Here is a sample of the data after the script change with a node connected.
Another observation on node population.
Nodes that are directly connecting to the tethered node populate at normal intervals, but nodes that are 1 hop or greater can take hours to populate. Tracking data that is being pushed by more distant nodes can take an hour or more to show up. It would seem that direct connecting nodes are receiving priority and repeated node info is not being pushed to Caltopo very often, even though the information is showing in the desktop feed.
Go ahead and revert that DEBUG change, there’s not that many logs produced from location service to make a difference and it probably has useful data when a node is connected.
Due to how serial devices work, there isn’t a clear way to set a passive alert when one is connected. So programs waiting for a serial connection have to constantly check each serial port to see if anything is connected. Caltopo is checking every 5 seconds which is very reasonable, so this is normal. On a side note, it seems like bluetooth should be an option to interface with the nodes instead of plugging them in. I’ll experiment with this.
I need to play with the serial feed from the meshtastic nodes without caltopo. It seems like the “serial data” lines are directly from the device and not caltopo. I’m wondering why the ToPhone queue is full and how long the RadioIf is taking to send replies. This might help to explain why rebroadcasted nodes aren’t updating their position.
1 Like
I emailed CalTopo and got a very positive response back:
Marc Chauvin (CalTopo)
Apr 16, 2024, 09:00 PDT
Wes,
Thanks for that info, sorry its has been so long. There are a couple of things that concern me. First is the topo.properties file. The usb.erial-0001 is likely wrong. That should be unique to your radio so the chances that it is the same as the Meshtastic example is unlikely. Next is the fact that the map is not updating with every report from the field radio.
So when you plug your radio in, open a Terminal and put this command in ls /dev/{tty,cu}.* that should give you a list of devices and you should see your radio. It will look very much like the usbserial-0001 but will be different. Mine shows up as /dev/tty.usbmodem1301 and /dev/cu.usbmodem1301. My Ham APRS radios work best using the cu so it is worth trying both the tty and cu to see what works best. Next is the data you are getting in on the CalTopo Desktop window. The loggers log more than just the radio data and can be used to debug other issues that the Desktop may be having. In essence it is logging all sorts of things going on in the background not just the radio set up. The key data should look something like this:
2024-03-12 13:34:55 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: N1WBU-7>APDR16:=4311.78N/07221.230W[157/000/A=000459 hi. 2024-03-12 13:34:55 SimpleLocationDispatcher [DEBUG] Location report LOCAL:N1WBU-7 @ 44.09633,-71.15383 2024-03-12 13:34:55 LocalLocationsService [DEBUG] Local location report LOCAL:N1WBU-7 @ 43.19633,-72.35383 2024-03-12 13:34:55 ForwardLocationsService [DEBUG] LOCAL:N1WBU-7 @ 43.19633,-72.35383
Every time a radio reports you should see something similar, and every time you see that it should populate on the map.
As far as future features like allowing the CalTopo app to receive location data via BlueTooth that is a great idea but I’m afraid that it would take a few things to make that a reality, not least of which is a large group of people using the MeshTastic system and some significant development time. Not impossible but not in the near future either. My first goal is to get the system to work as well as the Ham APRS. I have two Meshtastic radios now but neither seem to operate so I first need them to get operable before I can test them. I do have a Ham License and have a working APRS system but the Meshtastic radios I have I think are defective, or at least one is and so it is impossible to test in my area.
Go through the above info and check out this information in our user guide (I just updated it last week) and see if you can get the reporting to be consistent. Local APRS with Desktop | CalTopo Training If you are still having issues with the reporting not being consistent send me as much info as you can including what the CalTopo Desktop window data looks like when the radios report.
Hope this helps,
Marc
1 Like
So in a nutshell he’s saying to make sure your caltopo properties are reading from the correct device port and that command will show which one is in use. I’d like to make a way to automatically assign the device name so you dont have to fish around every time, especially if the device is plugged in a different port at a later time. For now though, you have to hunt each time you plug in the device. If it’s different than the one in the properties file, make sure to update the file and restart caltopo.
log4j.logger.location.name=org.sarsoft.location
log4j.logger.location.level=DEBUG
log4j.logger.aprsengine.name=org.sarsoft.location.service.APRSLocalEngine
log4j.logger.aprsengine.level=DEBUG
He also has debug mode enabled for the logs instead of just info. The way it works with logging is INFO is a higher priority than DEBUG so you dont clutter your console. Using DEBUG will show all debug and info messages. And we want to see the “SimpleLocationDispatcher” and “LocalLocationsService” logs.
When you’re not able to get location data from your nodes in caltopo, are you still able to see the locations in the meshtastic map? And are they updating? The old location will still show until the device refreshes its position, but luckily the map view shows the time since last publish
When I save a node to the map in CalTopo, the location should update and tracking should show on the map. The rate at which the node updates is less than predictable.
In the native Meshtastic App the nodes are updating at regular intervals.
In this example the tracking eventually updated to show me at the SAR 43 location, but driving there I was on the highway with regular heartbeats going out on the mesh. CalTopo did not record any of the points along the 30 min drive, but did get me when I stayed at the top of the mountain for over an hour.
Here is a link to the above map.
https://caltopo.com/m/JSRMR
Alright so we just need to see if the caltopo log is showing the “SimpleLocationDispatcher” and “LocalLocationsService” entries at the time you expect the device to publish its location. If the log is too cluttered for you to see, we can figure out a way to filter out the other stuff. Just make sure the code in my earlier post (with the DEBUG instead of INFO) is in your properties file!
I really need to get my hands on caltopo desktop
Desktop info…
Warning: the fonts “Times” and “Times” are not available for the Java logical font “Serif”, which may have unexpected appearance or behavior. Re-enable the “Times” font to remove this warning.
Welcome to CalTopo Desktop version 4240, 12/20/23 21:43:29
Temp data unpacked to /var/folders/g8/kb_9j0qd6rn_1crlwtxvmnjm0000gn/T/winstoneEmbeddedWAR
Please open your web browser to http://localhost:8080/
2024-04-16 20:45:51 LocalLocationsService [DEBUG] Starting…
2024-04-16 20:45:51 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:45:51 SimpleLocationDispatcher [INFO] Connecting LocalLocationsService to location reports
2024-04-16 20:45:51 ForwardLocationsService [DEBUG] sarsoft.location.shareWith is not set. Will not start ForwardLocationsService
2024-04-16 20:45:51 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Monitoring local APRS devices
2024-04-16 20:45:52 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] Received DeviceTelemetry from=0x68b419fb, id=0x1a720dd9, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:45:52 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] (Received from SR41): air_util_tx=7.085000, channel_utilization=28.886667, battery_level=92, voltage=4.090000
2024-04-16 20:45:52 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] Received EnvironmentTelemetry from=0x68b419fb, id=0x1a720dd9, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:45:52 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] Received PowerTelemetry from=0x68b419fb, id=0x1a720dd9, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:45:52 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] Received routing from=0x68b419fb, id=0x1a720dd9, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:45:53 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] Rebroadcasting received floodmsg to neighbors
2024-04-16 20:45:53 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: WARN | 03:46:08 339605 [Router] ToPhone queue is full, dropping packet.
2024-04-16 20:45:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:56 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:45:59 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:59 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:59 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:45:59 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:01 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:03 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:03 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:03 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:03 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:06 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:07 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:07 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:07 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:07 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:11 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:11 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:11 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:11 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:11 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:15 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:15 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:15 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:15 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:16 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] Received DeviceTelemetry from=0xe2e2dd10, id=0x64b982eb, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] (Received from LfSk): air_util_tx=5.005361, channel_utilization=10.191667, battery_level=84, voltage=4.019000
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] Received EnvironmentTelemetry from=0xe2e2dd10, id=0x64b982eb, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] Received PowerTelemetry from=0xe2e2dd10, id=0x64b982eb, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] Received routing from=0xe2e2dd10, id=0x64b982eb, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] Rebroadcasting received floodmsg to neighbors
2024-04-16 20:46:17 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: WARN | 03:46:33 339630 [Router] ToPhone queue is full, dropping packet.
2024-04-16 20:46:19 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:19 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:19 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:19 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:21 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:22 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:22 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:22 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:22 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] Received DeviceTelemetry from=0xe0d02798, id=0x6379532c, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] (Received from Wes): air_util_tx=0.682083, channel_utilization=11.180000, battery_level=100, voltage=4.123000
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] Received EnvironmentTelemetry from=0xe0d02798, id=0x6379532c, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] Received PowerTelemetry from=0xe0d02798, id=0x6379532c, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] Received routing from=0xe0d02798, id=0x6379532c, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] Rebroadcasting received floodmsg to neighbors
2024-04-16 20:46:25 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: WARN | 03:46:41 339638 [Router] ToPhone queue is full, dropping packet.
2024-04-16 20:46:26 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:26 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:26 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:26 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:26 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:30 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:30 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:30 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:30 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:31 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:34 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:34 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:34 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:34 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:36 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] Received DeviceTelemetry from=0xcba2c00d, id=0x7fc646b0, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] (Received from KWHM): air_util_tx=6.355000, channel_utilization=15.838334, battery_level=101, voltage=4.268000
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] Received EnvironmentTelemetry from=0xcba2c00d, id=0x7fc646b0, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] Received PowerTelemetry from=0xcba2c00d, id=0x7fc646b0, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] Received routing from=0xcba2c00d, id=0x7fc646b0, portnum=67, payloadlen=24
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] Rebroadcasting received floodmsg to neighbors
2024-04-16 20:46:37 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: WARN | 03:46:53 339650 [Router] ToPhone queue is full, dropping packet.
2024-04-16 20:46:38 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:38 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:38 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:38 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:41 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:42 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:42 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:42 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:42 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:45 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:45 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:45 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:45 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:46 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:49 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:49 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:49 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:49 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:51 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:53 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:53 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:53 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:53 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:11 339668 [Router] Received position from=0x1ede6ce7, id=0x3a986bc8, portnum=3, payloadlen=31
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:11 339668 [Router] POSITION node=1ede6ce7 l=31 latI=366664146 lonI=-1216781516 msl=11 hae=0 geo=0 pdop=108 hdop=0 vdop=0 siv=12 fxq=0 fxt=0 pts=0 time=1713325614
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:11 339668 [Router] updatePosition REMOTE node=0x1ede6ce7 time=1713325614, latI=366664146, lonI=-1216781516
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:11 339668 [Router] Received routing from=0x1ede6ce7, id=0x3a986bc8, portnum=3, payloadlen=31
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:11 339668 [Router] Rebroadcasting received floodmsg to neighbors
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: WARN | 03:47:12 339668 [Router] ToPhone queue is full, dropping packet.
2024-04-16 20:46:56 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: $GPWPL,3639.9849,N,12140.6891,W,Wes TRK76
2024-04-16 20:46:56 SimpleLocationDispatcher [DEBUG] Location report LOCAL:Wes TRK @ 36.66633,-121.67800
2024-04-16 20:46:56 LocalLocationsService [DEBUG] Local location report LOCAL:Wes TRK @ 36.66633,-121.67800
2024-04-16 20:46:56 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:46:57 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:57 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:57 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:46:57 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:01 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:01 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:01 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:01 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:01 LiveTracksService [DEBUG] Updating device list …
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:20 339676 [Router] Received position from=0x7a6d7c9c, id=0x2c77d169, portnum=3, payloadlen=20
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:20 339676 [Router] POSITION node=7a6d7c9c l=20 latI=366641152 lonI=-1216774144 msl=35 hae=0 geo=0 pdop=0 hdop=0 vdop=0 siv=0 fxq=0 fxt=0 pts=0 time=1713325617
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:20 339676 [Router] updatePosition REMOTE node=0x7a6d7c9c time=1713325617, latI=366641152, lonI=-1216774144
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:20 339676 [Router] Received routing from=0x7a6d7c9c, id=0x2c77d169, portnum=3, payloadlen=20
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: INFO | 03:47:20 339676 [Router] Rebroadcasting received floodmsg to neighbors
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: WARN | 03:47:20 339677 [Router] ToPhone queue is full, dropping packet.
2024-04-16 20:47:04 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] Serial data: $GPWPL,3639.8469,N,12140.6449,W,Karen0F
2024-04-16 20:47:04 SimpleLocationDispatcher [DEBUG] Location report LOCAL:Karen @ 36.66400,-121.67733
2024-04-16 20:47:04 LocalLocationsService [DEBUG] Local location report LOCAL:Karen @ 36.66400,-121.67733
2024-04-16 20:47:05 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:05 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.usbmodem101 no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:05 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port no longer active; removing from pool
2024-04-16 20:47:05 APRSLocalEngine [INFO] serial port tty.wlan-debug no longer active; removing from pool
Ok I got the desktop app and have been playing around with it. So far everything works as expected. I have two nodes, one with a GPS and one without. The GPS unit I hung outside my house 20m away and the non-GPS device is hooked up to my desktop via serial cable.
I wasn’t getting location data to caltopo until I selected the Override console serial port option in the radio configuration->serial page
Then I received NMEA messages on the caltopo console every 10 seconds. What I noticed was caltopo will receive the last updated location of all nodes with enabled GPS from the serial node (even if the serial node itself doesn’t have a GPS), but the meshtastic network will not relay device location until one is published. So even if I turn off the GPS on a node, the serial line will still transmit that node’s last location to caltopo every 10 seconds. My current Position settings on the GPS device is to sample the data every 120 seconds and publish to the meshtastic network every 15 minutes. So on the meshtastic map I can see the node position show up to 15 min, then reset to “now”, but caltopo will believe it’s up to date < 10 seconds.
Check your meshtastic serial settings to match what I have. If you do, then I’m confident it’s meshtastic that’s not providing good location. While you’re driving around, are you taking the serial node and desktop with you? Could you confirm you are receiving GPWPL messages (NMEA format)?
Use a separate terminal in mac (iterm) and type screen /dev/[your device name] 9600
This will print out just the meshtastic traffic sent to caltopo so you don’t have to sift through the 1000+ messages about disabled devices on the caltopo console. If you don’t have screen, we can work on downloading it. The 9600 is the default baud rate, which is shown in the image above. My device name is tty.usbmodem14601, so the command for me would be screen /dev/tty.usbmodem14601 9600
To exit the program, use the shortcut ctrl+a \
then type y
This is my caltopo topo.properties:
sarsoft.location.aprs.local.enabled=true
sarsoft.location.serial.tty.usbmodem14601 = 9600,8,1,0
log4j.logger.aprsengine.name=org.sarsoft.location.service.APRSLocalEngine
log4j.logger.aprsengine.level=DEBUG
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To be useful, I need to be seeing updated positions every 5 mins or less.
My current set up is using a node without GPS and a small pcb antenna, connected to my MacBookAir (M1) .
Updates are being feed to the non GPS node by a Router node on my roof. From there data may be coming in from which ever router node I am closest too, I have 4 router nodes positioned around my local area.
I have the node connected to my computer set to 9600 and CalTopo serial.
Are you suggesting that I change the topo.properties file?
That’s totally fine, you can set your GPS publish and update timers to whatever suits you. I was listing my setup as an example. I will order another device and set it up as a router to mimic your setup. The router node could definitely be the culprit here.
As far as topo.properties, there’s no need to change the code as long as you have at least this
sarsoft.location.aprs.local.enabled=true
sarsoft.location.serial.[your device name] = 9600,8,1,0
The log4j is just log output to the console. It’s not necessary. I think caltopo is working correctly in your case, but the mesh isn’t sending updated position data. So far in my experience, the gps has functioned correctly about 80% of the time.
I’m really interested to see what screen -L /dev/[your device name] 9600 output shows when you’re driving around (using iterm). Once you exit, a file named screenlog.# will be saved in your current directory. You can attach that instead of trying to copy and paste everything from the terminal. Note, to exit, the command is actually ctrl+a ctrl+\ then press ‘y’.
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Hey guys, as a HAM I stumbled upon ATAK and Meshtastic, thinking it could be a good off grid solution. I’m on SAR as well and our SAR team is using SARTopo (CalTopo). I just want to make sure I understand everything I’ve been reading. Your base station at command post is capable of taking a MT Node and taking real time data through a serial port and updating CalTopo with positions, but the users in the field can only see what they are able to update off cellular because CalTopo on your cell can’t take updates over bluetooth form a MT modem?
It would be awesome to be able to publish updates/message based on radio and independent of cell.
You are correct. The base node connects to a pc and will update CalTopo with what it hears.
So far Meshtastic doesn’t support of line maps, so team members in the field can’t see each other, but can talk to each other.
we just need to pester CalTopo development team to create a new feature on their mobile app to read in meshtastic messages from bluetooth and update all node positions. That way, all client nodes with CalTopo mobile will have gps coordinates of every device in the network
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Anyone have a contact? I’ll have our team put in a request.
You can put in a feature request through the “Contact Us” link at Caltopo.com.
They really need to have several people request a feature before they will move on it.
I have already done so.
Same here. They responded that i need to add the request to the community page and get up votes. Maybe you guys could get each of your team members to upvote it.
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I added a comment on the CalTopo topic.
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Thanks guys, sending that to my team to upvote. Hopefully if you guys do the same it’ll get some traction. How many upvotes does it usually need? Looks like voting on their community page is pretty dead.
Update, it looks like you put it in the Live Tracking, not the Feature Request page?
https://help.caltopo.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/4416797631899-Feature-Requests
Question, does Meshtastic work like APRS where it sends a confirmation packet when it’s been received by a station? Or is it a “send it and hope for the best” kind of thing?
Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I moved it to the “feature request” section. As for upvotes, who knows but it’s worth a shot!
Yes, meshtastic nodes receive a reply that a message was received by the nearest or intended node. You can see that in tue messages tab. Its the little cloud icon with a check box next to the message