How To & Tips

Practical tips for getting the most out of Dixie Mesh once you’re on the air. This page grows over time — if there’s something you’d like to see covered, let us know.

Hashtag channels

Hashtag channels are shared public channels named with a hashtag (like #weather). They’re how the community organizes conversation by topic. A channel’s key is derived from its name, so anyone who adds a channel with the same name is in the same channel — no invites or key-swapping needed. Like the default public channel, treat these as open: assume anyone on the mesh can read them.

To join one in the MeshCore app:

Open the three-dot menu and tap Add Channel.
Choose Join a Hashtag Channel.
Enter the channel name including the # (for example, #weather).

That’s it — you’ll start seeing traffic on that channel and can post to it.

Dixie Mesh channels

These are the common hashtag channels on Dixie Mesh. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and you’re welcome to spin up your own for a topic or area.

Channel	What it’s for
`#alerts`	Community-wide announcements and heads-up notices: mesh news, planned outages, events, and other things worth broadcasting. Not for emergencies — see `#emergency`.
`#dixiemesh`	Local Washington County area chat. Use it for day-to-day conversation, questions, events, and coordination with other people on the mesh in Washington County.
`#emergency`	Real-time emergency and life-safety communications only. Keep this channel clear so urgent traffic gets through; take non-urgent chatter elsewhere.
`#hamradio`	Amateur radio talk: licensing, nets, gear, repeaters, and general ham discussion.
`#repeater-ops`	For folks running mesh infrastructure — coordinate repeater placement and config, announce maintenance or outages, and compare notes on keeping nodes healthy.
`#test`	The “can anyone hear me?” channel. Send test messages here to check your signal and confirm a new node is getting out. See Verifying your node.
`#weather`	Local weather updates and conditions around Southern Utah.
`#weekly-net`	Check-ins for the Wednesday night weekly net. See net.dixiemesh.com for details.

Channel etiquette: post on the channel that fits your topic, keep #emergency reserved for real emergencies, and remember everything on a public channel is readable by anyone on the mesh. For anything sensitive, use a direct message or a private channel.

Configuring Repeaters

Recommended advert, loop detection, and delay settings for repeaters on the Intermountain West mesh — these keep airtime efficient and cut down on duplicate/looped traffic as the mesh grows. Full details: Advert, Loop Detection, and Delay Settings (PDF).

Video walkthrough: setting these values on a repeater from the MeshCore app.

Set your advert interval to 47 hours. That’s often enough to stay discoverable, but not so often — or so regular — that adverts pile up at the same time every day.

Loop detection

On any repeater that supports it, run:

set loop.detect moderate

With loop.detect set to moderate:

1-byte path — rejects the packet if its own ID appears 2 times.
2-byte & 3-byte path — rejects the packet if its own ID appears 1 time.

Delays

txdelay — the random wait before retransmitting flood packets. A higher value gives nearby nodes more time to transmit first, reducing collisions.
direct.txdelay — the same idea for direct packets, usually set lower for faster delivery.
rxdelay — prioritizes stronger copies of a packet and can discard weaker duplicates.

These can be set via CLI or when flashing a repeater. Pick the row that matches your neighbor count:

Neighbors	`txdelay`	`direct.txdelay`	`rxdelay`
20+	2	2	3
10–19	1.5	1	3
5–9	0.8	0.4	3
1–4	0.3	0.1	3
Mobile repeaters (vehicle nodes)	2	2	3

Presentations

These presentations are available to view and share:

Texting Without Towers: Off-Grid Messaging with MeshCore: An introduction to LoRa, MeshCore, and the Dixie Mesh network.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a license to use Dixie Mesh? No. LoRa here operates on the license-free 915 MHz ISM band, so anyone can join. (If you are a licensed ham, #hamradio is the place for licensed-radio topics.)

Are my messages private? Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted. Channels — including hashtag channels and the default public channel — are encrypted with a shared key, but anyone who has that key (which, for public channels, is everyone) can read them. Use a direct message or a private channel for anything sensitive.

People can’t hear me / I can’t hear anyone. What do I do? Start with the Troubleshooting guide. Most issues come down to antenna placement and line of sight — getting your antenna higher and outdoors fixes the majority of them.

How do I know if my signal is actually getting out? Send a message on #test and watch for it being repeated, or run the Health Check to see exactly which nodes hear you.

How can I help the network grow? Put up a repeater. A well-placed, always-on node — especially somewhere high with a clear view of the valley — extends range for everyone. See Ways to participate.