MSP Mesh

[Steve Ulrich/NW0C]

Is anyone active on the Meshtastic MSP Mesh?

Steve - NW0C

[Eric Osterberg]

I am,

Eric - N0NKI

On Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 12:45 PM 'Steve Ulrich/NW0C' via Minnesota Amateur Radio Technical Society Discussion <mn-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Is anyone active on the Meshtastic MSP Mesh?

Steve - NW0C

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Minnesota Amateur Radio Technical Society Discussion" list.
 
To post to this group, send email to mn-...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
mn-arts+u...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/mn-arts?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Minnesota Amateur Radio Technical Society Discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mn-arts+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/0ff7fd02-7d6c-4164-896a-036f8b6b9126n%40googlegroups.com.

[ulr...@comcast.net]

Eric, 

What kind of activity are you seeing? Do you find it useful, etc.?

________________________

Steven Ulrich - NW0C

ulr...@comcast.net

---

From: mn-...@googlegroups.com <mn-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Eric Osterberg <ejost...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2026 9:25 PM
To: mn-...@googlegroups.com <mn-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [mn-arts] MSP Mesh

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CAJLaYFUaa2pGeoyh5OiQr%3DZ%3DGJraReJAYn3uNXPK6wKq%3DE96Bg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Ben Dover]

I've been interested in meeting with the folks setting that up as well as the Lora highspeed variant that does 35Mbps ideally.  I want to combine rental real estate holdings with a common setup that serves both them and a private research interest of mine. Would be great to have a way to also tap the unused HDTV bands for highspeed under the FCC carve out that allows for it when the spectrum is unused 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CH0PR11MB545904D8F725771924540A44FFE62%40CH0PR11MB5459.namprd11.prod.outlook.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

The WiFi HaLow connections will likely flood the 915mhz band and impact our much lower bandwidth LoRa connections. While I'm also interested in how WiFi HaLow can serve public safety and emergency communications, I worry about what will happen to this spectrum when commercial interests run with it. Hopefully we'll see more spectrum for similar use cases.

So MeshTastic and MeshCore...

I'm the director for the City of Bloomington, AUXCOMM Emergency Communications Unit. Last year I built a cache of Meshtastic units: 10 devices assigned to the 'red' team and another 10 available for the 'blue' team. For the SummerFet event on July 3rd each year, I deploy volunteers throughout the Normadale park area. We issued each person a meshtastic node and collected GPS positions from all our members. We created a separate encrypted channel and enabled location polling.  And, I loved knowing that I had a reasonably secure method to communicate information using part 97 devices that could be issued to anyone, without concern for their license status. If I needed to log, report, or share PII information, medical information, or contact information, I had high confidence only authorized people had access to the info. We took all of our ICS214 notes as text messages on our group channel. This immediately created a distributed log of our activity that was visible to all team members.  We used DMR direct simplex for our primary radio comms.Whomever was taking a shift at our dispatch net control position also noted voice communication summaries to the private encrypted group text channel on Meshtastic. I loved it! It was so very nice to know that information was being logged, timestamped, visible, secure, highly available, and independent of any outside infrastructure. Every team member had a full copy of our activity that night. If or when there was 'sensitive' information, I had the ability to message a single person discreetly.

At the moment, I'm preparing a CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) application that we'll use on a laptop, and it's cloud primarily, unless we lose Internet access. We'll have a radio interface, a web interface for entering and reviewing details, and I've vibe coded an application capable of transcribing our radio communications and logging this information. A message routing rules engine will allow the automatic generation of messages to our Meshtastic channel.

Meshtastic works quite well for dynamic on-scene, digital, lowspeed communications. The message repeating and broadcasting ensures we get signals behind trees and inside buildings.

For a more reliable long distance communications protocol, I've started an effort to use Mesh Core. They handle broadcasting and node to node routing quite differently.

My CAD application can function as a bridge between the protocols.

https://www.ticketscad.com/

Here's a screenshot as a teaser. The app "MeshBridge" is designed to operate from laptops or Raspberry Pis in the field to bring access points closer to the action. They collect all radio air information, hold the data in a cache if needed and submit the traffic to the CAD broker or the backup in the event the broker is unreachable. The core system tracks latency and coverage and selects the best MeshBridge node for handling any replies.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CABt-8eWmN3%3DkcNX1nJh%2B%3DZNVXNeGjo%2BWV5GAJZ2D3fS8GZ0Rhw%40mail.gmail.com.

[ulr...@comcast.net]

Eric, 

Thanks for the update. This is very interesting. One more question: if I were to set up a site at my QTH what might I expect to see for activity?

73,

________________________

Steven Ulrich - NW0C

ulr...@comcast.net

---

From: mn-...@googlegroups.com <mn-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Eric Osterberg <ejost...@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 11:01 AM

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CAJLaYFXusdmo1QFFw_0YSu7D8tBy0ByT0z4Ly28A9ZxYA9BjaA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

Because this is 915 MHz weak signal, propagation highly depends on elevation and other obstacles such as trees and the construction of your house. 

If you were to put a repeater node on your roof, I would expect you'd see significantly more than without. 

Honestly in one home you might see 400 plus nodes and in another home you might see 40.

You're definitely going to see much larger numbers if you can put a repeater on the roof.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CH0PR11MB545946A31FA050AD2AEE4F18FFE42%40CH0PR11MB5459.namprd11.prod.outlook.com.

[P Promelas]

Steve,

I know very little about this but Meshcore looks possibly more interesting for longer distance comms. I checked your address listed on ARRL.org and it seems there is an Anoka Meshcore repeater located only a mile or two away (CR7 and CR14).  https://map.meshcore.io/?zoom=13&lat=45.2010&lon=-93.3656

Sorry to have not capitalized mesh in my last message subject line and forked the thread.

Jay - NJ0M

[ulr...@comcast.net]

Jay, 

Thanks for the information. I'll have to put together something and see what I can see from my location.

73,

________________________

Steven Ulrich - NW0C

ulr...@comcast.net

---

From: mn-...@googlegroups.com <mn-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of P Promelas <ppro...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2026 8:25 PM
To: Digest recipients <mn-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [mn-arts] MSP Mesh

 

--

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Minnesota Amateur Radio Technical Society Discussion" list.
 
To post to this group, send email to mn-...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
mn-arts+u...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/mn-arts?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Minnesota Amateur Radio Technical Society Discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mn-arts+u...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CO6PR20MB371544DFCFF5D5C27DFDEAF5A4E22%40CO6PR20MB3715.namprd20.prod.outlook.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

This is one of the lowest power options out there: https://www.seeedstudio.com/XIAO-nRF52840-Wio-SX1262-Kit-for-Meshtastic-p-6400.html

I only wish they had US stock still. I've seen sales on AliExpress that are similar prices.

This unit lacks Wi-Fi, but the Nordic MCU uses a tiny fraction of the power of the ESP32 based devices. Many YouTubers are building these mesh nodes into solar lights. You get the battery, charger, solar panel, enclosure, mount, etc.—all at a fraction of the cost. Plus, it doesn't look like some weird radio device or bo*b or anything else that might raise paranoia about signals etc.

For a dollar more, and a larger power draw, here's the version with WiFi... https://www.seeedstudio.com/Wio-SX1262-with-XIAO-ESP32S3-p-5982.html

You're unlikely to want this one, unless you were wanting to bridge to an MQTT network or otherwise wanted a IP network connection.

My CAD system (Computer Aided Dispatch) was designed to communicate with the devices via IP, but you can also use serial, or serial over BLE, so not really a limitation of the other device either.

And if you want to play this weekend, here's the Amazon option for the ESP32 version. https://www.amazon.com/XIAO-ESP32S3-Wio-SX1262-Meshtastic-LoRa/dp/B0F8TSW1WZ/

I'd also recommend this board along with a battery if you are wanting a node to carry around. It includes a display. https://www.amazon.com/Heltec-Development-Display-Meshtastic-Communication/dp/B0FS1R4HXH

All around, long battery life, IP65 protection, tiny size, portability, and durability... I love this one. https://www.amazon.com/SenseCAP-Card-Tracker-T1000-Meshtastic/dp/B0DJ6KGXKB/

For the two previous links, I have 3d printable accessories for you. I have a nice case with a belt clip for the first, and the second, I have a drop in charger plate.

   

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CH0PR11MB54593FF81C02903F1E78801BFFE22%40CH0PR11MB5459.namprd11.prod.outlook.com.

[ulr...@comcast.net]

Eric, 

Thanks for the update. I ordered a Heltec board from Amazon. Will let you know how it works out.

73,

________________________

Steven Ulrich

ulr...@comcast.net

---

From: mn-...@googlegroups.com <mn-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Eric Osterberg <ejost...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2026 10:19 AM
To: mn-...@googlegroups.com <mn-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [mn-arts] Re: MSP Mesh

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mn-arts/CAJLaYFWmVAZgye%3DZjFwNFxcZBqSmvFpAPM7PNkfytk4whq8DPA%40mail.gmail.com.