Hi I’m new to Meshtastic and have been wandering around South Wales with a node.
Thing I have noticed is nodes that are not showing position or names?
Is this normal?
I’ve passed nodes that have positions but don’t show up on any maps?
Is there only one channel on EU_868?
Should I buy a EU_433 node instead?
And if anyone has a good solution for interfacing/logging using a raspberry pi let me know.
Most nodes are configured to only share their name periodically say 1 hour, so if dont near that NodeInfo packet, you dont know their name. They will typically repond with their name if you say somethng. So you would actully need to say something to get their name.
Position packets are similar in that only sent periodically and if it is a fixed node sent out even less regually (assuming they configre smart position) - but also not all nodes share their position (or lack GPS to know it!)
BUt they might also be that they dont have the same channel(s) as you. I’m guessing you have the default LongFast channel (or similar, depending on what preset using) but maybe they dont have the same channel, they may have setup as a private network. You can ‘hear’ them*, and even forward packets for each other, but can’t decode messages.
- as long as have the same lora modem settings
THere is only one ‘Frequency Slot’ within EU_868 - with LongFast preset, anyway!
As for ‘maps’ are you meaning the Map in your client, or ‘online’ maps?
… the online maps typically get their data from MQTT. There needs to be local nodes setup with MQTT ‘uplink’ (and need to be uplinking to same server as map usgin!) - so very possible you seeing local nodes, that have no MQTT gateway/uplink server nearby.
My own understanding is UK activity is much more common on EU868, although not actully tried 433.
As in ;
?
Blue line 3 was at the time, 2014, the longest land link for LoRa, 40km. The path is close to and parallel to the first radio transmission over open water in 1897, some guy called Marconi apparently.
This is a good place to start with pi
The absence of a location is quite common for privacy reasons but usually then a geographic indication is given in the long name. Sort nodes by “Last Heard” is then the best because any node recently heard from will be close ish. Best start on very high ground and wait for at least an hour for nodes to show up. If that is hard you can put a waterproof node (T-echo node in tupperware lasts several days…) in a high good location with line of sight from your home and use another from home. If you do that deactivate the GPS for that node in case it becomes a geocache ! Good luck.