As it is with many Amateur Radio enthusiast, I for one can become a little antsy during the winter months. When the temperatures freeze and the snow flies we can find ourselves peering out the window with a kindling look of longing. That need for a project that could satisfy our natural curiosity and establish a spark within our inventive side. Or more plainly said, “I’m just so damn bored.”

For me, this winter one of my projects was to take a dive into Meshtastic.

What is Meshtastic?
Not being experienced with AI but wanting to learn, I took a stab with Google AI and here is what my search produced.

Meshtastic is an open-source, decentralized wireless communication system that enables text messaging and GPS tracking in off-grid environments without cellular service or internet. It utilizes low-power, long-range (LoRa) radio devices, which act as nodes to relay messages across a community- driven, license-free mesh network.

Key Features and Aspects of Meshtastic:

• Off-Grid Communication: Operates independently of phone lines, cell towers, or internet infrastructure.
• LoRa Technology: Uses Low-Range (LoRa) radio frequencies (e.g., 915 MHz in the US, 868 MHz in Europe), allowing for long distance, low-power communication.
• Mesh Network Nodes: Each user’s device (node) acts as a repeater. Messages “hop” from node to node to reach recipients, making the network stronger and broader as more users join.
• Text and Data: Designed for short text meassages, GPS coordinates (enabling location tracking of other users), and basic telemetry data.
• Hardware and Cost: Uses affordable, small, and low-power hardware, often based on ESP32 or nRF52 chips. which can be easily powered by batteries and solar panels.
• Use Cases: Ideal for hiking, skiing, emergences, disaster response, and remote area communication.
• Capabillities & Limitations: While ideal for remote messaging, Meshtastic has a small bandwidth and cannot be used for streaming or browsing the internet.
• Setup: Users connect their smartphone via Bluetooth to a dedicated radio device, which sends the messages over the radio network.
  
  *Google AI ends here.

My Approach:

I was first exposed to Meshtastic while viewing online articles and videos from various un-named sources. They will remain un-named as not to draw the good natured ire of my fellow DCARC members. If you’re curious, just search google and youtube, there you will find many valuable resources.

Almost all of the resources I viewed extolled the prolific results from areas much more populated than our semi rural locale in Northwest Ohio. In my mind the thought of an Off The Grid messaging system locked in my pocket for education and experimentation that can also easily be deployed in a SHTF situation seemed appealing. Keeping in mind that the system needs plenty of contiguously located users (nodes) to make for a effective network, I wondered are there already other Meshtastic users in the area, or would I just end up texting myself? Well let’s hope the later isn’t true as I already talk to myself plenty enough while working on projects.

Needless to say curiosity got the cat and I ordered a 2 pack of Heltec ESP 32 Lo Ra V3 Development boards that included 2 4000mAh Batteries along with other accessories.

Warning: Do Not Power Up Your Mesh Device Without First Attaching the Antenna. Permanent Chip Damage Could Occur.

First I charged the batteries and assembled the hardware into Scotsman friendly cases. I then proceeded to flash the latest firmware unto the ESP32 boards.

Firmware can be found at: https://flasher.meshtastic.org/

After flashing the firmware to the device, I downloaded from the app store and installed the Meshtastic app unto my smartphone. Tablet or laptop will work too.

The device connects to your phone via Bluetooth. A first time set up 6 digit pin code will be displayed on the device screen, you must enter it into the app on your phone when requested.

Note: To be fully off the grid, do not connect device to WiFi. And after pairing with your phone or tablet, check all the settings to confirm that WiFi and MQTT are turned off an set to ignore.

My Initial Rig Builds:

So I paired the first node to my ipad, and the second node to my iPhone. I was now ready to explore the unknown world of Meshtastic and…send text messages to myself. And that I did. WooHoo!

In the following 2 days a few nodes populated on the apps node lists. I tried reaching out by texting them, but never heard back. Keeping in mind that the key components of this mode that are important are, Line of Sight and Height. With zero success contacting what few nodes appeared I wondered what could I be doing wrong? Do I stop now or go deeper? Well you guessed it, I went deeper. I ordered 2 higher gain antennas, a weather proof box, a solar panel, and a 2 pack of the ESP32 boards with 1100
mAh batteries, that included protective cases.

Note: The instructions state that care should be taken when assembling the boards into the Meshnology protective cases as the screen could be cracked during assembly… Yea, I did it. Grrrrrrr

Solar Powered Node Build:

If this Meshtastic experiment and its Solar Powered Node proves out, my long term plan is to add it to my tower at about 45ft. Until then I have the solar powered unit mounted to a microphone stand and placed in a second floor dormer window. I live less than 2500 ft from a 4 lane highway, now I get an average of 9 nodes per day populating the node list. I assume many are from drive byes. Though I have noticed a few repeats, I do have the
software set to delete static nodes after 1 day.

ESP32 Board in a Meshnology Protective Case w/Higher Gain Antenna

Footprint Test:
With zero contacts made I decided to find out for myself just how far I could receive a RF mobile node. I drove a route and sent messages from 13 documented stops. Then back to me home QTH to see which messages arrived. Here are the results.

Barring any major objects of interference I feel confident that from inside a vehicle you can text another node within a 1 mile radius.

What’s next?
I’m not sure whats next with this experiment but it is obvious that a larger mesh network is needed to increase its viability. If you’re interested come join me and other interested DCARC members in the Meshtastic world. You never know where it will take us.

73, KE8PJL

[Editor’s Note: My apologies to Jeff for taking so long to get this posted. Thanks for the fantastic article! Well done! WZ8Q]