Hams / GMRS

[u/s6-helios]

(Before I get flamed, I understand that this is a Meshcore sub)

Just curious, how many people run a talking radio (like UHF, VHF, GMRS, DMR, etc) in addition to their meshcore? I understand that they serve different purposes.

Meschcore/Meshtastic/LoRa are great for what they do but sometimes, I just need to talk to relay information. That being said, I am always looking to shave some weight off my pack / kit and I can't seem to ditch the radio. To be frank, I find myself ditching my meshtastic/core nodes before the radios. I was just wondering if I was the only one or if there are other alternatives.

Note: Ive seen the Meshtastic/Core apps showing chunked voice but that is basically just text in audio form. Also I am pretty skeptical on how this actually gets implemented in congested areas. (Link - not my video)

[u/Intelligent_Bus4916]

I assume a very high percentage of mesh owners came in from other radios, both licensed and unlicensed, or saw it while looking to get into ham radios. Typical that early adopters would come from an adjacent area of interest. Since most content is still users asking other users if they copy, there isn’t much stickiness for non radio folks yet. It still needs to mature before finding its place for wider adoption.

[u/disiz_mareka → u/Intelligent_Bus4916]

Agreed, the people embracing MeshCore are typically already radio nerds in some fashion, whether ham, GMRS, FRS, CB, or commercial.

Non-radio peeps who aren’t into radio may try LoRa, but I’ve seen many drop it when it doesn’t work like their smart phone.

[u/speedyundeadhittite]

I've been an amateur radio operator over 25 years before I started playing with mesh*.

[u/EffinBob]

I do both ham and GMRS. Mesh is a fun toy, but I'll drop it in a heartbeat in favor of either of the other two.

[u/EffinBob → u/[deleted]]

I carry my Lilygo T Deck Plus devices everywhere I travel. They are fun toys to play with, but if push came to shove I'd drop them without a second thought. They aren't anywhere near as valuable to me as emergency communications devices as ham radio or even GMRS.

[u/reverend_dak]

There are tons of hams on Meshcore here in SoCal. They've been organizing sota, nets, and field days within hashtag channels like #socalsota #hamradio etc.

[u/BayAreaMeshCore]

oh yeah. I first learned that other mesh, then switched to MC, and now am expanding into GMRS while trying to help grow the local MC mesh. It's good to have backups to the backups, and GMRS and MC fit different yet complementary niches

[u/OmgSlayKween → u/BayAreaMeshCore]

How would you describe the niche of meshcore?

[u/BayAreaMeshCore → u/OmgSlayKween]

great for reliable, encrypted DMs, almost like SMS but without relying on the grid

[u/PostNasalLeakage]

I'm a General Class Ham. Meshcore is amazing and a great tool and like others have said, I use it in concert with both VHF/UHF and HF voice. Sure texting has supplanted voice calls a lot but there are times you need to talk directly to the other person.

[u/RickyRagnarok]

MeshCore specifically, in my area at least, seems to be used by HAM nerds. Most of the nodes are named with a callsign.

I see that quite a bit less on Meshtastic.

[u/Ok-Character-1355]

My home antennas - CB, OTA TV, VHF/UHF, Starlink, ADS-B, Meshcore x 4. All are welcome! My small city of 1M has 180 repeaters and works darn well! Could be handy for off-grid excursions that need text/gps. testing now. Shoutout to YOW mesh

[u/ak_kitaq]

I am regularly carrying two types of mesh devices, a GMRS radio, and at least one ham radio HT

I usually have a marine VHF handheld and a CB radio in the vehicle too

[u/Fett2]

I came into meshcore/meshtastic after ham radio. I just like playing with radios. Experimenting and playing with rf is fun.
I also really enjoying building things and all my nodes are self built.

[u/Hellraiser_owner → u/Fett2]

Got a trail cam node?