About¶

We are a group of friendly folks trying to create a MeshCore network across the entire Island of Ireland. We're independent and not sponsored or run by any individual organisation. Ireland and UK operate on the EU/UK (Narrow) band.

The Project¶

As a group of nerdy people from all walks of life, we'd love the challenge that it takes to create and manage small repeaters across all of Ireland. There is also potential for public utility: the mesh network will be used to with lower power data sensors to report on things like air quality. Building sensors and repeaters is a great way to teach both engineering and environment science.

The Technology¶

The LoRa Project is uses the MeshCore protocol, a lightweight mesh system that uses Lowpower Radio (LoRa) in the 868mhz frequency band to send messages 10s of kilometers. Powered by small and inexpensive devices, it is easy to add repeaters anywhere without the need for massive radio towers or 5G masts. There are a few types of roles a device can operate as:

Companions¶

A users connection to the mesh is through a Companion. When a device is running as a companion, it operates like their addressbook and inbox. Most companions are configured with nothing more than a screen with a battery and antenna that connect to a users smartphone, others are completely standalone and feature large screens and full keyboards. Both of them enable the same thing: To be able to send and receive messages on the mesh, participate in channels (group chats) or send messages directly to other users.

LoRa Project and other meshes in this area operate on EU/UK (NARROW), if not set properly, the companion will not pick up the mesh traffic.

Some common introductory companion devices: - Heltec v3, cheap, bundles can be found on Amazon, but usually require assembly and lithium batteries means they don't always ship here - Wio Tracker L1 Pro, a little more expensive and have to wait longer, but everything you need - except replace the antenna

Repeaters¶

When you need to contact another MeshCore user that is outside of the range of your companion, you use a repeater. These could be the same device as a companion but with different software installed on it or something more complicated in a dedicated repeater enclosure that includes solar panels, large batteries, and bigger antennas. In either case, repeaters are configured to forward (or "flood") any message they receive locally that they haven't heard already. Since a repeater can be at the top of a hill or the roof of a house, it can "hear" messages from a companion on onside of the hill and "flood" the message to the otherside. It is these series of repeaters that allow for MeshCore networks to travel very long distances uses very little power.

Sensors¶

Sensors are Companions whose job is to report on data collect by sensors it is attached to instead of acting like a users feed of the network. Sensors don't send out data continuously like they do in other mesh systems, instead they wait to be queried in a more selective means. They can be configured to run in monitoring mode and send alerts when specific conditions are met.

Observers¶

Observers are special meshcore devices that relay traffic to mqtt systems such as Lets Mesh that make it easier to debug and observe traffic flows. It is not a two way system and is something for advanced users and mesh maintainers to really nerd out about.