Meshtastic

I have three boards on order just to play with, see if I can get coverage in our town for family and friends. It's an interesting rabbit hole that I've been reading up on for a few months, and I'm the least techy person you've ever met (literally called my family into the room to watch a LED blink slower & faster with my Arduino beginner kit last week - and I'm in my late 40s).

First heard of it on It Could Happen Here podcast with a guest named Andre aka hydroponic trash, and he has a decent comprehensive write-up about it (I dunno how to put links in here, sorry) and been watching youtube, etc about it since. It's the reason I have the above-mentioned Arduino beginner's kit, tbh :)

Funny side-note: it's apparently popular in the UK, where youtubers have shared lots of tips plus stories about meeting like-minded folks, having informal meetups at local pubs with people on the mesh, etc. Contrast that with US-based youtubers posting about it: "When the guv'ment shuts down the networks & civil war starts yer gonna need this to stay off the grid and communicate with yer team!" Like, c'mon...

I have been following them for a year or two now, and it is just amazing. I have thought about how hard or easy a system could be built to connect it with lorawan or similar.

Cool thing that I'd love to try out... But I still don't see any practical use... at least for myself.