Ratcom

Standalone Reticulum for the M5Stack Cardputer

Ratcom turns an M5Stack Cardputer Adv into a full standalone Reticulum node. It's not just an RNode which requires another device — it's the complete setup.

End-to-end encrypted LXMF messaging over LoRa, TCP over WiFi for bridging to the wider Reticulum network, node discovery, identity management, and more.

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_{▶ YouTube: Reticulum Standalone - T-Deck & Cardputer Adv}

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Installing

The easiest way is the web flasher — enable download mode (hold G0 while plugging it in), select the USB, click flash, done.

To build from source:

git clone https://github.com/ratspeak/ratcom
cd ratcom
pip install platformio
python3 -m platformio run -e ratputer_915 -t upload

If upload fails at 921600 baud, use esptool directly at 460800 or lower. See docs/BUILDING.md for details.

Usage

On first boot, Ratcom generates a Reticulum identity and shows a name input screen. Your LXMF address (32-character hex string) is what you share with contacts.

Tabs: Home, Messages, Nodes, Setup — navigate with , and / (arrow) keys.

Manually announce: To send an announcement manually, press the trackball or enter on the home tab.

Sending a message: Select a node from the Nodes tab, press Enter, type, press Enter to send. Messages are encrypted end-to-end with Ed25519 signatures. Radio presets (Setup → Radio):

• Long Range — SF12, 62.5 kHz, 22 dBm. Longest distance, slow.
• Balanced — SF9, 125 kHz, 17 dBm. Medium distance, medium.
• Fast — SF7, 250 kHz, 14 dBm. Shortest distance, fast.

All radio parameters are individually tunable. Changes apply immediately, no reboot. Please operate in accordance with local laws, as you are solely responsible for knowing which regulations and requirements apply to your jurisdiction.

WiFi Bridging (Alpha)

Use STA mode to connect to existing WiFi and reach remote nodes like rns.ratspeak.org:4242.

To bridge LoRa with Reticulum on your computer:

1. Set WiFi to AP mode in Setup → Network (creates ratcom-XXXX, password: ratspeak)
2. Connect your computer to that network
3. Add to your Reticulum config:

[[ratdeck]]
  type = TCPClientInterface
  target_host = 192.168.4.1
  target_port = 4242

Note: WiFi bridging methods and interfaces will be revamped with Ratspeak's client release, therefore, it's unlikely AP mode works at all currently.

Docs

The detailed stuff lives in docs/:

• Quick Start — first build, first boot, first message
• Building — build flags, esptool, merged binaries, CI
• Architecture — layer diagram, design decisions
• Development — adding screens, transports, settings
• Hotkeys — full keyboard reference
• Pin Map — GPIO assignments
• Troubleshooting — radio, build, boot, storage

License

GPL-3.0