LoRa is a long range wireless technology that allows for decentralized communication over long distances using very little power.

Meshtastic is an open source mesh network built to run on affordable LoRa devices.

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'! A few of us have gotten started with the following setup, which come with the necessities for two nodes:

➡️ 915MHz ESP32 LoRa V3 + 5DBi 915MHz LoRa Antenna

Set one up at home as your base node and strap the other onto a power bank with a couple of zip ties for a quick-and-easy (if a bit clunky) mobile setup.

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 and Mapping Tools

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