Meshtastic - Anyone Using It?

[spongella]

I heard a couple of guys on the local repeater mentioning their use of Meshtastic. It uses 915 MHz in the ISM band for passing short text messages. Requires a cellphone, a Meshtastic app, and a small xmitter/rcvr to send and receive texts. Thanks.

 

[Enix316]

I have 2 devices, a solar powered node on my roof and one that I keep with me. My local area has a few nodes in prime locations so we meshtastic users can usually communicate anywhere in town.

It's fun but really depends on having a community, otherwise it can be pretty dead/silent.

There are some mesh maps online to see if there are others around, but they can be inaccurate. If I look online at my area it only shows like 6 nodes, when in reality there are closer to 50.

I'd say get a device, try to make contact.

 

[dave3825]

It uses 915 MHz in the ISM band for passing short text messages. Requires a cellphone, a Meshtastic app, and a small xmitter/rcvr to send and receive texts.

You do not need a phone. It can be used connected to a PC or laptop as long as they power. Otherwise, a charged cell in conjunction with a powered node would be needed.

 

[K5MPH]

We have a few mesh nodes in my area,been using it for over a year now works fairly well for text messaging ........

 

[Enix316]

You do not need a phone. It can be used connected to a PC or laptop as long as they power. Otherwise, a charged cell in conjunction with a powered node would be needed.

There are even devices that look like the old blackberry phones that are all in one units, nothing else required.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

I've got a couple of the boards to play with. I don't run them on amateur radio. I won't even run them for ATAK. Simply too low power and don't pass enough data compared to other 900 MHz ISM solutions. They are the lowest cost options though.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I've got a couple of the boards to play with. I don't run them on amateur radio. I won't even run them for ATAK. Simply too low power and don't pass enough data compared to other 900 MHz ISM solutions. They are the lowest cost options though.

I am with you on that. There are a plethora of industrial SCADA radios on surplus that operate 900 MHz, Spread Spectrum and 10 watts. I would like to see a resurgence of the old BBS concept of distributed servers. If meshtastic works so well, a better RF and data infrastructure could do so much more. You could have a BBS at home, a BBS in the car, terminals could be tablets and phones like meshtastic.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

I am with you on that. There are a plethora of industrial SCADA radios on surplus that operate 900 MHz, Spread Spectrum and 10 watts. I would like to see a resurgence of the old BBS concept of distributed servers. If meshtastic works so well, a better RF and data infrastructure could do so much more. You could have a BBS at home, a BBS in the car, terminals could be tablets and phones like meshtastic.

For the price, there is even new stuff that is reasonable. The Heltec HaLow dongles are basically $70 each and can be configured for MESH operation or a more traditional AP/Station config. Is it as high powered or as integrated as a Meshrider? No but it's an affordable start and works just as well with other network based solutions like TAK.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

For the price, there is even new stuff that is reasonable. The Heltec HaLow dongles are basically $70 each and can be configured for MESH operation or a more traditional AP/Station config. Is it as high powered or as integrated as a Meshrider? No but it's an affordable start and works just as well with other network based solutions like TAK.

Those could work for the "last mile" like linking person to vehicle. I could get behind a high performance, ISM band BBS node type of infrastructure. With todays hardware you could put BBS's everywhere and employ some of those same old school methods to relay mail and files. The Meshtastic is popular because it is shiny, cheap and easy (Like a Baofeng for the digital modes). But it really does not scale up very well in performance.

 

[K5MPH]

I have one at 40 feet and getting 10 miles on one hop the noise floor in this area of the band very low.....

 

[spongella]

I have one at 40 feet and getting 10 miles on one hop the noise floor in this area of the band very low.....

Sounds pretty darn good.

 

[below500kc]

I'm just starting out, trying to get something going here in N. Central Texas with the Meshcore version of firmware. I have two "units". One is a Rak Wisblock board, the other is a device based on the Heltec esp32 LoRa V4 board and placed in a nice enclosure that looks like an HT. I'm in the process of using the Rak as a "repeater" to the surrounding area and the "HT" as something to take when travelling to more urban areas to monitor activity.
I'm in a small rural town and not sure if I can get anything going, but I'm going to try. There's a local ham club that may show some interest when I present the activity to them. If not, I'm learning new "stuff" and making the experience part of the radio hobby.

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