There’s been a lot of buzz about Meshtastic lately, and with good reason. The low-power LoRa-based network has a ton of interesting use cases, and as with any mesh network, the more nodes there are, the better it works for everyone. That’s why we’re excited by this super-affordable Meshtastic kit that lets you get a node on the air for about ten bucks.
The diminutive kit, which consists of a microcontroller and a LoRa module, has actually been available from the usual outlets for a while. But [concretedog] has been deep in the Meshtastic weeds lately, and decided to review its pros and cons. Setup starts with flashing Meshtastic to the XIAO ESP32-S3 microcontroller and connecting the included BLE antenna. After that, the Wio-SX1262 LoRa module is snapped to the microcontroller board via surface-mount connectors, and a separate LoRa antenna is connected. Flash the firmware (this combo is supported by the official web flasher), and you’re good to go.
What do you do with your new node? That’s largely up to you, of course. Most Meshtastic users seem content to send encrypted text messages back and forth, but as our own [Jonathan Bennett] notes, a Meshtastic network could be extremely useful for emergency preparedness. Build a few of these nodes, slap them in a 3D printed box, distribute them to willing neighbors, and suddenly you’ve got a way to keep connected in an emergency, no license required.
[Reticulum Network Stack] firmware for using this as RNode seems to be surfacing quite soon too. Stay tuned.
Happy to hear that! I feel like Reticulum deserves the hype so much more than meshtastic because of scalability
I’m waiting too. I dream about connecting long range communication 2m (Ham radio operator) cb-radio and reticulum on 433MHz or lora
Just curious how you’re planning on connecting cb with 2 meter? Obviously you can use your station call for a repeater, but linking in anything non-ham would be an invitation for your station call getting suspended and you fined, if youre trunking cb and ham. Even in most emergency situations, it could create problems. When everyone is at panic breakdown, the last thing you want is radio saturation by unlicensed/untrained people stepping all over the frequency.
What class are you out of curiosity? I’m General – N6INX (vanity call if you couldn’t tell .. and I prefer openlitespeed over nginx but oh well haha). If you want long range, an HF band would serve much better. I remember doing SSB on an HF frequency for a field day event and thanks to skip i was able to reach about 300 or 400 miles out with a quad. Good times.
Or just a regular project box which I’m sure is pretty cheap at that size.
I’m sure it’s more of a shout out to the culture than any kind of practical advice.
That node is a power hog compared to the NRF52 chip used in devices like the RAK wisblock and heltec t114. It works great if you have USB power available but not a great if you plan to run it off a battery. Either way, $10 to get started with meshtastic is a deal.
They have a Xiao packaged nrf52 chip that comes with the sx1262 radio bundle as well I think it’s 15 instead of 10 dollars us
I’ve got this kit, I wish the meshtastic firmware supported the xiao displays that are available.
Display works on mine fine. I have my Xiao in the expansion board ,with a grove keyboard attached, works well as a DIY T-Deck.
These come pre flashed with Meshtastic.
… with a non-functional WebUI. I just reflashed the unit I received today with a newer version.
Hackaday effect? PiHut (referenced by [concretedog] ‘s blog) have sold out of the kit. I had to register for a callback.
Works great on Meshcore too!
“Hackaday effect?”
Just once….It would be nice for “stuff” not to be out of stock. :(