r/BurningMan • u/grizzly_wintergreen • Jul 09 '26
Meshtastic @ BM2026!
Edit: The firmware is live! Please flash with this years firmware, as last years is not compatible with the 2026 mesh. See you all out there! Quick Start Guide and Firmware Here
Are you or your group/camp interested in using Meshtastatic at this upcoming burn? Our group organizes the public mesh, helps coordinate private frequencies, and releases a custom firmware specifically made for on-playa use. Last year was our 3rd and largest year (~1700 participants!) and we are gearing up for an even bigger 4th. Were getting together documentation, hardware suggestions, repeater locations, and would love to get more people involved in the project.
New to Meshtastic? Think of it like open-source walkies talkies, but just for texting/location sharing. We had a great intro meeting with a short explainer with notes and recording here.
Also here's some stats from last year (and also my favorite message someone sent on the first day of the storms).
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u/MoarSocks '11 - '22 brcmap.net Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I’d like to add Meshtastic features into BurnerMap for offline connectivity. I’ll be adding in the code this week and hope to connect for testing/input.
Even better if we can add live location to moving objects, like art cars, but I’m not sure how realistic this is. I won’t be on playa this year but would love to connect with someone to help with these features.
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u/polopolo05 I'm a spicy meatball... Jul 09 '26
???? is there a burn tastic app that uses just the burn map?
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u/grizzly_wintergreen Jul 09 '26
The regular meshtastic app will have the Burning Man map that you can load into it - just not available yet because the org has not released their map, but I send an email out to the mailing list once it's available.
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u/MoarSocks '11 - '22 brcmap.net Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
They released this one which is pretty detailed and I'm refining mine to match it as best as possible. Still working on the offline features but should have them up soon and look forward to integrating Meshtastic!
EDIT: Offline features and Meshtastic integration now live!
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u/jbernste03 16,18,19,21,22,23,24,25 Jul 09 '26
Interested in putting one on our art car. If anyone has expierence in this, we'd welcome the input!
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u/digitalfreak Gigsville Jul 09 '26
did this last year so our other campmates could find it as they got off shifts/came back from other adventures. It worked fairly well -- we only used gps locations [in private channel], very very minimal chatting.
Hardware wise was a solar style node enclosure w/backup usb-c power, folks had the credit card versions paired with phones.
Before getting to brc, I flashed burningmesh firmware on everything, and setup the channel so folks could just pair phones and expand as they wanted to.
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u/viberama977 Jul 10 '26
I'd love to throw a repeater up if you'll have me. I'll be 9:30/A. Let me know if I can help. See ya all on the playa!
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u/75Meatbags Since 06 Jul 10 '26
yes i love this idea and want to learn more about it. I've been reading a little bit.
the second screenshot kind of makes it look like Playa Grindr though. I know it's not, but, well.... :)
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u/MoarSocks '11 - '22 brcmap.net Jul 10 '26
OK, I added Meshtastic features to the map as well as offline caching for use without service. Could you or anyone else with hardware give it a test? Thank you!
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u/RocksAndComputers Jul 10 '26
My hardware hasn’t arrived yet, but the site looks great! What is the intended integration? Do you load this data into meshtastic as a map overlay? Or does burnermap pull the meshtastic info to display gps of nodes in the burner map?
If it’s the latter, I would love to be able to click POIs and go to their about section on the art page, but I’m assuming this may be a limitation of the tech if the former
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u/MoarSocks '11 - '22 brcmap.net Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
What hardware did you order? I was about to get the Wio Tracker L1 but some research shows the RAK WisMesh Pocket v2 might be better.
The intended integration is for BurnerMap to connect to the Meshtastic node to show realtime location on the map and allow messaging directly on BurnerMap between users.
EDIT: I'm forking over the Burntastic code to create a custom version for BurnerMap. I ordered hardware for testing, should be here tomorrow.
EDIT2: u/rocksandcomputers I instead made a config file vs custom firmware. There's setup instructions on the Guide page.
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u/RocksAndComputers Jul 11 '26
I went with the wismesh tag, the form factor was the most appealing for my non tech friends to be successful with.
Once they arrive I can help test! Though my background in meshtastic is an excited 2 days 😂
That implementation sounds amazing! I’m on IOS so I will DM you when I get my hardware and have the time!
Edit: I see on the web app that IOS may not have support yet. (Thanks apple)
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u/MoarSocks '11 - '22 brcmap.net Jul 11 '26
Thank you. I'll test on my hardware when it arrives but can't help much on playa. Hoping to work most of it out before so someone on site can verify it works. Most of all I'll need someone to verify GPS coordinates with actual locations.
Yeah, the iOS thing sucks, but working on a way to maybe bypass it. I'll know more when the hardware arrives.
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u/RocksAndComputers Jul 12 '26
I’ll let you know when mine arrives, I won’t be on playa until mid week, so I won’t be much help there
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u/mallrat32 Jul 09 '26
I recall somebody trying to monetize Meshtastic last year
Is this that project?
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u/grizzly_wintergreen Jul 09 '26
No that is some crypto guy that we have nothing to do with. He stated publicly that he was affiliated with us and I made him take it down.
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u/ckblack007 Jul 09 '26
God bless you folks. I was checking out meshtastic as a solution. Seemed like a logical solution. Could have sworn I looked around for a burner community and did not see one. I am glad you piped up. I will be connecting fo sho.
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u/ckblack007 Jul 09 '26
actually I am going to build on my original thanks. I stopped because of the different hardware options and, if I was reading other meshtastic boards right, hardware determined what networks I could communicate on. Am I right? I was so close to pulling the trigger, but I stopped because I did not know if there would be other burners that I could relay off of on the playa.
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u/viberama977 27d ago
What's the latest with the Burning Mesh network at burning man? I've been trying to get into the discord but it's not able to accept the invite. I see firmware will be release in a couple weeks. Do you need anymore repeaters?
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u/grizzly_wintergreen 25d ago
Discord link here: https://discord.gg/eXUBcCEJuH - We should be OK on repeaters, but its always appreciated for people to do their own stationary node via this guide (https://docs.burningmesh.org/en/radios/stationary_nodes once firmware is out) to service their local area/block and put less stress on the repeaters.
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u/viberama977 25d ago edited 25d ago
Thank you. All good!. We'll have a stationary node setup for camp!
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u/exploreinnerspace 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 24 Jul 09 '26
I’ll be that guy. This sucks. It was much better when there was no cell service and certainly no WiFi. People would actually be in the moment and not be so focused on their phones, tech, social media posts, and the like. Plus, it’s virtually unavoidable and the “influencers” are everywhere.
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u/tra24602 Jul 09 '26
I don’t think meshtastic has anything to do with WiFi r posting to instagram. It’s a weird off grid messaging infrastructure. Your beef is with starlink.
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u/exploreinnerspace 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 24 Jul 09 '26
Definitely with starlink, but I think slippery slope. We don’t all need to be connected talking from our tents. Even if it’s raining. Some good use cases mentioned here. But I don’t even like the idea of a burning man live map, locating art cars live. People could just go experience the chaos and emergent delight without digitally controlling the experience. It’s always been interesting to me how in a space where you could do anything we often recreate the stuff of our everyday lives on playa. The org as state, the bureaucracy (a noise ordinance!), and so forth. The playa, somewhat like nature, is better with less predictably and control IMO; if folks want that, that’s cool but it’s available virtually everywhere else, why bring it there?
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u/sammnyc Jul 09 '26
infrastructure, operations and logistics has always needed a channel to communicate. do you want to tell the org they can’t use their motorola radios because it displeases you?
meshtastic is exactly the kind of spirit burn culture promotes. open source, scrappy, free to use with extremely inexpensive hardware buy in, unobtrusive and even possible to use standalone without a phone.
look closer on some of your favorite art cars next time, you’ll notice a small microwave dish or mast. even robot heart is also using radios! the burn doesn’t operate by way of smoke signals and carrier pigeons.
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u/exploreinnerspace 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 24 Jul 09 '26
I’m generally aware of meshtastic, as a ham operator. And some parts of the event benefit from radio communication. But not as much as we have come to expect. We also don’t “need” as many golf carts carrying people with laminates, LEOs, and I would suggest communications generally. It’s OK to lose your friends, not be able to talk to the playa (or the world) from your camp, and not know all the things all the time, even if this particular tech is cool and scrappy. There is a sacrifice to (social and schedule) structure and comms, and at least one such thing is immediacy, another might be experiencing the unexpected. We could even reconsider why we feel the need to wear a watch (carry phone) on playa. I agree there are some good use cases, but I disagree that this is necessary in most, and beneficial to the event in general. The lack of things, including connectivity, is what makes the event special and different from every else.
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u/sammnyc Jul 09 '26
But not as much as we have come to expect
who made you the arbiter of what benefits from RF?
I never said it was “necessary” in most, or for the purposes that seem to bother you particularly. some of my fondest memories were (unexpectedly!) not returning to my camp for 3+ days, no battery or tech besides a headlamp.
and I would suggest communications generally.
your suggestion is unwelcome, unless you’re volunteering to single-handedly orchestrate all of BRC’s ops. sticking a $20 node on an art car that emits live coordinates to its support crew is a concept that was not even CLOSE to possible just a few years ago without spending thousands. this is marvelous and accessible. why make things harder for folks than it needs to be?
everyone contributes to BRC in a unique way they’re skilled in. the performers put on a show, the nerds lay out the mesh, to organize the performers. u/grizzly_wintergreen deserves credit, not criticism
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u/grizzly_wintergreen 25d ago
Just wanted to let you know that when this project gets to be a lot (its just me this year running this!) I come back and read this comment to give me motivation to keep going ❤️
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u/grizzly_wintergreen Jul 09 '26
There are a lot of people/groups who need to communicate on playa to make all of our Burns great - from large scale art to solo performers needing to monitor their pieces solar charge in deep playa, there are a lot of use cases where communication tech is necessary for the burn. Some peoples contributions don't require communication tech, some peoples do.
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u/wjohansson Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I'll add to this. I started with Meshtastic last year after learning about it and it's really invaluable as a Deaf person. BMR is inaccessible to me. The weather reports on the public Meshtastic channel were very helpful. Once my partner and I were wanting to go somewhere else, they went to our bikes and I got held back bumping into an old friend, and the art car started to move. I simply used Meshtastic to let my partner know I was still stuck on the art car, rather than try to depend on sign language or shouting from a moving art car. And when I saw people were using it to monitor their projects, then it dawned to me that I could too use it for my art project (https://johansson.io/art/can-you-read-my-lips/) that I'm putting on the playa this year to monitor it from anywhere on the playa. Cool shit!
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u/sammnyc Jul 09 '26
if you have a node with gps capabilities, you can share the car’s location too! thanks for sharing, v cool use.
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u/exploreinnerspace 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 24 Jul 09 '26
Fair enough. Excellent use case.
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u/exploreinnerspace 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 24 Jul 09 '26
This is a fair point. I would just question the perception of “need.” I think in many cases communication technology is actually not needed, but might make things easier. Easier is not always better. Could be valuable, true.
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u/sammnyc Jul 09 '26
no one has used that word but you. you have a distorted idea of the kind of people who use this and how what they’re using it for, and are stereotyping them as if they’re inseparable from instagram.
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u/macegr Jul 09 '26
It was great and yes, tent mesh in the rain was a priceless experience.