My Meshstastic - what for ?

So .. Meshstastic is nice, I'm starting to acquire HW for different nodes and experimenting but is also time to plan what to do with it, on the long term.

There are many possibilities but in the end my goal would like to be :

• set up a private network to stay in contact with family/extended family
• have a way to stay in direct contact for activities like hiking
• have access to some environmental data
• have access to the HA system remotely
• routing

For each usage maybe different HW will be necessary.

Family connection

The first usage of course is to be able to maintain contacts with the family also in case other means (typically Whatsapp/Fb/Mastodon/cell phone) are down.

Having the connection protected and not depending from a third parties then is a plus.

Because the area has many hills, the connection is little bit tricky and will require probably one or two repeaters in strategic area.

i.e. I don't think will be possible to have all the nodes to see each other directly, plus of course some member family will b out of reach anyway (living on other states/continents).

Sure, is possible to enable MTTQ but it vanish the purpose to stay in contact when everything else is down.

Typical HW

For this application I envision a node for each family place (house), fixed and possibly easy to check/reach and other possible node acting as repeaters.

Like a Meshstastic node connected to a big screen (Raspberry Pi ? Old PC ? Old tablet ?) and some way to notify an incoming message (buzzer ? Flashing light ?).

Of course then each specific member of the family can have a personal node, possibly with also GPS, to be used for outside activities or hiking (see below).

But the main goal here is to connect family places.

Hiking

Of course it can be very useful for hiking, we are in Arkansas !!, but only among the group of people doing that.

Usually the hiking area is quite far (aka out of range) from where we live, BUT is possible to find repeaters along the way and eventually also install temporary nodes to allow a greater connection.

Typical HW

For this application I envision a node for each family member, rugged, autonomous if possible but very likely paired to a smartphone.

The unit used need to have rechargeable batteries, GPS (to report location) and maybe some other sensors (TBD)

Environmental data

Another interesting application is to have access (for all the members of the group or even on open public channel) to some environmental data on defined locations.

Typical would be weather data but also other readings, like quality of the air, radiation measurement, solar generation, etc.

Inc conjunction  with hiking, would be nice an alert system for thunderstorm

Typical HW

For this application I envision a node for each place to monitor.
The unit doesn't need to be portable, possibly solar powered, autonomous.

The unit used need to have rechargeable batteries, solar powered, probably no need GPS since once installed is not supposed to be moved.

HA access

This is more personal usage, like monitoring the state of the HA system and eventually, after evaluating the level of security allowed by the system, allowing some operations on it.

Because the nature of the Meshstastic network is unlikely to be able to run any real-time applications since is not known when a message is actually reaching the destination.

Routing

These will be nodes with the purpose to allow users to reach other users in areas where is not possible to have a line of sight.

Some of them could be permanent, others temporary.

For example during a hike, will be possible to temporary install some routers to facilitate the connection with different groups or even try to reach back home.

Others will be permanent, to allow the conection of family members in the area.

Typical HW

For this application I envision a node for each place where a routing is required.
The unit doesn't need to be portable, solar powered, autonomous.

The unit used need to have rechargeable batteries, solar powered, probably no need GPS since once installed is not supposed to be moved.

Other articles will describe each development/idea more deeper.