Okay, imagine you and your friends are playing a game of telephone, where you whisper a message to your friend who then whispers it to their friend, and so on. But instead of just passing along a message, you're passing along information about Bitcoin, like transactions and research articles.
Now imagine that you're not just playing this game in your living room, but you're spread out across a big field. You could shout the information to each other, but that would be really loud and might attract unwanted attention. So instead, you use special devices called TTGO mesh beams that can talk to each other wirelessly, even if they're far apart.
But there's still a problem: what if one of your friends isn't close enough to hear the message? That's where the Nostr protocol comes in. It's like a special language that your devices use to make sure that the message gets passed along even if someone can't hear it directly. It's a bit like saying "If you can't hear me, tell the person next to you to pass this message along."
So by combining these two things - the TTGO mesh beams and the Nostr protocol - you and your friends can pass along Bitcoin-related information even if you're not in the same place and even if some of you can't hear each other directly. This is useful for an emergency group because it means you can communicate and share information in a decentralized and resilient way, even in times of crisis.
# How to Transmit Bitcoin Data over TTGO and Nostr Protocol
If you're interested in relaying Bitcoin-related data, transactions, research articles, and repository data over a decentralized mesh network, you can use the TTGO mesh beams and Nostr protocol to achieve this. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- https://meshtastic.org/ - Meshtastic is an open-source, low-power, long-range mesh networking platform that uses the LoRa radio module to enable long-range communication between devices.
- https://www.instructables.com/LoRa-Mesh-Radio/ - This Instructables article provides a tutorial on how to build a LoRa mesh radio using off-the-shelf components, allowing for low-cost and easy deployment of a mesh network.
- https://meshtastic.org/docs/introduction - This page is an introduction to the Meshtastic platform and provides an overview of its features, including GPS location tracking, chat messaging, and remote configuration capabilities.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v-oRkI7o08](OFF-GRID LORA Radio Mesh Text Messaging - Meshtastic
)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKucfbvAcZQ](GoTenna Mesh Review
)
[https://sendstr.com/](Sendstr is a website where you can send secret messages to someone else's device using a special language encoded by the Nostr protocol. No one else will be able to read your messages because they're encrypted, which means they're scrambled and can only be unscrambled by the person who has the key to unlock them. It's like writing a super secret note to your friend, but instead of passing it to them in class, you're sending it to their phone or computer!)
## Step 1: Setting up the TTGO Mesh Network
The TTGO mesh network is a wireless mesh network that allows devices to talk to each other directly without the need for a central hub. Here's how you can set it up:
1. Get the necessary hardware: You'll need a TTGO board, which is a small device that can be used to create a mesh network. You can purchase it online.
2. Install the software: You'll need to install the TTGO mesh network software on your TTGO board. You can find the software and installation instructions online.
3. Configure the network: Once you have the software installed, you'll need to configure the network. You'll need to assign each device a unique ID and set up the network topology.
# Introducing Nostr: A Decentralized Social Media Protocol
Nostr is an open protocol that allows building truly censorship-resistant and decentralized social media platforms. Unlike traditional social media platforms, you don't need to register for an account using personal data. Instead, you just need a set of keys: a public key and a private key.
## How Nostr Works
Your public key will act as your username, and this key can be shared and will be public to everyone. Your private key, on the other hand, is like your password. You need to keep it secret, and it will grant you access to your account in any platform that is powered by Nostr.
Getting a set of keys is very easy! You just need to choose a client for the Nostr protocol, such as Snort (web), Damus (iOS), or Amethyst (Android), and it will generate it for you. If you're on the web, an additional security measure is to use an external signer application like the Alby browser extension or the Nos2x extension. You can also generate custom private keys with tools like Rana.
It's important to save your private key, as it's the only way to recover and re-login to your account in the future.
When you use the Nostr protocol to send a message, there's a lot of information that gets sent along with it. This information includes things like the time the message was created, a unique ID number for the message, and the public key of the person who sent it.
One really interesting part of Nostr is something called the "event kind." This is like a label that tells you what kind of message it is. For example, there's a kind of message that's just plain text, like a tweet. But there's also a kind of message that's encrypted, so only the person who's supposed to see it can read it.
There's also a field called the "signature" that proves that the person who sent the message is the one who owns the private key associated with their public key.
Finally, there's a field called "tags" that can be used to add extra information to the message. For example, if you're replying to a specific message, you might include the ID number of that message as a tag. This can be really useful for developers who want to build on top of the Nostr protocol.
## Relays
Relays are a crucial part of the Nostr protocol. They act as storage units for the messages that are sent through the network. However, unlike traditional networks, Nostr relays don't communicate with each other. This means that only the relays that you are connected to will receive and store your messages.
To ensure that your messages can reach a wider audience, it's important to connect to as many relays as possible. This allows your message to be stored in multiple places, making it more likely that someone will receive it.
The beauty of Nostr is that it gives users complete control over their data. Clients, which are the tools used to connect to the network, allow users to choose which relays to connect to and what actions to perform on each relay. For example, you might choose to read messages from one relay but not publish any messages to it.
It's also important to note that if you're connected to a different relay than someone else, you won't be able to see each other's messages. But if you both connect to a shared relay, then you'll be able to see each other's messages. This creates a decentralized network where users have control over their own data and can choose which communities to participate in.
In summary, Nostr's relay system allows for a decentralized network where users have control over their data and can choose which communities to participate in. By connecting to multiple relays, you can ensure that your messages reach a wider audience, while still maintaining control over your data.
* wss://relay.snort.social
* wss://nos.lol
* wss://relay.nostr.info
* wss://nostr.bitcoin-21.org
## Benefits of Nostr
Nostr has several benefits compared to traditional social media platforms. For one, it's completely decentralized, which means that no single entity has control over the platform. This makes it much harder for governments or other organizations to censor or shut down the platform.
Additionally, because Nostr doesn't require personal data to sign up, it offers a higher level of privacy and security than traditional social media platforms. You don't have to worry about your personal data being sold to third-party advertisers, and you can be confident that your private messages and posts won't be intercepted or monitored.
## Conclusion
Overall, Nostr is a powerful protocol that offers a decentralized, secure, and private alternative to traditional social media platforms. By using a set of keys instead of personal data to sign up, and by being completely decentralized, Nostr offers a higher level of privacy and security for users. If you're interested in exploring the world of decentralized social media, Nostr is definitely worth checking out.
## Step 2: Testing the System
Once you have everything set up and configured, it's important to test the system to make sure it's working properly. Here are some things you can do:
1. Send test transactions: Send a few test transactions over the network to make sure they're being relayed correctly.
2. Test the range of the TTGO mesh beams: Make sure that the devices can communicate with each other over the entire range of the network.
3. Verify that research articles and repository data are being relayed correctly: Send some test articles and repository data over the network to make sure they're being relayed correctly.
## Conclusion
Here's a summary of the key points discussed in this conversation:
- The TTGO mesh network and Nostr protocol can be used together to create a decentralized mesh network for transmitting Bitcoin-related data.
- Nostr is an open protocol that allows building truly censorship-resistant and decentralized social media platforms.
- Users can generate a set of keys (public and private) to sign up for Nostr, and the private key is necessary for account recovery and re-login.
- Sendstr is a website that uses the Nostr protocol to send end-to-end encrypted messages between two devices.
- Nostr events contain information like the time the message was created, a unique ID number for the message, the public key of the person who sent it, and a field called the "event kind" that identifies what kind of message it is.
- Relays are crucial components of Nostr that store messages, but they don't communicate with each other. Users must connect to shared relays to see each other's messages.
- Nostr gives users complete control over their data, allowing them to choose which relays to connect to and what actions to perform on each relay.
- The relay system in Nostr creates a decentralized network where users have control over their data and can choose which communities to participate in.
Overall, Nostr is a powerful protocol that offers a decentralized, secure, and private alternative to traditional social media platforms. By using a set of keys instead of personal data to sign up, and by being completely decentralized, Nostr offers a higher level of privacy and security for users. When combined with the TTGO mesh network, Nostr can enable a truly decentralized and censorship-resistant way to transmit Bitcoin-related data in localized scenarios
Transmitting Bitcoin-related data over a mesh network using the TTGO mesh beams and Nostr protocol is a powerful way to achieve decentralized and resilient communication for localized scenarios. By following these steps, you can set up your own mesh network and start relaying Bitcoin data today.
