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Wish Machine Request — Letter to Electric Forest

This is a community-led open letter from Forest attendees to the staff of Electric Forest. We're asking for permission and support to expand Meshtastic infrastructure on-grounds — specifically, a single high-elevation repeater node at the Observatory Stage that would provide line-of-sight coverage across the entire Forest site.

This letter is not affiliated with or endorsed by Electric Forest, Insomniac, or Madison House Presents. It is sent on behalf of attendees organized through the EF Meshtastic Discord thread and represents a community request — not an official partnership.

The Letter

To the Kind and Visionary Staff of Electric Forest,

We are writing to you today with a simple, yet powerful proposal to significantly enhance the safety and communication experience for all Forest attendees: the installation of a single, dedicated Meshtastic LoRa node atop the Observatory Stage.

As you know, reliable cell service can be spotty in the Forest. Our community has begun embracing Meshtastic, a mesh radio communication network that allows attendees to send text messages and GPS coordinates without relying on cell towers. This initiative is entirely community-driven and aims to solve a fundamental Forest problem: finding your squad when the music is loud and the signal is out.

The success of this project hinges on network coverage. Our current, user-based network is a great start, but to truly become a reliable tool for the entire community — helping friends reconnect, coordinate meetups, and even assist with lost and found — we need a central, high-elevation point.

The Observatory Stage is the ideal location. Its height would provide Line of Sight (LOS) across the entire Electric Forest site. Placing a single router/node here would act as a powerful backbone, instantly expanding the network's reach and stability to cover the vast majority of the grounds. This single act would transform Meshtastic from a niche project into a robust, site-wide communication layer.

This small contribution would represent a massive success for the community, demonstrating a commitment to supporting independent, innovative solutions that directly benefit the Forest family.

We are ready to partner with you on the technical details. Please consider this request and help us find a kind-hearted EF employee who can assist us in placing a community Meshtastic node on the Observatory Stage.

Thank you for your time and for continuing to make Electric Forest an amazing place.

Sincerely,

The Electric Forest Meshtastic Community

Why the Observatory Stage?

A handful of practical reasons the Observatory was chosen as the ask:

  • Elevation. The single biggest factor in Meshtastic range is line-of-sight. Height beats wattage. The Observatory's elevation would put a node above the tree canopy that blocks most ground-level traffic in Sherwood.
  • One node, massive impact. Adding more low-elevation camp nodes helps the mesh incrementally. A single high-elevation backbone node helps the mesh exponentially.
  • Low operational footprint. Solar-powered repeaters like the WisMesh Repeater Mini or SenseCAP Solar Node P1 Pro don't need power runs, network drops, or maintenance during the weekend. Mount it, leave it, retrieve it Sunday night.
  • Festival-friendly. Meshtastic is text-only, low-power, and uses unlicensed ISM-band radio (the same 915 MHz band as cordless phones and baby monitors). It doesn't interfere with stage gear, comms, or licensed festival operations.

What We're Asking For

In short:

  1. Permission to mount one solar-powered Meshtastic repeater node at the Observatory Stage for the duration of the festival.
  2. Access to a kind-hearted EF staffer who can help with the placement and any logistics.
  3. A festival-friendly policy going forward for community-installed mesh infrastructure at expanded locations (e.g., Sherwood Court).

We bring our own hardware. We handle setup and tear-down. We follow whatever placement guidance EF gives us. We just need a yes.

Want to Help?

  • Bring a camp node. Every node added to the network strengthens it. See the Camp Nodes page for pre-built options.
  • Spread the word. Share this page with your Forest friends.

Join the EF Meshtastic Discord Camp Nodes Guide Back to Home