I have an RTL-SDR tuner that has been begging for a use, and I may have just found it.
This looks cool asf. I wish I could have enough time in the day to set something like this up.
Definitely one of the “throw it on the pile” projects for me, too, but I’m for sure throwing it on the top of the pile. Have had quite a few severe storm warnings this year already and this could be pretty useful. I was originally just looking for a way to forward NWS/EAS alerts to Meshtastic from the internet, but getting them direct over-the-air is even better.
Only complicating factor is I have to fashion or buy an antenna for ~150 Mhz since I don’t have any adapters that will fit the RTL-SDR (I’ve just used the little stock UHF TV antenna that came with it for ADS-B and other playing around).
If you don’t mind, would I be able to pick your brain? I’m trying to get into meshtastic but I’m kind of confused on where to start. I have a couple ESP32s, and I know I need some sort of lora radio for them. Do you have any good starter guides/resources?
Most of what I’ve dealt with were ESP32-based devices like the Heltec V3 (now V4) that have integrated LoRa radios. It should be possible to add on a SX1262 LoRa radio via SPI and flash Meshtastic firmware, but most people just start with a pre-built kit since they’re pretty inexpensive and have battery charging circuitry and everything already onboard (which you’d otherwise have to handle yourself with a vanilla ESP32).
I started with the Heltec V3, and the V4 improves several gripes I had with it. They’re easy to get started with, lots of case designs available, and generally good entry points.
SeeedStudio has a lot of pre-built options as well. My new daily driver is the SenseCap T1000e which is about the size of a few credit cards stacked together. Posted about it here: https://startrek.website/post/34105873
There’s two main flavors of Meshtastic devices: ESP32-based and nRF-based. The former are generally a little less expensive and have WiFi but are a lot more power hungry.
The nRF-based ones are more power efficient and can run longer from smaller batteries. The tradeoff is those only have Bluetooth and lack WiFi. I don’t really use WiFi with these, but it can be useful if you want to connect a node to MQTT.
Check out Seeed to see some of their pre-made options: https://www.seeedstudio.com/LoRa-and-Meshtastic-and-4G-c-2423.html
Oh wow! I was not aware how inexpensive pre-builts were. I may just pick one of those up then. Thank you for the link!! Is there any benefit of having nodes connected to MQTT? Ive heard theres some smart-home applications for people with acres of land, but would you say theres a usecase for people who live in an apartment or in.the suburbs?
