Your Sovereign Server

The Sovereign Node — Build Sheet

A household/town node is the smallest complete piece of the OST operating system: a low-power computer that hosts local apps and data, speaks the sovereign mesh, and keeps working when the barge, the grid, and the satellite all fail.

Hosts

Local-first apps — library, school, health records, dashboards

Speaks the mesh

Reticulum over LoRa, Meshtastic, and Wi-Fi HaLow

Stores

Town data on QDN — feeless, censorship-resistant

Powers itself

Solar + battery, a source of resilience

Belongs to you

Open hardware, open firmware, no subscription

Three Build Tiers

TIER 1

The Messenger

Entry Mesh Node

A person or household on the mesh — encrypted text, location, telemetry, no internet needed. The on-ramp.

~$95range: $45 – $120

Components

RAK WisBlock Meshtastic Starter Kit or Heltec LoRa32 V3

LoRa mesh node, encrypted by default

$25 – $61

915 MHz whip or high-gain antenna

Range extension

$5 – $20

18650 cell + holder or 1200 mAh LiPo

Runtime

$6 – $12

5–6 V / 1–2 W solar panel (optional)

Indefinite uptime

$8 – $15

RAK Unify or 3D-printed enclosure

Weather protection

$0 – $15

TIER 2

The Hearth

Household/Neighborhood Server + IP Mesh

The real Sovereign Server — hosts apps and data, bridges LoRa to full IP networking. The Parallel "Haven" pattern.

~$375range: $320 – $650

Components

Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB) or Pi 4 (8 GB)

Runs Qortal Core, Reticulum, local apps

$70 – $95

128–256 GB microSD or NVMe + HAT

OS + QDN data + offline library

$15 – $40

USB-C PD supply + active cooler

Stable headless operation

$15 – $25

Heltec LoRa32 V3 or RAK4631 as RNode

LoRa interface for IP mesh

$25 – $40

Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) USB/HAT adapter

Higher-bandwidth hub-to-hub

$40 – $90

LoRa whip + HaLow antenna

Range

$15 – $40

50–100 W panel + controller + LiFePO₄

Off-grid uptime

$120 – $260

Weatherproof IP-rated box

Outdoor/rooftop siting

$20 – $60

TIER 3

The Beacon

Solar Town Relay on High Ground

The hilltop repeater that turns a cluster of nodes into a town-wide mesh. Height × antenna × line-of-sight is everything.

~$750range: $325 – $800

Components

nRF52840 LoRa node (RAK4631)

Low-power solar repeater

$30 – $60

915 MHz 5–8 dBi antenna + low-loss coax

Maximize line-of-sight reach

$40 – $120

Pi Zero 2 W or Pi 4 (optional)

Multi-interface bridge

$15 – $95

100 W panel + MPPT + 50 Ah LiFePO₄

Unattended year-round

$180 – $320

Pole, guy lines, IP67 box

Survive the Lost Coast

$60 – $200

Procurement & Openness Notes

The 2026 memory crunch is real. An AI-driven LPDDR4 shortage pushed Raspberry Pi prices up sharply. The Pi 5 8 GB rose to roughly $95. OST mitigations: prefer the 4 GB Pi 5 or 8 GB Pi 4; the design is board-agnostic.

The openness gap, named. The SBC’s SoC and LoRa transceiver are not open silicon today. These go in the OST Openness Gap Register, with the roadmap watching RISC-V and sodium-ion progress. We don’t claim purity; we track it shrinking.

Safety: Never transmit LoRa without an antenna attached. Set transmit power to your local regulations (US = 915 MHz ISM). LiFePO₄ over generic LiPo for fixed installs.

“Build Your Node” — The 6-Step Path

Choose your tier

Messenger, Hearth, or Beacon.

Gather the kit

Order from the BOM links.

Flash the radios

Meshtastic web flasher for LoRa; RNode firmware for Reticulum.

Stand up the server

Image the SBC, install Qortal Core + Hub, Reticulum, and local-app bundle.

Join the mesh

Set your channel/keys, point at the nearest Beacon.

Light it up

Your node now serves the town library, dashboards, and messaging.