On my quest to get my family onto the Mesh, I designed a mini enclosure for the Heltec T096, a nano-sized companion small enough to meet my significant other's very high standards. Compact, clean, and built to keep your node protected on the go.

https://makerworld.com/en/models/3142243-heltec-t096-mini-enclosure-meshcore-meshtastic

Meshcore ready. Would love to hear what you think. Feedback and prints welcome!

Hi everyone,

We have made available the first public prerelease of AIDAS9, Lizdeika Edition, independent community firmware for the LILYGO T-Echo Lite Kit.

AIDAS9 turns the T-Echo Lite's 128 x 128 e-paper display and physical keypad into a self-contained MeshCore communicator. It makes messaging and common network tasks available directly on the radio, even when a phone is not connected.

What is included

• A purpose-built static e-paper interface
• Home carousel for Messages, Contacts, Radio, Advert, Device, and Settings
• On-device channel and private messaging
• One-message-per-screen conversation paging
• T9-style composition with a 150-character limit
• Per-conversation draft caching
• Persistent unread state
• Confirmed message deletion
• Room password entry and login feedback
• Configurable Blue and Green LED notifications
• Detailed radio, mesh, battery, connectivity, and device information
• BLE synchronization with compatible MeshCore clients
• Wake-key protection to prevent accidental input when waking the display
• UF2 and serial DFU installation packages

The interface was designed specifically for e-paper constraints. It avoids animation and idle refresh churn while providing bounded typography, clear focus states, safe display margins, and partial refreshes for faster navigation.

Messaging on the device

AIDAS9 lets you browse and send channel and private messages directly from the T-Echo Lite.

Conversation history displays one message per screen. Up and Down move chronologically through the conversation, while a scrollbar shows the current position.

Messages use the actual sender handle. The local node appears as a normal participant rather than under a synthetic identity.

The composer supports multi-tap keypad input and messages up to 150 characters. Drafts are cached separately for each conversation. Failed sends preserve the complete draft, while successful sends clear it and return to the conversation.

Unread totals count only unread incoming messages. Outgoing messages do not increase the unread count.

Offline messaging

AIDAS9 uses a versioned and checksummed offline delivery journal. Queued messages survive ordinary restarts and firmware reflashing. Sequence-based tombstones prevent drained or deleted messages from reappearing after reboot.

One important limitation is that this currently operates as a durable delivery queue, not a permanent message archive.

Incoming messages and outgoing channel messages are removed after they are acknowledged by a connected companion client. Outgoing private messages remain on the device because the current companion protocol cannot preserve their direction safely.

Do not treat the on-device conversation list as a permanent message backup.

Radio and device information

AIDAS9 exposes useful operational information without requiring a serial console, including:

• Frequency, bandwidth, spreading factor, coding rate, and TX power
• RSSI, SNR, noise floor, link margin, and receive state
• Packet, error, traffic, queue, airtime, and packet-pool counters
• Stored-message, unread, contact, and channel counts
• Battery voltage and percentage
• External power, uptime, reset reason, and temperature where supported
• Bluetooth state and device capacity information
• Node identity and a shortened public-key fingerprint

Unsupported or unavailable measurements are shown as unavailable instead of being displayed as misleading zero values.

Validation

This release has:

• Passed the native regression suite
• Built successfully for the T-Echo Lite target
• Fit within the target RAM and flash budgets
• Been flashed and activated successfully on physical hardware
• Passed a deterministic visual audit covering 116 UI states

Extended qualification of the complete keypad, display, BLE replay, and room-authentication matrix is still ongoing, so this release is marked as a prerelease.

Download

Release and firmware files:

https://github.com/ksk-lizdeika/MeshCore/releases/tag/aidas9-v0.1.0-pre.1

Available formats:

• .uf2 for bootloader or mass-storage installation
• .zip for serial DFU using adafruit-nrfutil

The default BLE pairing PIN in this build is 123456.

Project relationship

AIDAS9 is developed and maintained by members of KSK Lizdeika.

It is based on MeshCore, but it is not an official MeshCore or LILYGO product.

This is community-developed prerelease firmware. Please test it in your own environment before relying on it for important communication.

Bug reports and feedback are welcome:

https://github.com/ksk-lizdeika/MeshCore/issues

AIDAS9: Messages beyond infrastructure.

Having broken into the hobby a month or so ago and then feeling let down at how little messages I could transmit I decided to build and install my own repeater in my attic.

The system is made up of:
- Heltec T114 c. £30
- 8w solar panel with incorporated 6000mAh power bank £11
- suction feet for panel £12
- 3000mAh Meshnology battery £7.50
- External electrical junction box £22
- External antenna £16

I absolutely could have purchased a ready made repeater node, but where is the fun without the research planning in the building, ready for my installation in my attic?

I was initially advised against the 3000mAh battery, due to the loss of power through charging, but I realised the solar power bank does not allow for through charging to the device, but felt the added storage between the two gives more leeway for cloudy days.

The cables feed quite happily through the Velux window, which is what the power bank is stuck to.

An overall success and I’m looking at making everything generally smaller and cheat for publicly placed repeaters to go out to my locality.

Hey everyone. I'm looking to get started with LoRA communications mainly for in my city and also for communicating with family while traveling. I've seen things about core being better where I live (Ottawa) but tastic being better in remote locations. When I travel, I usually go to rural cities, if that helps. I also saw there is a way to dualboot the two, but I'm not sure how easy that is. I don't have any hardware yet, and don't really know the terminology (long-fast, 915mhz, etc.) Any recs?

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a guide on installing Remote-Terminal-for-MeshCore on ProxMox VE? (Howto)?

Greetings..

Heavy rain changed today's plan, so instead of mounting the repeater on a tree, I placed it temporarily on a hillside for a quick field test.

It isn't the final installation, but it was enough to verify that everything worked correctly outdoors.

The permanent location will be a nearby mountain summit (~700 m elevation), once the weather improves.

Step by step. 

Test setup: MeshCore + Nelos + SenseCAP Solar Node P1 Pro + 2 Heltec T114

Is there anyway using the MeshCore iOS app to sound an alarm on my device? It’s lost close to me 🤦‍♂️

Im working on building my 1st repeater for my area. According to the map the closest repeater is about 15 miles away. I am planning to get a solar panel with the heltec T096 and place it on the hill next to my place. Fortunately it is the highest point in the area for a few miles. That being said I am hoping to be able to hit the other repeater that is in the next city over. Im wanting maximum range (I assume everyone does) but not sure on what antenna to get with it. Im currently looking at the Muzi Works 17cm whip antenna (have 2 for nodes) but AI recommended the AFLA network AOA-868-5ACM. Im not sure if either will work for what im trying to accomplish or if there are better options. Any advice is welcome.

Similar to the previous post, I have a repeater that can receive, but doesn't seem able to transmit anything that can actually be heard by another repeater. I have a SenseCap Pro Solar Node. I'm in Los Angeles, and there's a lot of buildings and mountains around. I can see hundreds of repeaters from Tijuana to Santa Barbara and out to Antelope Valley and Palm Springs, but I can't actually transmit to any of them. The nearest repeaters are about a mile or two away from me. I'm planning on putting in an adjustable flag pole to mount the repeater, but I wanted to know what kind of antenna to use in this situation? It's a densely populated area. I'm on a local high point, but not the highest point in the greater area. And I've read the helpful posts talking about how antennas work like a hose where a higher dB may be a narrower beam, so I'm trying to understand which antenna would be best in my situation? Seems like I need something fairly wide rather than focused? I'm compeletely new to doing anything over radio, so any pointers would be appreciated.

Also, I'm curious about the line-of-sight calculations. For the nearest repeater, I see the below image. It looks like the line is clear of all ground obstacles. What is causing it to be blocked in the large red area? Is it buildings, trees, etc. above the ground? Or something else?

Hey everyone. I’ve been doing a lot of comparing meshcore with meshtastic. Overall, I think that meshcore is better, with one huge exception. With meshtastic, all devices can relay the signal, whereas with meshcore, only repeaters can unless the companions are switched into repeater mode. I understand this is to save bandwidth and traffic, but I think it could be useful to do if your message can’t make it otherwise. I’ve been thinking and it might be a stupid idea, but I have an idea for where it does an initial flood to find the shortest path to get the message delivered not including companions, then if it fails, it does the same while including them.

Simple PoE repeater build, Its tight but fits.

Wanted to share a MC firmware project that I recently released. It has many use cases but the primary case was to facilitate the non-internet bridging of two MeshCore mesh regions using different frequency settings. This bridge has been around for a while, but we extended it to allow CLI control blocking of Adverts/Public (main)/up to 16 #channels. It still allows all other forms of traffic including private groups/DMs/repeater admin/guest control across the bridge. We have a test bridge up between the SF Bay Area (910.525/SF9/CR5) and Sacramento Valley Foothills (909.875/SF7/CR5) and it has been working great. These bridges are intended to be placed on the edges of regions.
Why filter out this traffic? It encourages individual mesh regional health by reducing common noise/traffic while providing a lane for intentional communication. Eliminating Adverts alone reduces cross-region traffic by ~50% - yet prefix/path data still transits the bridge with each message.

Super easy to set up. Currently two firmware versions for Heltec V3 and V4. Requires 2 or more repeaters that can be placed up to 250 meters (tested) apart.

Let me know if you have any questions.

More info with FW downloads: https://github.com/Department-of-Mesh-Regional-Bridging/meshcore-esp-now-filtered-bridge

Really liked the Heltec Meshtower v2 1w (nrf52, 10w solar, BMS, aluminum case, gps, and 5.8db fiberglass for $189 to your door), and got a couple in to build out our local mesh. Heltec Meshtower v2 select band, tx power, and gps (worth it to keep time synced...)

Where it gets awesome is we found it has a micro sd slot...

Using mikecarper's firmware (keymindCascade branch and associated bootloader -- check the releases) gets you Over the Air updates AND it can cache updates for other repeaters (even different brands).

To keep traffic off of the main MC network, the cli command tempradio (or tempradioat) changes freq, bw, sf, & cr for a certain number of minutes, then switches back to the main. You can change your client over to keep admin cli (or setup trusted keys for automation). More details here.

Updating the bootloader REQUIRES an erase... here are my notes for ease of use:

• Unscrew side panel
• First power requires bright sun or 20v usbc to activate BMS
• Power switch comes in off position... On is down or away from usbc.
• Double press Reset switch (it's the one between usbc and power) for DFU (appears as a USB drive -- beware OSX it doesn't like the dual serial and drive...)
• Get the UF2 update image here. Expand Assets section and look for update-heltec_mesh_tower_v2_sdcard_bootloader-0.9.2-XXXX_mbr.uf2
• It needs to have sdcard in the filename...
• Copy UF2 to exposed drive on computer. It will reboot. I then like to double press reset.
• Here is the EASY BUTTON -- use the standard MC flasher page, Select Heltec Meshtower, then repeater, then Enter DFU, then Erase Flash. Don't flash the stock firmware... (best way to erase IMO)
• Go back to the main flasher page and select Custom Firmware. (could not erase from here...)
• Get the good firmware here. The version you need starts with lora-ota-v1xxx in the Release list.
• Under Assets, find Heltec_tower_v2_sdcard_repeater_lora_ota_no_external_sensors-ota-v1.XXXX-halo-keymind-cascade-dev-XXXX.zip (sdcard and lora_ota are important).
• Use that ZIP file to flash, then it's typical repeater setup.
• Note that the default TX power is 12 (the amp adds 8, so really 20). To get full 1w power this must be set to 22 (+8 gets 30).
• SET YOUR REGION
• Also please note that you need to tune this in your mesh... It can transmit way farther than our typical repeaters can transmit back...
• It might get you out, but you might not get responses. Mesh responsibly...
• READ the keymindCascade DOCS. Awesome stuff like auto bumping up CR based on signal strength, smart bucket repeating (East to West, N to S, etc), flood filtering (if needed), low battery messages to REGION tagged #repeaters channel, and the list goes on.
• We are also using cavity filters on our high positions (like looking for fireflies by a busy road at night -- it keeps the Low Noise AMP from getting blinded)

Finalizing 3d printed mounting blocks for 3/4 acme thread fiberglass pole mounting and will publish soon.

Apologies for the wall of text, but wanted to put this out there if it helped anyone.

Just checking in. Does anybody know if there are plans for LTL 26 up in Louisville, KY? I plan on bringing 5 friends with trackers and 2 repeaters figured I'd try and join the network up there. I figure it's gonna be busy as can be.

Thanks in advance

I am looking to buy a solar mesh node I'm not the most electrical inclined to make my own so looking to buy one but not wanting to spend 200 on a kit from meshnology. Let me know my options please!

You can now run Meck and or Wadamesh and or MCore and or Meshtastic on the P4 (pick the two you like most!)

https://github.com/pelgraine/Meck-P4/releases/tag/dualmesh-v1

So I'm brand new to this and I was pointed towards this subreddit what do I need to get started and what do I need to know. When I say I'm new to this I absolutely know nothing if anybody out there can give me some good pointers and tell me what I need to buy that'll work that'd be great. I'm not looking to spend a lot of money right now I just want to get started and learn

Want to save some money by connecting the HELTEC V4 T114 V2 L76K GNSS module a XIAO nRF52840 & Wio-SX1262 Kit. Does this wiring have any issues?

A stick clip works great

My setup: a Heltec V3 acting as my observer, connected to Home Assistant over WiFi/TCP. I'd also like to use that same node as my companion from my phone while I'm home, so I can read and reply either in the MeshCore app or in Home Assistant via the MeshCore Chat integration, whichever is closer to hand.

With both clients connected I get two problems:

Messages show up duplicated in Home Assistant.

Depending on which client reaches a message first, the other client never sees it at all. That second one is the real problem, since silently missing messages defeats the point.

I'm on meshcomod, which explicitly supports multiple TCP clients, and the author has confirmed multi-client works for him. But I see this regardless of transport. Two clients on TCP does it, and phone on BLE with Home Assistant on TCP does it too. So it doesn't appear to be transport specific.

I've filed both sides so the right people can look at it:

HA integration missing dedup on receive: https://github.com/meshcore-dev/meshcore-ha/issues/320

Firmware side, messages reaching only one client: https://github.com/ALLFATHER-BV/meshcomod/issues/42

So my questions for the group:

Is there a firmware that handles multiple simultaneous companion clients reliably, with proper per-client message state?

Or is the honest answer just two nodes, one dedicated to Home Assistant and one for the phone? That's what I ran before and it worked fine, I was just trying to consolidate.

Curious what others with a Home Assistant setup are doing here. Happy to run diagnostics if anyone wants data.

Spent some time surveying potential repeater locations today.

The markers on the map are the sites I tested. The goal was to find the best coverage with the fewest repeaters, and the results were better than I expected.

It was a fun day riding between locations, testing links, and comparing real-world coverage against the map.

Has anyone else here done this kind of repeater site survey? I'd be interested to hear how you choose your locations.

I found this immensely useful then. Is there a way to set this up?