if you'd like. Or fabricate a steel or aluminum one

benvy — That would be fantastic!! Please let me know if I can help at all. I was all out of baling wire and bubble gum

ANDMan — Quick cad file and printed in ABS-GF.

benvy — holeeeeeey well done sir!! that looks like a damn professional. i owe you a kombucha, thank you so much! i love that you magically had the sizing, the bolts, nuts, zip ties. here's what we just janked at topaz lake 🙈

That last line is me showing off our latest zero-to-one.

Same playbook at Topaz​

If only ANDMan lived closer to Topaz Lake.

On Thursday, two days before I wrote this, I went out with Mark Spencer to stake the Topaz node above Coleville. Hose clamps failed. Batteries died. Two jank nodes refused to cooperate. We ended up on yellow zip ties through a T-post. Same pragmatic playbook. Coleville needed coverage. We got a node on the map.

Ben at the Topaz node on a T-post above Topaz Lake, yellow zip-tie mount

I posted the photo in Discord because ANDMan had just shown us what the upgraded mount looks like, and because the contrast was funny. The Topaz stake is another zero-to-one win for the basin. The mount can iterate when someone with a printer and a free afternoon lives closer to the eastern slope.

That is the pattern. Zip ties (or a T-post and whatever is in the Jeep) get the first link live. The community notices, offers hardware, and pushes the install forward. ME0002 went from orange ties to ANDMan's bracket. Topaz will get its turn. The mesh grows either way.

Thank you​

Thank you again, ANDMan. ME0002 is secure on a windy summit, and the rest of us have a clear example of what community iteration looks like in the field.

Thank you also to Imperator and MSPMesh. The DorkNode design we run started as their thoughtful enclosure work. He noticed our mount, named the better path, and helped the whole network level up.

If you live near a MeshEnvy node and want to iterate on a mount, say something. We might owe you a kombucha too.