Curriculum
Being Restructured
The curriculum section is being reorganized. Workshop content is moving into the guides section. The pages below are preserved but may be outdated.
Hands-on workshops in mesh networking, RF engineering, and secure communications. Pick any topic that interests you. All workshops are free. We meet fortnightly in the L-A area.
Mesh Basics
6-part workshop covering mesh networking fundamentals and hands-on device setup.
- What is a mesh network? Topology, resilience, real-world applications
- LoRa radio: chirp spread spectrum, 915 MHz ISM, range vs data rate tradeoffs
- First message: power on, pair, send and receive on LA-Mesh
- Routing: hops, RSSI, SNR, how messages traverse the mesh
- Channels and encryption: AES-256, PSK, what "encrypted" really means
Encryption and Security
5-part workshop on the full encryption stack, threat modeling, and operational security.
- 3-layer encryption model: LoRa physical, AES-256-CTR channel, X25519 PKC for DMs
- PSK management: generation, secure distribution, rotation ceremony
- Case study: CVE-2025-52464 (duplicate crypto keys from vendor cloning)
- Threat modeling: actor/capability matrix for realistic adversary assessment
- OpSec practices: metadata awareness, position sharing, TAILS integration
SDR and RF Engineering
7-part lab using HackRF H4M for hands-on RF analysis and LoRa protocol dissection.
- SDR fundamentals: sampling, Nyquist, quadrature, dynamic range
- FCC Part 15.247: legal limits (30 dBm conducted, 36 dBm EIRP at 915 MHz)
- Live spectrum observation: RTL-SDR waterfall of 915 MHz band
- LoRa signal anatomy: chirp structure, spreading factors, bandwidth, coding rate
- GNU Radio + gr-lora_sdr: building a LoRa receiver flowgraph
TEMPEST and Emanation Security
3-hour lab on electromagnetic emanation analysis using HackRF H4M and PortaPack Mayhem.
- Emanation theory: Van Eck phreaking, video signal reconstruction
- Lab: spectrum survey with PortaPack Looking Glass
- Lab: VGA reconstruction with TempestSDR + HackRF
- Lab: HDMI capture with deep-tempest CNN enhancement
- Keyboard emanations, countermeasures, mesh implications
TAILS and Secure Communications
6-part lab on maximum operational security using TAILS OS with mesh networking.
- TAILS introduction: amnesic system, Tor routing, persistence volumes
- Mesh + TAILS combination: meshtastic-cli on TAILS, air-gapped workflows
- Hands-on: boot TAILS from USB, verify signatures, configure persistence
- 5-layer OpSec model: physical, digital, communications, behavioral, network
- Practical scenarios: journalist protection, protest communications, disaster response