Architecture

Network topology, channels, and link budgets.

Network Topology

Meshtastic flood routing — every node relays for every other node. Station G2s on elevated sites provide backbone coverage, T-Deck clients relay opportunistically, and FireElmo-SDR bridges to external networks.

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Station G2 Link Budget

30 dBm TX + 6 dBi antenna = 36 dBm EIRP. Max path loss: 171 dB. Estimated range: 20+ km line-of-sight.

T-Deck Link Budget

22 dBm TX + 2 dBi antenna = 24 dBm EIRP. Max path loss: 160 dB. Estimated range: 5-10 km line-of-sight.

Hop Limit

Set to 5 (default is 3). Higher to cover the full L-A area.

Channel Architecture

IndexChannelPurposePSK
0LA-MeshPrimary private channelUnique 256-bit (shared in-person)
1LA-AdminOperator coordinationSeparate unique 256-bit
2LA-EmergcyEmergency use onlySeparate unique 256-bit
3LongFastPublic Meshtastic defaultAQ== (well-known default)

Channels 0-2 use unique PSKs shared face-to-face and rotated quarterly. Channel 3 is the default public Meshtastic channel — LA-Mesh nodes can talk to any Meshtastic device on the default key. Do not send sensitive traffic on channel 3.

LA-Mesh - Community LoRa mesh network for Southern Maine

GitHub