{Date and time}
The idea behind a "mesh raising" is for a group of people to all help install a node at one location and learn more about the technology and some of the skills and considerations needed to do the install. Then, the next person who's ready to install a node has more knowledge and can call on a group of people to help install their node. The idea is that this will repeat itself again and again, creating both radio and human connections.
I'll provide fizzy water and some light snacks. If folks want to hang out after we finish the install, I can make a fire in the fire ring.
I don't really know what I'm doing, and you don't have to either! The idea is that we'll try to learn stuff together.
Bring a:
- Headlamp (if you want to get on the roof)
- Meshtastic radio (if you have one)
Questions? {Contact Information}
Put some of the reasons you're interested in this technology here. Here are some ideas:
- Autonomy: Does anyone really love their cell phone carrier? What if the owners of cell networks or the government decides to limit access to these networks? What if there is a disaster that casues an outage that the network owners are not able to quickly repair? Building community-controlled communications networks is a step in direction of giving us more autonomy in these scenarios. I'm ambivalent about whether Meshtastic or other LoRA-based technologies are particularly useful or the best technology to pursue. However, devices are relatively inexpensive and the considerations for getting Meshtastic radios to effectively talk with one another are similar to building any other kinds of networks. So, they represent a good entry point into building autonomous communication networks.
- Simplicity: Smartphones and the internet provide broad capabilities, but can also have detrimental effects on mental health and attention. Does simpler messaging with friends and neighbors help us reconsider the ways we engage with other messaging technologies?
- Connections between friends and neighbors: I like to build things with other people. As a renter, I'm not going to be building an ADU, or even a shed. Building radio networks taps into the time-honored tradition of friends and neighbors helping one another create infrastructure. Coming together to build radio networks gets us in the habit of mutual aid and creates connections that can act together to respond to other kinds of crisis.
If there's enough people, we can split into a few teams. If there's only a few people, we can do all these tasks together.
Figure out where and how to best mount the node and construct any kind of mast or bracket. Once the node has been configured, attach the node to the mounting bracket and angle the node so the solar panels can provide the maximum charge.
See the "Mounting Ideas" section for more details.
Configure the Meshtastic node so it can connect to other nodes in the city. For this install I used the settings suggested by the Arizona Meshtastic Community.
Get a baseline of how far two mobile nodes can message each other. Once the node is installed, see how the messaging range of the mobile nodes improves with a rooftop node nearby to relay messages.
Put any links to specs and documentation for the node here.
Node ID:
Put photos of roof and links to ideas that seem like they could work here.
Some settings that you might want to document:
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Preset:
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Frequency Slot:
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Okay to MQTT:
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Settings > Channels
Note that I think in the past I've had to completely close the Meshtastic app on my phone in order to see channel 0 show up in the app.
Your primary channel 0 should have the following settings:
- Name: (Capitalization is important here)
- Key Size:
- Key:
- Channel Role: Primary
- Positions Enabled:
- Approximate Location:
- Uplink Enabled:
- Downlink Enabled:
- Server:
- Username:
- Password:
- Map Report Publish Interval:
- Device Role:
- Node Info Broadcast Seconds:
- Smart Broadcast:
- Position Broadcast Interval:
- GPS Update Interval:
- Broadcast Device Metrics:
- Device Metrics Update Interval:
- Environment Metrics Update Interval:
- Power Metrics Update Interval:
Put links to further documentation about these settings here.
List out ideas for how to mount the node to the roof and elements like vents and chimneys that could help.
These are some references that provided inspiration:
- Node
- Batteries
- Drill. Hammer drill if drilling into masonry.
- Correct size masonry bits for the mounting hardware.
- Separate device for connecting to the rooftop node.
- Mobile node. Multiple would be ideal.
- Phones or computers to pair with mobile nodes.
- Small srewdrivers for opening/assembling node
- Headlamps
- Work light
Before event:
- Get on the roof and more thoroughly review mounting options and photograph them
- Factory reset node if it's been used at all
- Find documentation about how to set angle for optimal solar charging
- Think about which type of node role makes the most sense
- Buy snacks
- Charge batteries