You should find the default preset for Australia/QLD during setup. This will set the following:
| What | Setting |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | 923.125 MHz |
| Bandwidth: | 62.5 |
| Spreading Factor: | 8 |
| Coding Rate: | 5 |
The coding rate is just a recommendation. You can use other settings: higher numbers mean more reliable communications, but use more airtime. While we are building the mesh, you may wish to use a higher number, and reduce it as you gain more direct neighbours: the mesh allows for different settings).
We don't use region codes yet: we use different settings to NSW, so we have an effective Queensland region already.
If you want to make these settings through the command line, then you'll use...
set radio 923.125,62.5,8,5
Please use two-byte path hash sizes - this enables routing to work better, and avoids nodes having the same ID as another one.
Please add your rough location to help others understand the size of the mesh as we grow. However, caution - MeshCore does not obfuscate your location - so don't set your exact location in the MeshCore location settings unless you want people to know the exact location of your node. Most people choose an open area near them.
Please use two-byte path hash sizes
Please set a rough location
Keep flood adverts low - if anyone wants to avoid floods, it's Brisbane. So, to keep traffic on the mesh low, set your flood adverts to 83 hours. This sends a flood advert every 3.5 days, alternating between morning and evening.
Tell us who you are - it's really helpful in case your repeater is doing strange things. We'd recommend an email address here if you're comfortable with that; but otherwise, your Discord handle or your companion name, perhaps?
Add support for multiple acknowledgements - this makes direct messages more reliable. Unlike other mesh networks, direct messages are routed through a preset path, and not just flooded throughout the system, so we want these to work as reliably as we can.
In the command line, you can achieve the above with:
set path.hash.mode 1
set flood.advert.interval 83
set owner.info [email protected]
set multi.acks 1
reboot
Please use two-byte path hash sizes
Please set a rough location
There are public channels available to join, including some automated test replies, which will be helpful to help you check everything’s working.
There are now many parts of SEQ covered: the suburbs to the West, South and North of Brisbane, through Ipswich to Toowoomba, and links down to the Gold Coast and Beaudesert. To the north, there are links up to as far north as Caloundra. The EastMesh map shows the current coverage (when we looked, there were eight observers feeding into this map).
The Meshmapper page for Brisbane claims to show some on-the-ground coverage, too, from a few people driving in the area. It also has observers feeding into the system.
Come join us on Discord to help grow the mesh further. Any help to reach out there, or further north, would be appreciated.
There is a MeshCore section on the MBUG Discord with more information and help.
Other Discord servers you might wish to join:
The EastMesh.au map for Queensland is a good map of MeshCore QLD. This view of the EastMesh contains live public messages and more detail. Here's another live view.
Here's the MeshCore Packet Analyzer for Brisbane, showing some of the traffic in the area, and a look into the public channel. This is an incomplete view (it's based on only two “observers”), and you will see more activity on the ground.