About this Pager
You can build this touchscreen off-grid pager that uses LoRa and optionally GPS for location and tracking. This device lets you create (or join) a group of up to 90 devices in a private mesh network where you can send/receive messages, share location, and more.
You never know when you're going to need to be able to send messages between nearby family or friends, where cell phones don't work. You can also use these in combination with other devices (T-Deck, T-Beam, etc) and figure out where different devices are - even without having phones/internet/data. That can be really handy if you're hiking or camping in a far-out location.
How it's Built
- I designed a very simple PCB that accepts a few Adafruit components, that when combined with specialized firmware, become an off-grid communication device ready to be dropped into a 3D printed enclosure
- You can make the PCB (gerber files are included in this project) or order it from PCBWay
- The Adafruit parts are listed further down, but include Adafruit's RFM95W LoRa, 2.8" TFT Touchscreen with EYESPI & SD, Realtime Clock, FRAM, and a few other things
- After assembling these things, you'll need to flash it with firmware, which takes only a minute or so
Assembling the Pager
Here's a video demo of assembling the pager. Full detailed instructions are also available at my website:
Flashing the Pager
Installing the firmware (it's free). It just takes a minute and is done by connecting the pager to your PC and using a modern browser like Chrome.
Final Assembly - Putting Together the Enclosure
It's a little trickier than you might think, but this video should clear things up.
Helpful Links
Full DIY Guide
Firmware Download
3D Print Files
User Guide - This is for the touchscreen communicator but it's almost identical to the pager, except for the screen orientation
Helpful Videos
This page (LoRa Touchscreen Pager and Tracker for Private Off-Grid Messaging ) was last updated on November 21, 2025.