It’s Been a Good Run, Phone Providers.

Data Slayer
6 Apr 202426:30

Summary

TLDRThe video introduces Mesh Tastic, an innovative off-grid, decentralized communication network that operates on low-powered radios with ESP32 microcontrollers. It enables encrypted messaging over long distances, bypassing traditional telecom networks for enhanced privacy. The devices are versatile, suitable for various scenarios where cellular networks may fail, and can be paired with clients via Bluetooth, USB, or Wi-Fi. The video also explores the device's capabilities, including range tests, private encrypted channels, and different network presets, highlighting its potential to revolutionize communication by combining the simplicity of walkie-talkies with modern encryption technology.

Takeaways

  • 🌐 Introducing Mesh Tastic, a new tech innovation for off-grid, decentralized communication networks.
  • 🛠️ Built on open-source principles, Mesh Tastic operates independently of centralized control, enhancing user privacy and autonomy.
  • 🔒 Offers encrypted messaging over long-range radio frequencies, safeguarding against potential wiretapping by large telecommunication companies.
  • 📱 Utilizes ESP32 microcontrollers in low-powered radios, combining affordability with advanced communication capabilities.
  • 🚀 Designed for various scenarios where traditional cellular networks may fail, such as urban festivals, remote adventures, and NGO work in areas without cell infrastructure.
  • 🔋 Features a battery life that can last up to 12 hours with active use, extendable through power-saving settings and solar charging options.
  • 💡 Highlights the importance of proper antenna usage to prevent potential damage to the device due to energy reflection.
  • 🔧 Demonstrates the ease of firmware updating through a Chromium-based browser, simplifying the process and reducing dependency on traditional IDEs.
  • 📱 Discusses the variety of client options available for Mesh Tastic devices, including Android and iOS apps, web browsers, and command-line interfaces.
  • 🌟 Showcases the potential of Mesh Tastic devices by outfitting a drone for an epic range test, exploring the limits of the technology.
  • 🔐 Emphasizes the privacy and freedom offered by Mesh Tastic, positioning it as a powerful alternative to conventional communication methods.

Q & A

  • What is the main feature of Mesh Tastic technology?

    -Mesh Tastic is an off-grid, decentralized communication network that is open source and operates on low-powered radios with ESP32 microcontrollers. It enables encrypted messaging over long-range radio, providing a private and confidential communication channel.

  • How does Mesh Tastic differ from traditional communication networks?

    -Mesh Tastic differs from traditional networks as it operates independently of Big Telecom companies, offering a secure and private communication channel. It is particularly useful in scenarios where traditional cellular networks may fail, such as during large gatherings, remote adventures, or in areas without cell infrastructure.

  • What type of hardware is required to use Mesh Tastic?

    -To use Mesh Tastic, you need a device with an ESP32 microcontroller, such as the tiny and low-power Laura 32 board from Htech. This device is capable of sending encrypted messages over long-range radio frequencies.

  • How can the range of Mesh Tastic devices be improved?

    -The range of Mesh Tastic devices can be improved by using better antennas, like the whip antenna, and by elevating the device to higher positions for better line-of-sight transmission. Additionally, adjusting the frequency settings can also help in optimizing the range for different environments.

  • What are the common pitfalls enthusiasts make when using Mesh Tastic?

    -Some common pitfalls include not using appropriate antennas, which can lead to signal reflection and potential damage to the device. Also, not properly configuring the device settings according to the environment and usage can lead to suboptimal performance.

  • How can the battery life of Mesh Tastic devices be extended?

    -Battery life can be extended by turning off hungrier features, reducing send intervals, and utilizing the Deep Sleep settings of the device. For outdoor or permanent setups, using solar power to recharge the battery is also a viable option.

  • How does Mesh Tastic ensure the confidentiality of messages?

    -Mesh Tastic ensures the confidentiality of messages by enabling end-to-end encryption. This shields the transmissions from potential wiretapping by third parties, including big telecommunication companies.

  • What are the different client options available for Mesh Tastic devices?

    -Mesh Tastic devices can be paired with various clients, including Android and iOS apps, Chromium-based web browsers, Python CLI, and even Linux support for advanced users.

  • How can users share their location with Mesh Tastic devices?

    -Users can share their location by using their phone's GPS and selecting the 'share location' option within the app settings. This allows the device to use the phone's GPS data to provide location information to the node.

  • What are the different types of range tests conducted in the script?

    -Four distinct types of range tests were conducted: 1) A test from a high-rise balcony with direct line of sight, 2) A beach test at ground level, 3) A direct line of sight test with a drone at an elevation, and 4) A test from an elevated position using a whip antenna and a different frequency preset.

  • What was the most effective configuration for long-range communication in the tests?

    -The most effective configuration for long-range communication was using the whip antenna on an elevated device set to the 'very long slow' frequency preset, which resulted in messages being received up to 3 and 1/2 miles away.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Introducing Mesh Tastic: The Future of Decentralized Communication

The paragraph introduces Mesh Tastic, a novel technology that promises an off-grid, decentralized communication network. It is an open-source platform that operates on low-powered radios with ESP32 microcontrollers, offering free communication. The devices are compact, affordable, and can be used for text-based walkie-talkies, enabling encrypted messaging over long-range radio. This shields transmissions from potential wiretapping by large telecommunication corporations, ensuring confidentiality and ownership of messages. The paragraph also discusses scenarios where traditional networks fail, such as urban festivals, remote adventures, and NGO work in areas without cell infrastructure. The speaker plans to test the devices by outfitting a drone and conducting a range test to evaluate their performance and worth.

05:00

🛠️ Hardware and Setup: Unboxing and Understanding the Components

This paragraph delves into the hardware aspects of the Mesh Tastic devices, emphasizing the ESP32 microcontroller and its capabilities. The speaker describes the components included in the package, such as the ESP32 LoRa OLED board, antenna, and cables. It also addresses the importance of using a good antenna for signal improvement and suggests upgrading from the stock antenna. The paragraph further explains the power requirements and battery life, highlighting the device's portability and options for outdoor use, such as solar power. Additionally, it discusses the availability of 3D printed cases and custom options from different sources, emphasizing the device's sleek design and practicality.

10:03

🔧 Firmware and Software: Installation and Configuration

The speaker discusses the process of flashing the Mesh Tastic firmware onto the devices, noting that the open-source software is compatible with various development environments. It highlights the ease of using the PlatformIO plugin for code editors and the innovative method of flashing firmware through a Chromium-based browser using Flasher MT.org. The paragraph explains the steps for selecting the device and firmware version, and the process of updating the device. It also covers the necessity of running a client with the device for configuration and communication, mentioning the various platforms and apps available for different operating systems.

15:06

📱 Interfacing and Features: Pairing, Messaging, and Location Sharing

This section explores the user interface and features of the Mesh Tastic devices, focusing on the mobile app experience. It covers the process of pairing devices, the ability to send direct messages, and the use of a mesh map for visualizing the network. The speaker discusses the importance of location sharing for understanding the proximity of nodes and the utility of the compass feature. The paragraph also touches on the web client option, which allows for computer-based communication with the devices, and the flexibility of using different network presets for various data rates and distances.

20:06

🏃‍♂️ Testing and Range: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mesh Tastic

The speaker shares his experience conducting range tests with the Mesh Tastic devices, detailing different tests under various conditions. The first test involved a high-rise building setup with impressive results, while the second test at the beach showed limitations with the stub antennas. The third test, a direct line of sight at one mile, did not yield expected results due to antenna issues. The final test combined an elevated position with a whip antenna and a different frequency preset, achieving messages up to 3.5 miles away. The speaker concludes that while these devices may not replace traditional telecom networks, they offer a promising alternative for specific scenarios, emphasizing the potential for growth and development in this technology.

25:08

🔐 Privacy and Innovation: The Role of Mesh Tastic in Secure Communication

The paragraph concludes the discussion on Mesh Tastic by emphasizing its role in secure and private communication. It highlights the ability to create encrypted channels, ensuring that messages remain confidential and protected from eavesdropping. The speaker shares his experience with setting up private channels and the importance of using the correct antennas for optimal performance. The summary underscores the potential of Mesh Tastic to transform communication by combining the simplicity of walkie-talkies with modern encryption and long-range capabilities, offering a powerful alternative for personal and team communication in various scenarios.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Mesh Tastic

Mesh Tastic is an innovative technology introduced in the video that aims to provide an off-grid, decentralized communication network. It is entirely open-source, which means it is accessible and modifiable by the public, and it operates independently of centralized control, such as that of large telecommunications corporations. This technology is significant in the video as it offers a novel approach to communication that emphasizes privacy and freedom.

💡Decentralized Communications Network

A decentralized communications network, as highlighted in the video, is a system where communication nodes are distributed across multiple locations, rather than being centralized in a single point. This type of network is beneficial because it resists single-point failures and can continue to function even if some nodes are compromised or offline. In the context of the video, Mesh Tastic enables such a network, allowing users to communicate without relying on centralized telecom infrastructure.

💡Open Source

Open source refers to a type of software or, as in the video's context, a communications network that is publicly accessible and allows users to view, use, modify, and distribute the source code or components. This concept is crucial in the video because it ensures transparency, community collaboration, and the ability for users to customize the technology to their needs without restrictions from a proprietary owner.

💡ESP32 Microcontrollers

ESP32 microcontrollers are a series of low-cost, low-power, system-on-a-chip microcontrollers with integrated Wi-Fi and dual-mode Bluetooth. These microcontrollers are significant in the video because they form the backbone of the Mesh Tastic devices, enabling their ability to communicate wirelessly and perform the necessary computations for network operations.

💡Encrypted Messages

Encrypted messages are communications that have been transformed using encryption algorithms to make them unreadable to anyone except the intended recipients. This ensures privacy and security by preventing unauthorized parties from intercepting and understanding the content of the messages. In the video, the ability to send encrypted messages over long-range radio is a key feature of the Mesh Tastic technology, providing a secure method of communication that protects user confidentiality.

💡Walkie-Talkies

Walkie-talkies are portable, two-way radio communication devices that allow users to communicate over short distances without the need for a landline connection. In the context of the video, the comparison to walkie-talkies is used to illustrate the ease of use and direct communication capabilities of the Mesh Tastic devices, but with the added benefits of modern technology, such as encryption and long-range communication.

💡Wiretapping

Wiretapping refers to the unauthorized interception of telephone or other private communications, usually for the purpose of gathering information or monitoring conversations. In the video, the mention of wiretapping highlights the risks associated with traditional communication channels and emphasizes the need for secure communication methods, such as those provided by Mesh Tastic devices, to protect against unauthorized surveillance.

💡Urban Festivals and Gatherings

Urban festivals and gatherings are large public events that take place in cities, often attracting significant crowds. These events are used in the video as an example of scenarios where traditional cellular networks may become saturated and unable to handle the high volume of communication, leading to potential communication failures. Mesh Tastic offers an alternative in such situations by providing a decentralized communication network that doesn't rely on these overwhelmed cellular systems.

💡Remote Adventure Activities

Remote adventure activities refer to outdoor events or undertakings that take place in isolated or wilderness areas, far from the infrastructure of urban centers. These activities are often characterized by a lack of typical communication infrastructure, making traditional methods of communication, such as cell phones, unreliable or unavailable. In the context of the video, Mesh Tastic devices are presented as a solution for maintaining communication in such remote settings by utilizing long-range radio communication.

💡NGO Work

NGO, or Non-Governmental Organization, work refers to the activities and initiatives carried out by organizations that are not affiliated with any government and are typically focused on social, environmental, or humanitarian issues. In the video, the mention of NGO work highlights the potential use of Mesh Tastic devices in areas where there is a lack of cellular infrastructure, which can be common in the locations where NGOs often operate.

Highlights

Mesh Tastic is a new tech innovation promising an off-grid, decentralized communication network.

The network is entirely open source and operates outside the control of large telecommunication companies.

It runs for free on tiny, affordable, and low-powered radios with ESP32 microcontrollers.

The devices function like text-based walkie-talkies, enabling encrypted messaging over long-range radio.

The novel application shields your transmissions from potential wiretapping, ensuring message confidentiality.

Mesh Tastic is particularly useful in scenarios where traditional cellular networks fail, such as during urban festivals or in remote areas.

The hardware is compact and can be powered by a 3.7-volt battery for portability.

Battery life can be extended by utilizing deep sleep settings and reducing send intervals.

The device can be paired with a custom whip antenna for improved signal.

The Mesh Tastic firmware can be easily flashed onto the device using a Chromium-based browser through Flasher MT.org.

The device can be configured and controlled using various clients, including Android and iOS apps, or a web browser.

The device supports the creation of encrypted channels for private communication.

The device can utilize your phone's GPS to provide location information for the node.

The device can perform range tests to determine the effective distance of communication.

In tests, the device was able to maintain communication up to 3.5 miles with the right setup and conditions.

The device's design combines the simplicity of walkie-talkies with modern technology for a new communication paradigm.

Mesh Tastic devices are not just communication tools but are a step towards privacy and freedom in conversations.

Transcripts

00:00

move over flipper zero because there's a

00:01

new tech darling in town it's called

00:03

mesh tastic and it promises to bring us

00:05

an off-grid decentralized comms Network

00:08

that's entirely open source and outside

00:10

the control of Big Brother best of all

00:13

it runs for free on Tiny affordable and

00:15

low-powered radios sporting esp32

00:18

microcontrollers but besides looking

00:20

really cool and getting me to empty my

00:21

wallet what can these things actually do

00:24

well think text-based walkie-talkies

00:26

enabling you to send encrypted messages

00:28

over long range radio AKA Laura this

00:31

novel application Shields your

00:33

Transmissions from potential wiretapping

00:35

by big telecommunication companies

00:37

ensuring your messages remain

00:39

confidential and most importantly yours

00:42

but it goes even deeper there are a

00:44

number of scenarios today where

00:46

traditional cellular networks fail for

00:48

instance Urban festivals and Gatherings

00:50

where the cell network is saturated like

00:52

New Year's Eve in Time Square

00:54

overlanding or other remote adventure

00:56

activities in isolated areas like

00:58

deserts also overseas traveling if you

01:01

don't have roaming or a local Sim and

01:03

NGO work in places without cell

01:05

infrastructure we'll also cover the most

01:07

common pitfalls enthusiasts make and how

01:09

to correct those finally I'm taking this

01:11

Innovation to new heights literally by

01:13

outfitting my drone with one of these

01:15

groundbreaking devices to conduct an

01:17

epic range test to see how far these

01:19

things can actually go by the end of

01:21

this video you'll thoroughly appreciate

01:23

the unique Freedom that these powerful

01:25

mini Mish tastic devices provide and

01:27

we'll find out ultimately if they're

01:29

worth it welcome to the future of

01:31

communication this is the tiny and low

01:33

power Laura 32 board from htech and it's

01:36

a system on a chip designed to do only

01:38

two things look cool and send encrypted

01:41

messages over long range radio so I

01:43

ordered two of these from Amazon and

01:45

grabbed two of the coolest cases I could

01:46

find in one Laura 32 box you'll get the

01:48

following one esp32 Laura OLED board V3

01:52

a Laura antenna and a 1.25 mm two Pin

01:56

cable they sell them in pairs presumably

01:58

so you have someone to talk to and best

02:00

bet is to grab these from Amazon or Ebay

02:02

and I'll put links in the description

02:03

below however the stock antenna on these

02:05

things is not very good I'd suggest

02:08

upgrading to this whip antenna for

02:09

improved signal now let's demystify the

02:11

hardware real quick this board is

02:13

powered by the esp32 S3 fn8 chip it has

02:18

a 1.25 mm battery connector which will

02:21

come in handy later as we test its

02:23

portability the socket type for the

02:24

battery is sh 1.25 X2 it features a USBC

02:29

for flashing the firmware and providing

02:31

power there are two physical buttons on

02:33

this board the reset and user

02:35

programming button it also has two LEDs

02:38

and a monochromatic OLED screen if you

02:41

want to use these on the Move you'll

02:42

want to grab a battery be sure to get a

02:44

3.7 volt 4.1 W rechargeable battery with

02:49

the correct polarities on the cable

02:51

while we're on the subject of power you

02:52

might be wondering what the battery life

02:54

is for one of these devices and it

02:56

varies dramatically based on what

02:58

functionality you're using if you're

03:00

testing the different capabilities and

03:02

actively using everything I think you

03:04

can expect around 12 hours but if you

03:07

turn off the hungrier features and

03:08

reduce send intervals and utilize the

03:10

Deep Sleep settings you can probably

03:12

extend that quite a bit for anyone

03:14

looking to Nest one of these Outdoors

03:16

permanently you should be able to use

03:18

solar to reup the battery for those

03:20

scenarios and here is the power draw

03:22

well idle and here is the power draw

03:24

while fairly active now I noticed these

03:27

really cool 3D printed cases on

03:29

printable but since I didn't want to

03:31

deal with printing them I went to The

03:33

muzy Works laab Etsy store and bought

03:35

two cases faster than you can say

03:37

impulse by Simon was super helpful and

03:39

even sent me some of my favorite kinds

03:41

of batteries the free kind he also added

03:44

a custom whip antenna upgrade these

03:46

cases are pretty much the Tesla of

03:47

Gadget housing Sleek smart and probably

03:50

too cool for me I'll put the link for

03:52

his store in the description below but I

03:53

also wanted to see if my PCB

03:55

manufacturing buddies over at jlc could

03:57

do anything with these schematics since

04:00

they have Commercial Printing Machinery

04:01

so I sent them the STL files from

04:03

printable and they delivered in Spades

04:06

they sent back this Phantom black case

04:08

featuring a nylon back stop and a super

04:10

durable resin front face not bad right

04:13

and these things have a Nifty custom

04:14

Loop ring for tethers okay so let's get

04:16

our Hardware situated in our new cases a

04:19

few things to note connecting a Laura

04:20

radio without an antenna can cause the

04:22

transmitted energy to reflect back into

04:25

the device potentially damaging the

04:27

radio's transmitter components due to

04:29

overheating so make sure the antenna is

04:31

attached these antennas snap into place

04:33

like so the lower 32 has two

04:35

front-facing buttons the left button

04:38

Cycles through the information displayed

04:39

on the screen and a long press of the

04:41

left button will shut down the device

04:43

and the right button will reset the

04:45

device there are also two LEDs on the

04:48

device the blinking white LED will

04:50

indicate that the device is on and awake

04:52

and the red LED will light up when it's

04:54

charging okay so now that the hardware

04:56

is set up we want to flash the mesh

04:57

tastic firmware to our board this

05:00

familiar esp32 based Hardware means we

05:02

can tap The Usual Suspects when it comes

05:05

to programming Dev environments like

05:07

Arduino IDE micropython espressive IDE

05:11

should all be compatible but I'd also

05:13

note that mesh tastic the open source

05:15

software that enables much of this

05:17

functionality is built with the tool

05:19

platform. and if you want to get your

05:21

hands dirty or play around with further

05:23

customization you can download the

05:25

platform IO plugin for your favorite

05:27

code editor I use cursor which is a work

05:29

of VSS code that brings gen AI to the

05:31

party but if you're just looking to

05:33

flash the latest mesh tastic firmware to

05:34

your Laura device you actually don't

05:36

need any intermediary software okay so

05:38

the device doesn't come with the mesh

05:40

tastic firmware that's a separate

05:42

organization open source project um

05:45

historically to get software onto your

05:47

microcontrollers you'd have to use

05:48

something like Arduino or an IDE or

05:51

something like that and what's really

05:53

cool is because of the new apis that

05:56

Chrome makes available to developers you

05:58

can actually connect to USB devices or

06:01

USB serial devices as well as Bluetooth

06:03

devices and things like that so um what

06:06

Mish tastic has done is they've actually

06:07

created an application flasher mt.org

06:10

where you can get the mesh tastic

06:12

firmware onto your device right through

06:15

a chromium based browser so this will

06:17

work for Chrome Edge Brave Etc so we

06:21

just come over to Flasher mesh. org we

06:24

select our device and then we select our

06:26

firmware version if you want something

06:28

more stable you can go here I want the

06:30

latest stuff even though it might be a

06:32

little buggy so I'm going to do the

06:33

latest Alpha and then I'm going to click

06:36

flash if you have previous installations

06:39

then you might want to do full erase and

06:41

install if you want to keep data from

06:43

prior installations just keep this

06:44

unchecked and that's what I'm going to

06:45

do here so I'm just going to go ahead

06:47

and click update and it shows all my

06:51

devices that are connected um on various

06:53

serial ports I am going to use this guy

06:57

here it does look like there's two

06:58

entries that probably both going to work

07:01

but I've had most success with slab USB

07:04

to uart if nothing shows up here you

07:07

probably have a faulty USB cable you

07:09

need a USB cable that can do power and

07:11

data uh so we might want to cycle

07:13

through a couple cables until um your

07:16

device shows up so I'm going to do

07:17

connect and then I'm going to just um

07:19

well it actually automatically starts

07:21

updating and it'll take a couple minutes

07:22

if you don't see this going it probably

07:24

lost a connection again the connection

07:26

is usually the biggest issue the cable

07:29

so you might want to try a couple

07:30

different adapters a couple different

07:31

cables Etc until you get it

07:35

working okay and then this stuff's going

07:37

to keep logging we can just go ahead and

07:39

unplug and we will be all set okay so

07:42

you need to run a client with your lower

07:44

device so there's always a pair the low

07:47

device sends the messages using the

07:48

radio it gets on the mesh tastic network

07:50

but your client is how you set up the

07:52

configuration it's how you type out the

07:53

messages how you receive the messages in

07:55

many cases um so you can use the Android

07:59

app the IOS app chromium based web

08:01

browser uh python CLI and they even have

08:04

Linux support now uh the iPhone app is

08:06

much better than the Android app so

08:08

that's what I'm going to use so I'm just

08:10

going to go to the App Store and you can

08:13

search for mesh tastic you will find the

08:15

app here I'm going to go ahead and

08:17

download

08:18

it let's open that up and then we're

08:22

going to start giving it permissions we

08:24

do want it to have GPS access we do want

08:26

it to have Bluetooth access and no on

08:29

the notifications so the device name is

08:32

going to be mesh tasticore and then it's

08:34

going to be a four character truncated

08:36

version of the hash ID just so you know

08:38

which device you're working with um and

08:41

uh if you've connected and reconnected

08:43

then you might have to go into your

08:44

Bluetooth settings and forget the device

08:46

uh in order to reconnect but I think I'm

08:48

going to be good here so you know 84 EC

08:52

is my hash it says a right here A4 EC so

08:54

I know that's the right device I'm going

08:56

to go ahead and select it and now it's

08:59

going to ask me to pair it it's going to

09:01

flash a unique code

09:03

998

09:06

389 and we're going to pair it once uh

09:09

you only have to do that one time you

09:10

will have to keep connecting in the

09:12

future but you only have to do that

09:13

formal pairing once okay much better so

09:16

now we want to configure it and ma'am

09:18

there are a lot of settings uh but we

09:20

definitely want to give it a region so I

09:23

just select um you can go to config and

09:25

you can go to Laura and then right here

09:27

there's going to be this region section

09:28

we definitely want to do United

09:30

States um and let's go ahead and save

09:33

that now what happens here is when you

09:35

make configuration changes uh you have

09:37

to save and it will reboot the device in

09:39

many cases so like I just set United

09:42

States I'm going to go ahead and click

09:45

save and it's look watch the device

09:47

reboot see and then when it reboots I'm

09:50

going to have to reconnect to it so

09:52

let's watch that happen

09:54

here and it should I think automatically

09:56

reconnect yep there it goes and look has

09:59

a region now so now uh we are paired

10:03

right and so you have your messaging

10:05

section here where you can do direct

10:06

messages with other devices that are

10:08

picked up you have your pairing uh this

10:11

is using Bluetooth it could use Wi-Fi

10:13

can't use both at the same time that is

10:15

um you have other

10:16

nodes you have a mesh map but you also

10:19

have the configuration settings here so

10:21

there's a lot you can do with it um this

10:23

guy does not have a GPS but what you

10:26

might want to do is uh you can use your

10:28

phones GPS so like if you go to app

10:31

settings you can select the share

10:33

location location use your phone's GPS

10:36

to provide location to your node I just

10:37

think that's useful because when you

10:38

have multiple nodes um you can see how

10:42

far away they are I'm going to go ahead

10:43

and do share location um you can set the

10:46

interval and all that stuff but uh okay

10:49

so now it's sharing the

10:51

location um let's go down to user uh we

10:57

can give it a nice name so let's go in

11:00

here so I'm going to call

11:02

it um I'm going to call it data Slayer

11:12

black okay I'm going to go ahead and

11:15

save that again it's probably going to

11:17

reboot but then it's going to have a a

11:19

more true

11:23

name um okay and then so like look if I

11:27

go over here yeah data Slayer black um

11:31

and other devices will be able to see

11:33

that name so I actually have a bunch of

11:34

other devices in my vicinity I'm in

11:36

Miami here so uh it just automatically

11:38

picks up those devices um but let's go

11:40

back to settings here let's go to

11:43

display um I'm going to turn on this

11:45

always Point North on the

11:47

compass um display units I'm going to go

11:50

to Imperial don't hate me and like now

11:53

we can see it's going to use miles and

11:54

feet it's talking about distances okay

11:57

and I do want to show you the web client

11:58

real quick quick so the gist of this is

12:00

instead of using the native app on your

12:02

phone as the client you can use your

12:04

computer's browser your computer's

12:06

Chrome based browser so I if I open up

12:09

Chrome here and I go to uh client. mesh.

12:14

org um this is a remote hosted

12:18

application but what it does is it

12:20

connects to local devices the

12:23

presumption here is that your computer

12:24

has either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and your

12:27

mesh tastic device is either emitting

12:28

from W Wi-Fi or Bluetooth I'm going to

12:30

use Bluetooth here you can see it's

12:32

enabled right over here and so what you

12:34

have to do is you have to connect and we

12:36

can go over to Bluetooth here and again

12:38

it can give you Wi-Fi Bluetooth USB

12:40

serial if you want to plug it in just do

12:42

new device it's going to search for

12:45

devices here okay so I found one of my

12:47

mesh tastic devices I'm going to go

12:49

ahead and click pair let's

12:53

see oh and then I just click on it here

12:56

okay and there it goes and so you know

12:58

it's basically the same as the native

13:00

app um you can you can modify the

13:03

configurations you can send your

13:04

messages so like for instance if I go

13:06

over to config these are the basic

13:08

device configurations and then they call

13:11

uh these extra modules like mqtt and the

13:13

range test uh they call this uh module

13:16

configurations okay so this is how these

13:18

things work each of the Mish tastic

13:20

devices should be connected to a client

13:23

and it can be connected to a client over

13:26

Bluetooth USB seral or Wi-Fi I usually

13:30

use Bluetooth so you know if if these

13:32

two individuals were say hiking together

13:35

and they diverged it's okay if they

13:38

don't have cellular service anymore or

13:40

satellite or Internet or GPS or anything

13:42

like that as long as they have a close

13:45

proximity uh Wi-Fi capability or a Clos

13:48

proximity Bluetooth capability and can

13:50

connect to this this will these will do

13:52

the heavy lifting of sending the

13:53

messages several miles in some cases uh

13:56

using Laura and so let's send some

13:58

messages is real quick within close

14:00

proximity so if I open up my phone here

14:04

and I go over to mes tastic um let's see

14:09

here okay so I'm going so let me turn

14:11

this on

14:13

first and then the radio should connect

14:16

and then okay there it goes and I'm

14:17

going to do the same thing over

14:28

here

14:31

okay so um both of them are connected

14:34

you see this node here this is what this

14:36

looks like when this is connected so I'm

14:38

going to send a message from here to

14:39

here and show you what happens so again

14:41

you can't type on this thing right um so

14:43

you come over here and you can create a

14:46

channel that you can talk on or you can

14:49

send direct messages to uh different

14:52

nodes so like if I wanted to send a

14:53

message to data Slayer green go to

14:55

direct messages kill that all right data

14:58

Slayer layer

14:59

green and I can

15:05

say Yeah so basically instantly that

15:08

message came up here so okay so that's

15:10

you know I just sent a message from here

15:12

to here and then I could do the same

15:13

thing over here the app's not quite as

15:17

good

15:18

but I can do

15:22

aoy see so it shows up on the app and it

15:25

also shows up on the um

15:29

shows up on the device here okay so

15:31

that's that's sending messages um and

15:34

because we enabled uh

15:36

GPS these things should be able to

15:38

determine uh where they are in relation

15:40

to each other so if I toggle through the

15:43

available nodes here let's

15:46

see

15:48

uh See data Slayer green 159 fet away

15:51

obviously like the GPS isn't perfect but

15:53

as you move more significant distances

15:55

it will be able to get a good read there

15:57

and you'll see I mean some cases I was

15:59

able to see it was 3 miles apart um and

16:01

then this this Compass thing here uh

16:05

people have had issues with it it uses

16:06

something called dead reckoning so

16:08

basically if you're on the move and you

16:09

have GPS enabled then it will try to uh

16:13

determine where you are in relation to

16:15

True North and it also will give you a

16:18

heading and It'll point to other nodes

16:20

in some cases um and again though people

16:23

have gotten varying degrees of utility

16:25

out out of that so if it's more

16:27

confusing than it is helpful you can

16:28

just turn that off okay something you're

16:30

probably going to want to do is a range

16:31

test technically you could continually

16:34

just send messages and then see when the

16:37

messages stop sending and then that's

16:38

your range but the problem is um when

16:41

you're conducting the range test uh a

16:43

lot of the messages won't get through

16:45

and so what the range test does is it

16:46

will keep sending uh new messages every

16:50

specified interval like 30 seconds or so

16:53

and it will um increment a counter so

16:55

you can kind of figure out from there

16:57

you know what messages you're getting

16:58

and which ones you're not getting and

17:00

you don't have to worry about keep

17:01

sending messages which gets annoying so

17:03

in order to do that you need to enable

17:04

range test on both devices and then you

17:07

would go your separate ways and you

17:09

would see how far you can go um while

17:11

still getting messages so the way you do

17:13

that is you go to config you go to uh

17:16

modules or settings it's different based

17:18

on what app you're using you go to range

17:21

test right here and you enable it and

17:25

then you can go to the interval you I'll

17:28

do every

17:29

15 seconds and then you just go ahead

17:32

and save that it's going to reboot and

17:35

then you do the same thing on your other

17:36

device so if you go to Radio

17:39

configuration range

17:41

test enabled 15

17:44

seconds and then that should reboot and

17:48

then it'll start sending

17:49

messages with the prefix seq for

17:53

sequence and then the counter the

17:55

increment okay so I got my first message

17:57

already

17:59

seq1 and we should just see seq2 right

18:04

and so what you can do is as you get

18:07

these messages you can flip over to

18:09

nodes like say I get a sequence 3 and

18:11

I'm walking away right I can then go

18:13

over to nodes and then I can go to the

18:15

other um node that I'm that I'm working

18:18

with here and I can

18:21

actually uh let's see okay it doesn't

18:23

show the distance right there but it

18:24

does right here see 200 feet away and I

18:26

actually did a test like this where I

18:28

put the um I put one of them in the

18:31

window in my building and my building's

18:33

you know fairly high and I went out to

18:35

like an island that was like 3 and2

18:37

miles away and I actually got a message

18:39

through at 3 and 1/2 miles which was

18:41

pretty cool you know line of sight is

18:43

important but I will say even in the

18:45

urban area that I'm in if I stayed

18:47

within a mile it would get messages even

18:50

if there were like you know buildings in

18:52

the way and things like that so I'm not

18:53

convinced that's the only thing that

18:55

matters uh but then beyond that there's

18:57

different uh Network pre presets right

18:59

like um you could do different megahertz

19:02

and some have higher data rates some

19:04

have lower data rates higher distance

19:05

things like that when it comes to the um

19:09

the Laura settings the gist of uh how it

19:12

works is the trade-off is between uh

19:15

throughput so like high data and then

19:18

distance so something like WiFi is uh

19:23

low distance right it's within the order

19:24

of like 100 ft but it's high data high

19:27

throughput you can send a lot of

19:29

information what Laura is is it's low

19:32

data so you can't send you know Rich um

19:35

you know heavy packets of data but you

19:38

can send them long

19:40

distances um so that's like the basic

19:42

just but they're both radio waves they

19:43

use you know the same technology

19:45

essentially but then from here they give

19:46

you other presets and they try to

19:48

describe what the presets have but at

19:50

the end of the day most people say to

19:51

just use a default settings long fast

19:53

and the reason is because if you want to

19:55

pick up on other nodes they need to be

19:56

on those same uh frequencies SE the same

19:59

wavelengths okay so one thing you might

20:01

want to do is create your own encrypted

20:03

channel so let's go ahead and do that so

20:06

if you go to settings and then you go to

20:09

channels and then you go to add

20:17

Channel let's see

20:23

private private chat

20:27

default

20:30

all right there it

20:31

goes and so and then to get it onto my

20:34

other device to get the private key over

20:36

there you go to

20:39

settings you go to share QR I'm going to

20:43

kill all

20:45

these and then what I'm going to do is

20:47

open up the camera over here right and

20:51

then it's going to open up that local

20:53

link it's going to ask you to

20:56

accept and now private chat is here so

21:00

what I can do is I can say

21:04

testing send that

21:07

through let's

21:09

see okay so it finally worked so

21:12

creating those private channels is um a

21:15

little

21:16

tricky but um if you just test it out I

21:20

think you should be good let's see yeah

21:23

okay and so what this channel is

21:24

encrypted right so anyone who inter

21:25

intercepts like the radio signal um is

21:28

only going to get encrypted messages um

21:31

encrypted um data so your Communications

21:34

are going to be private in those cases

21:36

okay so now for the range test I

21:38

conducted four distinct types of tests

21:41

using a number of different settings and

21:43

parameters and uh locations and I want

21:46

to talk about what worked best for me so

21:49

for the first test I did I live on the

21:51

32th floor of a high-rise building and

21:55

so what I did was for one of the nodes I

21:58

I uh set it on my balcony and um I went

22:02

out about 1,000 ft uh with a direct line

22:05

of sight and for this test I was using

22:09

the default long fast uh frequency and I

22:13

used one stub antenna and one whip

22:16

antenna and that worked pretty well

22:18

those messages came through just fine

22:21

okay so for the second test I conducted

22:23

both of the nodes were at the beach so

22:25

they were both at ground level there was

22:27

really no promise Min or elevation of

22:29

either nodes all right so we have a

22:31

connection right now the connection is

22:35

it says 80% we're going to keep just

22:37

sending messages

22:40

until we no longer

22:43

have uh a connection a signal so let's

22:48

go again I was using the long fast

22:51

frequency and I was using two stub

22:53

antennas and I was actually pretty

22:55

surprised that I wasn't able to get any

22:58

more than about 500 ft of distance

23:01

before the messages stopped going

23:03

through so these stub antennas just

23:06

aren't that great or they can be hit or

23:09

miss okay so for the third test I did um

23:12

I did a direct line of sight test we did

23:15

about one mile so we're going to run a

23:18

um a range test we got node operator one

23:21

right here and I'm going to be

23:23

out there running the second node and

23:27

we're going to see what we get terms of

23:30

uh con activity so we'll see we were

23:33

using long fast both devices were using

23:36

the stub antenna but one of the devices

23:39

I put on my drone and I elevated it to

23:41

probably about 100 ft again though uh no

23:45

signal was able to get through so I was

23:47

pretty surprised by that cuz I had a

23:48

direct line of sight and uh these things

23:51

are rated at those types of distances so

23:53

I thought that would get through I

23:55

attribute it to the uh stub antenna okay

23:58

so for the final test I put the first

24:00

node in the window on the 32nd Floor in

24:03

my apartment so it was quite elevated

24:06

had a good bit of prominence and I also

24:08

put the whip antenna on that node uh for

24:11

better power but I also changed the

24:14

preset I changed the frequency from long

24:16

fast to very long slow so the trade-off

24:20

there is the data transmission is lower

24:23

the throughput is lower but in theory

24:25

the distance might be greater so I was

24:28

on that um different frequency and then

24:31

for the other node uh I again I used the

24:34

stub antenna and I went out around uh on

24:38

a sort of peninsula near where I live

24:41

and I just let the range test keep going

24:44

and I got messages at a couple miles but

24:47

then I continued to get messages all the

24:49

way up to about 3 and 1/2 miles so what

24:52

I would just call out there is the first

24:55

node had the whip antenna it was

24:57

elevated quite a bit on the 32nd Floor

24:59

and it had basically a direct line of

25:02

sight with no obstruction all the way

25:04

out to where I was uh 3 and 1 half miles

25:08

away now not every single message got

25:10

through so it wasn't like a perfect

25:11

connectivity but um when the messages

25:14

did get through it caught up and sent

25:16

all the messages that uh didn't make it

25:18

through so uh it was a true range test

25:21

and it worked pretty well um so you know

25:24

I was pretty happy with that what I

25:25

think might help even more though is if

25:27

on that second node I also had a better

25:29

antenna than just the stub antenna I

25:32

could probably get even more distance so

25:35

these things are probably not going to

25:37

replace my phone provider but it might

25:39

be the start of something new imagine

25:41

transforming the way we communicate by

25:43

merging the Simplicity of walkie-talkies

25:45

with the power of modern technology and

25:48

that's exactly what these devices do

25:50

they're not just any communication tool

25:52

they are Advanced text based

25:54

walkie-talkies that Empower you to send

25:56

encrypted messages over long dist es

25:58

using radio waves this Cutting Edge

26:01

feature bypasses the need for

26:02

traditional Telecom networks shielding

26:05

your Transmissions from potential

26:07

eavesdropping by big telecom companies

26:09

with these devices you're not just

26:11

communicating you're taking a bold step

26:12

towards privacy and freedom in your

26:15

conversations whether you're

26:16

coordinating with a team in remote

26:17

locations or setting up a secure channel

26:19

for personal communication these devices

26:22

offer a powerful alternative to

26:24

Conventional methods ensuring your

26:26

messages remain confidential and and

26:28

most importantly yours

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