Carry a radio. Text without towers.
You do not need to host a node to use Liberty Hill Mesh. A small LoRa radio and the free MeshCore app on your phone is all it takes. No internet, no cell service, no subscription: just a radio passing messages to its neighbors. Here is the short path from nothing to talking on the mesh.
Two kinds of radio
- Companion
- The one you carry and message from. It pairs to your phone over Bluetooth. Most people start here, and a cased handheld is the easiest way in.
- Repeater
- A fixed radio, usually solar, that stretches coverage for everyone. It gets configured before it is mounted. These are the nodes we ask property owners to host.
- The MeshCore app
- Free on iOS and Android. It is where you read and write messages, see who is nearby, and set your name. No account, no sign-up.
Radios people around here use
Every board here is US 915 MHz and runs MeshCore. Prices are ballpark and change often. Each row links to the maker, Amazon, and AliExpress so you can compare.
Cased and ready to go
| Device | About | Notes | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seeed Wio Tracker L1 Pro | $40 | Top pick. A complete pocket node: GPS, small screen with a joystick, about five days on a charge, USB-C, in a case. Flash it and start messaging. | Seeed Amazon AliExpress |
| Seeed SenseCAP T1000-E | $35 | Top pick. Credit-card sized, sealed, GPS and antenna built in, great battery life. No screen, so it lives on your phone. The easiest thing to pocket or hand to a newcomer. | Seeed Amazon AliExpress |
| Elecrow ThinkNode M1 | $40 | Sunlight-readable e-paper screen, GPS, buttons, and very low power. Reads the last messages without waking your phone. | Elecrow Amazon AliExpress |
| SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro | $90 | Off-the-shelf repeater. Arrives assembled with a solar panel, batteries, and GPS in a weatherproof shell. Mount it, point it at the sky, done. | Seeed Amazon AliExpress |
Boards, kits, and DIY
| Device | About | Notes | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3 | $20 | The classic entry-level board with a small screen. Add a battery and a case. Cheap enough to buy two and tinker. | Heltec Amazon AliExpress |
| Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V4 | $50 | The V3's higher-power successor for more range. A stronger pick for a fixed node. | Heltec Amazon AliExpress |
| Heltec Mesh Node T114 | $30 | Low-power nRF52 chip with USB, battery, and solar inputs. A great all-rounder for handhelds and battery nodes. | Heltec Amazon AliExpress |
| Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 + SX1262 | $25 | Thumb-sized. One of the smallest nodes, and the same building block behind many solar repeaters. | Seeed Amazon AliExpress |
| LilyGO T-Deck Plus | $70 | Full keyboard, color screen, and GPS. Send and read messages without touching your phone. | LilyGO Amazon AliExpress |
| RAK WisBlock Starter Kit | $30 | The modular, low-power platform for repeaters and solar nodes. Snap on GPS, sensors, or a bigger antenna. | RAK Amazon AliExpress |
| RAK WisMesh 1W Booster Kit | $39 | A 1 W amplifier for a DIY repeater that has to cover a chunk of the Hill Country. Needs a stable 5 V supply. | RAK Amazon AliExpress |
Prices and links change often. Marketplace links are affiliate links that support the mesh at no cost to you, run by the same volunteers behind txme.sh.
Can't afford a radio? Cost should not keep anyone off the mesh. txme.sh keeps a small, confidential budget to get radios to people who need one. Ask there, or in the Facebook group.
From box to first message
Flash it
Plug the radio into a computer over USB and open flasher.meshcore.io in Chrome or Edge. It finds the board, you pick Companion, and it loads the firmware in a couple of minutes. No command line.
Pair and configure
Install the MeshCore app and connect to the radio over Bluetooth. Choose the USA/Canada Recommended preset and leave the radio numbers alone. Set your name. Then send a flood advert so the network learns you are there.
Say hello
Send a message on the public channel. It hops radio to radio with no towers or internet in between. Give it time: contacts can take a day or two to fill in as adverts propagate.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Preset | USA/Canada Recommended |
| Frequency the preset uses | 910.525 MHz |
| Everything else | Leave at the preset defaults. This is what links Liberty Hill with Austin and the rest of Central Texas. |
Want the long version? Austin Mesh keeps a thorough step-by-step guide with device links and photos at austinmesh.org. Same radios, same preset, same mesh.
See the mesh live
txme.sh is a free, volunteer-run dashboard for the Central Texas mesh: a live map and roster of who is on the air, a topology graph, route traces, and bots that answer !commands over the radio, including automated weather and river-flood alerts. Once your radio is on the mesh, you can watch your own messages arrive there.
Being a good neighbor on the air
- Keep messages short. Airtime is shared by everyone, and long messages take more of it.
- The public channel is public. Anyone with a radio can read it. Use direct messages for anything personal.
- In an emergency, keep the public channel for coordination and check on the people around you first.
- If you set up a node of your own, tell us so we can add it to the map and keep the settings in sync.
Get in touch
Questions, a site to offer, or a radio you want help with? Join the Liberty Hill Mesh Facebook group. That is where people get support, ask questions, compare radios, and post what they are seeing on the air. Or find us on the mesh itself: say hello on the public channel and someone will answer.