Tlrd: can I have my arduino send lora text messages to and through a meshtastic network and to another arduino? If so, what do I need to know?
Hi all, thanks for the add!
I am new to Lora communications, and meshtastic, so i hope you all can help me out!
I have a heltec lora32 v3 and I was going to get some more if this works. My brother has a couple of arduino based lora messaging devices and I’m going to get a “wiphone” that has the same. These devices supposedly just need some sort of key or code to use as a way to know what device you are sending to.
My question is: how can I use arduino ide to interface with meshtastic via lora? Specifically I want to send lora text messages from a custom coded (coded by me) arduino through the meshtastic network to another arduino which I coded.
You mean you want to use the LoRa chip connected to your Arduino to send to a Meshtastic device? That’s not straightforward to do if it is possible at all.
When you talk about “some sort of key or code” you are probably referring to LoRaWAN, which is something different than P2P LoRa that Meshtastic uses.
You could check out the the Serial Module to let a Meshtastic device send something you produce with an Arduino via a serial connection: Serial Module Configuration | Meshtastic
Another Meshtastic device can receive that, which can forward it in the same way to another Arduino.
All i know is that i am getting a “wiphone” that has a built in lora module. And you can add “contacts” by knowing certain digits of the other phone’s mac address, or you can type “00000” or something as the recipient to brodcast unencrypted.
I was just assuming meshtastic acts as a lora signal repeater if you have matching frequencies, but looking into it more it seems like you attach a device (like a phone or laptop) to a node via Bluetooth or serial, and only the nodes communicate via lora.
So if im right, meshtastic doesnt repeat any outside lora signals, but instead just brodcasts and repeats strings provided to nodes via serial or bt?
It does repeat LoRa signals, that’s how it creates a mesh, see also Mesh Broadcast Algorithm | Meshtastic
So if you indeed use the exact same LoRa settings (not only frequency), the Meshtastic header and packet encoding with your Arduino LoRa devices, it can work. It’s just not so straightforward to code that, so it’s recommended to use the official firmware with supported hardware.
Besides repeating Meshtastic-compatible LoRa packets it can indeed send packets via LoRa that come from a Bluetooth or serial connected client.
Ok yeah i get it. But now assuming i did want to replicate the exact settings… how would i find them? I really want to make a repeater network for the devices i already have!