About DFTZ
An off-grid IoT platform for monitoring and controlling equipment on rural properties. Built on Meshtastic mesh radio.
What This Is
DFTZ lets you monitor gates, sensors, and equipment across a property with no cell service. Solar-powered LoRa mesh nodes relay data to a web dashboard where you can see everything in real time.
Under the hood: Meshtastic firmware on LoRa radios, MQTT for data transport, InfluxDB for time-series storage, PostgreSQL for node metadata, and Next.js for the dashboard.
Example Deployment
A property has 3 DropLinks on gates, 1 Mesh Sensor on a water tank, and 1 RAK Gateway near the house. The dashboard shows gate status, water level, battery health, and GPS positions for all nodes — updated in real time over the mesh.
What does DFTZ stand for?
Delta Frank Tango Zebra — NATO phonetic alphabet, reimagined.🤿 🌭 💃 🦓
Technology Stack
Meshtastic
Open-source firmware for LoRa radios. Handles mesh routing, encryption, and device management.
meshtastic.org →MQTT + InfluxDB
Gateway publishes to Mosquitto MQTT broker. Telemetry stored in InfluxDB for time-series queries.
Next.js + PostgreSQL
Web dashboard built with Next.js. User accounts and node metadata stored in PostgreSQL.
Hardware Status
Current hardware is based on off-the-shelf components:
LoRa Radios
- • Heltec V3 boards
- • RAK WisBlock (RAK4631 + RAK19007)
- • LilyGo T-Beam (for GPS)
Enclosures
- • Generic weatherproof boxes
- • 6V solar panels
- • 18650 battery holders
Sensors
- • BsLatch magnetic reed switches
- • I2C temperature/humidity
- • Analog water level probes
Gateway
- • RAK WisBlock with WiFi
- • Meshtastic MQTT module enabled
- • Connected to cloud server
Questions?
This is a personal project. Feel free to explore the dashboard or reach out if you have questions.