CPOSC 2024: Getting Started with Meshtastic

About

This repository contains the information and details related to the CPOSC 2024 talk:

Getting Started with Meshtastic

This talk is targeted at beginners and long-time licensed ham radio operator audiences alike, aimed to provide a high-level overview of the relatively new ecosystem of devices which can be used to inexpensively, easily, and securely communicate over long distances. The talk will focus on Meshtastic, a free and open source Long Range communication protocol used by inexpensive devices, considered the next-generation of LoRaWAN communication, making it easy to send data and text over long distances.

This code is hosted on both GitHub and GitLab.

Learning Objectives

The ideal audience member is someone who is interested in LoRa/mesh networks, has the desire to send data over long distances, or is interested in collaborating with a long range local area mesh network.

The talk covers a number of topics and common confusion points for those who are getting started with Meshtastic.

Infrastructure-less communications
Digital Security Concerns
Creation of your own, custom sensor devices
Central management of multiple Meshtastic devices/platforms

Session Outline

Introduction
- Brief explanation on current state of various LoRa protocols
- Overview of Meshtastic devices/software
Meshtastic Software in Detail
- Architecture and Design of Home Assistant
- Overview of sub-protocols, long range modes vs short range modes
- Network Security/Encryption vs Amateur Radio modes
Meshtastic Hardware in Detail
- Various Open Source Hardware examples
Making Custom Meshtastic Sensors
- Custom Temperature Sensors
- Integration with existing Internet-of-Things devices and Services

Expectations for Attendees

Attendees will gain knowledge necessary to install/deploy Meshtastic devices and learn how to use these devices to connect to a local area mesh network. Attendees will leave confident that they could deploy a device capable of connecting to a Lancaster-area Meshtastic network.

Files in this Repository:

presentation/cposc2024.tex: LaTeX Beamer presentation files

Making the presentation

Option 1: Docker

Assuming you have Docker installed, you can simply run the following:

cd presentation
docker build -t latex:latest .
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/data latex:latest make all

The PDF will be generated by the docker container and placed in the local directory

Option 2: Direct LaTeX

Assuming you have pdflatex installed, or TeXLive simply run the following command:

cd presentation
pdflatex cposc2024.tex

The PDF document will be generated and viewable for you.

External Resources

There are a number of projects and external resources which were referenced in this presentation. They can be found here:

tomswartz07/CPOSC2024