HOW TO GROW THE MESH SUCCESSFULLY... 

I might just be the first person in Greece to have a lora device (heltec v3) and I totally get you! I have nobody to talk to so I am also thinking of purchasing another device and give it to my brother as a gift so that I can talk to someone 😂

You know how it works. Get the best antenna. Keep the device running. Sooner or later more people will come.

Will try and get you next time up at St Fergus

My first modem was an acoustic coupler in 1973... I could dial into 2-3 mainframes (legally) and a "few" others. I built my own network out to 1425 modems and became the first ISP in several states (US). You won't be alone for long, I see a promising future for this tech as I did the Internet. (And this community probably knows/sees the same in GMRS as well.)

You are note alone😅 in my country there are none

People don't understand that on the hardware they're using a couple of nodes is about it. The premise of covering an entire country and everyone communicating using an ESP32 is just bizarre.

​@@NETBoticFor now.... Since it's just short messages, this could definitely be extended. Remember the ham radio traffic nets still operate very much this way.

Yeah a public network with MQTT when there is a 10% duty cycle is going to make it seem like the devices are just not working most of the time. A public network just with lora is questionable with the duty cycle.

Yeah, the 10% duty cycle is just retarded.

@@NETBotic The ESP32 isn't an issue. It is fully capable of transmitting 100% of the time with full high-speed data. R.F. bandwidth is the issue. The 10% limit means 90% idle and that's not remotely a challenge for the ESP32. Meshtastic is a very simplistic approach which doesn't make good use of the bandwidth available and does not have any functionality to automatically scale a busy mesh. For example it might automatically adjust beaconing. It might have the ability to automatically utilize multiple R.F. channels (frequency chunks within the legal range, not what mestastic calls channels) for announcements/beacons and basic routing. It's just code and overall complexity.

Yes indeed. 👍🏻

He'll just turn the comments off if there's a problem.

Scotland needs more nodes. Given our geography, it will be more challenging to get a reliable network up and running - but good fun too...

Aye. Ye can call it "Meshtastic Scotland". It'll be so much better than everyone else's. Especially the English.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XBnXvhgrV8Q.html

I will be installing one in Folkstone later this year.

This is what I want to do, use MQTT for local use not to broadcast to the mesh network. On iOS they suggest using MQTT as a way to see a node of the local network, Mac and iOS cant connect via IP address which is a limitation.

I don't like the idea of using MQTT really, but I have had to accept that it may be required for a project. In that case I'm running my own where it wont be spammed and I know it'll just be acting as a 0-hop node to bridge two meshes together. So think that it is a useful tool if used sparingly and in the right situation, but the way its currently used feels like cheating.

Yeah MQTT really is a little redundant.

@@HouseholdDog There are a farifew BIIIIIIIIG gaps on that map. I happen to live in one, without MQTT, I don't see anyone. I only have one node so I'm looking to buy another, the only question is where to place it and what it should be, a T-Deck or a T-Echo (the one I already have is a Heltec) I did find someone who lives nearby who has three nodes, but he stopped using them because it seems apart from him, I'm the only one up here who actually has a node! So yeah, a way to build a mesh and still use MQTT would actually be nice!

@@GeoNeilUK Where about are you? If you don't mind asking?

Except 'ARPANET' was Big Brother, aka DARPA - the US Department of *Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.* ARPANET was the forerunner to the Internet. It _almost_ makes one wonder if there weren't very specific goals in mind for the Internet, i.e., tracking/surveillance, data collection, etc. That borders on "Conspiracy Theory" territory, however. 🤔

Aha was wondering where you had got to the other day!😁

@@andykirby Had to make up for a misspent retirement and work again - bought a Model 3 AWD in December and drove back to UK for a week - did 5,700 km in 10 days! Next time I'll give you a shout!

Between both GMRS and Meshtastic I very much equate the explosion of the 'net of the early 90s. In 1991 I helped co-found what was the world's first global social network. We took multiline MBBS (Major BBS) systems and linked them over the Tymnet packet network quite literally around the globe. Users could move system to system ie: room to room, send DM messages (aka "Whispers" back then) and real-time email messages as opposed to timed packet networks of the single line BBS era. I built my system up to 1,425 dial-up lines and became the first ISP in 5-6 midwestern US states with a focus on the Big 10 and Big 12 college cities. With my first domain name being older than AOL, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and MSN .coms I had a front-row seat to watching the growth... it looked VERY MUCH like what is going on now in these two technologies. And while I "retired" when I sold that company in 1995 at age 35, here I am at age 62 and investing, teaching and helping to build-out both technologies all over again. While also a HAM operator, it's obvious that the majority of people will gravitate to GMRS which of course has limitations but combined with Meshtastic provides a good alternative to phones and the net. And just as most of the U.S. experienced today with the cyber attack on AT&T causing what may have been millions of phone outages- most of the people in this arena understand the need for alternatives is very real. Purely a guess by what looks like a man younger than I in your avatar... I will tell you that this will also have tremendous income opportunities (without taking away from or the spirit of helping the technology grow as a whole for hobbyists and those with income limitations). Whether it be selling the devices, finding new commercial applications for them, simply teaching people who would prefer to pay someone to answer their tech questions in private (there are some who simply won't post online for fear of ridicule) it is a time with near limitless opportunities as we saw back in the 1990-1995/97 EXPLOSIVE growth online. I know you see it, and I'm likely preaching to the choir... but I'm sharing this to encourage others. The more we get engaged the better it is for everyone.

This is being worked on. There's a sneak preview of the new UI for the T-Deck on the discord.

Ref storage: ESP's have some flash storage but it's both limited and will wear out fairly quickly. The addition of an SD card would help but would still suffer the same wear limitations. Most of the storage options will increase the price. The MQTT needs another look to allow local server storage to off-load it from the ESP.

So the chats just delete the next time the device is turned off?

@tylerolson9904 not only when turned off, but as the chats are displayed on the screen. You don't see the chat list on the T-Deck, user list, etc. Only 1 chat line at a time and you don't see what you sent either only when you type it. 🙄

@@johnny14794 damn. That does suck. Hopefully that's fixed soon

I added it but was removed

map.meshtasticuk.com

So did Amazon. Years ago.

They could yeah, have it scaleable like helium was.

Routers are invisible? I thought that was repeater?

Right... but it also significantly affects the coverage of the mesh, because routers will ALWAYS be preferred to route messages over clients, so if your router can hear the message, it will repeat it before any client gets the chance to, and your router might not be in a great location to significantly extend how far that signal will travel - but because it will decrement the hop count, then it effectively reduces the overall coverage.

@@AndrewJonesMcGuire great info, do you know anywhere this level of detail is written down? The documentation i have seen lacks this depth / precision

@@babc142 The documentation isn't great, the official meshtastic youtube channel however has a video about the V2 routing changes over V1 - that explains how it works extremely well. The basics though are that in V1 ALL nodes repeated messages (flood routing). With V2 Clients receive the message and hold on to it waiting, if they hear another node repeat the broadcast, then they can ignore it, and won't rebroadcast it - but will broadcast an ACK back to the sender. The idea is that CLIENT devices at the very edge of the mesh, will rebroadcast first, and nodes inside the stronger coverage area will not. This allows the mesh to significantly travel further. BUT any node set to router, will wait slightly less time so that they rebroadcast before a client would, because routers are expected to be in extremely advantageous position.

@@AndrewJonesMcGuireThanks for this. I have a dilemma because I've a node deployed in the highest point in my city, albeit indoors and and obstructed from view of half of the city. I'm unusure whether to configure this as a router or keep it as a client. Is is easily the best positioned node in my city currently, but would be so much more so were I able to mount it outdoors.

Don't worry about that. The issue right now is the lack of traffic.

Yes coming soon. Probably 2 weeks I reckon.

There's a few of us doing/considering that. I local readiness group where I live is considering approaching the county board to see if we can use county owned highway signs, street light poles, etc. With their permission, we'll use a cherry picker to put them high enough to not be stolen. I have found a handful of local businesses willing to let us use light poles in their parking lots.

@@TomRolfson How will you manage FW updates?

I am looking at putting one up. Any tips?

@@dougle03 Very quickly! ;) No, seriously. Depending on where they are. in sites with permission no issues. With access to a cherry picker and the right strategies it might just a matter of seconds to swap a unit out. Quite literally seconds with a quick release clamp, drill on hose clamps or something similar. With some good engineering we may even be able to do them via WiFi or Bluetooth. It's a very legit question/concern... as is the potential for vandalism or theft. I have one related project that involves community cameras to show shopping or recreation areas for travel and tourism. We may end-up co-locating with cameras that are in plain view and it just look like a normal solar panel that happens to have a rubber duck antenna.

@@HouseholdDog Where do you wish to put it up? A VERY simple way on a house is buying an inexpensive Starlink mount. They have very sturdy and inexpensive mounts that you can put on the eave of almost any house. In some instances people are working on hiding them on/in flag poles to get past Home Owners Association or condo restrictions.

Not on the same device.

It seems a bit hit and miss

@@rod1cooperthe iOS app is terrible in my opinion…

You just flash the same way but don't tick the full erase box, easy!

Thanks for that .. I ll try it on one of my Heltecs v3 🤪

What information would you like exactly?

​@@mr_spoonsHi , just wanna know if device suggestion if I want to setup a stationary node . As I'm using LilyGo Echo at this moment , I'm looking for another one which no need to replace the battery frequently . Thanks very much !

I'm in West Bridgford South Notts

@@bagwaa9948 thanks mate ill try to message you,on it when it arrives

Belper here should be up and running next week.

@@mshakeshaft ahh ok cool

Line of sight is the best, as with all signals. If you could get a second node on the highest point around you, then your BT/WiFi node will use that to get the reach.

@@mr_spoonsThanks for the tip, that sounds like a good idea.

The Internet maps are manually updated or via mqtt. The apps can plot the locations of the nodes that it can talk to if the location is broadcasted. The Lora SX1262 chipset covers 850.125 ~ 930.125MHz so it's the same chip/unit that covers EU 868MHZ, NA 915Mhz, and the Japanese frequencies. You'll need to to match the hardware with an antenna suitable for your location - make sure that you are getting the SX1262 chip or one that covers JP frequencies. And in the app, you'll need to set the region as JP so that Meshtastic will set up the chip to use the correct frequency.

@@HuyLe-qc8jc OK great. Thank you. That makes sense

Are yagi's pushing the limit?

See that's my point, It depends on a few factors that users need educating of to see if they are or not, you can simply drop the power input to the antenna by xxxx amount. If I remember rough numbers off the top of my head, and assuming no coax cable losses. an antennas above 8.2dbi using the default power override value of 27 for a common Heltec V3, that would be approx a power output of around 0.12watts(120mW). A 8dbi antenna with a 120mW power input would be outputting near the legal limit of the 500 mW e.r.p, any antenna with more than 8dbi will put out over the limit if the power input is not dropped. i have seen verticals claiming to be over 8 to 12 dBi, those outdoor verticals inside a grey fiberglass case for example are suspected to be collinear antennas(a stack of more than 1 antennas) that might go over the limit so it's not forced to be just Yagi antennas

Yes but there's very few on 😁

@@andykirby be interesting to see what the range is like, I may try it with another ham friend.

Keep hoping 😂

Ch. 4.

No it is for small amounts of data, text and sensor data are the two main uses

Yaesu FTM-200DR (nicer display than the newer ones)

You can add your own cavity filter.

They need flashed with Meshtastic firmware.

FT5D

Been busy with this for the last few months. Kirbebike is still going strong. More ebike vids for spring summer.

Winter in the northern hemisphere ;)

You're getting ahead of yourself. There is no such issue at this point. As the system matures, the software will be adapted to deal with it.

IOS minimum is 1 hour. That's a good thing.

Not if you don't want. It will only send the GPS on the primary channel, so set the primary as your personal mesh, then add the default public "LongFast" channel as the secondary.

@@mr_spoons I am interested in 100 percent confidentiality and security of my location

Haha! They've done that for a reason 😁

Send me a picture to andy@cloudsto.com

Not a WhatsApp replacement

@@b3l14l Neither of you speak for all of us.

It's radio masturbation. Doesn't do anything, doesn't require any skill.

I would like the mesh to grow and be able direct message a user that is maybe 10s of hops away. It would be good to end up with a store and forward function as well.

Why reinvent the wheel? WhatsApp and lots of other comms similar exist.

The node limit isn’t really a problem, your messages will still get out to more than that. The limit is also higher than 80 anyway.

Don't be jealous. Start building your local network. Be the Boss!

"hydrogen" lol 🤣You could do this, though fixed to one place. You can't release high altitude balloons from most areas without CAA approval (here in the UK).

IMO MQTT for this application defeats the entire point anyway.

Do what CB in England did and just force them to legalise more bandwidth. If it is private and secure then the government will be interested. I assume blocking these frequencies is quite simple as they are so low power.