LoRaWAN node working, Meshtastic installed.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:wrote last edited by [email protected]
My 1st LoRa node (A Lilygo T-Deck [1]) is working, Meshtastic [2] installed. Tomorrow some more boards will arrive, so I can build a little mesh at home to play with and learn about what it could mean for some of my ideas on decentralised identity ownership. Should be fun (also — it feels good to have the blackberry form factor in my hands again
[1] https://www.lilygo.cc/en-pl/products/t-deck
[2] https://meshtastic.org -
Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
(not visible in the picture: the keyboard is backlit
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Matthew Boothreplied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
@[email protected] Meshtastic looks cool and I instinctively want it. However, with the exception of low bandwidth messaging in a wilderness I'm not sure why I would use it.
Edit: s/want/use/
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Matthew Booth last edited by
@mattb Think of sensors sending data (MQTT via LoRa is a well-known use case) But also simple little pager style devices (with good ole T9? for local messaging in the hood or at a festival/conference.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
I am not sure if meshtastic will do what I'd like to build, but I will start with it first. It has some good principles (serverless mesh, encrypted messaging to groups or individuals) that I need to work with to get a grip on the possibilities.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by [email protected]
What you can do (if I understand everything correctly): have a local mesh network with some defined channels (up to 7 per node). Channels are encrypted via PSK (Pre Shared Key). If a node in the mesh has internet connectivity, it can also send/receive messages via MQTT. So you could have a (bunch of) MQTT brokers that bridge channel messages between mesh networks, potentially globally.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
You can see: I don't care about the off-grid stuff that much. I want a mesh network to connect a local community in better ways. And on the next level connect these local meshes together in a useful way.
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Ian W.replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
@jwildeboer I've not gotten to the point of setting mine up to an MQTT broker. Are there any good guides out there that can walk me through it?
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Ian W. last edited by
@uid0 I will set it up myself, using my already existing MQTT broker as soon as I have another node to work with. I find https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/module/mqtt/ to be quite understandable, when you know a bitt about MQTT.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
@uid0 Setting up a MQTT broker is dependent on your operating system. I only use Linux for that, so it was quite simple. Just install Mosquitto [1] from the standard repositories, open port 1883 in the firewall, run the broker, done.
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Ype Kingmareplied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
Interesting.
I need secure local connections for a software system that I'm building, open source. It aggregates smart meter values in real time, with full privacy for the meter values. The goal is to use the results to have local cheaper energy by allowing an energy cooperation to use the aggregate on the energy markets.
I'm using local fixed internet connections now, but not everyone has that. Bandwidth is low, but connectivity should ideally be always on. Could that fit?
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Ype Kingma last edited by
@KingmaYpe Yep. Collect data locally, use LoRa mesh to send it around, have one or more nodes with MQTT so you can use them to forward all data. LoRa and MQTT for sensor networks is not an uncommon approach, BTW
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
@KingmaYpe (German page) here's a simple solution (not meshtastic, though) for your use case: https://de.elv.com/p/elv-bausatz-lorawan-energiezaehler-sensorschnittstelle-elv-lw-esi-P157439/?itemId=157439
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Danie van der Merwereplied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
@jwildeboer yes and encrypted channels with bounce across other nodes without them being able to read, unless they have the PSK as well. New v2.5 of the node firmware will enable proper E2EE between nodes as DMs soon too.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Danie van der Merwe last edited by [email protected]
@danie10 Yep, my T-Deck is on 2.5.1 And tomorrow I should receive two Heltec V3 boards so I have more than one node.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by [email protected]
Today two Heltec V3 boards [1] arrived and I put the first one in its nice looking case that I printed yesterday (model used: https://www.printables.com/model/936437-heltec-lora-32-v3-ht-slimpro-cases-by-alley-cat). Flashed the #meshtastic firmware on it and done. Connected to the other node, first message sent. Nice Will go out for a walk later to see what range I can get.
[1] https://heltec.org/project/wifi-lora-32-v3/
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
Ah, why not. Took me just 3 minutes. Second Heltec board joined the mesh and has a nice case too So now I have a 3 node LoRa mesh at home Tomorrow the 2000 mAh battery packs arrive, making the nodes mobile
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Benjaminreplied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
@jwildeboer I'm totally not looking into the hardware for this right now...
Which modules did you get? 868 MHz or 915 MHz? Is the distinction important in Germany?
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Benjamin last edited by
@blindcoder Must be 433 or 868 MHz for Europe, AFAICS. See https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/docs/lorawan/frequencies-by-country/ and https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/lora/
433 is not used that often. 868 MHz is far more popular.
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Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:replied to Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: last edited by
(I must admit that putting new experiments in nice looking cases that I can print myself on my 3D printer elevates the fun to experiment to a whole new level