my new meshtastic h2t radio

To start off my first blog post I thought I’d share my experiences so far with one of my latest gadgets/toys: the muzi works H2T Heltec T114 with GPS running Meshtastic. This is pretty much my first foray into RF anything. One of my hacker buddies synfinner mentioned the protocol to me a while back and I looked into it briefly but recently decided to pull the trigger and grab a radio to see what it’s all about. (I actually bought a Raspberry Pi hat as well but that's for a future post)

First of all I guess we should go over what meshtastic is exactly. Meshtastic is a decentralized LoRa (Long Range) mesh network designed for off-grid use, “enabling low-power, long-range communication over unlicensed radio bands”. The protocol and software can run on a wide range of different devices such as a ESP32, LILYGO, the new Heltec T114, and others. If you’ve ever used a goTenna it’s a similar concept except open and customizable is so many ways. One of the most basic features is the ability to send and receive text messages, and for both goTenna and this H2T that can be facilitated via bluetooth and an app (also additional ways to interface with meshtastic devices depending on compatibility). Thanks to the meshing capabilities you can potentially connect with people outside of your radio's range thanks to hopping along other devices in the network (assuming it's large enough to reach your destination and assuming other nodes are willing to passing along messages - default setting). So far I've been able to see nodes 26 miles away and if you enable MQTT you can discover nodes anywhere in the world (or within a more specific MQTT topic such as your state or city). You can deploy router and repeater nodes as well which help solidify a network in a particular area (these should be used strategically). With enough adoption you might find yourself without even needing a cellular network, especially if you're pushing LoRaWAN.

Another feature of meshtastic and specifically the H2T (and other boards) is the option of having a GPS sensor included giving you the ability to exchange location information across the network. Actually, by default it was enabled and sharing on the primary channel using the default encryption key 👀. Beware: if you get one of these take the appropriate precautions that align with your risk tolerance to avoid accidentally sharing more information than you want. I opted to adjust the location proximity from 0.9mi to 1.8mi which ends up just sharing my approximate location which I'm fine with for right now. If you prefer you can change the primary channel encryption key and create a secondary channel with the default key and your location will only be shared with trusted nodes you give your encryption key to on the primary channel, and you'll still be able to see all the general chatter if you like in the secondary channel. Or you can turn off location sharing all together. But having the ability to track assets or find friends and family could be highly beneficial - especially in the great unknown.

Aside from a personal communications device there are some additional use-cases, one of which being the ability to connect sensors and/or controls to meshtastic nodes and be able to collect data or turn things on and off over long distances. For example if you wanted to add a sensor to your mailbox to tell you when it's opened/closed but your driveway is really long and your mailbox is out of range of the house, you could use a meshtastic node and connect the sensor to the GPIO pins and be good to go. Another example would be if you're a farmer with a lot of land and want to connect plant sensors, water controls, etc. Lots of potential uses.

Think I'm done rambling about meshtastic for now, but I'm sure I'll have more to say about it and my experiences in the future. It's something I'm pretty excited about and plan on adding to my EDC for sure. I don't get out that often but since I recently got a drone I need to get out and explore my state and find some more meshtastic nerds.

Postscript

I only have a high school diploma and not a lot of writing experience (other than every few years when I've spun up a new blog) but in putting together this post I found it really helpful to take breaks and time away from it and then come back and reread it and adjust things before continuing. Fun.