Southern California's High Desert Meshtastic Group
Welcome to the
High Desert Mesh
"Invisible threads are the strongest ties."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
What is Meshtastic?
Meshtastic is a technology allowing for portable, off-grid, low/solar-powered communications over wide areas. Meshtastic devices are used to create easy-to-use distributed text-messaging-style communications and location sharing networks that don’t rely on public infrastructure. Some uses include camping, hiking, emergencies, and community-building.
High Desert Mesh: Target Coverage Area
Our current target coverage area includes the most populous areas of the California high desert, per 2020 census data. These cities include Victorville, Lancaster, Apple Valley, Palmdale, Phelan, Wrightwood, and surrounding regions.
Join us on our Discord server
Join us on the live chat about Meshtastic on our discord server. Connect with others in the High Desert as we continue to grow the mesh!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why are you focused on Meshtastic LongMod and the default LongFast preset?
A: There are a variety of choices of mesh technology available, including MeshCore, AREDN, and other Meshtastic presets, but we have chosen to build up Meshtastic’s LongFast and LongMod for a variety of reasons:
- Meshtastic still dominates in terms of user adoption, and LongFast is the default option for most people. This greatly enhances discovery and early-stage adoption.
- The high desert has a sparse population, with hikers and offroaders often going into areas where a distributed Meshtastic topology likely performs better than centralized meshes like MeshCore.
- The I-15 is a main traffic corridor for visiting mobile nodes, who are probably using the default LongFast preset.
- LongMod is currently very active in the Victor Valley area.
Q: Will you ever focus on other Meshtastic presets or technology like MeshCore?
A: Yes! The high desert is in an early stage of mesh technology adoption, and in an even earlier stage of community managed technology guidelines. Once the High Desert Mesh is more mature, we will almost certainly be focusing on other technologies and configurations. We intend to establish a long-term technology adoption strategy and guidelines for users.
Q: What’s up with your logo?
A: The logo contains the Morse Code letter “C”, which alludes to involvement of the amateur radio community in the High Desert Mesh. Their technical expertise, capabilities, and experience are critical assets of the High Desert Mesh.
Q: What Meshtastic preset is the high desert currently using?
A: Most users are currently on the LongMod preset. There is still a limited presence on the LongFast preset, but this is mainly to direct people to our Discord and LongMod.
Q: What kind of node hardware setup do you recommend?
A: The first type of node we recommend new users install is a rooftop solar node, since they will provide the best reception in the High Desert where nodes can be sparse. There are a variety of commercially available models available, as well as 3D-printable designs that can be used such as this Meshtastic/MeshCore DIY solar node using Home Depot parts. Having a solar node on the roof also helps grow the mesh. After that, a handheld node you can take with you on the go, set to CLIENT_MUTE, will provide you with portable capabilities.