Heltec Mesh Node T096

⚠️ Check that radio.rxgain(on) and flood.advert.base (0.308) are set correctly after flashing! ⚠️

This build is based on official MeshCore 1.15.0 dev branch (as of 25-May-2026 and additionally includes the following unmerged upstream PRs/changes:

• PR2553: Limit flood advert packet forwarding --> set flood.advert.base 0...1 (0: no flood adv. forwarding, 0.308: default, 1: all flood adv. forwarding)
• PR1810: Allow direct message paths when denyf * is set
• :new: PR1727: Use hardware channel activity detection for checking interference --> Use set int.thresh 1 to activate hw based channel activity detection.
• :new: PR2377: Disable NRF52 undervoltage bootlock feature

Additional changes:

• Flood adverts are disabled (flood.advert.interval set to 0) by default
• :new: modified PR1810 to not block flood adverts but only PAYLOADTYPEGRPTXT and PAYLOADTYPEGRPDATA so that some limited flood advert distribution can be managed via PR2553 to support e.g. observer maps.

Changelog:

• Based on dev v1.15.0 as of 25-May-2026

Full Changelog: https://github.com/mattzzw/MeshCore-Evo/compare/v1.15.0-evo0.1.20...v1.15.0-evo0.1.21

Based on MeshCore v1.15 plus the below features:

Developed by IoTThinks and tested by our supportive friends and MeshCore community. Current Contribution to Meshcore: By IoTThinks%20is%3Apr%20author%3A%40IoTThinks). You may feedback there to get them merged faster to MeshCore main stream. If you want us to compile for your boards or have question, please comment in GITHUB or DISCORD

Updates:

15 May 2026: PS v15.0.2: Fixed boot loop due to flash mode for Xiao C6
10 May 2026: PS v15.0.2: Fixed FEM Off version for T096 BLE companions. The external LNA was fixed to off properly to reach -115 dbm noise floor.
04 May 2026: [BLE Companions for ESP32] PS v15.0.1: Skipped sleep when BLE read is busy and reduced sleep period from 50ms to 10ms.
27 April 2026: [Heltec v4 repeaters and room servers] PS v15.0.1: Applied latest changes in https://github.com/meshcore-dev/MeshCore/pull/2140. Fixed missing get radio.fem.rxgrain and not persisted radio.fem.rxgrain accross reboots.

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STAR Features:

• ESP32 BLE Companions: Officially support PowerSaving for ALL ESP32/S3/C3 BLE Companions. Fast loading of channels and contacts. Fixed hibernation mode for Heltec v3 and v4. ESP32C6 (including Xiao C6) is not supported yet.

| Board | Power Consumption | | ------------- | ------------- | | Heltec v3 | 100 mA => 19.6 mA | | Heltec v4.2 and v4.3 (FEM ON) | 120mA => 24.9mA | | Heltec v4.3 (FEM Off) | 120mA => 18mA | | Xiao S3 | 7x mA => 16.3 mA | | Xiao C3 | 7xmA => 15.1mA |

• [BETA] Repeater and room servers: No time drift by applying a time adjustment offset during "powersaving on"

Power Saving:

Latest Power Saving to Repeater, Room Server and BLE Companion. One 3000mAh battery can last an ESP32 repeaters, room servers and BLE companions for a week.

| Role | NRF52 | ESP32 | CLI Commands |
| ------------- | ------------- | ------------- | ------------- |
| Repeater / Room Server | 8mA => 5.8mA | 50+mA => 10-13mA | powersaving on, powersaving off, powersaving |
| BLE Companion | 12mA => 5.8mA | 120mA => 15-20mA | Enabled by default |

Extra Features:

Merged to add CLI control to LoRa's FEM LNA: https://github.com/meshcore-dev/MeshCore/pull/2140. CLI: set radio.fem.rxgrain on/off and get radio.fem.rxgrain Added CLI "powerlog" to list the last reset reason, last shutdown reason (NRF52 only) and last boot voltage (NRF52 only). This is to help debugging why the boards were reset due to software fault or low voltage (brownout). Included sensor CLI to list I2C and UART GPIOs: sensor Merged to keep date after crash/watchdog/brownout reset on ESP32: https://github.com/meshcore-dev/MeshCore/pull/1896 Automatically selected I2C address 0x76 and 0x77 for BME280/BME680/BMP280 Added i2c probe for sensors to start only in-use sensors. Added variant Xiao S3 (non-Wio) and Wio SX1262 (Initial support): SDA=D6, SCL=D7 https://github.com/meshcore-dev/MeshCore/pull/2383

Instruction:

Please upgrade your easy to access devices first. Download: Download upgrade.bin to upgrade existing devices or freshInstall-merged.bin for new devices. Instruction to Flash Custom Firmware. Please read the instruction in Add sensors to repeaters Source code for PowerSaving 15

Demo

Power Saving

Enter powersaving mode (CLI > powersaving on), 5.5mA for Heltec v4.3 with FEM and rxgain off, 5.8mA if FEM off and rxgain on. 13mA for Heltec v4.2 or Heltec V4.3 with FEM and rxgain on. 5.0mA for RAK4631

<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/be6e298d-4931-4e83-8220-0d072f8aeefd" />
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/924aa3a5-64d0-4112-aa66-6ff72178d3ac" />
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/903d899d-66c4-4d88-bf61-e9601797009f" />

Default PowerSaving for ESP32 companion BLE. Reduced from 120mA down to 15-25mA.
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bcae8449-4646-4a98-852f-312582686ad6" />
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2fc5bee1-fe89-4c8f-8097-2db181d89f4a" />
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/656fcd90-3211-4044-832b-a63f30c2fb4a" />
<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7611ebb5-d2d1-42b7-8845-6016e838b0cf" />

PowerLog CLI

Enter CLI "powerlog" to see last reset/shutdown reason and the battery voltage during last boot. <img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/79a31bf6-a0c2-46d3-bf7e-d63ca27e3014" /> <img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1870c4e7-5942-466e-af0c-66e7567c7aae" />

Sensor CLI

• Enter CLI "sensor" to check I2C and GPS Serial pins

<img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/060dd847-5984-4dc2-a5fe-cfe81180dc6c" /> <img height="384" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/49f25de7-a122-480f-a54a-a7176ec25f26" />

Built for long off-road adventures and harsh winter conditions

• Based on MeshCore 1.17.1 mainline.
• Developed by IoTThinks and tested by our supportive MeshCore friends.
• Contribution to MeshCore: By IoTThinks%20is%3Apr%20author%3A%40IoTThinks).
• Source code: https://github.com/IoTThinks/MeshCore/tree/PowerSaving-v17
• With contributions from Dom4n and MeshCore friends

Notices:

16 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.5

• Disabled automatic light sleep for USB Companion on ESP32 for better serial connectivity.

15 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.4

• Imported a fix for RAK 3401 battery variant from MeshCore dev. If there is no GPS module, 5V power to the LoRa 1W will be floating and unable to provide maximum TX power as expected. Thanks Mr. Martenumberto for your discovery and persistence.
• Added BSEC for BME680 on RAK 3401

13 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.3

• (Repeater) RXPSv2: Better power consumption for "set radio.rxps balanced". You can now use "set radio.rxps max". All CLIs are at RXPS CLIs
• (Companion) RXPSv2 is enabled by default with powersaving on.
• (Repeater) Added support of button press for ESP32 repeaters with powersaving on
• (Repeater) Fixed crash if doing "gps" on ESP32 repeaters without GPS module
• (Companion) Moved uptime to below battery icon. Shifted dots left.
• (Repeaters and sensors) Added "If GPS on after powersaving on", telemetry request will trigger GPS update"
• (Sensors) Added MCU temperature
• (Sensor) Added PowerSaving for sensor firmware
• Added Tracker v2 and T-Deck
• Added heltec

trackerv2companionradiousbfemoff and heltectrackerv2companionradiousb_femon

Added board MKE-S3 (Vietnam)

10 Sep 2026: In case you can not see the "uptime" clearly in companions, please upgrade to PowerSaving 17.1.3 05 Sep 2026: You are advised to reboot repeaters / room servers after on/off or changing RXPS settings. Thanks Mr. Gordon for extensive testing.

Custom Development and Partnership

If you want custom development for your projects, Contact Us Looking for Partnership? Discuss Partnership

Support PowerSaving?

Support the development via  or . Buy boards with a coupon and help support ongoing development.

Instruction:

• Flash Custom Firmware as in INSTRUCTION. 👈
• Scroll down to bottom to download uf2 / upgrade.bin to upgrade or freshInstall-merged.bin for new devices. 👈
• Heltec v4 bin files is for both Heltec v4.2 and v4.3. Heltec v4.3 bin files is for Heltec v4.3 only
• Heltec v4.3 and T096 have two options FEM RXgain on and FEM Rxgain off.
• If for board build or support, please ask us at GITHUB or Discord

Quick Usage

Repeaters / Room servers

All PowerSaving features are disabled by default and persisted across reboots. PowerSaving: powersaving on, powersaving off and powersaving GPS PowerSaving: powersaving on then gps on and gps. RX PowerSaving: set radio.rxps balanced and get radio.rxps. Repeaters with RXPS enabled are less affected by noises from cell towers. It may due to LoRa RX only wakes up periodically. Added Battery voltage and PowerSaving status to repeater OLED Set dark theme for Heltec T096. For Heltec v4.3, 4.3R8, T096 and Tracker v2, you may set FEM off to save 10mA: set radio.fem.rxgain off

BLE / USB Companions

All PowerSaving features are enabled by default. GPS PowerSaving is enabled when you enable Position in MeshCore app. Added uptime for all companions. Set dark theme for Heltec T096.

• For Heltec v4.3, 4.3R8, T096 and Tracker v2, you may use femoff version to save 10mA.

Complete Guides in Wiki

Check the PowerSaving Wiki for more details:

• All the features
• All CLI commands
• How it works
• Test results

Enjoy MeshCore with PowerSaving. 👍

Built for long off-road adventures and harsh winter conditions

• Based on MeshCore 1.17.1 mainline.
• Developed by IoTThinks and tested by our supportive MeshCore friends.
• Contribution to MeshCore: By IoTThinks%20is%3Apr%20author%3A%40IoTThinks).
• Source code: https://github.com/IoTThinks/MeshCore/tree/PowerSaving-v17
• With contributions from Dom4n and MeshCore friends

Notices:

16 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.5

• Disabled automatic light sleep for USB Companion on ESP32 for better serial connectivity.

15 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.4

• Imported a fix for RAK 3401 battery variant from MeshCore dev. If there is no GPS module, 5V power to the LoRa 1W will be floating and unable to provide maximum TX power as expected. Thanks Mr. Martenumberto for your discovery and persistence.
• Added BSEC for BME680 on RAK 3401

13 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.3

• (Repeater) RXPSv2: Better power consumption for "set radio.rxps balanced". You can now use "set radio.rxps max". All CLIs are at RXPS CLIs
• (Companion) RXPSv2 is enabled by default with powersaving on.
• (Repeater) Added support of button press for ESP32 repeaters with powersaving on
• (Repeater) Fixed crash if doing "gps" on ESP32 repeaters without GPS module
• (Companion) Moved uptime to below battery icon. Shifted dots left.
• (Repeaters and sensors) Added "If GPS on after powersaving on", telemetry request will trigger GPS update"
• (Sensors) Added MCU temperature
• (Sensor) Added PowerSaving for sensor firmware
• Added Tracker v2 and T-Deck
• Added heltec

trackerv2companionradiousbfemoff and heltectrackerv2companionradiousb_femon

Added board MKE-S3 (Vietnam)

10 Sep 2026: In case you can not see the "uptime" clearly in companions, please upgrade to PowerSaving 17.1.3 05 Sep 2026: You are advised to reboot repeaters / room servers after on/off or changing RXPS settings. Thanks Mr. Gordon for extensive testing.

Custom Development and Partnership

If you want custom development for your projects, Contact Us Looking for Partnership? Discuss Partnership

Support PowerSaving?

Support the development via  or . Buy boards with a coupon and help support ongoing development.

Instruction:

• Flash Custom Firmware as in INSTRUCTION. 👈
• Scroll down to bottom to download uf2 / upgrade.bin to upgrade or freshInstall-merged.bin for new devices. 👈
• Heltec v4 bin files is for both Heltec v4.2 and v4.3. Heltec v4.3 bin files is for Heltec v4.3 only
• Heltec v4.3 and T096 have two options FEM RXgain on and FEM Rxgain off.
• If for board build or support, please ask us at GITHUB or Discord

Quick Usage

Repeaters / Room servers

All PowerSaving features are disabled by default and persisted across reboots. PowerSaving: powersaving on, powersaving off and powersaving GPS PowerSaving: powersaving on then gps on and gps. RX PowerSaving: set radio.rxps balanced and get radio.rxps. Repeaters with RXPS enabled are less affected by noises from cell towers. It may due to LoRa RX only wakes up periodically. Added Battery voltage and PowerSaving status to repeater OLED Set dark theme for Heltec T096. For Heltec v4.3, 4.3R8, T096 and Tracker v2, you may set FEM off to save 10mA: set radio.fem.rxgain off

BLE / USB Companions

All PowerSaving features are enabled by default. GPS PowerSaving is enabled when you enable Position in MeshCore app. Added uptime for all companions. Set dark theme for Heltec T096.

• For Heltec v4.3, 4.3R8, T096 and Tracker v2, you may use femoff version to save 10mA.

Complete Guides in Wiki

Check the PowerSaving Wiki for more details:

• All the features
• All CLI commands
• How it works
• Test results

Enjoy MeshCore with PowerSaving. 👍

Built for long off-road adventures and harsh winter conditions

• Based on MeshCore 1.17.1 mainline.
• Developed by IoTThinks and tested by our supportive MeshCore friends.
• Contribution to MeshCore: By IoTThinks%20is%3Apr%20author%3A%40IoTThinks).
• Source code: https://github.com/IoTThinks/MeshCore/tree/PowerSaving-v17
• With contributions from Dom4n and MeshCore friends

Notices:

16 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.5

• Disabled automatic light sleep for USB Companion on ESP32 for better serial connectivity.

15 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.4

• Imported a fix for RAK 3401 battery variant from MeshCore dev. If there is no GPS module, 5V power to the LoRa 1W will be floating and unable to provide maximum TX power as expected. Thanks Mr. Martenumberto for your discovery and persistence.
• Added BSEC for BME680 on RAK 3401

13 Sep 2026: PowerSaving 17.1.3

• (Repeater) RXPSv2: Better power consumption for "set radio.rxps balanced". You can now use "set radio.rxps max". All CLIs are at RXPS CLIs
• (Companion) RXPSv2 is enabled by default with powersaving on.
• (Repeater) Added support of button press for ESP32 repeaters with powersaving on
• (Repeater) Fixed crash if doing "gps" on ESP32 repeaters without GPS module
• (Companion) Moved uptime to below battery icon. Shifted dots left.
• (Repeaters and sensors) Added "If GPS on after powersaving on", telemetry request will trigger GPS update"
• (Sensors) Added MCU temperature
• (Sensor) Added PowerSaving for sensor firmware
• Added Tracker v2 and T-Deck
• Added heltec

trackerv2companionradiousbfemoff and heltectrackerv2companionradiousb_femon

Added board MKE-S3 (Vietnam)

10 Sep 2026: In case you can not see the "uptime" clearly in companions, please upgrade to PowerSaving 17.1.3 05 Sep 2026: You are advised to reboot repeaters / room servers after on/off or changing RXPS settings. Thanks Mr. Gordon for extensive testing.

Custom Development and Partnership

If you want custom development for your projects, Contact Us Looking for Partnership? Discuss Partnership

Support PowerSaving?

Support the development via  or . Buy boards with a coupon and help support ongoing development.

Instruction:

• Flash Custom Firmware as in INSTRUCTION. 👈
• Scroll down to bottom to download uf2 / upgrade.bin to upgrade or freshInstall-merged.bin for new devices. 👈
• Heltec v4 bin files is for both Heltec v4.2 and v4.3. Heltec v4.3 bin files is for Heltec v4.3 only
• Heltec v4.3 and T096 have two options FEM RXgain on and FEM Rxgain off.
• If for board build or support, please ask us at GITHUB or Discord

Quick Usage

Repeaters / Room servers

All PowerSaving features are disabled by default and persisted across reboots. PowerSaving: powersaving on, powersaving off and powersaving GPS PowerSaving: powersaving on then gps on and gps. RX PowerSaving: set radio.rxps balanced and get radio.rxps. Repeaters with RXPS enabled are less affected by noises from cell towers. It may due to LoRa RX only wakes up periodically. Added Battery voltage and PowerSaving status to repeater OLED Set dark theme for Heltec T096. For Heltec v4.3, 4.3R8, T096 and Tracker v2, you may set FEM off to save 10mA: set radio.fem.rxgain off

BLE / USB Companions

All PowerSaving features are enabled by default. GPS PowerSaving is enabled when you enable Position in MeshCore app. Added uptime for all companions. Set dark theme for Heltec T096.

• For Heltec v4.3, 4.3R8, T096 and Tracker v2, you may use femoff version to save 10mA.

Complete Guides in Wiki

Check the PowerSaving Wiki for more details:

• All the features
• All CLI commands
• How it works
• Test results

Enjoy MeshCore with PowerSaving. 👍

v1.16_0607

• Companion UI: Native multilingual display on Heltec T096 (ST7735S)

Node names and messages now render natively on the T096 color TFT — characters are displayed as-is instead of being converted to ASCII equivalents. Supported languages include all 31 from v1.14 plus additional scripts:

Latin-based: Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Welsh

Cyrillic: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian

Greek: Greek

• Companion UI: Contacts screen now includes room servers; request telemetry from any contact.

Room servers appear in the contact list tagged [R]. Selecting any contact — chat node or room server — and long pressing opens an action menu: Send message or Request telemetry. Requesting telemetry displays the node's battery voltage and GPS coordinates (if present); long press to open the GPS Trace screen for that location.

GPS coordinates follow the Pos. Format selected in Settings (DD, UTM, or MGRS).

The message inbox group list now tags group/channel entries with [G] and room server entries with [R] for consistent visual distinction. Each room message shows the original author's name. When viewing a room message, long press to open the popup and select Reply to post back to the room (visible to all subscribers).

> Private room servers: messaging requires a prior login. Public rooms (no password) work without any login. For private rooms, log in once via the MeshCore app — if your account has admin rights on that room server, the session persists across reboots. Regular user sessions are not saved to flash and will require re-login after the room server reboots.

• Companion: switch the app connection between BLE and USB serial without reflashing.

In USB mode the node behaves like a standard usb build — the PC app connects over the USB serial port directly. Toggle via Settings → Connection Mode on the display, or via TerminalCLI: set conn.mode usb / set conn.mode ble. The setting persists across reboots. BLE toggle is hidden in the Settings menu while USB mode is active.

• Repeater, Room Sever: hold user button 5 seconds to power off.

Hold the user button for 5 seconds to power off the node — faster than reaching for the CLI when you're standing next to it. The LED blinks 5 times as a warning before shutdown.

• Repeater, Room Server: advert.hops.max default changed to 8; room server support added; flood.max.advert alias.

advert.hops.max now defaults to 8 instead of flood.max — advert relay limiting is active out of the box without any configuration. Room servers now also enforce this limit (previously repeater-only). The command flood.max.advert is accepted as an alias for compatibility with upstream firmware.

v1.170914

• Fix: Companion could crash on start ota and then stay in a boot loop. (Companion — ESP32 boards)

Affects v1.170913 companion builds; repeater and room server are not affected.

v1.170914

• Fix: Companion could crash on start ota and then stay in a boot loop. (Companion — ESP32 boards)

Affects v1.170913 companion builds; repeater and room server are not affected.

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...repeater-v1.0.1

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...companion-v1.0.1

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...companion-v1.0.1

Full Changelog: https://github.com/MichTronics/MeshCoreNG/compare/bridge-tcp-v1.0.5...room-server-v1.0.1