_ I posted to Portland dance community about MeshCore. I basically copy and paste to here so that easy to see the whole. I also edited some amount.

Hello dance people 🌲🕊️

_ I wanted to share something I’ve been enjoying for about a year as a tool for community connection and resilience: mesh networks.

_ Over the past few months, there’s been a noticeable shift among technical folks toward MeshCore, as it’s quickly become practical—at least across Portland, from downtown to the Mt. Tabor area as of today, and expanding pretty fast.

_ MeshCore is a local, off-grid communication network that allows devices to connect directly with one another — no internet, no cell service, no intermediaries.

It’s designed to support communities on their own terms.

_ This can be especially valuable for:

_ large dance events and retreats

_ outdoor or remote venues

_ moments when digital infrastructure lets us down

_ emergencies, power outages, or disruptions

_ 🌱 Why MeshCore matters to me

_ decentralized by nature — no single point of control

_ privacy as a foundation, not an afterthought

_ built on trust between people, not dependence on platforms

_ invisible until needed, reliable when called upon

_ You might think of it as:

_ “quiet infrastructure that holds space for community care.”

_ This isn’t about adopting new technology for its own sake.

It’s about offering an option that reflects values many of us already live by.

_ If you’re drawn to:

_ community care and collective safety

_ event coordination or support structures

_ resilience thinking and preparedness

_ exploring how technology can serve consent-based culture

_ I’d love to connect — whether that’s a conversation, a small demo, or simply sharing resources.

Feel free to comment or reach out directly 🌿

How MeshCore works?

_ It’s similar to how many people set up Wi-Fi hotspots, but using LoRa instead.

_ LoRa devices can communicate over much longer distances while using very little power, which means they can often run on small, inexpensive solar panels or a battery.

_ Traditional Wi-Fi hotspots usually don’t talk to each other.

_ MeshCore LoRa repeaters (or Meshtastic devices), on the other hand, pass messages between nodes, creating a true mesh network.

_ That makes them practical for outdoor events, remote locations, or situations where power and internet aren’t reliable.

Cover distance

_ As of today, folks in Portland are receiving messages from Vancouver, BC; Medford, Oregon; and Newport, Oregon.

_ Compared to the Portland downtown ↔ Mt. Tabor connection, these longer-distance links aren’t as stable yet, but it’s still exciting to see them coming through.

_ In typical Portland residential areas, LoRa devices usually reach about 0.5 to 1 mile, depending on antenna height and local conditions.

Basics

_ The mesh network community is moving to MeshCore quickly, so there isn’t yet a single place with all the best and up-to-date information.

_ Most Meshtastic devices work well with MeshCore, which makes getting started easier. This is a good reference list of commonly used Meshtastic hardware. Because you are living in U.S., please choose 915MHz version:

_ Rockland

_ That said, it’s important to confirm compatibility using the MeshCore Installer (WebFlasher), since a few Meshtastic devices are not yet ready for MeshCore:

_ MeshCore firmware web flasher

_ Documentation and explanations for MeshCore are still a bit hard to find, but so far this video is probably the best overview available:

_ The Comms Channel Youtube (There's a newcomer to the Mesh world)

_ If you are so into MeshCore and feels like joining developing the software, this is the developers web.

_ The MeshCore Web

Starting MeshCore near Portland Oregon

_ You’ll need one LoRa device for MeshCore (or Meshtastic) near downtown Portland.

If you’re comfortable with a bit of technical setup, you can start with devices around $27 (like T-Echo Lite).

_ For a simpler, more plug-and-play experience devices in the $40–$115 range work well.

_ Rockland

_ If you’re in the greater Portland Metro area, you may also want an additional device (repeater) placed near a window or in an attic to improve coverage.

MeshCore vs Meshtastic

_ If your focus is sensor networks, short-range coverage (under ~3 miles), or moving small groups, Meshtastic is usually the better choice.

For static setups, long-range communication, human-to-human messaging, or larger groups, MeshCore tends to be more practical.

Low cost but technical way to start MeshCore.

_ Below are two budget-friendly options, though note that connecting an external battery , an internal battery and solar panel is not always straightforward. Many low-power devices draw so little current that typical “auto-off” external batteries assume no one is using them and shut off automatically. Also you need to hold a very very small button by your finger nail for the firmware update. Still these are great for learning device.

_ High power consumption cost-effective option – $9.90 + $6.75 shipping:

_ Low-power consumption cost-effective option – ~8× more efficient – $13.49 + $6.75 shipping:

_ The T-Echo Lite (without shell, 915 MHz) option is $14.29 + $12 shipping. It’s also a low-power consumption device.

One advantage is that it’s easy to connect an internal battery or a solar panel. ⚡

Important: Be very careful with the internal battery connection — the + (red) and – (black) lines are often reversed on many batteries, so double-check before connecting.

MeshCore Region Hierarchy: Pacific Northwest Watersheds

MeshCore mesh network regions organized by Salmon Nation bioregion and USGS watershed boundaries (HUC codes). Watersheds are usually similar to natural radio propagation areas. When you consider the shape of the land, you need fewer repeaters to cover the area.

Region Structure

salmon-nation F               # Pacific salmon watersheds
  cascadia F                  # Urban corridor (Vancouver-Seattle-Portland)
    columbia-river-basin F    # HUC Region 17
      
      lower-columbia F        # HUC 1708
      
      willamette-basin F      # HUC 1709
        
        lower-willamette F    # HUC 170900
          columbia-slough F   # HUC 17090012
          johnson-creek F     # HUC 17090011
          tualatin-basin F    # HUC 17090010
            fanno-creek F.    # Tigard Beaverton
        middle-willamette F
        upper-willamette F

Naming Rules

• Large watersheds: Include "river"
  Example: columbia-river-basin

_

_

Geographic Scope

• Columbia River Basin: 259,000 sq mi
  Covers Portland Metro, Willamette Valley, Eastern OR/WA

_

Potential Deployment Plan

• Phase 1: Portland area
  columbia-river-basin → willamette-basin → lower-willamette

_

Notes

The F flag enables flood/broadcast capability for each region.

_ Introduction of MeshCore region scope function.

_ Good to watch these videos below.

“MeshCore Regions Overview” YouTube video is the best one for me.

_ https://youtu.be/2LPwjfuCr3Y?si=tRsVzdN8JnT_n6g8

_ “Testing New Message Scope Features in MeshCore” YouTube video is a very detailed, command line based demonstration.

_ https://youtu.be/VlaebfwWUBA?si=GViSZtsMEjHnNCc_

_ Now your repeaters probably have a settings menu called “Manage Regions”, so it is much easier than using the command line.

_ A region can have only one parent. However, I feel like you don’t necessarily have to use the parent function.

_ There are pros and cons to using the region parent function. Overall, not using the parent function may have more advantages.

_ The region system still has a lot of bugs. Some parts of the system do not handle double spaces or trailing spaces very well.

_ Uppercase character handling is also not very good at the moment.

_ The “region load” command might freeze part of your repeater, causing the “restart repeater” function to stop working.

_ That means you might need to go up to your attic to press the reset button.

_ Not only is the “region put” command useful, but the “region remove” command is also useful for me.

_ The command line may allow region names longer than 30 characters, but the system will automatically truncate them.

_ Only lowercase letters (a–z), numbers (0–9), and the hyphen (-) are allowed.

_ A repeater can be configured with up to 32 regions.

_ "region" command shows you about 6-7 of your regions :-).

_ Even if you run “region save” twice, after you restart the repeater, it may forget some of your region updates…

_ For more details, you can ask your own Artificial Intelligence service to read the MeshCore GitHub source code, and ask other AI services to check for hallucinations, knowing that your actions may deplete historically oppressed communities' water resources and spike the electric bill.