Getting Started with Dixie Mesh

Dixie Mesh is a community-run LoRa mesh network for Southern Utah, built on MeshCore. This guide walks you from an unboxed radio to a working node on the mesh in about 10–20 minutes.

If you’ve never touched a LoRa radio before, don’t worry — no soldering, no ham license, and no command line required. If you get stuck, jump to Still unsure? at the bottom.

Ways to participate

There are three roles a node can play. You can change roles later, so pick whatever fits how you’ll use it today.

• Companion — a portable, battery-powered radio you pair with the MeshCore phone app over Bluetooth. This is how you actually send and read messages. Most people start here.
• Repeater — an always-on node, usually mounted up high, that relays traffic for everyone else. Repeaters are the backbone of the mesh; one in a good location dramatically extends range for the whole community.
• Room Server — an always-on node that hosts a persistent group chat (a “room”) that members can read back through even if they were offline when a message was sent.

New here? Set up a Companion first. Once you’re comfortable, consider putting a Repeater somewhere with a clear view of the valley — that’s the single most valuable thing you can do for Dixie Mesh.

Encryption and visibility

A quick reality check before you start:

• Direct messages between two nodes are end-to-end encrypted.
• Channels (group chats, including the default public channel) are encrypted with a shared key. Anyone who has the key can read the channel — and the public channel’s key is, by design, public. Treat the public channel like an open repeater net: assume others can hear it.
• Metadata — who is talking and the rough shape of the network — is visible to anyone listening on the frequency, even when message contents are encrypted.

For anything sensitive, use direct messages or a private channel with a key you share only with the people who need it.

What you need to get started

• A supported LoRa device (see below) — this is your node.
• A USB-C cable that carries data (not a charge-only cable).
• A computer with a modern browser (Chrome or Edge work best — the web flasher uses Web Serial).
• A smartphone with the MeshCore app, if you’re setting up a Companion.
• About 10–20 minutes.

Supported hardware

You have two paths: buy a pre-built node that’s ready to use out of the box, or build your own from a supported board.

Pre-built / ready-to-use

These are just two of the many options available for easy purchase:

• Seeed Studio Wio Tracker L1 Pro — a complete handheld with screen, GPS, and battery; great if you’d rather not assemble anything. Just confirm you get the 915 MHz (US) version and flash MeshCore.
• Elecrow ThinkNode M1 — an nRF52840-based handheld with a 1.54” screen and GPS. Another solid ready-to-go option; pick the 915 MHz (US) version and flash MeshCore.

Build your own

Rolling your own node can be a lot of fun — and it’s often cheaper. If you have access to a 3D printer it’s even better: there are tons of community-designed cases out there, so you can print an enclosure tailored to your board, antenna, and battery (or design your own).

MeshCore runs on a range of inexpensive LoRa boards. For Southern Utah you want a board for the US 915 MHz band. Popular, well-supported choices include:

• Heltec V3 / Heltec V4 — built-in OLED screen, great starter board.
• LilyGo T-Deck — keyboard + screen, usable as a standalone messenger.
• RAK WisBlock / RAK4631 — low power, good for solar repeaters.
• Xiao / nRF52 + LoRa boards — compact companion builds.

Make sure any board you buy is the 915 MHz (US) variant. An 868 MHz (Europe) board will not work on the Dixie Mesh frequency.

Antennas and placement

The antenna matters more than almost anything else.

• Use a 915 MHz antenna — the one that ships with the board is fine to start, but a better antenna is the cheapest real upgrade you can make.
• Never power up a LoRa radio without an antenna attached — transmitting with no antenna can damage the radio.
• Height and line of sight win. LoRa loves a clear view. A node in a window beats one in a drawer; a node on a hilltop or rooftop beats them all. Southern Utah’s ridgelines and mesas are excellent repeater sites.
• Keep the antenna vertical and away from large metal objects.

Flashing and initial setup

1. Plug your board into your computer with the USB-C data cable.
2. Open the MeshCore Web Flasher: flasher.meshcore.io
3. Select your board model from the list.
4. Choose the firmware for the role you want:
   • Companion (BLE) for a phone-paired messenger.
   • Repeater for an always-on relay.
   • Room Server for a hosted group chat.
5. Click Flash and follow the browser’s prompt to select the serial port. Wait for it to finish — don’t unplug mid-flash.
6. For a Companion, install the MeshCore app (Android / iOS), then pair with your radio over Bluetooth.

Dixie Mesh conventions

So every node can hear every other node, we all use the standard MeshCore USA/Canada preset. Set these exactly:

In the MeshCore app you can simply pick the USA/Canada (Recommended) preset and it will fill these in for you.

Public channel

The default public channel is named Public and uses MeshCore’s standard public key, so it works out of the box on every node:

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Naming your node

Pick a name that helps people find you on the map and tells repeaters from companions at a glance.

• Repeaters: include the location and end the name with Repeater — e.g. St George Ridge Repeater, Hurricane Repeater. The trailing Repeater makes infrastructure nodes easy to spot in the node list.
• Companions: name it anything familiar to you — your name, callsign, or a nickname all work fine.

Verifying your node works

1. Say hello on the public channel. Open the Public channel and send a message. If someone replies, you’re on the mesh.
2. Check who you can hear. In the app, look at the contacts/nodes list — any nodes that appear are within reach (directly or via a repeater).
3. Use the built-in tools. From a repeater or companion you can run a ping or trace to a known node to confirm the path and see how many hops away it is.

Quick “is my signal getting out?” test: Join the #test channel, send a test message, and watch the app. It will show whether your message was repeated by a repeater — if you see it relayed, your signal is reaching the mesh. The #test channel is the polite place for this so you’re not cluttering the public channel.

No responses? Don’t panic — see below.

Still unsure?

That’s completely normal. A few things that fix most first-time issues:

• No one hears you? Check your frequency/preset matches the table above, confirm your antenna is attached, and try moving to a window or going outside.
• Can’t flash? Use Chrome or Edge, try a different USB-C cable (many are charge-only), and make sure no other program (like the Arduino IDE) is holding the serial port.
• Still stuck? Reach out to the community — we’d rather help you get on the air than have you give up.

Welcome to Dixie Mesh. Get a node up, get it high, and help the network grow.

Helpful references: the MeshCore documentation and the MeshCore FAQ.