#meshtastic #meshnetwork #emergencycomms View quoted note →

Here is some information on what I did to get meshtastic running on Linux (specifically Raspberry Pi) I used a Raspberry Pi 3B. And I used this Pi-Hat for my LoRa. I read you can do this on a PiZero. I just bought a PiZero 2 that I plan on trying out in the next week or so.

Amazon

Amazon

flash your raspberry pi with Raspian Bookworm 64 bit. I use the version that is Raspberry Pi OS Lite (make sure you get 64 bit) -- I dont use desktop to save on resources. You can get the image here. Basically then use the Raspberry Pi Imager and choose "Use Custom" to select your image that you downloaded

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi OS downloads – Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi OS (previously called Raspbian) is our official, supported operating system.

I am using the linux native meshtastic noted here: https://meshtastic.org/docs/software/linux-native/ The way I got it was to go to the github releases:

GitHub

Releases · meshtastic/firmware

The official firmware for Meshtastic, an open-source, off-grid mesh communication system. - meshtastic/firmware

Scroll down to find "Assets" for the version you want to download. Right click on the meshtasticd_*_arm64.deb file you want. Right click on it to get the link. Then on your raspberrypi, use wget (you may have to install wget) to retrieve the file you got the link for: wget https://github.com/meshtastic/firmware/releases/download/v2.3.6.7a3570a/meshtasticd_2.3.6.7a3570a_arm64.deb You can then install it now that you have the file locally. sudo apt install ./meshtasticd_2.3.6.7a3570a_arm64.deb Then make sure you have SPI turned on for your raspberry pi: sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt make sure these 2 lines are in there: dtoverlay=spi0-0cs enable_uart=1 Now configure meshtastic. Edit this yaml file (NOTE: it is white space sensitive. so, just remove the # to uncomment. Dont remove the white spaces or add any) sudo nano /etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml for the pi-hat that I added for LoRa, I uncommented this: Lora: Module: sx1262 # Waveshare SX126X XXXM DIO2_AS_RF_SWITCH: true CS: 21 IRQ: 16 Busy: 20 Reset: 18 I then installed libulfius2. sudo apt install libulfius2.7 Then start meshtasticd. You should be able to then hit the web server (NOTE: I also use Tailscale so that I can hit my device from outside of my home network without having to port forward. This is handy if you want to control your mesh network from the outside world) sudo systemctl enable meshtasticd --now

We have a community radio station here on Hatteras Island, NC. Its primary purpose is to provide emergency services to keep both locals and visitors informed on various emergency situations. When the internet and other comms are down, the FM radio station is one way to keep people up to date. It is an all volunteer station. I am one of the engineers keeping the station running. When we are not in "emergency mode" (which is most of the time), we broadcast rock and roll music (primarily from the 60's, 70's, and 80's). Here is a brief view of the transmitter room. You can get more info about our radio station here (we also have a live streaming feed if you are not in the area) https://www.radiohatteras.org/ #radio #radiostation #emergencycomms #prepping

This is one of my gardens that is a hybrid wicking bed. I use cloth grow bags with soil that allows the roots to air prune. I also have a floater valve that connects to the hose to auto fill with water when needed, allowing for wicking into the grow bags. I also use tiny stones to cover the water line to keep the mosquitoes for using this as their nursery for little baby blood suckers. The video has sound that has some explanation. #gardening #raisedbeds #hydroponics

I am experimenting a bit with Lora and Meshtastic mesh networking. I wanted to see how it could track me as I did a prone paddle out in the sound. Since I am only a few inches from the water, and the node I was carrying didn't have its antenna vertical, transmitting probably wasn't ideal. But at only 60mW, this aint bad. Looking at the first pic, the red dots with the diamond in them are the beacons. The cluster is home base. The one the furthest north is about a mile from home base. I did paddle well around Brooks Point this morning, so I wasn't getting received all the way home. I just need to find a friend in Brigands Bay who would be willing to put a node out on their deck to add to the mesh 😉 I used a T-Beam lora transceiver on my paddleboard (with the factory crappy antenna). At home base, I have a similar device with a high gain antenna outside. I then have a Raspberry Pi with a Lora tranceiver on it in the house that is part of the mesh. It takes data and then pushes it to an MQTT server that is on the same Raspberry Pi. I have another pi running node-red that listens to the MQTT server and bridges the data over to my ThingsBoard server that has a Postgres database. I queried the DB for the specific node and mapped on Google Maps. Lots of steps, but something easily automated with a little code. #meshtastic #meshnetwork #hamradio #radio

What do you do when there is an onshore wind from the East or the SE? Go paddling on the sound. Super glassy. Water super warm. Awesome workout! Wind almost non-existent. Air and water temp in the mid 60s. #pronepaddling #pronezone #pronepaddle #obx #outerbanks #hatteras #hatterasisland

Wind was pretty strong with some gusts almost 20mph out of the west to WSW. I made a mistake to ruck in sheltered areas. Of course the mosquitoes had the same idea. #outerbanks #theouterbanks #obx #obxnc #hatterasisland #capehatteras #capehatterasnps

Beautiful morning. Soon the sunrise will be early enough to go surfing before work. Temperature is perfect. Light offshore wind. The higher tide keeping the surf from getting to drained out on the sandbars #obx #hatterasisland #hatteras #capehatteras #outerbanks #theouterbanks #nature #lighthouses #surfing

Some have asked what I have been using for my Meshtastic setup. I have a few things that I am using: LILYGO LORA32 T-Beam: I am using this for my mobile use since it has an 18650 battery holder. I connect to this either from my laptop or my phone via bluetooth Heltec V3 (wifi and LoRa): I got a two pack of these form Amazon. I am using 2 of them for different things - One I am using to connect to a high gain antenna on my roof. This allows me to connect to other devices in my area. - The other, I have setup for WiFi instead of bluetooth. I am using this to bridge traffic over MQTT. This allows me to have others who arent in my area also subscribe to the same channels and have MQTT send messages from my Meshtastic mesh network to theirs in another part of the world by using the internet as a bridge. (NOTE: the device I am using for this is connected to a Starlink router so normal terrestrial outages of internet wont affect it like cable cuts, etc) -- Another NOTE: I am waiting for a Raspberry Pi LoRaWAN hat to come in. I will be replacing this device with a Raspberry pi to get more capability. Here is some of the equipment I am using for the antenna for the device that I have up on the roof: Rokland 915 MHz Antenna

Rokland

5.8 dBi N-Male Omni Outdoor Helium 915 MHz Antenna for RAK Miner Hotsp

Rokland introduces our large profile 5.8 dBi 915 MHz 31" fiberglass antenna with N-male connector and U-bolt bracket mount. This measures 10" talle...

Depending on what type of connector is on your device, you may need to get a pigtail to fit the antenna connector. This is what I got:

Rokland

8 in. Antenna extension coaxial cable RP-SMA male to N-Male RG316

RP-SMA male to N Male extension cable, 8 inches length, RG316.RP-SMA male connector on one end and an N Male connector on the other end.  We do ...

#meshtastic #comms #lora #lorawan #prepping #communication

wow, 10,000 mAh battery. Most of these things just have made up numbers and arent what they say they are. But, for the price, I had to give it a try. I want to see how long it will keep an ESP32 device running without any solar backup. Especially if the ESP device sleeps most of the time and wakes up every 15 minutes to take a sensor reading, send the data via WiFi, and then go back to sleep. This battery is a hoss though. Almost the size and weight of a cell phone. #lora #esp32 #arduino #meshtastic #iot #lorawan

We had a decent rain yesterday. Our NWS weather gauge reads 0.285", but I can only report to two significant digits, so I am going to put it at 0.29". Our digital weather station says that the event was .24". So, relatively close. The NWS weather gauge, while analog, has a larger catch funnel and is more out in the open. It is a nice cool morning in the upper 50's. The wind has died down considerably. But, we had some heaving gusts last night around 1am. #weather #outerbanks #obx #theouterbanks #hatteras #hatterasisland

Resurrecting my mesh network networking project using #meshtastic. got my outdoor unit setup with a high gain antenna and solar charging. Will then be able to send telemetry and messages across the network without the need for the internet. Will also bridge to the internet using MQTT

Calm before the storm. You can really notice the petroleum smell in Buxton. Smells like El Portal in southern California. And Porto was right next to a Chevron plant. I hope they figure something out. #obx #hatteras #hatterasisland @nationalparkservice @capehatterasnps #outerbanks #theouterbanks

What a difference a day makes. Wind died down. Still in the 40s this morning, but very nice on the south facing beaches. Surf, still a bit sloppy, but cleaning up. Lots of moisture in the air making it a bit foggy. #obx #hatteras #hatterasisland #outerbanks #theouterbanks #obxnc #obxlife

7 days ago, the water in our creek (that feeds out to the Pamlico Sound) was well in the 60's. This latest NE blow has really chilled things down. Briefly today, it went below 50 degrees. Brrrrr. But, because the sound is so shallow, it can change temperatures quickly with a bit of sun and warm temperatures. Though, our creek is a bit sheltered, shadowed, and a little deeper, so it is normally a few degrees cooler than the main body of the Sound. #obx #theouterbanks #pamlicosound #weather #outerbanks #hatterasisland

our National weather service rain gauge shows we got 0.56" as of 7:30am yesterday. and another 2.37" as of 7:30am this morning. Our digital weather station shows we got 2.24" during this event. The wind is going to be blowing all through today and into tomorrow from the north. Temperatures drastically dropped into the low 40s. I refuse to wear long pants, I am in shorts until Christmas! #obx #outerbanks #weather #wxobx #wxnc

brian_k_wharton My official reading for the NWA. Heavy wind out of the South with rain at 0.56". Wind should shift from the north this afternoon and blow through Sunday. Be careful out there. #weather #hatterasisland #capehatteras #wx #wxnc

A shot of our backyard vertical #hydroponic towers from 7 years ago (the last season before we got the heck out of California). We had so much arugula and mustard greens. Managing PH was key to success for growing in CA -- rainwater was very acidic there. I am about to get things started here. We haven't been as successful growing outdoors in this salty and windy environment here on Hatteras Island, NC. But, we get so much more out per sq. foot than we do with just dirt. #verticalfarming #hydroponics #farming #gardening

We gave become an official weather observer for NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Someone from the National Weather Service dropped off the rain gauge last week and installed it out in our back yard. We will get the thermometer sometime soon. But today was a big event, in the 4 days we have had this on the property, we got our first reading. 0.02 inches of drizzle accumulated 😁🌧️ I finally got to put a number in the system. #nws #nationalweatherservice #weather #wx #wxnc #ncwx #northcarolina

After a month of my temperature sensor, for our dock, being down, I finally rebuilt it. New board and new circuit. After a couple of hours of debugging, I couldn't get the sensor to work. Replaces the sensor, traced for shorts, and still no go. Finally, I looked at a resistor under normal light. Apparently, the third stripe on the resistor appeared red instead of the orange it was. As many of you probably would have pointed out to me, 47k ohm is very different than the 4.7k ohm it should have been. Dolt! Time to replace my 20 year old fluorescent bench lamp with something with truer colors! #IOT #electronics #sensors #environment