I'm giving a class on #Meshtastic tomorrow.
Target audience is the general public. No expectation that they have any prior knowledge of the topic.
In your opinion, what are points that I should make sure I don't miss?
What is the most cool or interesting feature about meshtastic?
Please record and share, that would be cool.
The most interesting feature for normie folks is the off grid communication when sking/hunting/4x4 without service.
No recording. It's just for my local community and it's going to be mors of a conversation than a lecture.
Thanks for the reminder about recreational activities. I had "Fun" in there, but now I've split that into two categories (around town, off grid).
A simple way of explaining antennas and radiation patterns would really help people understand how other people will be encountered, range, and interference. Will go a long way to building some patience when trying to discover other operators and devices.
I think it will also help explain how the mesh can reach soooo far.
I had a section on what the network looks like around town, but not on how vital antenna placement is for getting good range. Added a whole new top level section!
Bonus points if you explain the bill point to them :)
Null point, that is.
The topic of antenna position did come up in the class though. So I did get to talk about why you want to have your omnidirectional antennas point straight up. I also mentioned the beamform being narrower with the higher gain antennas.
1.- Seems magic. But it is not. It is called bluetooth and RF propagating through atmosphere.
2.- Do built your autonomy. Let's mesh it around ;)
I hope yoy enjoy. Tell us your feedback afterwards. 🤠🤟
I will absolutely will share how it went.
1. I'm stealing that "seems like magic" line 😄
2. Everyone who attends gets a free Meshtastic radio. I'm absolutely keeping our local mesh decentralized. It can't be just one person or group running the core repeaters. Fortunately it's not like that around here. I'm going limit myself to 4 rooftop/tower nodes (I currently run 3). After that, I'll just be a mentor for others
Points to cover:
The mesh network concept
How cell communications work
How a meshtastic device is like owning (and/or making) your own cell tower
Device categories
The most interesting aspect for me is independence from corporate jerk wads, and the potential for resiliancy.
