February 21, 2026
Airwaves, meet chaos
MeshTNC is a tool for turning consumer grade LoRa radios into KISS TNC compatib
Hams Are Hype: Cheap LoRa radios become plug‑and‑play “packet” modems
TLDR: MeshTNC lets cheap LoRa radios act like simple modems that work with classic ham tools, enabling easy off‑grid messaging. Commenters split between ecstatic tinkerers planning wild bridges and skeptics asking if packet radio still matters—nostalgia, memes, and mischief fuel a loud comeback debate.
Nerds with antennas are freaking out: MeshTNC just turned cheap long‑range LoRa gadgets into plug‑and‑play “packet” modems that work with old‑school ham radio tools. Translation: you can flash a device with the new firmware, flip on KISS mode (a simple modem format), and suddenly classic apps like APRS (location and messages over radio) and even Linux’s built‑in packet radio stack start talking. The devs dropped code on GitHub and easy builds on Releases, plus a point‑and‑click flasher. There’s even Bluetooth scanning and packet logging for the snoopy among us.
The comments? Pure chaos in the best way. One tinkerer basically screamed “F*. Yeah. Bud.**” and plotted to wire this into their homegrown AX.25 (packet radio) stack, imagining ridiculous bridge setups and “extra spicy” experiments. Another commenter deadpanned that seeing the word “spicy” outside of AI chat made their week. Meanwhile, the old guard wandered in with a reality check: is packet radio still a thing or are we resurrecting a fossil?
So you’ve got three camps: the jubilant hackers soldering dreams together, the meme squad riffing on AI‑speak, and the veterans asking if this is a comeback or cosplay. Either way, the vibe is DIY radio is cool again—or at least loud again. And with a few serial commands and KISS mode, MeshTNC makes the barrier to airwave mischief feel delightfully thin.
Key Points
- •MeshTNC is an open-source firmware/tool that routes LoRa data and adds KISS TNC compatibility for consumer-grade radios.
- •It provides a serial CLI with commands for raw LoRa transmission, radio configuration, LoRa/BLE packet logging, and BLE scan controls.
- •KISS mode enables interoperability with APRS software and the Linux kernel; enable via 'serial mode kiss' and exit with a KISS escape sequence.
- •Compilation uses PlatformIO in Visual Studio Code; precompiled releases are on GitHub, with flashing via MeshCore Flasher, OEM tools, or VS Code workflows.
- •APRS over LoRa is supported, with example radio settings provided; xastir and APRSISCE32 have been tested for compatibility.