Side note: how do y’all carry your antennaed nodes while out and about? Like to the gym or errands
For situations like this, I like to use devices with internal built-in antennas such as the Heltec MeshPocket, Seeed T1000-E, or RAK WisMesh Tag.
But all those devices are best used with a local repeater.
Thanks for the rec! Yeah I have a sensecap solar on my roof in client base, was very impressed with the range I got on my walk today.
I have a rokland 5.8DBI fiberglass coming in the mail tomorrow I think, so I can hopefully get away with an internal
Oh nice, somebody in my local area just ordered the rak Wismesh repeater and is going to put it up in a week or so, so that will be even more coverage in my area.
You should see what they’ve built out in the bay. Routers on all of the surrounding mountains. Its beautiful. I sent a message that went out to yuba city all the way down to San Luis Obispo last night.
Thats about 271 miles (437 kilometers) as the crow flies
What am I even seeing here… Is it a wireless leash for a dog or something? Apparently I have heard nothing about this branch of tech, because I recognize none of the products you just mentioned. Man I feel old.
Its a low powered long range radio that runs meshtastic firmware!
It allows people to share text-based communications without needing the internet or cell towers, think of it like walkie-talkies that can talk to multiple people at once and automatically relay messages from one radio to another, creating a mesh network.
You’re not too out of the loop, if you’re on Lemmy!
wait, so this is basically a text machine/pager that allows other users to band together and uses each device as another relay? cuz that’s fuckin rad and the nerdiest thing i’ve ever heard at the same time
What’s up
I really like the idea and I want to get into meshtastic, so that I can communicate in case of an emergency.
Two questions:
- is meshtastic the only protocol, or are there others?
- does the community take the risk of an EMP seriously, or can I expect to be the only one with a working device after an EMP?
- There are two others that I know of: Meshcore, and reticulum.
- In my short time in the scene, I haven’t seen anyone talk about anti-EMP measures they have taken.
Its my understanding (I may be wrong here) that the antenna wouldn’t be able to be exposed during the initial EMP anyways, so you’d need to keep a stash of nodes in a Faraday cage to deploy after an EMP
Most of these devicesbwould definitely gsr damaged or disabled by an emp. The voltage is very small on most of these devices.
Thanks for answering
- Are those protocols interoperable? Or are they fighting for individual market dominance?
- Sad, but that’s often the case. And yes, you’d need to store a couple of devices in a hell of a faraday cage, in hopes they will survive an EMP detonated above your head. In the end, this is one of the main use cases I can see. If you use those devices today, it is similar to amateur radio: Fun and nerdy, but not needed.
