Lille Ø - Still a little bit rough around the e...
Still a little bit rough around the edges, but there's now a plugin to integrate Signal K with the Meshtastic LoRa mesh network. What now works:
* Updating Meshtastic node position from Signal K
* Sending Signal K alerts as texts to a configured set of Meshtastic nodes
* Sharing telemetry (wind, temperature, etc) to the mesh
* Controlling digital switching with text messages
https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/signalk-meshtastic#readme
18 Replies
Nice! Will try that! Does it support connecting via USB or Network?
Cool! My spider sense can feel a sk blog entry…
Right now only network. Bluetooth and serial would be possible, but I had to start from somewhere
I can also see some telemetry from the boat. Units are a bit wacky, but still useful, the "distance" is anchor distance when available
What Meshtastic node are you using? I do have Xiao ESP-S3 with WIO SX-1262 laying on the table, might try your plugin in few days on the boat. The obvious issue is where to place antenna and where to put node to survive! 🙂
Do you have some rest API for sending messages and notification support for incomming messages?
I have a Heltec V3 as the "boat node", and a Seeed T1000-e for the crew device. We're planning to get a mast-mounted solar powered NRF52 repeater. That should get us to the >10km range even without other mesh devices around
(Which is plenty for most Caribbean islands)
I do have about 10 nodes right now, in car, for kids and boat was last missing gap! 😄
It would be great to be able to configure these paths in Signal K plugin config: https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/signalk-meshtastic/blob/511a3c237a1b739fd88a685d25b2329d64b2f28f/plugin/index.js#L103
Data plans are really expensive here, and we've been switching countries every few weeks. This gives us a way to communicate between ship and shore without needing internet. And of course it is cool for Signal K to be able to "join the conversation" by sending telemetry, alerts, ...
Should be doable. Right now I'm hacking this in between sanding fiberglass, but soon the hard dodger is ready and I'll have a bit more time for the fun stuff
Also for notifications please send bell at the start, that way T1000-e or any sound capable device will start ringing when configured! 🙂
Good idea
That works great when I want to call back my little girl! 🙂
I also want to do configurable aliases for the digital switching devices. "turn saloonStarboardRgbw2 on" is a mouthful
Done https://github.com/meri-imperiumi/signalk-meshtastic/commit/e1316432b88f260e2f16fa0a71130099ed2a38bc
that was quick! 🙂
For dingy do you plan to use some solar powered node? With NRF52 (https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/xiao_nrf52840&_wio_SX1262_kit_for_meshtastic/) and GPS (https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/get_start_l76k_gnss/) it could work for months with reasonable battery and 5W solar panel.
Current thinking is a battery powered node that we can hide in one of the buoyancy chambers (we have a hard sailing dinghy)
Won't be the best location for the antenna, but worth a try
is the repeater suitable for marine use? url? interesting setup! would probably work for offshore racing fleets, but requires buy in from all
I guess at least the better RAK repeater should be fine with the environment. But we're planning to print a custom enclosure since that's easier logistically now that we're in Curaçao
hmm the panel is huge = nontrivial to mount and the whip looks pretty exposed
That particular one I was thinking would be fine with 12V from the boat. But for solar nodes there are many smaller and cheaper options. Starting with https://meshtastic.org/docs/community/enclosures/rak/harbor-breeze-solar-hack/
We're now testing a Meshtastic repeater on top of the mast to see what kind of range we can get
https://www.printables.com/model/1396221-meshtastic-boat-module-masthead