Lab · R&D

Building around the clock.

The same instincts that run a show — signal flow, reliability, a clear interface under pressure — applied to show-control tools, radios, microcontrollers and printed parts.

Cairn firmware running on a Seeed Wio Tracker L2 Pro in its 3D-printed case, showing the chats screen

CairnCustom MeshCore firmware

A LoRa mesh messenger you run entirely from the touchscreen.

My build of the open-source MeshCore companion firmware. Stock mesh and radio behavior — fully compatible with the official MeshCore apps — with a complete on-device interface, and a 3D-printed case designed for the Wio Tracker L2 Pro.

  • Chats & nodes. Channels, DMs and rooms as bubbles, a full keyboard with color emoji, and nodes with hops, distance and bearing.
  • Radio tools. Live spectrum, channel airtime, band scan with waterfall, repeater scan and remote repeater admin.
  • GPS & offline maps. Course compass, node map by bearing and distance, and microSD map tiles.
  • Wi-Fi updates. Checks GitHub releases, verifies size, SHA-256 and board marker, and installs only after you confirm.
  • iPhone & iPad companion. The Cairn app pairs over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for messages, repeater admin, spectrum and maps on a bigger screen — free, and in beta on TestFlight now.
Firmware on GitHub Latest firmware release iOS app

Screens

Every screen, on the device.

Nineteen pages, one thumb. Swipe through the interface — screens use fictional sample data.

Cairn Home screen
01Home
Cairn Chats screen
02Chats
Cairn Conversation screen
03Conversation
Cairn Keyboard screen
04Keyboard
Cairn Nodes screen
05Nodes
Cairn Node detail screen
06Node detail
Cairn Radio screen
07Radio
Cairn GPS screen
08GPS
Cairn Settings screen
09Settings
Cairn Lock screen
10Lock screen
Cairn Quick panel screen
11Quick panel
Cairn Spectrum screen
12Spectrum
Cairn Band scan screen
13Band scan
Cairn Offline map screen
14Offline map
Cairn Repeater scan screen
15Repeater scan
Cairn Repeater admin screen
16Repeater admin
Cairn Nodes as cards screen
17Nodes as cards
Cairn Channels screen
18Channels
Cairn Firmware update screen
19Firmware update
Cairn radio tools: spectrum, band scan and repeater scan
Cairn messaging with chat bubbles and emoji keyboard
BoardChipInterface
Seeed Wio Tracker L1 PronRF52840OLED, 2.42" SSD1309 or e-ink; joystick
Seeed Wio Tracker L2 ProESP32-S33.2" 320×240 touchscreen, native touch UI
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V4 + 2.8" touchESP32-S3Same touch UI as the L2
Heltec Mesh Node T096nRF528400.96" TFT, one button, themed UI

Show tools

Everyone sees how much time is left.

Companion apps for the media server. Crew and talent read the countdown on their own screen, and the operator can fire cues from a tablet or laptop beside the server. Independent tools, not made by or affiliated with Anomes or AV Stumpfl.

TRT on an iPad and an iPhone following a Millumin layer called Opener: red on the iPad at 7 seconds left with all five layer timers, orange on the iPhone at 11, above Stop, PREV, GO and Pause, 10 to 60 second jump buttons and a grid of colored cue buttons
SHOW TOOL · IN DEVELOPMENT

TRT

Timecode and playback monitor for Millumin, on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

  • Timecode, media name and time left for every layer, with countdown colors at 60, 30, 15 and 10 seconds.
  • A full-screen countdown for talent or crew over HDMI, AirPlay or USB-C.
  • GO and PREV, play and pause, a column grid and one-tap jumps to the last 60, 30, 20 or 10 seconds.
  • SwiftUI
  • OSC
  • iOS · macOS
Pixera Assistant on three iPhones counting down to the next cue of a Pixera timeline: green at 45 seconds, yellow at 22 and red at 7, each above Stop, PREV, NEXT and Pause, frame-step buttons and a grid of cues tinted with their Pixera colors
SHOW TOOL · v1.0

Pixera Assistant

Cue and timecode monitor for AV Stumpfl Pixera, on Mac, iPhone, iPad and Windows.

  • A live countdown to the next cue, with countdown colors at 60, 30, 15 and 10 seconds and progress between cues.
  • A large countdown on a second display for talent and crew.
  • Cue grid, NEXT and PREV, play, pause, stop and seek, plus keyboard shortcuts you assign.
  • SwiftUI
  • WPF / .NET
  • JSON-RPC

On the bench

Hardware, designed and printed in-house.

When a show needs a case, a mount or a small controller that doesn't exist yet, I design it, write the firmware and print the parts.

3D PRINTING

Enclosures & mounts

Cases for LoRa trackers, ESP32 boards and displays, designed around the hardware and printed in-house.

EMBEDDED & RADIO

ESP32, nRF52 & mesh radio

Custom firmware, small displays and rotary controls for gadgets that do one job well, plus LoRa mesh, software-defined radio and home automation.

Custom builds

Need a custom tool or rig for a show?

A cue monitor, a control surface, a firmware tweak or a printed mount. Tell me what the show needs and I'll tell you how I'd build it.

Talk about a build