Yesterday Chip, Steve, Henry, and I placed a Meshtastic node on the church that will operate 24/7, providing connectivity for club and MCARES activities, as well as relaying traffic across the valley.   

Steve has Meshtastic running 24/7 in Clifton, and I have it running in Fruita.  

We plan to get the Meshtastic node at Black Ridge configured as a router (Meshtastic repeater) in the next few days.  Previous tests show the coverage area to be Whitewater to Fruita, and possibly much larger.

If you're curious about Meshtastic but aren't ready to buy hardware yet, that's okay!   The Meshtastic App for Iphone and Android is free, and it allows you to connect to anyone's hardware.  

We will be planning a Meshtastic "clinic" soon and encourage you to come and connect to our existing hardware so that you can experience Meshtastic for yourself.  

If you are attending Hamcon, look for the APRS vs Meshtastic talk.  We may all learn something new!

Special thanks to Steve KE0BPD for building the W0RRZ-FCC node for the club site!

What is Meshtastic? 

It’s an App that uses LORA radios and GPS to send text messages, position reports, telemetry, environmental data, and can send and receive remote-control commands, all without using the internet.    The Meshtastic app allows users to see positions of other users on the map if their GPS is activated.   

Meshtastic uses the UHF and 900Mhz Ham bands (same as Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) bands). 

Meshtastic is available primarily for Android and IOS, with Windows and Linux apps also available. 

Why should I care? 

1.  Do you need to text friends while on a camping/hiking/hunting trip when cell coverage is lacking? 
2. Do you need to see the positions of people, assets, vehicles, resources, such as during an Emcomm or SAR event? 
3. Do you need to get remote sensor data, or to activate a remote-control device such as rebooting a repeater controller? 
4. Do you want to communicate with other Meshtastic users at events, such as Hamvention, Quartzfest, etc? 
5. Do you want to learn something new, or like to play radio? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, watch the videos below, and scroll down for Meshtastic hardware: 

Get Started With Meshtastic FAST! 

Meshtastic Redeemed! Hamvention After Action Report - YouTube 

My Love Hate Relationship: SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E  (The guy in the video does a pretty good job, but he doesn’t realize that you shouldn’t put an antenna next to his car keys!) 

Do a search for the many more Meshtastic videos on YouTube.  Hardware innovation is rapid, so I recommend videos no older than 1 year. 

Hardware Vendors: 

Seeed Studio Meshtastic-compatible Products, From Meshtastic Dev Kit to Meshtastic Device to Meshtastic Solution, Seeed Has the Whole Product Series.    ßClick the link and then click on 'Devices' (unless you want to build your own devices! Steve KE0BPD has built several devices from parts.) 

Meshtastic, LoRa, IoT & WiFi Solutions from RAKwireless & ALFA Network – Rokland 

muzi ᴡᴏʀᴋꜱ 

Meshtastic devices are also available on Amazon.  But be careful!  Make sure that any device you buy has the Meshtastic firmware pre-loaded.   I have had good luck with the T1000e, Seeed Solar Node, and the Wimesh Pocket.  I’m sure many other great devices are out there.