Meshtastic is a hot topic at the moment, and as it has a lot of cross-over with what’s at the heart of amateur radio – RF experimentation. Here’s a page of information for radio amateurs about Meshtastic. Any input from the community would be appreciated to make this a handy page.
What is Meshtastic?
Meshtastic is an open-source, off-grid, decentralized mesh network designed to run on affordable, low-power devices. There seem to be two frequencies being used for Meshtastic, but here in the UK, the activity is on 868MHz – a licence-free band used for industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM).
At the heart of Meshtastic lies LoRa, a long-range radio protocol. Meshtastic operates in a peer-to-peer mode. As an example, imagine a group of hikers deep in the wilderness – their Meshtastic devices will form a resilient mesh network. Messages flow between devices, with no Internet or Mobile service provider or subscription.
Meshtastic Specs:
- Hardware: Meshtastic supports a variety of devices. There are devices based on the ESP32 chip (such as the LILYGO TTGO, the Nano G1 Station and the Heltec V3). There are also devices running the nRD52 chip and the RP2020 (developed by Raspberry Pi). These devices, sometimes powered by solar panels, become nodes in the mesh, extending the network’s reach.
- Data Rates: Meshtastic offers various data rates, balancing speed and range, depending on config
- Applications: Meshtastic isn’t just about text messages; it’s about group messaging, GPS tracking, and even telemetry. Think of it as APRS 2.0—more efficient, more accessible, and without the need for an amateur radio license or service provider.
| Looking for Meshtastic kit?
At the time of writing, there’s such demand, it’s hard to get certain bits of kit. A common place to look is AliExpress – See: Lora at AliExpress. A popular choice is kit based on the Lora 32 ESP32 development board. We ordered a Heltec board (supplied with a snazzy case) from the following dealer: Lora32 V3 ESP32-S3 868MHz at AliExpress – We ordered a pack of two and they turned up in under a week. Note that this requires external power, and flashing with the Meshtastic software, which is pretty straightforward |
The Meshtastic Community
Meshtastic seems to be thriving and gaining traction in the UK, with more notes popping up all over the place. Passionate developers, outdoor enthusiasts, and tinkerers collaborate, enhancing the system, sharing knowledge, and solving problems. Sounds a little like amateur radio, doesn’t it?
Meshtastic and Amateur Radio
One obvious area where Meshtastic has crossover with our hobby, is when things go wrong = RAYNET territory. With a power outage or the mobile phone network down, a Meshtastic network could be established pretty quickly.
Outside of disaster situations, there’s plenty of scope to use this new tech to demo “wireless” to youngsters in new ways, bringing a little more excitement to radio comms than analogue voice.
More about Mesh
As technology evolves, so does Meshtastic. New features, optimizations, and use cases emerge. To find out more, pop over to meshtastic.org
Links
- The Meshtastic Project
- MeshMap or MPowered – Maps of nodes
- Essex Ham Meshastic Stations
Anything to add? Please add a comment below.
Experimentation is part of our hobby and this is a really great part of the hobby. This Meshtastic network is getting a lot of use in the UK at present. I have 4 Meshtastic nodes myself and working on building a portable kit for field use, I’m just waiting on parts to arrive(which is taking forever these days). If you have a smartphone and capable of getting the app, then all you need is to flash the device with the latest Meshtastic firmware.
u guys are great, thank u. I appreciate all your work and time, esp to educate and pass on your knowledge to me. Thank you… Al G0FFR
Great to see the wider radio community experimenting with Meshtastic and it’s growing exponentially in recent months. I loved Meshtastic so much I recently decided to start creating guides, articles and videos about the project, I publish these on my website MeshAbout.com, please let me know if you
For example I recently wrote an article comparing all the Meshtastic compatible devices that are available options for Meshtastic node builders. [url=https://meshabout.com/meshtastic-devices-heltec-lilygo-rak-wireless-raspberry-pi-pico]Meshtastic Compatible Devices[/url]