Companions¶

Companions are what connect you, the user, to the Mesh. They small circuitboards that have bluetooth and LoRa capabilities, some have WiFi, that connect to your smartphone via the MeshCore App (Google Play Store / Apple App Store) but there are also fully standalone devices if you want to rock the Blackberry look.

Starter Devices¶

Two currently easiest starting points are: - 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

Connect to the Mesh¶

0) Make sure you've installed the antenna 1) Flash the new device at the MeshCore installer webpage. - Plug your device into USB-C on your computer - Launch Google Chrome (if you're not browsing in it already) - Go to the flasher website - Select the Community Firmware for your device - Select Companion Bluetooth - Check Erase Device - Hit Flash and select the device with a name like /dev/tty.usbserial123 from the list 2) After flashing the firmware, launch the MeshCore App on the mobile device of your choice 3) The device should show up as an option to connect to with 4) When prompted, it will ask for a Pin, look at the screen of your device for the 6 digit pin. If your device doesn't have a screen, the default pin is 123456 5) Set a name for your device - the name of the device is the name that will show up as you in the group chat 6) Select EU/UK Band (Narrow) 7) Apply Settings - Just to be safe, go back to settings, and click "Export Settings", select all, and click Save. This lets you move devices without your friends needing to readd you to their contact list 8) Post in Public, say hello, maybe add these channels and see if you can reach anyone: - #test - where everyone posts 'Test' to see if they can send messages, sometimes a bot will reply - #norniron - where the majority of the MeshCore Ireland folks originally where chatting in

Discord¶

Like everyone other group with more than 10 people, the LoRa Project operates out of the discord server named Mesh Radio Ireland (N&S). Feel free to ask questions and chat about nodes. You may find there's someone else in your region also trying to setup a repeater / connect to a wider mesh, even if you can't find the main group.

The primary MeshCore project has a separate server, named MeshCore, which is where you can find out information like latest MeshCore relases and see builds antics of MeshCore users from all over the world.