HOW TO GROW THE MESH SUCCESSFULLY...

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[@capello1986]

Me, the single person in Aberdeen/Peterhead….bought a second one so I can talk to myself 😂😂

[@J0hnSm1th]

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 😂

[@48pluto]

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

[@carlthacker9377]

Will try and get you next time up at St Fergus

[@TomRolfson]

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.)

[@nullfex5958]

You are note alone😅 in my country there are none

[@Meshtastic]

(This is MC Hamster) Hey @Andy Kirby. We have seen a huge spike in network utilization in the UK coinciding with the advice in this video. The advice to increase the Node Info beacon to 15 minutes is causing harm and that setting is now using about 33% of the network traffic. It's very expensive. Please advice that we keep the beacon interval to the defaults. This seems to be a workaround to the lack of capacity in your region. Solution there is to switch to a higher capacity radio configuration. To save capacity even further, the "client mute" role will reduce network storms in high density networks.

[@tiepup]

The documentation says not to use MQTT in the EU/U.K. as it'll quickly push you over the 10% duty cycle limit on 868MHz in our areas. In a sufficiently populated area we're always going to hit congestion issues though, so it'll get to a point where it will become virtually unusable no matter what.

[@NETBotic]

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.

[@grayrabbit2211]

​@@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.

[@garthvanderhouwen8442]

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.

[@mihumono]

Yeah, the 10% duty cycle is just retarded.

[@Sylvan_dB]

@@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.

[@austinmesh]

This is a good problem to have! Glad you're thinking through improvements to reduce mesh overhead.

[@andykirby]

Yes indeed. 👍🏻

[@mimetype]

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

[@briceperdue7587]

I'm setting this up on the other side of the pond love your videos!

[@sbfox4795]

Hi Andy, thank you, join the Mesh Fun in the UK. Growing like crazy !!

[@slyteen2197]

Great content, can't wait to get my nodes setup 👍🏻

[@dowhilegeek]

As a new user in an area with very few nodes, I'd love a video talking about how to approach other homeowners and businesses about adopting nodes you provide.

[@azmisj80]

Great, watching this from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

[@MONTY-YTNOM]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnPRiamenNeJbrM

[@zork219]

It is important to inform people around us about this tech, because this is still a niche product. We also need devices that look like t-echo and work from the box. Not everyone loves messing around which firmware and assembly and we need this people.

[@fsbollox]

Yes Ben is good quality gentleman like yourself and man

[@RCDUDEFPV]

Waiting on a few modules to set some up in Scotland, thumbs up

[@jim4165]

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

[@chas2077]

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

[@liquidusblue]

Started mine at the weekend, was part of the group that got flashed by the Yagi and ended up seeing your node. Got mine at 30 mins but there are only 2 of us here 😂 will increase it as it picks up. Played round with VNA, antenna and position and got SNR to 0.5dB from -10dB (it was working fine at -10dB tbh). Love the tip about using name to communicate as backup.

[@FastAsFunk]

Fair points Andy. Also need to get users to keep the hop limit to 3 else everything will get swamped...!

[@ryank5tar]

Great job UK!

[@LoftechUK]

Thanks Andy

[@user-kf5zw8uq7r]

informative. thank you andy

[@rogerudall6447]

lets hope this new rf hobby will become more resiliant through continued inovation and not become a victim of its own success :)

[@ILoveMyBikes]

Just shared this on local public channel :)

[@HamTechRadioScannerDrones]

i need to try this .

[@livingadventure2988]

Can't wait for my heltec to arrive....

[@Paratyphi]

I just installed a (solar) node last week. But i'm the only one in my aera. But i notice there was someone on the map in Folkestone, I live in France and sometime i go to Calais, it could be fun if i go there and manage to catch him accross the channel.

[@mr_spoons]

I will be installing one in Folkstone later this year.

[@werxeh]

For anyone interested, I 3D printed a small parabolic reflector and coated it with kitchen foil, which slips over my stubby stock antenna, and I've got a significantly better range and signal (albeit directionally) now.

[@ahaveland]

It's like DARPANET in the 60s all over again! :-)

[@MyTube4Utoo]

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. 🤔

[@andykirby]

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

[@ahaveland]

@@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!

[@TomRolfson]

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.

[@wingman1392]

In Radio Config, Lora, select “Don't forward MQTT messages over the mesh”. In Channel select up to send MQTT to you local server, de-select MQQT to mesh.

[@apted]

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.

[@morlanius]

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.

[@HouseholdDog]

Yeah MQTT really is a little redundant.

[@GeoNeilUK]

@@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!

[@HouseholdDog]

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

[@Mr4Brown]

We need you to start doing some videos here in the US 😀

[@toyotaprius79]

I think this is something with insane potential

[@scotterdog1036]

So did Amazon. Years ago.

[@paulmark63]

question would be fabulous to have a decoding program like ACARS transmissions for meshtatic would it work ? Basically tune the frequency on your scanner line in /out would it work any programmes out there ? Look forward to hearing from you Paul in kent

[@125f8]

I have two coming. One heltec for home and one t deck for mobile use. My QTH is Sandy, Bedfordshire and it seems to be a gap that I can fill.

[@M0XXQ]

Hi Andy, I'm fairly new to this so still doing my research and learning, hope to order my first LoRA equipment soon to get on the air. Couple of ideas, how about using a callsign for the short name and adopt the standard Maidenhead locator for the long name, e.g. M0XXQ, IO94. I think it would also be a good idea to reach out to the UK Amateur Radio Repeater Community and discuss the possibility of installing hardware configured in router mode on the repeater masts, most repeaters are located on good, high ground locations for example GB3HA located a few miles west of me has an amazing takeoff around the North East.

[@fsbollox]

Your (and I laughing now no disrespect your dosin your whole community lol I done it myself bro you already know the solution but 100% for bringing it to the cool kidz

[@WATTYUK]

I had 4 V3 modules delivered today and my 4dbi antenna for my mast, need to figure it out now, we have a South Wales channel but not picking anything up as of yet

[@thistles4u]

I take it on the map it only shows static locations registered, be good to watch over summer meshheads taking nodes up the hills especially Yorkshire dales ect.. and just have a crazy mobile map day..

[@johnny14794]

Great videos Andy! I live in the USA and running on the 915Mhz with 2 Heltech V3 and 1 T-Deck. 1 Heltech as base and the others as mobile units. The only unit with MQTT on is my base unit. All others have MQTT off. About my T-Deck, I love it so far but what hurts it's user experience is the basic UI the firmware offers. Specially it doesn't keep a log of the chats, no map, keyboard doesn't light up (good for night time operations) etc. The T-Deck has so much potential. I guess because it's a new device that a proper firmware for it hasn't been designed that can take advantage of the display capabilities? Take care and God bless!

[@SJet2003]

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

[@dougle03]

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.

[@tylerolson9904]

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

[@johnny14794]

@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. 🙄

[@tylerolson9904]

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

[@kmurzin]

Hey Andy, what is the channel and air time utilization at the busy time in your network?

[@migalito1955]

Well Andy, I was going to say, send me one of your mesh devices & I'll start my bridge between NYC & Boston from my 1700 foot high mountain top home in the Catskills, but not a frequency match for sure. I do exoect to put one up in the spring after its no longer like Suberia, but that could be another 6 to 8 weeks. It was 7 degrees Fahrenheit last night, not exactly promising although in general its been a warm winter with several days hitting 50 degrees F. Take care & de kc2wvb

[@ronnierush9379]

Thanks for the Video. Annoyingly I didn't buy any 863MHZ-928MHz units a few months back. Now they seem to be sold-out in the UK or are being resold at inflated prices, guess I will wait a bit longer 😞

[@Dogbreath1974]

Moving house soon, i'll stick one up in the new place...any switch POE powered solutions?

[@johnholllander]

What’s the link for adding to the map please?

[@apted]

I added it but was removed

[@andykirby]

map.meshtasticuk.com

[@christophersmith1155]

COOL. I WISH THE NETWORK WAS BETTER DEVELOPED HERE ON MY SMALL ISLAND. { MANHATTAN NYC }

[@bluenetmarketing]

How about coming up with an unofficial standard for speed of transmission, say long-slow for certain types of traffic that people can switch over to, and then go back to long-fast?

[@mreguest1000]

Great videos as always! Wondering if anyone can tell me the default bluetooth PIN for a heltec wireless stick lite? I have google searched and read all the official documents and I do not see it anywhere? cheers! :)

[@Clembassador]

Me and some mates are working on what might be the largest network in the US, we’ve got close to 1/3 our Midwest state.

[@nealffischer]

Question: Andy, I was looking at purchasing the RAKwireless kit rak4630 and rak19007 915 is. I was wondering if it is possible to run this with two modules the rak 12500 AND rak 1906. Any help would be appreciated. Looking to create a small network around my town with some friends.

[@CLiiXY]

andy i found your channel while i was searching for cb radio videos, i have been watching your meshtastic video and really wan't to get into it, i just watched your video about the Heltec Capsule Sensor V3 but the shipping is a bit pricey could you give me advice on a decent easy to use meshtastic device i could buy online.. i live in the uk or if anyone see's this comment and could help me i would appreciate it a lot thanks

[@jungy537]

3 hours for nodeinfo is a good enough default. When you're driving around blasting position packets, a node which hasnt seen your nodeid before will request/exchange nodeinfo.

[@robprupe]

when will you be getting stock in your shop?

[@andykirby]

Yes coming soon. Probably 2 weeks I reckon.

[@leonda4817]

Could you please cover the details of channels and modem presets in a video? How are DM's send, who can read it in the log, which channel is used for the DM? Can i select in which channel the dm is sent? How does the receiver of a DM know which key is used? How can i share the bloody QR code? The app only shows me the QR-code of channel 0, so i assume i have to have others type in the psk manually. What about all the the modem presetslike very long slow or short fast? What kind of effects do they have on the mesh?

[@sethproaps8899]

The mesh must grow, the meah must grow, the mesh must grow

[@ohenekojo2561]

Keep hoping 😂

[@thegodsonuk]

Hi Andy Great vid as always. You mentioned upgrading the Meshtastic. Please could you do an idiot guide to upgrade without complete reflashing? I guess we will need to save or export a config file, then flash then import config? Question is how. Thanks in advance TETE BS36 Bristol

[@andykirby]

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

[@thegodsonuk]

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

[@danielscotcher]

I want to make a solar hidden solution to put up the hills around my town

[@TomRolfson]

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.

[@dougle03]

@@TomRolfson How will you manage FW updates?

[@HouseholdDog]

I am looking at putting one up. Any tips?

[@TomRolfson]

@@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.

[@TomRolfson]

@@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.

[@YorkshirePork]

I reckon most of the settings could be auto set by the app depending on how many nodes in your area.

[@andykirby]

They could yeah, have it scaleable like helium was.

[@jacko101]

Nice video Andy, I got mine up and running, but new messages on ios don't make an audio notification, is that normal?

[@rod1cooper]

It seems a bit hit and miss

[@dangruner5926]

@@rod1cooperthe iOS app is terrible in my opinion…

[@HouseholdDog]

Can you mix say longfast with, say, medium fast somehow? That way you could get a faster "backbone" running between well placed routers.

[@mr_spoons]

Not on the same device.

[@mkmonkey]

Good day ! I'm going to move to UK (Leeds , probably) in a few months . I would like to ask if any device suggestion for setting up a stationary node ? Currently I'm using 2 LilyGo Echo , but I would like to setup one without the need to replace the battery frequently . Thanks very much ! (Sorry for being a noob , as very little user here in HK for information/discussion)

[@mr_spoons]

What information would you like exactly?

[@mkmonkey]

​@@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 !

[@over-engineered]

Andy, as you are a ham, have you ever thought of trying the 430MHz versions on a clear (say 435MHz ish) frequency using 70cm base antennas?

[@andykirby]

Yes but there's very few on 😁

[@over-engineered]

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

[@fotografm]

Brighton mesh is growing with new users every week. Wait for the explosion now chinese new year is over. I enjoy experimenting with antennas and will upload a video about this.

[@morlanius]

@5:33 using them in router(invisible) mode works well for this, it'll just do what we want without actually contributing to the traffic and node list

[@babc142]

Routers are invisible? I thought that was repeater?

[@AndrewJonesMcGuire]

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.

[@babc142]

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

[@AndrewJonesMcGuire]

@@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.

[@bicyclox4143]

@@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.

[@thetribejamiemcgee8559]

just ordered lilly go, , i live in mansfield near nottingham

[@bagwaa9948]

I'm in West Bridgford South Notts

[@thetribejamiemcgee8559]

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

[@mshakeshaft]

Belper here should be up and running next week.

[@thetribejamiemcgee8559]

@@mshakeshaft ahh ok cool

[@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat]

Good day, How can i see the coverage in Japan? The frequency there is 920-925 but i see units only going up to 915. Would that work or there are units with the higher frequency and im just not seeing it? Thank you so very much. This is exciting!

[@HuyLe-qc8jc]

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.

[@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat]

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

[@markmedia8252]

Hi I'm in Australia and I'm getting interested in meshtastic but have some questions can it be used like wifi networks sharing videos pictures or files

[@paulstimpson8977]

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

[@belperite]

The congestion issue is what worries me a bit - it reminds me of ethernet when switches didn't exist. In addition, with meshtastic there is no backoff - e.g. if a tx fails the first time over the only path available it doesn't get through.

[@mr_spoons]

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

[@HouseholdDog]

Anyone watching from Melbourne Australia?

[@mattparker9726]

@Andy Kirby I would like to use packet radio and a multi HDD home storage solution for storing and forwarding emails for people in remote areas or in an emergency/ grid down sort of situation. Obviously the drives need to be encrypted for privacy, but I'm not really interested in that at the moment, that's down the road. Anyone know about anything 10-15 year old packet radio equipment (so that it's cheap) but is good quality from a secondhand site like eBay, or whatever? Also what would I need to make this idea work in a technical manner? (for a new person interested in radio but knows nothing) Also I own my home, so a permanent solution is preferred over portable. It'd an older house, and it has an old analogue TV antenna, could I use that for transmitting on UHF and VHF? I'm in the USA so would I need a license for that? Thanks guys for your help!

[@DarkFire515]

How good is the propogation on 868MHz LORA? I live in a bit of a low spot so am I doomed to never receive a signal or is it fairly location-forgiving?

[@mr_spoons]

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.

[@DarkFire515]

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

[@bierakanus5463]

I don't see where I can set node info beacon to 15 min, the shortest option is 1 hour. Device Config-Node Info Broadcast Interval-1 hour in settings.

[@andykirby]

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

[@bikeham]

what is that mobile radio with the spectrum display?

[@bikeham]

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

[@jeffslade8621]

Andy what's happened to the e- bike stuff, been 5 months since your last Video, and hello from New Zealand.

[@andykirby]

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

[@IceQubed]

Winter in the northern hemisphere ;)

[@ignoreme123]

I suggest, again, you address the band regulations and educate the complete new comments on things such as the 500mW e.r.p limit and the use of high gain antennas such as yagis

[@donbunson5031]

Are yagi's pushing the limit?

[@ignoreme123]

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

[@SimonJackson13]

Small antenna, metropolis hell? I'll maybe try VeryLongSlow range test for a day.

[@SimonJackson13]

Ch. 4.

[@sprint955st]

So what we need to do is divide the country into squares or hexagons of say 10km, and then move nodes on to the junction points so that there is even coverage.

[@Smegmeister]

Clown says Hi.. Andy we need you.

[@KS0JD]

What Yaesu radio were you using to scan? 73

[@andykirby]

FT5D

[@grayrabbit2211]

Does anyone how well these handle RFI? There are a few broadcast towers I have access to and no one's using 900MHz on the towers, but there are broadcast FM station on them

[@mr_spoons]

You can add your own cavity filter.

[@adk5746]

Do these work out of the box or do they have to be programmed

[@mr_spoons]

They need flashed with Meshtastic firmware.

[@vitallife8503]

Hello, I have recently started to study this system.can another meshtastic user see the location if I don't want it?

[@mr_spoons]

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.

[@vitallife8503]

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

[@bluenetmarketing]

How about someone come up with a Mesh dance or a Mesh song with snappy lyrics?

[@mickibbett2120]

Hi Andy Iv'e just setup a station in Clapham Bedford, its 114asl Kind regards Mick (M0MPI)

[@yamez69]

A decentralized network will reach a saturation point that routers/repeaters/clients will be required

[@mr_spoons]

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.

[@dougle03]

Hi Andy; off topic question. I bought a house last year and there is a strange looking antenna on the roof. It terminates to an SMA plug. What's the best/cheapest way to determine what it's for? Can't ask the old owners.

[@andykirby]

Send me a picture to [e-mail]

[@MeineVideokasetten]

Describe good weather in UK: 0:01

[@kerbalairforce8802]

After watching a dozen videos on which device to get... the T-echo is sold out.

[@HuyLe-qc8jc]

isn't there a limit of 80 nodes before the mesh is saturated? It's a good service for a hobby but it's not really able to support wide scale adoption by many people.

[@TheAtomicZombie10]

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.

[@apted]

On the iOS app, the minimum broadcast interval is 1 hour 🤷‍♂️

[@andykirby]

Haha! They've done that for a reason 😁

[@InVinoVeritas.]

As a Yank with sparse mesh nodes in the US, I can say I'm jealous.

[@mr_spoons]

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

[@jimbles5071]

bro is a meshaholic.

[@mostlymessingabout]

Each message takes about 0.6 seconds to send. So it takes a lot of time.

[@InimitaPaul]

“It’s not a WhatsApp replacement and we don’t want it to be” What do “we” want it to be?

[@b3l14l]

Not a WhatsApp replacement

[@InimitaPaul]

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

[@dfgdfg_]

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

[@waynemoate9401]

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.

[@Mellow_Wood_Hill]

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

[@benhuffington8482]

HEar me out: What if we had helium/hydrogen balloons with solar powered nodes hanging from them. (to increase range in an emergency)??

[@mr_spoons]

"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).

[@pauljackson1120]

Anybody else thinking this guy looks like Harry Kane?

[@wilfredswinkels]

Meshtastic will be a victim of it's own succes. (just bought 2 extra Heltec's :-) )

[@misterchippie]

We used to use pigeons.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Andy, have you checked out the WisBlock Meshtastic devices ? They get almost 2 weeks on a single 18650 !

[@stevesmith7530]

From what I have read, turning off MQTT is pretty much required here in the UK due to the duty cycle restrictions. Living next door to an OfCom monitoring station, I think I will leave it off anyway :)

[@mr_spoons]

IMO MQTT for this application defeats the entire point anyway.

[@daveys]

Mesh is its own worst enemy in relation to channel crowding. Less hops through increased point to point (via a better, higher antenna) is a good idea. The fact that the app doesn’t show routes or routing tables is one of the big things that causes people to use traceroutes. People just want to see who they’re directly connected to and how their message is relayed if no direct connection.

[@andy_williams2365]

How about number 10 If you have got multiple devices please stop being greedy and let people without get a look in👍🍺

[@Robert-cd5zr]

This is cool but the popularity has its downsides. It's gonna grow just big enough to draw attention from the Government who will say they don't like the idea of secure, private communications not under their purview and add regulation... you know, for "safety"

[@donbunson5031]

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.

[@Buy-n-large]

Ohio is jealous

[@MONTY-YTNOM]

Jeez that Outro is way to mad and long :)

[@SveinWisnaes]

This tech WAS interesting until I read the terms and conditions. Then it was full stop. It is worse than any commercial software I have seen. Is there an opensource version? That would be really interesting and it would completely overtake Meshtastic in no time.