Meshtastic and the University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club

[Dan Delaney]

Hey! I’m Dan, I’m a Penn employee who lives in West Philly. I work at ISC and used to work at the School of Medicine when I started at Penn in 2012. I’m part of the Philly Radio and Meshtastic group (phillymesh.net) and we’re looking for other organizations to partner with to deploy new nodes around the city. Penn has quite a few high-rises so we wanted to know if Meshtastic piques the interest of any of your club members enough to host some nodes. We’d be happy to host a talk about what Meshtastic is and what it can be used for, if that’s something you’re interested in. Or, we could have a more informal discussion with any of your members that might already be familiar with it. We have nodes we can donate to deploy in advantageous locations: solar powered nodes, outdoor nodes, or small indoor window nodes, whatever suits the location best. Let me know if this is something you’d be interested! Thanks, Dan

[Calvin Beck]

I’d be interested! I haven’t messed with any of the meshtastic and LoRA stuff yet, though.

I know that the WM3PEN repeater is on one of the Penn dorms. I have no idea how they got permission for that, but it’s probably worth reaching out to that group.

I believe they can be contacted via wm3...@arrl.net

Calvin Beck

On Jun 20, 2025, at 21:23, Dan Delaney <danrd...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey! I’m Dan, I’m a Penn employee who lives in West Philly. I work at ISC and used to work at the School of Medicine when I started at Penn in 2012. I’m part of the Philly Radio and Meshtastic group (phillymesh.net) and we’re looking for other organizations to partner with to deploy new nodes around the city. Penn has quite a few high-rises so we wanted to know if Meshtastic piques the interest of any of your club members enough to host some nodes. We’d be happy to host a talk about what Meshtastic is and what it can be used for, if that’s something you’re interested in. Or, we could have a more informal discussion with any of your members that might already be familiar with it. We have nodes we can donate to deploy in advantageous locations: solar powered nodes, outdoor nodes, or small indoor window nodes, whatever suits the location best. Let me know if this is something you’d be interested! Thanks, Dan

[Jefferson Ding]

Super cool. I was running a Meshtastic node in my dorm last semester.

Would love to look into this next semester.

Jefferson Ding

On Jun 21, 2025, at 11:04 AM, Calvin Beck <hob...@seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

I’d be interested! I haven’t messed with any of the meshtastic and LoRA stuff yet, though.

I know that the WM3PEN repeater is on one of the Penn dorms. I have no idea how they got permission for that, but it’s probably worth reaching out to that group.

I believe they can be contacted via wm3...@arrl.net

Calvin Beck

On Jun 20, 2025, at 21:23, Dan Delaney <danrd...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey! I’m Dan, I’m a Penn employee who lives in West Philly. I work at ISC and used to work at the School of Medicine when I started at Penn in 2012. I’m part of the Philly Radio and Meshtastic group (phillymesh.net) and we’re looking for other organizations to partner with to deploy new nodes around the city. Penn has quite a few high-rises so we wanted to know if Meshtastic piques the interest of any of your club members enough to host some nodes. We’d be happy to host a talk about what Meshtastic is and what it can be used for, if that’s something you’re interested in. Or, we could have a more informal discussion with any of your members that might already be familiar with it. We have nodes we can donate to deploy in advantageous locations: solar powered nodes, outdoor nodes, or small indoor window nodes, whatever suits the location best. Let me know if this is something you’d be interested! Thanks, Dan

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wireless+u...@seas.upenn.edu.

[Dan Delaney]

Thanks Calvin - we will check that out!

Dan

Sent from my iPhone.

---

From: Calvin Beck <hob...@seas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2025 11:03:54 PM
To: wire...@seas.upenn.edu <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>
Cc: wire...@seas.upenn.edu <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Re: Meshtastic and the University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club

 

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wireless+u...@seas.upenn.edu.

[Dan Delaney]

Thanks Jefferson - 

Perhaps we can attend the next meeting in the fall to present? I can coordinate that.

Dan

Sent from my iPhone.

---

From: Jefferson Ding <tyd...@wharton.upenn.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2025 11:19:00 PM

To: wire...@seas.upenn.edu <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>
Cc: wire...@seas.upenn.edu <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Re: Meshtastic and the University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club

[Jefferson Ding]

Sounds like a plan. Always had the idea to get the club restarted. Next semester is a great time.

Jefferson

[Dick Moberg]

Dan:

Thanks.  I'm a Penn Alum.  I have a node in Center City (POQ) but want to do more with solar, etc.  I'm  planning to set up a mesh for my camp at Burning Man.  I also volunteer for the Street Medics in Philly and they want to use Meshtastic to communicate.  I'd love to stay in touch and learn more.

Regards, 

Dick Moberg

On Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 9:23 PM Dan Delaney <danrd...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey! I’m Dan, I’m a Penn employee who lives in West Philly. I work at ISC and used to work at the School of Medicine when I started at Penn in 2012. I’m part of the Philly Radio and Meshtastic group (phillymesh.net) and we’re looking for other organizations to partner with to deploy new nodes around the city. Penn has quite a few high-rises so we wanted to know if Meshtastic piques the interest of any of your club members enough to host some nodes. We’d be happy to host a talk about what Meshtastic is and what it can be used for, if that’s something you’re interested in. Or, we could have a more informal discussion with any of your members that might already be familiar with it. We have nodes we can donate to deploy in advantageous locations: solar powered nodes, outdoor nodes, or small indoor window nodes, whatever suits the location best. Let me know if this is something you’d be interested! Thanks, Dan

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wireless+u...@seas.upenn.edu.

[john campbell]

Dick and Dan - I am also a Penn alum.  We should talk.  We have a station set up in center city.  It is set up for remote access. It is also set up for a mesh network (Army MARS, NVIS, specifically)

Penn alums and certainly licensed Penn employee can use the station or we could potentially make it part of a mesh network here in Philly.

I am also a member of Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club in Philly as well as U Penn Amateur Radio Club.

{Dan - yes there is communications equipment on the top of Penn’s High Rise South at 39th street and Locust Walk.  Our club is looking to put some equipment up there one day.  Right now it is WM3PEN and N3KZ/R.}

Feel free to ping my e-mail at:

Jthomas...@yahoo.com

Let me know if we can help with your efforts.  We can create a mini “working group” of the interested parties.

I have CC’d “JMS”, Professor Smith, at Penn who is the Acting Faculty Advisor for our Club and N3JT, Club Trustee.

Best,

John Campbell

W3MHZ (formerly KS3D)

Penn class of 1992

929 Lombard St.

Maiden FM29KW

415.830.2095

https://w3abt.seas.upenn.edu/history/

[Cooper, Elizabeth G.]

This sounds interesting. I’m a brand new ham and a Penn staff member. Keep me posted. 

Lizz

Lizz Cooper

Lizz....@asc.upenn.edu

215-573-6369

Elizabeth G. Cooper

Help Desk Manager

Annenberg School for Communication

University of Pennsylvania

3620 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA  19104

 

---

From: 'john campbell' via The University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2025 9:46 AM
To: W3ABT Amateur Radio Club at the University of Pennsylvania <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>; di...@dickmoberg.com <di...@dickmoberg.com>; danrd...@gmail.com <danrd...@gmail.com>
Cc: john campbell <jthomas...@yahoo.com>; Smith, Jonathan Michael <j...@seas.upenn.edu>; jim <j...@n3jt.com>

Subject: Re: Meshtastic and the University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club

[Jamie Schnaitter]

Setting up some meshtastic nodes sounds like a great idea, especially if we stick some sensors on some of them.  The top of Rodin might be too high for it though, as a node up there might end up seeing too much traffic.

Jamie Schnaitter

They/them/their

Systems Administrator

CETS

Penn Engineering

University of Pennsylvania

cets.seas.upenn.edu

[john campbell]

Jamie - thanks for the feedback ! I know you have significant knowledge to contribute.

How about Wharton - Huntsmann Hall ??   I think it is 6 or 7 stories.  Top floor lounge with free coffee and a 360 view.

https://operations.wharton.upenn.edu/huntsman-hall/

Wharton is my home school so I will talk to Wharton no problem.  Wharton also has Vance Hall.

 We have added our Holmesburg friends (Saul, Bob, Steve, and Ron ) to the discussion. Tex Kang of Penn of course as well.

-  Bob WA3PZO and I were batting around the idea of having an on campus meeting one day with the interested parties.  Grab a conference room on Campus and order some food.  Grab a white board / blackboard.

{For anyone unaware Jamie, KJ4TBT, works at Penn and helps out the Undergraduate club when he can.}

{I can also make an Element room if the group wants. I find it valuable - It is like Slack.  great way to share knowledge and files, etc}

Best,

John

415.830.2095

[john campbell]

* CORRECTION:  KJ4TBT, Jamie helps out the Club when they can. 

Jamie uses they / them pronouns and I miswrote “he”.  Apologies, Jamie. 

- John 

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 21, 2025, at 5:05 PM, 'john campbell' via The University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club <wire...@seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

Jamie - thanks for the feedback ! I know you have significant knowledge to contribute.

[Nitin Seshadri]

Great to see interest in this! I learned about Meshtastic a while ago but didn't have time to explore it further. Wish I had known there were so many people interested then.

Micaela and I graduated in May, so the club needs new student leadership. If anyone is interested, let Russ (Alumni Advisor / QSL Manager) and Jim (Station Trustee) know.

We were also in the process of setting up a Discord last year, which can be used for coordinating projects like this. I think Jamie has the invite link, if not I will try to find it.

73,

Nitin Seshadri KD2ZJU

(Former Vice President)

On Jun 21, 2025, at 5:15 PM, 'john campbell' via The University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club <wire...@seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

* CORRECTION:  KJ4TBT, Jamie helps out the Club when they can. 

[Dick Moberg]

Steve....our paths cross again.  As usual, unexpected, but wonderful.  Glad to see you are very much into this. I have a deadline to get a mesh and radios working for my neuroscience camp at Burning Man late August.  So the sooner I can learn more from everyone and prototype something, the better.  I have two nodes (Heltec) at my house in Center City, but that's as far as I got when other priorities hit last fall. Looking forward to what we can do

Regards, 

Dick  

On Sat, Jun 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM Steven Davidson <k3...@sjdmd.com> wrote:

Wow! What a network of Meshtastic interested humans and more than a few hams, too. Yes, I'm a Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club member and a native Philadelphian

And why am I not surprised to see Dick Moberg here--he's always been out in front of the crowd. I'm so glad to still be circling the sun with you, Dick.

I'm a ham since age 13, a Wharton MBA grad Executive MBA program 1989 after undergrad and med school 1975 at Temple. Retired and moved back from 23 years in exile to Brooklyn. Glad to be home since 2018. From my house (260' ASL), about 2/3's of the way up the West side of Mount Airy I have a pretty good view from University City to the West to Northern Liberties. From my barn (305' ASL) on the 45' pole strapped to the back of it, the view is better. The NE to NW is pretty much a dead quadrant for line-of-sight efforts, though not entirely, especially so at VHF frequencies rather than ~900 mHz.

I've been assembling nodes and putting them out without much reward in terms of contacts for over a year. Mostly Heltec ESP32s until recently when I put two T114s w/GPS into zerofox3d cases, which are now mostly on loan to other hams who wanted to play with a node. I have a solar powered RAK 4630 and a locally powered RAK 4631 with external BlueTooth antenna that I want to keep on site, but I'd be happy to contribute the Solar powered node to the greater good. I have a LilyGo T-deck I'm trying to find a GPS module for (3.3V micro size).

I'm pretty much head down prepping gear and systems for Field Day Friday 26 1200L to Sunday 28 1600L followed quickly by the The Thirteen Colonies Special Event July 1-7. After I catch my breath I'd love to connect iRL (in Real Life) or over Zoom (I have an account).

Stay well and keep circling the sun; 'cause life is beautiful.

73 de K3FZT / Steve 917-837-7079 

--

Steve Davidson K3FZT

Winlink Gateway K3FZ...@145.67mHz direct or via W3EOC-3

WIRES-X Room #85218 "MARC-DARBY" 444.050 mHz

K3...@sjdmd.com FN20ja

[Jamie Schnaitter]

The discord server is here: https://discord.gg/ARKxaqtk 

Jamie Schnaitter

They/them/their

Systems Administrator

CETS

Penn Engineering

University of Pennsylvania

cets.seas.upenn.edu

[Jamie Schnaitter]

Hmm, it wasn’t supposed to expire but I guess it did.  I generated a new one: https://discord.gg/t8T7agdKNU

Jamie Schnaitter

They/them/their

Systems Administrator

CETS

Penn Engineering

University of Pennsylvania

cets.seas.upenn.edu

On Jun 21, 2025, at 20:44, Steven Davidson <k3...@sjdmd.com> wrote:

Invalid invite.

/Steve 

--

Steve Davidson K3FZT

Winlink Gateway K3FZ...@145.67mHz direct or via W3EOC-3

WIRES-X Room #85218 "MARC-DARBY" 444.050 mHz

K3...@sjdmd.com FN20ja

[Jamie Schnaitter]

Sorry, one more time: https://discord.gg/FZ9yz3qjat

That last one had a setting turned on that seems like it caused issues.

Thanks,

Jamie Schnaitter

They/them/their

Systems Administrator

CETS

Penn Engineering

University of Pennsylvania

cets.seas.upenn.edu

[Dan Delaney]

Awesome! Thanks Dick and good luck at Burning Man

[Dan Delaney]

Thanks John - that is super great to hear about the existing station presence in Center City. I am actually not licensed but have started studying and hope to accomplish that soon. 

I can certainly help to coordinate the Philly Radio and Meshtastic (PRM) side of the working group, I will circle back with them and then convene via a separate email thread.

Thank you for CCing JMS - looking forward to meeting with you all virtually or in person.

Dan

[Dan Delaney]

Lizz, will do!

Dan

[Dan Delaney]

Thanks Jamie, will keep you in the loop.

Dan

[Dan Delaney]

In person sounds great! I can also help to find a space to meet if that is helpful but I am always happy to explore a new Penn building. I am located at 3401 Walnut B Wing.

Good to know about Jamie - sounds like we have a great depth of knowledge in this group.

[Dan Delaney]

Thanks Nitin, congrats to you and Micaela on graduating!

On Sat, Jun 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM Nitin Seshadri <nit...@sas.upenn.edu> wrote:

[Dan Delaney]

Thanks for the info Steve, yes, would be happy to meet in person or on Zoom. I have two nodes, a Heltec ESP32 I picked up from Iffy Books and a SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E. Am hoping to build a solar powered RAK soon for my roof in West Philly (Cedar Park). Good luck at Field Day and the Thirteen Colonies!

Dan

On Sat, Jun 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM Steven Davidson <k3...@sjdmd.com> wrote:

Wow! What a network of Meshtastic interested humans and more than a few hams, too. Yes, I'm a Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club member and a native Philadelphian

And why am I not surprised to see Dick Moberg here--he's always been out in front of the crowd. I'm so glad to still be circling the sun with you, Dick.

I'm a ham since age 13, a Wharton MBA grad Executive MBA program 1989 after undergrad and med school 1975 at Temple. Retired and moved back from 23 years in exile to Brooklyn. Glad to be home since 2018. From my house (260' ASL), about 2/3's of the way up the West side of Mount Airy I have a pretty good view from University City to the West to Northern Liberties. From my barn (305' ASL) on the 45' pole strapped to the back of it, the view is better. The NE to NW is pretty much a dead quadrant for line-of-sight efforts, though not entirely, especially so at VHF frequencies rather than ~900 mHz.

I've been assembling nodes and putting them out without much reward in terms of contacts for over a year. Mostly Heltec ESP32s until recently when I put two T114s w/GPS into zerofox3d cases, which are now mostly on loan to other hams who wanted to play with a node. I have a solar powered RAK 4630 and a locally powered RAK 4631 with external BlueTooth antenna that I want to keep on site, but I'd be happy to contribute the Solar powered node to the greater good. I have a LilyGo T-deck I'm trying to find a GPS module for (3.3V micro size).

I'm pretty much head down prepping gear and systems for Field Day Friday 26 1200L to Sunday 28 1600L followed quickly by the The Thirteen Colonies Special Event July 1-7. After I catch my breath I'd love to connect iRL (in Real Life) or over Zoom (I have an account).

Stay well and keep circling the sun; 'cause life is beautiful.

73 de K3FZT / Steve 917-837-7079 

--

Steve Davidson K3FZT

Winlink Gateway K3FZ...@145.67mHz direct or via W3EOC-3

WIRES-X Room #85218 "MARC-DARBY" 444.050 mHz

K3...@sjdmd.com FN20ja

On Sat, Jun 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM Nitin Seshadri <nit...@sas.upenn.edu> wrote:

[Dan Delaney]

Dick - if you are into Discord, there Philly Mesh has one where much can be learned about Meshtastic: https://discord.gg/MWWbAkRR9v

Dan

[john campbell]

Dan - you are great !  At Penn as an alum I wanted to find out the Free Parking situation for guests ?  I live in town and take the subway but when I was an Undergrad (Wharton) and Grad student (UCLA) when we had Faculty sponsored meetings with guests from the community the relevant office validates the parking….since it is rude of say Wharton to invite people to a meeting and then charge them a lot to park in a garage Wharton owns.

Do you know about parking validation ?  Does Penn still do that ?  (sorry - i graduated in 1992).   That should dictate our choice of buildings (Wharton, Moore, Perelman, etc).

JMS’ office is 3330 Walnut so you are next door to Professor Smith.

- John

[Dennis DeMarco]

Hello,

I’m a current student at Penn and been licensed since 1986. I was an officer for several years at the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Radio Club in Paoli.

I tried signing up for the Discord server, but the link appears to be expired. Does anyone have a more current link?

Thanks,

Dennis KA3QOT

[john campbell]

Dennis - Welcome !

 I am sure our newest alum and former Club VP Nitin will be in touch shortly to give you a primer / run down. 

I took my novice exam at mid atlantic amateur radio cub in 1979. I was a member of MARC when I lived in a Wayne. Small world and yes I am old. 

Best,

John

W3MHZ

415.830.2095

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 22, 2025, at 7:27 AM, Dennis DeMarco <de...@sas.upenn.edu> wrote:



[Dan Delaney]

Sorry for my delay. Even though we have chosen a physical location for the fall, I can answer that there is not any parking validation on campus. Folks can use the ParkMobile app for street parking or if they want to skip the parking fee completely parking in West Philly and taking a trolley in is an option. There are spots near 40th Street portal outside of the Woodlands and you can just take any eastbound trolley to 36th or 37th depending on destination.

Dan

Dan

Sent from my iPhone.

 

From: 'john campbell' via The University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>

Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2025 7:04 AM
To: wire...@seas.upenn.edu <wire...@seas.upenn.edu>
Cc: Jamie Schnaitter <kj4...@seas.upenn.edu>; di...@dickmoberg.com <di...@dickmoberg.com>; Jonathan M. Smith <j...@seas.upenn.edu>; jim <j...@n3jt.com>; wa3pzo <wa3...@aol.com>; Saul Broudy <sau...@yahoo.com>; Steven Davidson <k3...@sjdmd.com>; Ron Cardullo <rcard...@comcast.net>; Kang, Tex <tex...@upenn.edu>

[john campbell]

ugh.  disgusting.  UCLA validates and they are a Public School…..maybe we hold the meeting at UCLA ?  by the beach.

seriously - thanks for the info, Dan.  

Disappointing. I went to Wharton so I know where they are coming from but the famous “When I was a Undergrad”  Wharton didn’t charge ya to park at Wharton.

Guess times are tough for Penn…

I will double check the “Parking Thing” with Wharton.  

—> Wharton has many garages and we will only have a few cars. 

—> We are doing a public service.

and it is a weekend.  I will ask.

- J

[R Russell Miller]

Hello Jefferson, 

Currently, the University of Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club has no undergraduate leadership. Would you consider taking on the role of Club President for the 2025-2026 academic year?  I can supply the names of six other students (three have Amateur Radio licenses) who have expressed an interest in the Club as well as the names of six members of the Penn Staff (four have Amateur Radio licenses) and one Faculty member who is a licensed Radio Amateur.

Thanks 73

Russ Miller WA3FRP   - past Club President