Meshtastic is an open source mesh network built to run on affordable LoRa devices. LoRa is a long range wireless technology that allows for decentralized communication over long distances using very little power.

Getting Started

The way to get started is to pick up a basic LoRa board and antenna, flash the firmware and install the mobile app, and get meshin'! Most of us have started with a Heltec LoRa32 V3. If you get two, you can set one up as a base station at home and the other as a mobile node.

See the Meshtastic documentation for supported hardware.

Resources

General Information

• Meshtastic Documentation
• Testing & Reviewing LoRa® Antennas
  • Part 1: Overview and Summary Information
  • Part 2: Detailed antenna measurements
• LoRa Boards Comparison

Where to Buy

• Data Alliance
• Rokland

Maps

• MeshMap
• Meshtastic Map by Liam Cottle

Mapping Tools

• Distance-to-Horizon Calculator
• Topographic height heatmap
• heywhatsthat.com
• RF Line-of-Sight Visualizer

Local Mesh

Groups / Projects

• Central Valley Mesh is a group of Meshtastic users from all around the Central Valley, from Bakersfield to Stockton.
• Fresno Mesh (TBA)
• Tower Mesh (TBA)

Public Channels

Gallery

Here are some of our member's Meshtastic nodes.

Equipment needs

General radio

• NanoVNA V3 Vector Network Analyzer 4.3
• Misc antenna adapters, both straight through and short cable – IPEX/U.FL, SMA, RP-SMA, N-Type