I’m beautiful and tough like a diamond…or beef jerky in a ball gown.

  • 33 Posts
  • 148 Comments
Joined 6 months ago
Cake day: July 15th, 2025
  • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websitetoMeshtastic@mander.xyz•How to Set Up Your Heltec LoRa V3 Meshtastic Node – rd/lr
    3·
    1 day ago

    If you’re provisioning several or just like to have a good baseline for setting up future nodes, I like to use the Python client and make a provisioning script. I feel like it’s way uglier than it should be, but I’ve found that even though the docs say you can specify multiple config options in one call, they don’t all apply. So I have to do them in stages and wait for it to reboot between executing each config.

    This is my baseline provisioning script for reference. I like to have a private default channel but then also set the radio frequency manually to the “default” LongFast of 906.875 MHz and create the LongFast channel as a secondary so I can communicate with people using the default config (which is very common). This also lets me relay for them (and vice versa) while not sharing my location and such with the public mesh.

    #!/bin/bash
# Optionally set the device name and short name.  If not provided, the user info step is skipped
DEVICE_NAME=$1
DEVICE_SHORT_NAME=$2

# Admin key is optional but I set it on all of my managed nodes. If not using that, comment out the line further down where this is referenced
ADMIN_KEY="{PUBLIC_KEY_OF_ADMIN_NODE}"

# Use a private default channel.  
PRIMARY_CHANNEL_KEY="{BASE64_PRIVATE_KEY_FOR_PRIMARY_CHANNEL}"
PRIMARY_CHANNEL_NAME="{PRIMARY_CHANNEL_NAME}"


function wait_for_reboot {
  echo "Press <ENTER> once device has rebooted"
  read a
}

echo "Setting LoRa Region..."
meshtastic --set lora.region US
wait_for_reboot

# If device name and short name are supplied, set those
if [ -n "$DEVICE_NAME" ] && [ -n $DEVICE_SHORT_NAME ]
then
  echo "Setting Device Name..."
  meshtastic \
    --set-owner "$DEVICE_NAME" \
    --set-owner-short "$DEVICE_SHORT_NAME"
  wait_for_reboot
fi

# Set most options
meshtastic --set display.screen_on_secs 120 \
  --set display.units IMPERIAL \
  --set device.led_heartbeat_disabled false \
  --set telemetry.device_telemetry_enabled true \
  --set lora.use_preset true \
  --set lora.modem_preset LONG_FAST \
  --set security.admin_key base64:$ADMIN_KEY \
  --set lora.override_frequency 906.875 

wait_for_reboot

meshtastic --set-canned-message "Affirmative|Negative|Unknown|Acknowledged|Require Assistance|Check-In Good|Check-In Bad|Status?"
wait_for_reboot


meshtastic \
  --ch-index 0 --ch-set psk base64:$PRIMARY_CHANNEL_KEY --ch-set name "$PRIMARY_CHANNEL_NAME" \
  --ch-index 1 --ch-set psk base64:AQ== --ch-set name "LongFast"
wait_for_reboot

meshtastic --set-time
  • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websitetoMeshtastic@mander.xyz•Best LoRa Meshtastic Devices Of 2025
    15·
    1 day ago

    Kindof a modern take on a CB radio from ye olden days. Mostly just keep a node with me when I’m out and about just to see who I can pick up and from what distances.

    Edit: I was tired and on mobile when I replied that, but here’s a mostly comprehensive list of what I use mine for:

    • I just think they’re neat!
    • I’ll pass a node out to everyone in the group when we go camping, hiking, etc. They’re all populated with a generic set of canned messages you can send from the device itself (so no phone is required). Messages are like “You good?”, “Ack”, “Need help”, “Checking in”, etc.
    • The campsite we use most is about 2 miles from civilization, into the forest, down and around a mountain, and by the river. We have a friend who lives at the mouth of the road / edge of civilization. On my way down to the campsite, I stop every so often to “drop a buoy” by which I mean I strap a node to a tree to act as a relay. There’s no cell reception at all there, so this lets us relay up to the friend’s house if we need anything or have an emergency. LOL, one time we asked her to go get us more ice and beer and she delivered!
    • Better to have it and not need it in case of disaster. I keep my primary channel private but set the radio parameters for the “default” channel so I can relay for users using the default config and vice-versa. The “default” Meshtastic channel is a secondary in my config, so I can talk with people using the default config.
  • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteOPtoMeshtastic@mander.xyz•PSA - Don't charge your Heltec V3's from a quick charge capable USB charger [Heltec Horror Story]
    2·
    2 days ago

    Can confirm the similar battery life. Just the Heltec V3, connected over BT, with a 2000 mAh battery lasts about 14 hours. If it’s not connected to my phone and the BT shuts off, it’ll last well over a day (maybe more). I was going to add a GPS module to it but didn’t want to make the case any larger to accommodate a 3000 mAh battery.

    The ESP32’s radio is just power hungry it seems. I’ve noticed there’s nothing “low energy” about it’s BLE and it seems to use the same amount of power as an active wifi connection.

    And any time the power goes out for more than 5 mins the device resets its name

    I’ve only had that happen once, but I don’t recall the circumstances. My everyday carry node is always powered, but I have some nodes that just sit on a shelf. What I have noticed is that the soft shutdown is only temporary and after 3-5 days they’ll turn back on until they drain the battery. I think only one of them has had issues keeping its device name.

    I just updated all of them to the latest 2.7 firmware and am hoping that addressed the soft shutdown timeout. Which reminds me, I need to check in on them since that was about a week ago when I updated them.