Meshtastic

[OffRoaderX]

..this section of the forum is so dead, I didnt even know it was here..

Anyway.. I just setup my Spec5 Trekker Bravo, so, i'm IN !

[TrikeRadio]

saw your first video on it... looking forward to seeing a bit more as your get to show off the way it works! 

[mb523]

I am intrigued and will be following along! The intro video was a fun entrypoint.

 

The T-Deck Plus looks like an awesome choice for self-contained meshtastic!

[TrikeRadio]

Just watched the second video on the meshtastic device. 

Wondering if there is a practical distance on them. I have family in central California and I am in southern Cal... 
I saw that Randy had to do 7 or so node hops to get 30 miles. 

[Northcutt114]

On 7/30/2025 at 7:14 PM, OffRoaderX said:

..this section of the forum is so dead, I didnt even know it was here..

Anyway.. I just setup my Spec5 Trekker Bravo, so, i'm IN !

I just watched both of your videos and I absolutely can not believe that my first post here on mygmrs forums is going to be regarding meshtastic. Bleh...

I've enjoyed your approach. As a "normal person," I've never really even understood what meshtastic was. Even their one line description didn't mean much to me. I have to say, though, as someone who is only wading into the GMRS pool (CB radio user for many decades) and by extension, long range-ish communication, it seems like the meshtastic thing is definitely a niche market. In a catastrophic, grid down situation, it's going to require power for two devices and with that many links in the chain necessary for it to propagate, I just don't see the value in it. But then again, I confess to knowing very little about a lot of things.

[OffRoaderX]

40 minutes ago, WSJI648 said:

I just don't see the value in it

You're not alone.. I am still trying to figure out this part..

[Northcutt114]

Just now, OffRoaderX said:

You're not alone.. I am still trying to figure out this part..

It's like Linux, I guess. I mean, you certainly can do it...but why?

In a true, grid down situation I just don't understand it. I have to keep two devices powered and essentially I'm hooked into a group text? I understand the implications of it being far reaching based on propagating through other people's devices but one those devices go down - and the most assuredly will - my reach is diminished, if not destroyed. It's like those internet radios and zello. They aren't 100% self reliant and because of that, I wouldn't count on them.

But hey, at least you can still but HRCC, ammirite?  

[Davichko5650]

On 8/1/2025 at 7:15 PM, OffRoaderX said:

You're not alone.. I am still trying to figure out this part..

I think the difference here is you have a friend, if not more than one, using the Mesh that you need to check up on. (loved that "I'm calling the Cops" on the video)

I can't think of anyone I know using it that I'd care to send or receive text messages from, even in a truly SHTF kind of event. 

[MarkTheNewf]

As with GMRS, Get one up high enough (top of hill as a router or repeater) to increase line of sight and you'll get a LOT more distance than you expect.

Battery-powered solar nodes used as repeaters and mesh expansion are smallish, fairly cheap, and require little maintenance.

Having them run off a phone makes it real easy for the uninitiated to use them.  Certainly looks less dorky to text via your phone than to use a handheld.  Some nodes look like (and are no bigger) than an access card.

It's just another mode of communication.  I don't poo-poo any of them, be they RF or IP related, so to each his/her own.

[Northcutt114]

OK, so it's been a month and a half since I last posted in this thread. Still very little, if any node propagation in my area. I put a solar repeater up near me that did - well - nothing, in terms of getting out to more nodes. I further found out (and I guess I should have already known this) that seven hops is the limit. I had visions of talking coast to coast with this thing and that's not happening.

I'm really beginning to get frustrated with it. Outside of a radio dork itch that it scratches, I'm not sure I see a use to it. It has the same effective range as an FRS radio. And if I have GMRS/FRS HT's, why am I texting on 900mhz? I suppose it's the "seven hops" part of it for people? But in my area, I can't get "one hop" so, I'm back to square one.

 

[OffRoaderX]

53 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

OK, so it's been a month and a half since I last posted in this thread. Still very little, if any node propagation in my area. I put a solar repeater up near me that did - well - nothing, in terms of getting out to more nodes. I further found out (and I guess I should have already known this) that seven hops is the limit. I had visions of talking coast to coast with this thing and that's not happening.

I'm really beginning to get frustrated with it. Outside of a radio dork itch that it scratches, I'm not sure I see a use to it. It has the same effective range as an FRS radio. And if I have GMRS/FRS HT's, why am I texting on 900mhz? I suppose it's the "seven hops" part of it for people? But in my area, I can't get "one hop" so, I'm back to square one.

The idea is that YOU BUILD your own network and not leech off of others..

as far as range, once you build a network or leech off of others, the range can be up to several hundred miles.  Leaching off others around me I am able to text-chat with anonymous men over the border in Mexico, ~150 miles away.. So with a good network, the range is 10000x or more that of an FRS radio.

[TrikeRadio]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

...I am able to text-chat with anonymous men over the border in Mexico, ~150 miles away.. 

AH HA! Admission that you do chat with anonymous men! Pretty soon we will hear you got your Ham license! 
 
 

[Northcutt114]

5 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

The idea is that YOU BUILD your own network and not leech off of others..

as far as range, once you build a network or leech off of others, the range can be up to several hundred miles.  Leaching off others around me I am able to text-chat with anonymous men over the border in Mexico, ~150 miles away.. So with a good network, the range is 10000x or more that of an FRS radio.

I understand the idea of building my own network. And I have taken the first step in that process by putting up a repeater on a mast on one of the tallest buildings in my downtown area, with the owner's permission, of course There's just not much of a network around me. My daughter is pet sitting for some family friends that live about 10 miles from us to the south and I took my T-Deck with me today and somewhere between there and here I picked up 8 nodes, but nothing from either house. So there's something out there, just not enough to get connected and get out. 

In terms of range, yes, you can get several hundred miles with seven hops in a well connected mesh. I was more referring to the individual nodes themselves. Outside of repeater nodes placed high up on towers and buildings, it's been my experience that my little T-Deck can talk about as far as my FRS radios in terms of node to node. I have made contact with a repeater node on a fire tower at about 16 miles, but that was the exception.

Now I will say, talking on the MQTT side of things, it works flawlessly...but that's kind of cheating, isn't it?

 

 

[CoffeeTime]

I am rural and just getting started with Meshtastic.  I built a RAK/ solar node combo three weeks ago (operating in client mode), hanging twenty-four feet up a private utility pole that I own.  

 I also assembled two Heltec V3 devices for field use. Last Saturday, I left a V3 (in client mute) running inside the house while I took my second V3 device out on the road trip for testing the hops back to the property. I used some newly established secondary family channels.  

I was able to get 30 miles through a high-elevation relay and 10 miles with other nodes. 

I usually hold the device in the open air outside the vehicle for better chances. 

I was surprised when I drove to a large regional shopping/business/residential area and realized that there were no mobile or fixed nodes in that area to hop through on. 

I had better luck in smaller residential areas. 

 

 

[OffRoaderX]

7 hours ago, Northcutt114 said:

talking on the MQTT side of things, it works flawlessly...but that's kind of cheating, isn't it?

Yes.. But on the upside you can find a lot more anonymous men to chat with that way.

[Northcutt114]

12 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Yes.. But on the upside you can find a lot more anonymous men to chat with that way.

Speaking, of course, out of your overflowing abundance of personal experience, I presume. 

[Northcutt114]

14 hours ago, CoffeeTime said:

I am rural and just getting started with Meshtastic.  I built a RAK/ solar node combo three weeks ago (operating in client mode), hanging twenty-four feet up a private utility pole that I own.  

 I also assembled two Heltec V3 devices for field use. Last Saturday, I left a V3 (in client mute) running inside the house while I took my second V3 device out on the road trip for testing the hops back to the property. I used some newly established secondary family channels.  

I was able to get 30 miles through a high-elevation relay and 10 miles with other nodes. 

I usually hold the device in the open air outside the vehicle for better chances. 

I was surprised when I drove to a large regional shopping/business/residential area and realized that there were no mobile or fixed nodes in that area to hop through on. 

I had better luck in smaller residential areas. 

 

 

It is still very hit or miss. A guy I know is a first responder. He is also a radio dork. He has been lobbying some small, local communities in his AO to install nodes on their towers and equipment for EmComms for their local areas. He's had some level of success. But a lot of it just dependent on the people in the community and surrounding area.

[WRYT708]

Nice to see people are jumping on board with Meshtastic. Would be great to see more activity on this subject, tho I realize this is primarily a radio enthusiast website.

That said, I've just received my first handheld meshtastic device, and have a roof node ordered and on it's way. I'll pretty much be the (one of the) first in my area to adopt it from what I can tell, so hoping I can spread some coverage far enough to get other people on board. 

Does anyone here know of any way of contacting local GMRS repeater owners to find out about connecting in order to implement Meshtastic coverage?

[SteveShannon]

Just now, WRYT708 said:

Does anyone here know of any way of contacting local GMRS repeater owners to find out about connecting in order to implement Meshtastic coverage?

I’m not sure what you are wanting to do.  Please explain.

[WRYT708]

Wanting to contact local repeater owners in my area to discuss implementing meshtastic nodes on their towers. I don't know any of them personally, so I wouldn't even know where to begin researching to find out who owns them to try to contact them.

[SteveShannon]

8 hours ago, WRYT708 said:

Wanting to contact local repeater owners in my area to discuss implementing meshtastic nodes on their towers. I don't know any of them personally, so I wouldn't even know where to begin researching to find out who owns them to try to contact them.

There are going to be many more ham radio towers and a lot of hams are interested and even knowledgeable about Meshtastic right now. 
But the basic steps to determine whom to contact is to either find a listing for a repeater on this site (MyGMRS) or Repeaterbook and then look up the licensee in the fcc database. Talk to them on the radio or drop them a snail mail letter and see where it leads. 

[WRYT708]

That is a great idea, thank you. I'm fairly new here so still learning about a bunch, currently only GMRS licensed, but hoping to get my ham license at some point. I will try that, thank you!