MESHTASTIC Info or Experience

[mjosoba]

Morning all.

So just as the title states, I’m intrigued by LoRa and am wondering if anyone has ventured into this world? I’ve still got my 2M/70CM that I utilize at times, but there’s not much going on around me. This seems like an interesting way to communicate with the family off grid when camping or in a disaster situation. Not so much chit chat but concise, important info.

 

[tonsofun]

Morning!
I have been dabbling in meshtastic, have three or four nodes i've been tinkering with, and am currently building a Rak node into a solar repeater to put on our hilled back yard to serve my area.
I brought a couple nodes in and talked with some fellow club members about it, we think it would be viable in a trail run setting especially to have everyone meshed together on a channel. We haven't tested it out yet, or even what kind of range they have in our dense wooded hills here in Oregon.

 

[mjosoba]

Morning!
I have been dabbling in meshtastic, have three or four nodes i've been tinkering with, and am currently building a Rak node into a solar repeater to put on our hilled back yard to serve my area.
I brought a couple nodes in and talked with some fellow club members about it, we think it would be viable in a trail run setting especially to have everyone meshed together on a channel. We haven't tested it out yet, or even what kind of range they have in our dense wooded hills here in Oregon.

Interesting. Do you have any real world distance experiences? And as far as I can tell it’s data only, is that correct?

 

[tonsofun]

Interesting. Do you have any real world distance experiences? And as far as I can tell it’s data only, is that correct?

I've had pretty good luck with it around town, but with nodes being mostly anonymous, it's hard to get distance numbers unless you set up your own two nodes and do a proper test. Even then, a city test won't tell us much about reception through trees, or how well 915mhz will go over a hill top lol. That's why i'm thinking a convoy situation is a perfect use case.

Yes, it is data only. Text messaging, location sharing, or you can also set up some nodes with limited other sensors like temperature that can share their data over the mesh.

 

[mjosoba]

I've had pretty good luck with it around town, but with nodes being mostly anonymous, it's hard to get distance numbers unless you set up your own two nodes and do a proper test. Even then, a city test won't tell us much about reception through trees, or how well 915mhz will go over a hill top lol. That's why i'm thinking a convoy situation is a perfect use case.

Yes, it is data only. Text messaging, location sharing, or you can also set up some nodes with limited other sensors like temperature that can share their data over the mesh.

That sounds pretty ideal for my ‘worst case scenario.’ Also, I’ve heard if you make your node a ‘station’ you can up the power legally and do voice, but that was third hand.

I think I might throw some cash at a couple, just for fun.

I’ve been reading a ton online but it’s a bit confusing. Do you have any good sights to get basic knowledge? Seems like a lot I find already assume you’re knowledgeable about it.

 

[tonsofun]

That sounds pretty ideal for my ‘worst case scenario.’ Also, I’ve heard if you make your node a ‘station’ you can up the power legally and do voice, but that was third hand.

I think I might throw some cash at a couple, just for fun.

I’ve been reading a ton online but it’s a bit confusing. Do you have any good sights to get basic knowledge? Seems like a lot I find already assume you’re knowledgeable about it.

I know if you register as ham you can run a bit more power, but it's still very limited by the device.
I hadnt heard anything about doing voice modes on it, I'll have to look that up,

 

[mjosoba]

I know if you register as ham you can run a bit more power, but it's still very limited by the device.
I hadnt heard anything about doing voice modes on it, I'll have to look that up,

Like I said, that was third hand, so it’s probably wrong. Ha ha.

 

[Outsane]

No voice for these devices.

I just added this node with a custom case I designed and made.

This has magnets and a usb plug so I can charge with a 6watt panel.

Going to probably make a few and play with the location part and messages.

 

[wapitimud]

A bunch of Meshtastic handheld terminals, like the Lillygo, might work well for a group of a dozen or more campers suffering from smartphone and internet withdrawal symptoms.

You could do far greater range at decent speeds for basic text on 70cm/2m APRS, but all would need to be licensed amateurs. Probably better for a smaller group of like-minded hams. Getting your license is pretty easy, but the Lilygo solution would scale much better to a large group.

Alternatively, why not just use GMRS voice?

 

[Dparo]

I run a few Mesh nodes. It is good to have in case of an emergency and where the cell towers are down or bogged down.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Thread resurrection... I've been looking into Meshtastic as well. Watched a bunch of YouTube videos.

First, so it operates on LoRa, but then it seems like there's also other "mesh" (lowercase "m") devices that also use LoRa. Are those on the same frequency and thus on the same network as Meshtastic? I wondering if I buy a Meshtastic handheld device, will I be unable to communicate with other folks if they have a different type of device like the Adafruit DIY or Seeed? I don't want to pigeonhole myself, or buy a device that won't work with other people's devices.

Second, I can solder and a DIY kit doesn't scare me but I might want a unit that's ready to go. Are there options for each (DIY and prebuilt) that people like? I'm just looking for a handheld node right now. I may do a base station in the future but not yet.

Note: I'd rather have a keyboard on the device than going via BT to a cell phone app.

 

[george_tlc]

LoRa is just a physical layer, it operates (in the US) in the 900MHz ISM band. Changing freq, or bandwidth or spreading factor will make it deaf to other units. Meshtastic is just some software sitting on the physical layer. LoRaWAN is another protocol that is not meshed (nodes talk to a gateway).

The main issue with LoRa is that it is very low data rate. You can tweak bandwidth and spreading factor to increase sensitivity, though that reduces data rate. At he highest sensitivity settings you can get down to just a handful of bits PER second.

Given that direct satellite access is available from modern phones and Tmobile has a $5/month plan alacarte (until they bump the price up), I'd rely on that technology over LoRa...

Anyhow, it's something to play with that 'may' be useful. Though if you have amateur radio you can use APRS and get much more useful capabilities.

cheers,
george.