Meshcore

Meshcore is growing in our area¶

May 2026 - A new meshcore repeater was installed on Poor Mountain, connecting the existing meshcore network to the larger regional networks.

Please use discord to report in if you are building out MC somewhere in our area.

Local Channels¶

Use the following channels to chat with fellow mesh users in the area. Please see the list of regions below if you are setting up a repeater.

*As of 22May2026, Messages between Richlands and Roanoke are mostly dropped.

Recommended Repeater Settings¶

This section will help us coordinate our local repeater settings to improve the overall network. Please contact us if there are questions or corrections.

The sections below are the same sections you see in the meshcore app when configuring a repeater.

Public Info¶

Name: It is helpful to name your repeater after the mountain, neighborhood, or another nearby landmark.

Radio Settings¶

*Several other mesh networks recommend setting the coding rate to 8 for repeaters. It might be because there are no retries on channels, so having the extra redundancy helps messages deliver properly.

Owner Info¶

Enter contact info, such as a website and/or email address. This will be visible to repeater guests.

Advert Intervals¶

*Auto adverts are detrimental to large mesh networks, please use as few as possible.

Position¶

Use the map to set exact or nearby position. This will help other operators determine where repeaters are needed.

Guest Password¶

Keep the default password blank. This allows guests to lookup owner info and neighbors from the repeater.

Manage Regions¶

If you are installing a repeater in or nearby the following regions, please install these regions into your repeater:

References:

Command Line Reference on Repeater Region Management

Boston Mesh Regions

Pacific Northwest MeshCore Region Strategy

ripplebiz blog post on region filtering

Command Line¶

Use the 'Command Line' tab in the meshcore app. Copy each line here and paste into the app, then press enter.

Set tx power to maximum. This setting applies to the radio before any hardware amplifier.

set tx 22

This improves packet timing randomization so repeaters avoid transmitting simultaneously.

• txdelay adds a small random delay before sending. This is important so that repeaters which receive the same packet don't attempt to retransmit at the same time.
• rxdelay adds a small delay after receiving a packet based on the signal strength of the packet.

set txdelay 1.5

set direct.txdelay 1.5

set rxdelay 3

This disables the transmit delay required by other countries. Use 'set dutycycle 100' in firmware >= 1.15.0. Use 'set af 0' in firmware <= 1.15.0.

set af 0

set dutycycle 100

This prevents the radio's automatic-gain control from locking on to the ambient noise.
(this option for high noise environments only)

set agc.reset.interval 4

References:

Repeater command line reference

TennMesh recommended repeater settings

Discussion about rxdelay/txdelay

MeshCore factors in selecting rxdelay txdelay and direct.txdelay

rxdelay values >0 and <1 invert the delay pattern

Meshcore Questions and Information¶

Quietening a Busy Mesh¶

A large mesh can distribute so many messages and contacts it can be overwhelming. These are some settings you can change to help reduce the noise:

1. Disable notifications on busy channels, such as Public and #test. On your list of channels, click on the three dots menu, select Notifications and select Mentions Only.

2. Change the Contact Settings in your meshcore app. Your companion radio can only store 350 contacts, and a busy mesh will surpass that quickly.

   Go to Settings->Contact Settings, and set Auto Add Max Hops to something low, like 3 or 4 hops. The meshcore app will continue to save all available contacts under the Discover Contacts menu, and you can manually save contacts to your companion radio from that menu if you ever need to.

3. Add and use local channels. This requires a bit of coordination locally to get everyone on the same channel, so having a list online somewhere is helpful.

4. Remove the Public channel, or any other busy channel you don't need. Especially remove the Public channel, it can be added back later if you need it.

5. In extreme cases, you can block the Null region ('*') from local repeaters. (This is not yet recommended by the meshcore developers.)

   This will block channel messages and contacts sent without your locally defined regions. This will also block you from sending messages outside your regions. Be sure you have working regions before taking this step.

   This will require extra coordination among all mesh members to add regions to their list of channels.

   NOTE: There IS a region discovery feature available for companion nodes... Open a channel, from the options go to Set Region Scope, from the options go to Discover Regions.

   NOTE: There is discussion about allowing direct messages even when the Null region is blocked, take a look here.

See the regions section above for references.

Using txdelay and rxdelay for repeaters close to each other¶

I have two repeaters in my location because, thanks to surrounding hills, there is no single location with a clear line-of-site to the rest of my area.

I noticed both repeaters attempt to broadcast relays at nearly the same time, and they were interfering with each other. I was able to adjust the timing on broadcasts to help prevent collisions. You make these changes in the 'Command Line' tab when signed into the Admin the repeater.

NOTE: these settings worked for me, make sure you understand what you are changing and use values that make sense for your setup.

Hilltop node

set txdelay 2

set direct.txdelay 2

set rxdelay 3

Side-yard node

set txdelay 2

set direct.txdelay 2

set rxdelay 6

References:

Repeater command line reference

Facebook Post by Dan Paxton

Reddit question by wheelieathome

TennMesh recommended repeater settings

Checking on your messages with Meshcore Observers¶

Observer nodes are placed strategically throughout the network, and we can use them to see if our messages are being sent out properly.

Using the Tennmesh CoreScope System¶

Note: at the time of writing, this server seems to crash often, but when its working, its got the best data.

Start on the Channels Page:

• Select the channel name you want to monitor, or
• Add a channel name before sending your message

OTA update instructions for nRF (RAK Wisblock)¶

See the meshcore wiki answer here

OTA update instructions for Heltec V4¶

See Mraanderson's guide here

More questions or comments?¶

See the resources page