RADIO · ROBOTICS · RESEARCH
Open tools for hard times and clear nights.
"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff." — Carl Sagan
We believe that true community resilience isn't just about surviving disasters; it's about thriving daily through shared knowledge and capability.
In a digital era, we hold that neighbors who can build their own tools, maintain their own communication lines, and understand the sky above them are safer, more connected, and are more curious.
We are a "local-first" initiative, prioritizing technologies and skills that serve the neighborhood directly and function independently of the global grid or Internet. Our success is measured by those who we can bring along.
To equip our community to build infrastructure, communicate independently, and explore the natural world—ensuring connection and wonder. We thrive even when the lights go out.
Signals & Resilient Comms
We reclaim the airwaves to ensure neighbors can connect when traditional systems fail.
Machines & Making
We demystify technology by building open hardware that serves local needs. Every machine we build is a question answered, a problem solved.
The Sky & Citizen Science
We look up to regain perspective, navigation skills, and scientific literacy. The same stars that guided ancient mariners still shine for us.
Afternoon build of solar-powered LoRa/mesh nodes; evening meteors and star-party; live low-bandwidth chat via IRC bridge. Where signals meet shooting stars.
Weekend rover build for litter pickup and air-quality logging; display data under a kinetic-light canopy at dusk. Machines that serve the commons.
Hand-truck with battery, router, SDR, small scope, and projector; deploys anywhere for outreach or outages. A mobile ground station for Earth and sky.
Open-source software-defined phased array for Earth-Moon-Earth communication. Bounce signals off the Moon with a $49 SDR tile that scales to 240-antenna arrays. Open hardware empowering the public to connect across the world via space.
We do not hoard knowledge. If we build it, we document it. Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied.
Hardware fails; neighbors don't. Our systems are designed to connect people, not just devices. The strongest network is human.
We commit to a "Safety First" culture, requiring certification for high-power tools, strict RF compliance, and dark-sky discipline. We build for generations.
$10/month keeps a mesh node online, extending our community's resilient communications network across the neighborhood.
Learn to solder, build rovers, operate ham radio, or navigate by the stars. Scholarships available. Everyone can be a maker.
Grants available for open community builds with publicly published deliverables. Your idea, our support.