deep dive
10 posts
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Why Radio Speaks in Decibels
Understanding dBm from first principles: where the decibel came from, why radio power is logarithmic, and the physics that sets the noise floor.
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Every Node Heard It Twice
Duplicate packet floods in a LoRa mesh waste airtime and hide real problems. What causes them, how MeshCore suppresses them, and how to read Live Packets.
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If the Map Shows It
An evidence-based mesh network map draws only edges it can verify: enrolled observers and authenticated repeaters. No proof, no line.
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How MeshCore Packets Become a Live Map
How a raw MeshCore packet turns into a verified edge on Waev's Live Map: MQTT ingest, hop record parsing, and topology drawing explained.
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Measuring Your LoRa Link Margin
Measure LoRa link margin from SNR data. Target 15–20 dB above the demodulation floor for outdoor mesh. Track trends to catch margin erosion before failure.
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Spoofed Node Prefix on a Mesh Map
What happens when a spoofed node prefix appears on a MeshCore mesh map, and why Waev's evidence-based topology rejects inferred edges rather than drawing them.
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Tuning a LoRa Antenna with a NanoVNA
How to measure and interpret SWR at 915 MHz using a NanoVNA: what the numbers mean, what a well-matched LoRa antenna looks like, and what to do when the dip is at the wrong frequency.
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What Is SNR in LoRa Radio?
SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) is the dB margin above the noise floor. This covers what the values mean for LoRa and why negative SNR still decodes in MeshCore.
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Why Mesh Packets Disappear
Four reasons a LoRa mesh packet disappears: RF margin, collision, duty-cycle hold, and coverage gap. How to tell them apart in Live Packets.
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From Radio to Map
The pipeline from a radio broadcast to a verified edge on Waev's Live Map: how enrolled observers, your MQTT broker, and the ingest edge work together.
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