Bill W0BX, Steve KE0BPD, and I went to the WCARC Black Ridge Repeater Site and set up the W0RRZ-BKR Meshtastic Node in the Router role.  The node is configured in the Router role, which is a type of Meshtastic repeater.  

Bill W0BX brought his spectrum analyzer to the repeater site and looked at the rf environment of the 900Mhz ham band through the small 900Mhz bandpass filter and the node antenna that we are using.   We are operating on 920.0625 mhz for now.

Initial tests showed good coverage from Fruita to Grand Junction to Clifton.  Range is likely considerable larger (If you can key up the WCARC Club repeater on 149.940 from your location, then you can likely reach the Meshtastic Mesh.  We are actively testing antennas and configurations to improve coverage.  

There are now 12 Meshtastic Nodes on this fledgling Meshtastic Mesh.  All nodes are running unencrypted, and with Ham callsigns.  Please contact me and I can send you a link to automagically configure your node to work over this mesh.

A word about Meshtastic Node Names:

You can only connect via bluetooth to a single Meshtastic node, even though the nodes themselves can route traffic amongst themselves.  As you acquire Meshtastic hardware, please consider using descriptive Node names that will help others to know which device to message you on.  For example:

K0DZ Actual    <-- you can send a direct message to this node and I will see it.

K0DZ Mobile (not monitored)   <-- Don't message me here!  This node will send traffic to K0DZ Actual, but the message has to be addressed to K0DZ-Actual in order for that to happen.  

K0DZ Qth (not monitored)   <-- Don't message me here either!  This node just forwards traffic to K0DZ Actual, as long as the traffic is addressed to K0DZ-Actual.

W0RRZ-BKR <-- If you address a direct message to this node, no one will ever see it!  This node just forwards traffic to other nodes, as long as the traffic is addressed to those other nodes.

Hopefully my node names are very descriptive to other users of the mesh.  A node named K0DZ-Rak4631 might be descriptive to me, but meaningless to everybody else.  One thing you can do to reduce confusion is to put your test nodes on another "Channel" until you're ready to rename them and put them on the main mesh.

Also, please consider using precise positioning on this mesh.  We are doing lots of testing and it is helpful to gain awareness of poor coverage areas as we build out coverage.   

You can help free up the frequency by selecting only Altitude_MSL rather than reporting all the many other GPS details, such as number of satellites, etc.  More details means that your node will transmit longer each time it sends info, decreasing battery life and taking up more space on the frequency than necessary.  

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. 

RMS Packet and VARA FM are the required software packages to create a RMS Winlink Gateway. The gateway interfaces with the internet and allows access to the Winlink servers and world wide email access.

The key is to use port pairing software. VSPE (Virtual Serial Ports Emulator) is the software I’m using to pair a physical port with virtual ports. A license runs $24.95. In my case the physical port is com 3 and the virtual port is com 1. Because VARAC and RMS Packet require a software node controller (SNC) to interface with the radio it is necessary to share the one physical port with both instances of the SNC. VARA FM is the SNC used in this example. Two instances of VARA FM will run on the same computer simultaneously and therefore share the same port. In this case that is virtual port 1.

Obviously RMS Packet and VARAC cannot transmit at the same moment due to sharing the same com port. However VARAC does recognize when the radio frequency is active and will wait until the channel clears before transmitting.

The screenshot below is what it looks like on my desktop.

John Fuller - WJ0NF
ARES - Region 9 District 4 - AEC - Technology

I know Bill (K0DZ), Steve (KE0BPD) and others have been working on and using Vara FM for local digital chat communications.  As well as working on digipeaters for longer distance (local) communications.

I was going to setup my laptop to also do Vara FM but I was concerned about deleting my radio settings on VarAC for the FT-891, since it is working, to setup a different radio.  Bill (K0DZ) pointed out that all of the files needed for VARA are stored in the C:\VARA folder on your computer.  So you can duplicate that folder for each setup you have.

I wanted to use the same laptop for my FT-891/Digirig setup and the IC-7300.

To do this, you need to make another copy of the VARA folder and give it another name.  So I created a new folder, C:\VARA-7300.  Then I copied everything in the C:\VARA folder to the C:\VARA-7300 folder.

On my desktop I added Shortcut icons. 
One labeled "VarAC FT-891" that points to C:\VARA\VarAC\VarAC.exe
A second one labeled "VarAC IC-7300" that points to C:\VARA-IC7300\VarAC\VarAC.exe

Now when I start the program from one of those icons, I can change the sound card settings and CAT control settings to match the radio being used.

A great way to support multiple multiple radio setups for VarAC, VARA Chat.

73, John, WJ0NF