MeshCore in Scotland/Places/Kirkwall
MeshCore in Kirkwall
Orkney is low, open and windy, which suits radio. The mainland is far enough away that the islands would run their own mesh.
Kirkwall right now: nodes heard in the last 5 days within 25 km, every one of them reaching the wider Scottish mesh. Updated 12:59 UTC.
Get on the mesh in Kirkwall
Four steps, about an evening, roughly £25 of hardware.
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Step 1
Get a radio
Any supported LoRa board for the UK 868 MHz band. Heltec and RAK boards are what most people here run.
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Step 2
Flash the firmware
Fresh firmware from meshcore.io for your exact board. Never keep what came pre-installed.
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Step 3
Set scope and path
Pair over Bluetooth, then set the radio preset,
scoscope and 3-byte path hash. -
Step 4
Say hello
Open
#scotland, check its scope issco, and post. Someone will almost always answer.
Repeaters around Kirkwall
The fixed radios doing the relaying, nearest first. Distances are from the centre of Kirkwall.
Joining from Kirkwall
There is no local region code for this area yet. Repeaters here run sco alone, which works.
Where another repeater would help
2 repeaters already cover Kirkwall and reach the wider mesh. Another on high ground on the far side of town adds a second route, which is how a mesh stays up when one radio goes off.
Questions about Kirkwall
Is there a mesh network in Kirkwall?
Yes. 2 repeaters and 2 nodes were heard around Kirkwall in the last five days, and everything heard there reaches the rest of the Scottish mesh.
How do I join the MeshCore mesh in Kirkwall?
Any LoRa board for the UK 868 MHz band, fresh firmware from meshcore.io, the UK / EU Narrow radio preset and the sco scope. About an evening's work and roughly £25 of hardware.
What region code do repeaters in Kirkwall use?
There is no local region code for this area yet. Repeaters here run sco alone, which works. sco is the scope every Scottish radio sets; the local code only adds where traffic should stay.
Where is the nearest MeshCore repeater to Kirkwall?
Kirkwall Repeater, 4 km from the centre of Kirkwall. The page lists every repeater heard within 25 km, nearest first.