probably about a year now. The Wizards
Tower has been on my mind as a really
great place.
>> All right, so here we're going to we're
sneaking in.
>> Okay, we've got our first
>> our first challenge.
>> Our first challenge.
>> We actually don't have line of sight, so
it'll be interesting to see where it
pingpongs to get on the other side of
that hill right there. That's our water
tower there.
>> I've never experienced something like
this. This is an interesting
>> curse of the modern road.
>> I actually think so. It works.
>> I made it. This is the mesh. This is the
power of mesh.
>> Tommy Xstrand, is it true that Austin is
one of the biggest mesh network
communities in the USA?
>> Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we have a great
public Discord you can join to get
involved. We've got a YouTube channel.
We don't do much beyond, you know, just
some
>> Well, I thought I'd tell you what you
guys do is meetups. That's where I keep
finding you guys.
>> We love meetups. We do those probably
about once a month.
>> How many people do we have online?
probably somewhere between four and 500
>> for any mesh network. The most important
thing is that you be on the same
protocol as all the other humans, right?
>> Yeah. If you're looking to create a
citywide mesh and really help your
community stay connected, it's important
to use the same technology the rest of
the community is using.
>> That means we have to introduce sort of
the Sega Genesis [music] to the Nintendo
of Meshtastic, which is a different
protocol called Meshcore.
>> That's right. Yeah. So Mesh Core, it's a
little bit newer protocol. works a
little bit differently. If you're really
interested, I've got a good page on it.
But yeah, very similar. It's mesh
networking. You're using an app on your
phone. You're [music] texting. It's very
simple data
>> in Austin. That's what everybody else is
doing. And that's what we're seeing
right here. Right.
>> That's right.
>> So, you can actually see messages
repeating. Somebody way up north is
sending a message out to this person.
How many hops do you get for each
broadcast?
>> Anywhere from like 32 to 64 hops. If you
need that many to get to your desired
end point,
>> many hops is a good workound. Let's say
we're in a craggy null and there's a
bunch of mountains in the way or
something. You can work around the
mountain. But of course, having height
is king, right?
>> Yeah, height is might.
>> Height is might. It rhymes, so it must
be true. Let's talk about this site.
It's tempting to perceive what I'm
looking at as being the authentic thing
that's happening. But of course, the
whole point of a mesh network like Mesh
Core is that it's off-grid. So this is
what somebody's rattening out where all
the traffic's going
>> a little bit. Yeah. So this is
absolutely not a source of truth for
what is happening on the mesh. There's
maybe three repeaters around the area
that are connected to the internet. The
reality is there's a whole lot more
going on. But what we're seeing is just
three radios connected to the internet
that are ingesting what's happening,
what they're hearing, and only what
they're able to hear because they're
listening over their antenna. So there
could be tons more going on outside of
what those nodes can hear than we can
actually see on this map. And this is
online
>> and and I guess because we don't know
what the messages are cuz they're
encrypted. That's right. But it is
public knowledge which ones repeat
where.
>> That's correct. Yeah. So everything is
encrypted and so all you're seeing is
the path that it's taking because
there's part of the packet that gets
sent that has the address of the next
node in the path.
>> Do you have enough friends that you can
say everybody make noise and we just see
an explosion?
>> Uh
>> do you have enough friends? [laughter]
>> I'm the admin on the Discord so I can
message everybody at once.
>> Okay. So let's see. Oh, is that you?
>> Yeah, there you go. So, we've got that
was me sending a couple messages from
MRHQ. That's our repeater outside on on
the pole.
>> I don't know. This is probably 12 ft
right here. I think we'd get at least 10
miles in every direction. And then,
yeah, you can see it looks like a bunch
of other people are starting to send
some messages out. You can see some
starting from up here in Leanderow.
>> But you'll kind of notice there's
>> Now, look at that one. How far apart are
these? That's got to be
>> Oh, that's 30 m probably.
>> And so that's confirmed like this dude
is able to reach that. That's the kind
of access we're going to be able to get.
>> That's the kind of access we're looking
for. And if you're noticing, there's a
little bit of a dead zone down in here
where we're not seeing much traffic.
Probably about a year now. The Wizard
Academy, the Wizards Tower has been on
my mind as a really great place to
install.
>> Okay, I have an inn and I have made
contact. As long as whatever we do is
discreet and doesn't get in the way of
nothing, we could go do this.
[music]
[music]
>> Did you ever watch Lost?
>> I did not.
>> But you know there's like a mysterious
island, right?
>> Yeah, I know the general premise.
>> There are mysterious ways to get to the
island. Oh, okay. But one of the
characters used a hot air balloon.
>> No way.
>> The actual prop they had at auction and
and the folks at Wizard Academy were
like, "This is very cheap. How are we
getting this so cheap?" And then they
they won the auction.
>> Uhhuh.
>> And originally the sun has baked off all
of the the decals and stuff, but this is
the actual
>> This is the one from Lost. They they won
the auction and then they found out why
it was so cheap because you had to
transport it from from freaking Hawaii,
right?
>> Oh, it was in Hawaii.
>> Everything was in Hawaii. So, everything
was
>> Oh my gosh.
>> All right. So, here we're going to we're
sneaking in. What are you holding? Tell
me about what you got.
>> I've got two different repeaters. Uh
just in case one doesn't work. I always
like to have a backup when we're doing
an install like this.
>> This is the one we really want to
install. We're planning [music] to put
this nice big antenna on there. This
will give us
>> that's an antenna. I thought that would
be the pole. Wow. So, what's on the
inside? Is it a spiral or just a line or
>> this specific antenna? I'm not sure.
It's likely two lines. It probably has a
line going up to the middle and then a
split in the middle for what's called a
dipole. So, it actually has two sections
[music] in here would be my guess.
>> Okay.
>> And this is a high gain antenna. So,
this gets you more power directed out to
the sides.
>> And and I know that antennas have to be
tuned to the wavelength. Do you know
what wavelength we're on? We're on a
band, a set of frequencies called the
ISM band in the United States,
industrial, science, and medical. But
really, we're specifically on with Mesh
Core, the way we're using it here in
Austin, [music] 910 MHz.
>> Okay. Yeah. And so this antenna is
generally tuned for about 915. That is
the center, the middle of the ISM band.
That way you can use it as low as about
9002 and as high as about a 928.
Hold
on.
>> Okay, we've got our first our first
challenge.
>> Our first challenge.
>> I've got to hack this lock.
YEAH.
>> YAY. [screaming]
>> WE DID IT. [laughter]
>> SO, how how high do you think this is?
>> I think we're going to end up about 12 m
above ground level would be my guess.
>> [music]
>> The exact words my secret contact said
was, "If I can't tell it's there, it's
fine."
>> So, I I think we could blend in with
this, right?
>> I think we'll blend in perfectly with
these other antenna.
>> Okay, this gu is tethered. Hey, wait a
minute. We didn't talk about powering.
It's just on a solar thingy.
>> Yeah. So, this is just a solar powered
node and it's got everything built into
a waterproof enclosure here in the back.
And then
>> and it'll just do it forever, huh?
>> It'll just do it forever. I mean, in the
Austin sun, we don't even need much.
This is even a bigger solar panel than
we really need.
>> Oh, and then so meanwhile, that's why
this is hinged out so it faces towards
>> So, this this specific unit gives you
all sorts of really interesting mounting
positions. Like, I could [music] mount
it up under a roof and have just that
sticking out.
>> Brilliant. I could do it on a on a pole.
I think I'd have to take the antenna
off, but I could flip everything around.
But for our purposes, we're just going
to get it on that pole. And we're going
to make sure I'll check what south is.
[music] And I'm going to face this panel
as do south as I can. I think if you
line this sword up
>> Yeah.
>> with the path
>> and that.
>> Yep. [music]
>> That is south.
>> I know this from a narrative
perspective. Do you see those footsteps
all the way down there? If you stand
there,
>> this lines up with the north star is the
whole thing. So, we know exactly which
way south is. Yeah. So, let's just set
it up on this, right?
>> Yeah. I think we're just going to mount
it. That's actually not as big of a pole
as I thought. I just have like these
really nice U brackets.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> That are a little bit stronger than a a
hose clamp. And as long as these fit
around, I think I'd rather use these.
>> So, if we're seeing 20 m line of sight
to
>> technically 15 and 12, I measured it as
the crow flies. Okay. But but [music]
like we're opening up I assume hundreds
of square miles of direct hundreds of
square miles.
>> How close? Come on.
>> Yeah. Money.
So this guy will just tip over the top.
We're going to want that facing south.
Let's see if see if this will slip over
properly. Oh yeah. Oh, look at that. And
it's just resting right there.
Turn this [music] ever so slightly.
We're gonna go there. And then that part
is just to maximize the solar.
>> All we're doing here is maximizing Yep.
our sunlight on the panel over the
length of the day.
>> It's always amazing to me how just
invisible these are. Like I I guess to
me to you you probably can't see an
antenna without breaking down correct
what equipment is where.
>> Yeah. But they do blend in. I think
we're so used to seeing antennas in our
lives that
>> Yeah. We're just used to it. My wife
teases me though everywhere I go. I'm
like, "Oh, that'd be a great spot for an
antenna. Oh, did you see that antenna?"
>> Yeah. It's pretty windy. That's all I'm
thinking about.
>> Yeah. It doesn't have much wind load cuz
it's just the antenna really that has
the wind load. I want to test two
things. First, I want to use my radio.
So, this is the one I carry around. I
want to just stand here holding it and
see if I can hit
>> HQ.
>> And if I can, okay, at what signal
strength?
>> Yeah.
>> And then I connect through that. And
let's see. And let's see what it'll do.
>> Which we actually don't have line of
sight. So, it'll be interesting to see
where it pingpongs
to get on the other side of that hill
right there. [music]
In fact, that's our that's our water
tower there off to the right. Are you
able to select don't use that repeater
or Okay.
>> Yep. So, I'm going to use the app to
send what's called a trace path.
>> Yep.
>> And at first, [music] what I'm going to
try and do is hit modern modern rogue HQ
directly. Mhq.
>> And I'm just going to send a trace path.
>> No success.
>> Okay. So, that is that hill being in the
way.
>> So, my guess is that's that hill. I
mean, even if I hold it up higher, nope.
No, no success.
>> The repeater has more power, I assume,
>> because of that antenna. Yep, it does
have more power. As a matter of fact,
though, the circuit board in this is the
same as the circuit board in that.
>> Yeah, but the antenna and the solar
panel are what makes it different. We're
going to choose to repeat through our
new repeater. Definitely not Sauron.
>> Definitely not Sauron.
>> And then that's going to go to Modern
Rogue HQ. What we may have to do is
route around that hill by using
[clears throat] another repeater that's
just down the road.
>> Okay, so there's MRHQ and that means we
are definitely not Sauron.
>> I'm going to try this intermediary
repeater. It's on an auto shop down the
road. I don't know. Now this one's not
working.
>> Oh no, it's not a Monor Rogue episode.
Unless there's tension about [laughter]
whether or not we're we're all just
baking in the sun.
>> It shows that it's charging. The
charging light is on. We're just going
to make sure we can log in. Okay, we're
connected. So, that's definitely not
Sauron. I mean, it's all there. Okay,
let's just reboot.
>> So, you you brought another repeater,
right?
>> I did.
>> We might need to test.
>> See, this is why this is why you bring
extra.
>> It's not like a meshtastic and you're
trying to be on mesh core.
>> Good question. No, it's not. So, when I
logged in from my computer here, I was
using the Mesh Core software that was
able to log in.
>> The clock is set properly. I rebooted
it. I could send an advert successfully.
So, all that's working. I've never
experienced something like this. This is
an interesting
>> the curse of the modern road.
>> I actually think you know like I mean
I've installed 40 of these, you know.
Okay, I'm just going to reboot. I'm
going to reboot my pocket node. It
works. Hey,
>> sometimes just a restart is all you
need. Okay.
>> Have you tried turning it off and
turning it back on?
>> That's exactly right. I'm going to start
real simple. What I'm going to do is I'm
going to send a a trace path from this
radio to that radio. Okay, I'm going to
prove that that works. So, run trace.
Successful. Great. That would be
concerning, right? [laughter] Now, now
let's try and go direct to Modern Rogue
HQ. Holding my breath. Oh,
>> all the traffic is lighting up.
Everybody's buzzing. They want to know
will it work? Okay, so we are not able
to go from here to Modern Rogue HQ
directly. So, let's add another one in
between because I know that there's a
good repeater over on an autoshop
[music] which we might be able to see
from here. We We'll find out. And we're
going to come right back to Definitely
not
>> on the other side of that. Oh, I saw it.
I saw it.
>> Did you?
>> Yeah. You pinged auto specialists.
>> It worked. So, it's it looks like it's
intermittent. We're at a pretty low
signal strength. What I'm curious to try
because this antenna is in the way of
the roof. Yep.
>> I actually want to try the smaller
antenna because it'll be below the roof.
>> Oh, so this is being blocked just by
that
>> is being blocked by the roof.
>> I wouldn't have thought that would
matter that much, but yeah, let's
>> So, why don't we try it? It's important.
You got to remember to power down your
radio before you take the antenna off.
>> Oh, can you fry yourself?
>> Yeah. So, if there's not what's called a
load on the radio, all the power that
you're trying to send out reflects right
back into the radio and it can That's
bad.
>> Overheat and fry the radio. So, you
always want to make sure there's a good
antenna or load on there.
>> Maybe more ideal would be if it was down
on that pipe a bit.
>> So, the problem with putting it putting
the whole antenna lower is anytime your
antenna is next [music] to something
metal,
>> it actually d-tunes the antenna and
makes it work for a different frequency.
So, here, hold on to that. Yep.
>> So, I can swap it.
>> Sometimes the stakes are real on the
modern road. Prime.
>> I'll take that.
Okay. So, now we're below the roof.
We'll turn our radio back on. We'll
rerun our trace over to Ooh, what? Ooh,
so good. So much better. Oh, it's so
much better. We went from negative
signal strength to almost 100% signal
strength.
>> Yeah. So big big difference there.
>> Wow. I didn't think that that I guess it
makes sense that a giant thing blocking
>> a giant thing in the way can can really
ruin it. Now let's see if we can go from
the auto show. Maybe this will go
straight to modern rogue.
>> Yeah, we can try it.
>> We can try.
>> Yeah, it's like sort of right on the
edge. When I checked the signal
coverage, I think it said something like
15 to 20% [music]
clearance,
>> which is, you know, it's on the edge of
reliable.
>> All right. Doesn't work straight. So,
we're going to go through that autoshop
repeater again from here.
>> It worked.
>> Oh, I look at you can see you can see it
going straight through the auto
specialist place. That's amazing.
>> We did it. [clears throat] So, we are
>> I didn't expect everything to work so
well.
>> This is the mesh. This is the power of
mesh.
>> How can I see [music] just how much of
an increase we just got?
>> I think we can do two things. one is I'm
going to log into definitely not [music]
Saur on here to the management side and
I can actually start to track the number
of packets that are going through this
repeater. It counts one at a time. Even
[music] though it can't see anything cuz
it's encrypted, it still counts the
number of packets. So, we've already had
almost 200 packets go through our
repeater here. And then the other really
cool thing we can do is we can actually
do an antenna coverage map. We are right
here. Okay. I'm just going to drop a pin
here.
>> Let's see how high we are. Layer
settings. Yep. So, it has us 5 mters off
the ground and it has our receiving
antenna 1 meter off the ground. So,
we're getting I mean, we're already
getting even if we were on the ground
here, we'd be getting 20 miles.
>> Yeah.
>> So, once we come up, I
>> I think we've got to be at about 12
mters here. And so, now we've
recalculated. Wow. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
That's really I mean, that's a lot of
coverage. We're we're going all the way
out to Luling and out to Bastrip, Texas.
>> That's so great. I
>> mean, that's a really long way. Out
west, it really starts to get hilly. So,
we're actually kind of at the low point
coming from the west part of Texas,
which is much higher. So, we're probably
only to the west. I think we're only
going maybe 8 miles or 10 miles
>> only. Only
>> only.
>> Yeah. Well,
>> are you able to ping something downtown?
>> Oh, heck yeah, I am. Let's see. One of
the ones on top of the buildings
downtown. That's going to be Independent
Southwest. We send our trace path.
Successful. We are hitting downtown.
>> Oh, wait. I can see it here.
>> Did you see it? 15 15 miles.
>> Lock in the win quick. Where do you got
to plug?
>> Oh, man. Okay. If you are interested in
mesh and you're in the Austin area, come
hang out with Austin Mesh. Like, we love
putting these repeaters up. If you've
got a spot like this, we want to hear
from you. Even if you're not into the
mesh, we would love to work with you to
put up an antenna. That would be
amazing. If you're interested in radios,
come join our Discord.
>> Heck yeah.
>> It's awesome.
>> And come out to the meetups. Those are
great.
>> And the final ask, if you're interested
in this and whether you're in Austin or
not, we built a really cool comparison
site for comparing all these radios
called RF Index. So, if you're going to
try and figure out which radio you want
to use to get on your local mesh, will
you please use RF Index? It it helps
support our local mesh. Heck yeah.
This video was supported in part by
viewers like you who went to
patreon.com/modernrogue
where we just posted this video in an
extended multicam format. It's like
you're really there. It's also where you
go if you want your name in the credits
like Tim Lebing or Mom of Brian and Jay.
>> What is WGPR? Is that a radio station?
>> It's probably just someone's node name
WGPR. I don't I don't know what that one
is.
>> It's W. It's Whopper. It's a War Games
reference. He offered to let me go up
there and I was like, "Dude, I am not
going up there. Are you insane?" Like,
no. No way. I would That's amazing.