This device makes Meshtastic the BEST off-grid tech

Meshtastic is great! But it needs 'halo' devices like the T-Deck to expand beyond hobbyists.

Here are all the things I used to build my custom T-Deck:

And here's the blog post where I go into more detail about the experimental T-Deck software:

Contents:

00:00 - Why Meshtastic?
00:37 - Enter the T-Deck
02:02 - The UI is trash
03:44 - A better UI (with caveats)
05:11 - The future of Meshtastic

[AmirHusainTX]

At MESHCON in Austin, on OCT 5, we launched a balloon which reached a height of at least 65K feet. It was carrying a SpecFive Trekker Meshtastic device. For more than an hour it connected Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio! It was amazing to see well over a hundred nodes popup immediately. We then also flew an autonomous drone at ~400ft with a SpecFive CoPilot which is designed for quadcopters but did well on a fixed wing. We're not too far away from enough people getting into mesh networking that it becomes useful for everyone.

[SailMyWay]

Ten months ago I got into Meshtastic, and you’re spot on about how non techies view it. I’ve tested with pre built units I purchased from community members and commercially available assembled units. It does need more development to be ready for a disaster. I have a number of kits as well to assemble. I had big plans with solar nodes etc. At the time there were only 3 nodes in a 15 mile radius of a major city and was unable to connect to any of them. I personally have 9 units.

[dennyklaver]

You've hit the proverbial nail on the head Jeff. There are so many technical hurdles for this to reach mass appeal today - but I'm glad you've set the bar to what Meshtastic needs for it to be used by more people. I would love to see this as a consumer off the shelf device so that friends and loved ones could use it for emergency communications. It's going to take time to reach that goal. As always Great Job Jeff. Absolutely enjoy all your channels and content. Blessings. Denny

[JessicaBantz]

I didn’t fully realize what has kept me from getting into MT until I watched this. Solid points all around!

[WarrenPostma]

I would buy a unit that is already set up with this good UI and can be purchased without me having to download CI nightly builds, 3d print my own enclosure or assemble the product from circuit boards and componentry. A kickstarter project or something that mass-manufactures 10K of these, I would be in to buy a bunch. That's what would drive adoption, is having a product you can buy that could be a truly off grid backbone device. The LillyGo offering looks like the right way. Even if the hardware requires firmware setup having dev units that have a local screen and a keyboard seems key.

[nitramdmij]

Jeff, I think this is the perfect channel for your "shorts". No nonsense, no editing, just talking to your audience. Too bad you have to have your main channels follow the YouTube way to drive your metrics to get your audience. Anyway, I am one of the people that just find too many hoops to jump through to get started in Meshtastic. I have a lot of things competing for my time and think something like the T-Deck with a nice interface right out of the box is really up my alley right now. Thanks for the video!

[JPBennett]

We're trying to get the new UI to the point of being ready for a "tech preview". It's a balancing act between how much of it works, how much better it is than the other interface, and how much is still a placeholder in there. It's coming soon.

[Rostol]

3rd channel to you maybe... but 1st in our hearts. I know intros and outros and polished make the videos look more professional and draw people, but these ones that just go straight to the point are awesome. (feels like old youtube)
This does seem like a killer product for meshtastic. it makes me want to try it now to try to hook an offgrid conection with my parents' ~1km away. this seems something my mom can use

[NonyaDamnbusiness]

Meshtastic has kind of exploded in my area. My main node at home has already picked up 116 nodes in the KC Metro. Local amateur radio club even has a router up high that pretty much covers the entire southern part of the metro. I use a Tdeck Plus as my main, a pocket in my vehicle, and several Heltec-v3-powered nodes with belt holsters in my emergency kits. Thanks to our area being mostly flat the range is pretty big.

[supakat]

Hi Jeff, Thank you for your through video of the Meshtastic, making it more useful, that is simply explained & doesnt leave me hanging with unanswered questions. Thank you!

[cdl]

Jeff is right on every point in this video, including YouTube shorts.

[NEVIXIA]

Its like blackberry being revived.. I like the design and simplicity..

[markcohen]

Great video! I've been waiting for this new FW to get "released".. I've built about 20 meshtastic nodes including solar power routers, and agree with you, the T-Deck with the updated FW will kill it for so many people.. Thanks!

[JonZobrist]

Thanks for your article simplifying how to get the new UI up on the T-Deck! I got it up and running np! Can’t wait for it to support all the features!

[DoctorX]

Oh, cool, that is indeed exactly what I envisioned for Meshtastic! I want off-grid comms for hiking in remote areas with zero cell service and no wall power, so a BlackBerry-sized device like that with a high battery is exactly what I had in mind. Now I have a buy option :) personally I’m gonna make my own but if I need to equip a few people quickly, buying a compatible thing is great

[hugothales]

You are completely right Jeff. It's all about usability and power needs.

[LerrySanders]

I was talking to a friend of mine when we both saw those for the first time and we thought the same thing. "Finally a Blackberry all in one device type device I can use by itself"

I might pick one up now that they are not forever out of stock and the UI looks like its on track to being usable.

[carlospcpro]

8 years ago I remember GoTenna a peer to peer network devices that connected with smart phones using Bluetooth and where practically the same concept. I thought they would be a success but they weren’t. I hope this new approach have a better chance with this kind of devices. We need good reliable and popular alternatives to the grid, I think. Great video

[ilya_ash]

Thanks, Jeff! I saw T-Deck and had some thoughts about it a while ago, especially after moving to Israel. This new firmware and T-Deck Plus looks very, very promising

[dominick]

I think recent events have solidified my decision to make a system like this... If shtf then this will be a life or death kinda device. This could mean saving a whole community ya know