I can now see #meshcore devices up to 500+ km away.
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@jwildeboer Can you reliably communicate over these distances or simply see the repeater adverts when there are good conditions?
You could test this by using the trace tools and checking a few long distance paths; it's in the app at the top right when you click on tools.
@djh No, reliable communication typically means max 6 hops or less. I am well aware of that. But seeing how at times a single new repeater bridges a whole chunk into my visibility is fascinating.
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@jwildeboer i will probably get back into meshcore as soon as i find a device that doesnt crap out after 3 days. Still upset about my tdeck
@kineticdiplomacy my repeater is a Heltec T114 which is happily running since 25 days (that’s when I updated the firmware). It sits outside on my balcony, has a 3000 mAh battery and a 20W solar cell connected to it, so is completely independent. The battery is typically still at around 75-80% in the morning, before the solar cell starts catching enough sunlight.
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@theron29 The CZ Community has decided to use different radio settings, becoming isolated from most of the mesh using the EU narrow settings.
@jwildeboer Oh... Did not know that. Thanks for the info....
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I can now see #meshcore devices up to 500+ km away. Quite fascinating!
@jwildeboer Goddamn it, Jan, you're giving me so much fomo with these posts.
Alright, where does one start? What device should one buy so that they _actually_ use it? I thought of using meshcore as a tracker for my backpack but apparently I'd have to recharge it every couple of days. So maybe an actual messenger device is better? I can have it plugged in on the desk.
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@jwildeboer Goddamn it, Jan, you're giving me so much fomo with these posts.
Alright, where does one start? What device should one buy so that they _actually_ use it? I thought of using meshcore as a tracker for my backpack but apparently I'd have to recharge it every couple of days. So maybe an actual messenger device is better? I can have it plugged in on the desk.
@filiph I guess I will write a blogpost on how I use it. The TL;DR: check the map at [1] to see if you have repeater(s) close to you. If yes, you can get away with just a companion node. But soon you will want to add a repeater to your setup. For that I use a Heltec T114. It is low power, reliable and quite cheap. You can hook up your companion node via USB to your laptop/computer and follow the stream of messages on your desktop etc.
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@jwildeboer Goddamn it, Jan, you're giving me so much fomo with these posts.
Alright, where does one start? What device should one buy so that they _actually_ use it? I thought of using meshcore as a tracker for my backpack but apparently I'd have to recharge it every couple of days. So maybe an actual messenger device is better? I can have it plugged in on the desk.
@filiph @jwildeboer you can take a look at my blog post I wrote 2 weeks ago. The goal was to share info I would have appreciated before starting with it: https://blog.eischmann.cz/2026/02/15/uvod-do-meshcore/
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@filiph I guess I will write a blogpost on how I use it. The TL;DR: check the map at [1] to see if you have repeater(s) close to you. If yes, you can get away with just a companion node. But soon you will want to add a repeater to your setup. For that I use a Heltec T114. It is low power, reliable and quite cheap. You can hook up your companion node via USB to your laptop/computer and follow the stream of messages on your desktop etc.
@filiph I currently use a L1 [1] as my companion node that sits in my messenger bag. It has a 2000 mAh battery which makes it last for around 3 days before it needs a recharge. The L1 has GPS builtin, so that's helpful. Right now there is no real killer use case, though. You can send and receive messages, observer groups and marvel at the amount of nodes you can see.
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@kineticdiplomacy my repeater is a Heltec T114 which is happily running since 25 days (that’s when I updated the firmware). It sits outside on my balcony, has a 3000 mAh battery and a 20W solar cell connected to it, so is completely independent. The battery is typically still at around 75-80% in the morning, before the solar cell starts catching enough sunlight.
@jwildeboer do you also have a separate client, or just the repeater?
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@jwildeboer do you also have a separate client, or just the repeater?
@kineticdiplomacy I have a Wio L1 [1] as companion node that I take with me. It connects via Bluetooth to the Meshcore app on my mobile phone.
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@scooter I don’t directly connect to nodes 500km away. My repeater „sees“ maybe 5-10 other repeaters in a radius of maybe 3-4km. They see other repeaters and so the mesh expands in ways that packets sent from 500km away make it back to my repeater through sometimes 19 hops
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@fribbledom Depends on the goals. As you can see, most nodes are close to my location (Munich, Germany) and communication here is quite reliable. That’s the intended purpose (at least for me). Local communication. That it also reaches that far out is a nice to have thing.
Reliability and scaling would be my highest priorities, but sadly the MeshCore protocol has several flaws in these regards.
I'm currently in the same region as you and successful packet delivery rates have been dropping steadily over the past months.
I think they're trying to mend things with "Region" settings, but that feels like a weird band-aid/workaround on top of a more fundamental protocol design issue.
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