Getting Started

STOP ! Before turning on your new node, make sure you have attached your antenna. Failure to follow this step can cause damage to your hardware

In order to interact with your hardware you will need a client that connects over bluetooth or USB. The recommended method of connecting is the official Meshtastic app which is available from the Apple and Android app stores

Once You Are Connected To Your Node

There are some settings that will need to be adjusted when you initially fire up your node.

Set your region – The first time you turn on your node and pair it to your phone you will be prompted to set your Region. Please select “United States” and click save.

Firmware – Once your device has rebooted after setting the region you should update your firmware to 2.7.15 . This release has been stable and offers display enhancements and role enhancements. The firmware upgrade process is quick and easy using the Web Flasher on the Meshtastic site

Settings – Now that your node is updated, there are a few settings that need to be adjusted. Below is more information to help you along.

If you would like to quickly add both SV mesh channels to a new nodes you can scan this QR. This will replace ALL existing channels on your node

• Lora
  • Keep the preset of “Long Range – Fast” if you want to participate in our regional mesh
  • Adjust “Number of Hops” to 4 . This is how many nodes your messages will attempt to hop through on it’s way to the destination.
• Channels
  • Keep the default channel in place. Do not rename it.
  • Key size should stay as default and the key is AQ== . It’s okay if you are a licensed amateur radio operate, Since this key is published. publicly, you are allowed to use it.
  • Channel role is primary
  • If you would like to have access to the Discord bot to send message to the Mesh from Discord, add a secondary channel named SVMesh with a key of SQ==
  • If you want to add private encrypted channels you can add those as secondary channels as well
• Security
  • Backup your keys
  • You can use keys for encryption of remote administration of other nodes that you own
• User
  • Long Name – This is the long format of your node name This is what others will see in their node list
  • Short Name – Only 4 characters and will be used for maps
• Bluetooth
  • If you have a device with a screen the pairing mode will be “random”. When you attempt to pair to the node a random pin will display on the screen
  • If you have a device without a screen the pairing mode will be “Fixed Pin”. The default is 123456, it is recommended that you change this to something secure
• Device
  • Device Role – Leave this as a client if it is your only node. You can use Client Mute if you have a secondary node that you use around the house. Please refrain from using Router or Router_Late as it is detrimental to the mesh unless you are a high elevation outdoor node
• Position
  • Broadcast Interval – Change this to 3 hour
  • If this is a node that moves with you or your vehicle enable the the smart position feature and set the minimum interval to 60 minutes
• Telemetry
  • Device and Environment Metrics – Change this to 3 hour minimum
  • Power Options – If you want to broadcast power information about your node you can enable this setting. Change the Power Metrics interval to 3 hours

You are all set and ready to start using the mesh. If there are any other nodes in your area they will start to populate in your node list. Remember, nodes only broadcast information every 3 hours so you may not see local nodes until a full 3 hours has passed.

Best Practices

• Roles – If you are running multiple nodes at one location set the node with the best location in your home to client or client_base and all other others to client mute.
  
• Frequency Slot – By default this will be set to 0 and that allows the frequency to automatically be set based on your Lora mode preset. It is recommended that you not change this setting.
  
• MQTT – MQTT allows nodes to connect to an MQTT server via an IP network (internet) and communicate with other nodes from all over the world. This may sound great but can expose a whole host of issues. We ask mesh users to refrain from using MQTT. If you connect to the US root MQTT server you will quickly overwhelm your node with node discoveries from all over. Typically, a new node will see a node every few minutes in Susquehanna Valley area. With MQTT enabled, it could be hundreds. You also risk introducing telemetry and node info from worldwide nodes onto the local mesh which would be overwhelming.
  
• There are numerous Meshsense instances running on the mesh so adding an additional likely only increases traffic with minimal benefit to the mapping. Limit Traceroute Requests for MeshSense Users: Set MeshSense to send traceroute requests no more frequently than every 360 minutes (10800 seconds). Frequent traceroutes, as the default setting in MeshSense , significantly increases channel utilization. Since firmware version 2.5.1, Meshtastic limits traceroutes to once every 30 seconds, and MeshSense has been updated to queue requests accordingly. Adjust this 360 minute setting in MeshSense’s configuration to reduce bandwidth. This is single-handedly, the biggest offender with traffic on the Mesh.