The Potential

Some of you may have read my recent post about the possibility of using meshtastic software with a LoRa radio for OTA (over the air) bitcoin transactions.
I first got excited about this technology because of this article:
Here’s a passage I really liked:
With a mesh network, we completely decentralize our communication infrastructure, as anyone can become an ISP in the network. Individuals may choose to offer mumble or matrix servers for communication or provide local access to Wikipedia, while open channels in the Lightning Network can be used to facilitate bitcoin transactions without an uplink to the broader internet. Mesh networks are also cost-efficient to deploy as already available hardware can be used to facilitate communication and provide unprecedented benefits for people who live under circumstances susceptible to disruptions of internet access.
Then I found this article, which is much more technically in depth:
I recommend you read this if you want to learn more about the network and the possibilities for bitcoin transactions.
It took me a while to actually get a radio and start to learn about this technology. I was a ham radio operator for years, though I let my license lapse. I like these unregulated bands better anyway. Also, licensed hams are prohibited from engaging in commercial transactions. My goal is to transact on the Lightning Network.
  • Meshtastic github
  • Mesh Map Worldwide
  • Review of Lilygo T-Echo and other radios

Lilygo T-Echo setup for Meshtastic.

I decided to buy a Lilygo T-Echo. It is an out of the box ready to go radio, unlike many DIY kit choices you may decide to buy. @kepford just bought a RAK Pocket https://store.rokland.com/products/wismesh-pocket. His radio is nicer and a little higher end than mine.
The T-Echo comes fully assembled with a USB cord and detachable antenna. Be sure to attach the antenna before plugging it in. The first thing you must do is load the meshtastic firmware on the radio. Go to this site: https://store.rokland.com/pages/lilygo-t-echo-getting-started-quick-guide-meshtastic You must unlock the bootloader on your device before you can connect it to your computer. To unlock the bootloader on the T-Echo, click the reset button (top button on the left side of the device) twice. A new drive for the device will now be mounted on your computer. Next, download and flash the firmware for your radio.
I downloaded the stable version of ntf52840 for the T-Echo. Next, you simply drag the downloaded file to the new drive that appeared on your computer when you unlocked the bootloader.

Linux Issues

I had a nightmare trying to load the firmware on Linux with my Ubuntu laptop, but easily did it on my wife's windows laptop. @kepford gave me advice regarding linux, but none of the tips worked for me. He’s the guy to ask if you must flash the firmware with linux. He suggested you only use the Chrome browser, along with other advice I can't find right now. My own research led me to this one line terminal command to solve the issue
sudo usermod -a -G dialout USER
but this did not work for me.
@kepford also located a possible permission issue through a web search, which can be resolved by running
chmod a+rw /dev/ttyACM0
but, once again, it did not work for me.
Keep in mind that you may get an error signal "Not enough space on drive" or error copying file. Ignore the error notices. When the file is downloaded the radio will reboot into the meshtastic firmware.

Pairing Your Phone To Your Radio

Next, download the meshtastic app from your phone. I have a graphene pixel and don’t use Google or Apple stores, so I got the app from @franzap 's zapstore. https://github.com/zapstore/zapstore-cli By the way, I highly recommend the zap store. The app is also available on fdroid. I don't know about the Apple version.
I paired the device with bluetooth. The pin to pair the radio to your phone will appear on the Lilygo T-Echo screen once you click “pair new device” on your phone . If you are using graphene, be sure to grant the app location permission to turn on the GPS. Click the + button on the meshtastic app on your phone to connect your radio. The first thing you must do is set a geographic region. Allow the app to find connected devices, then select your radio. It will give your radio a short alpha numeric name, which you can edit.
Now your radio is operational and able to find other local devices. So far I have made no connections. I think I will need to install a high antenna to improve my range, but that’s for another post.

The Future Of Meshtastic

It quickly becomes obvious when doing some research that this is an area where the potential for bitcoin has been barely explored. There are lots of useful youtube videos that will teach you about the meshtastic network, but very few that will actually address using it as a means to transact with bitcoin. This was all I could find:
There is not much to work with, but if there are any developers out there looking for fertile ground, this might be it. I envision someone building a lightning wallet that can interface with the meshtastic firmware. I have no idea how difficult this would be, or if it’s even possible. In any event, it's probably too early. The network needs to grow to make this a practical solution.
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Whenever I make these posts someone always comes out of the woodwork with the good stuff I didn't know about. Thanks. This should keep me busy. Edit: I just started looking. I don't want to push you into talking here if you don't want to, but can you give us an idea of what you're doing? I'm particularly interested to know if you are actually transacting?
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374 sats \ 7 replies \ @OT 21 Oct
meshtastic is on my near term to-do list.
As I'm semi remote I'm hoping there will be some other users to connect with.
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From where you are, is there a business within sight?
From where you are, is there a neighbor in sight?
If business is in sight, ask the business if you can install a radio on their roof that will require almost no maintenance. Give them a number of once a year (you probably won't need to go up there once a year, but its a good expectation just in case)
Set up a solar charged + battery meshtastic radio in client router mode up there.
If neighbor is within sight, talk your neighbor. Be neighborly. Talk about if there was a natural disaster would you have each other's backs. Then get them into meshtastic so you can communicate in adverse circumstances.
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300 sats \ 5 replies \ @OT 21 Oct
The neighbors seem to be pretty friendly. We haven't been here long so I might wait a bit longer before asking if I can get on their roof. Lol!
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lol no need to ask to get on your neighbors roof if you get your neighbors into it, they'll get on their own roof.
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300 sats \ 3 replies \ @OT 21 Oct
I might have a guy about 20km away. I bet he would be interested in something like that. He's not into Bitcoin, but he's into being self reliant.
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Isn't 20 km a bit too far?
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It might be, but it might not be. They're going to need some really tall antennas for sure.
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Keep in mind the LoRa is line of sight. If the radio is in your house, your walls will block the radio. If its outside though, the signal can go for miles
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I'm new and you aren't wrong but you can totally use the radios in the house. I have made contacts from inside the house. Just want to clarify this for others.
A common approach is to have an outdoor radio/antenna that connects you to others but you use a handheld in your house if you can't reach your outside node via bluetooth.
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You gotta generalize for new users and then "well actually's" they can figure out on their own through experimentation.
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Fair.
There is a lot of hype about Meshtastic right now and I'm betting many will be pretty disappointed by the limitations. Its inevitable. I hung my radio about 50 feet up in one of my trees and wasn't able to reach anyone.
My contacts have been made when people fly over with radios and connect many nodes.
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Yes, which is why I'm contemplating a pole on my roof or hanging an antenna from a tree top in the yard. Also, driving around the neighborhood can be productive.
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Sorry you got me started on one of my favorite topics. We info dumping now XD
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Dump away! I'm really interested in Starlink too, but I don't know much about it yet.
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Some people I know are also looking into reticulum for the same hardware they have meshtastic installed on. https://blog.erethon.com/blog/2023/05/19/introduction-to-reticulum/
On the store and forward side of things, you can apparently host a BBS (Bulletin Board System) https://github.com/TheCommsChannel/TC2-BBS-mesh
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The BBS thing is an interesting idea.
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Did this at Tab Conf 6 def cool stuff!
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43 sats \ 0 replies \ @4rge 22 Oct
What do you envision the end product to be like. Lora is cool, I used it on an HNT miner I got from a buddy. I think it's cool but I'm not getting the end game.
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Should probably pick one up next paycheck
That and one of those flipper zero's
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Thanks for updating.
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Love these, updates, thanks! Please keep them coming.
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Thanks for posting this @siggy47 and the forward.
I will add that this tech is only valuable if you build a community around it. IE, you need to get out of your basement and connect with others. In my area there is already a group and they have done one meetup. Hoping they will do another that I can attend and make real relationships.
These guys are trying to cover our area with nodes in high places so that we can have the infrastructure and contacts before we really need them. The time to learn and make contacts is when things are going well.
At a minimum I want each of my family members to have radios and be able to communicate off grid in the areas we frequent. I have a long way to go. Gonna need to get access to some high points to add solar radios.
This tech is very beta as well. But this is the time to get in on it though. It does work and it won't get better without real users. Like bitcoin, we are making it more accessible by using it and finding issues and reporting them.
Thanks for writing this.
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come into @makerbits on TG and Ill pick you up there :D
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43 sats \ 1 reply \ @anon 21 Oct
you would have been served with more up to date info in the @makerbits channel on TG :P
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I just checked it out. I no longer use telegram. Looks like I'm missing out. Thanks for the tip.
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Too bad there's no one around to try out the new toy! You should've gotten two radios to test. Let us know how it goes.
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I'm already eyeing @kepford's as my next purchase. I think I will get some activity once I drive around with it.
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I've been looking at this for the last year. I'm thinking I want to get into this. I spun up an antenna on the Helium Network and have been looking for messaging solutions built on that, since it has such a massive network. Haven't found anything there yet. Anyways, thanks for the info and the inspiration.
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Can you recommend a good link to learn about the Helium network?
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Helium network is a nonsense shitcoin thing. They took the free and open source LoRa stuff, shoved an inflationary shitcoin on it and it started selling prepackaged nodes for their little thing.
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Don't disagree with you. But they do have a massive network of antenna's that makes me think about the network they have in regards to LoRa. I don't see any development on it though.
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Thanks for the heads up. I'll be avoiding that!
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I guess I would go to the source. https://www.helium.com Beware. You won't get your money back on an antenna system for about 10 years. They have the mobile version (5G) which is interesting. https://hellohelium.com/hotspot/indoor I thought about testing the phone plan since it's only $20/month and runs on the Tmobile network as well as their hotspots. Anyways, this is getting off track.
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I just discovered that Helium is an altcoin. I am not interested. I am a bitcoin only guy.
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Niiice! I also think that these meshtastic will take over soon with more and more easy tools. I may try to install one repeater on my citadel, but not now.
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You and @siggy47 should also check out Reticulum Network (www.reticulum.network/). I believe Meshtastic can be used alongside it and it's encrypted by default.
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