OC-Mesh
An Emergency Radio Network for Lincoln County, Oregon
When a power outage, disaster, or crisis takes down the internet or mobile network, OC-Mesh lets you send messages anyway.
OC-Mesh is an emergency radio network by citizens of Lincoln County, Oregon, for citizens.
An independent system that lets you stay in contact with family, neighbors, and others on the mesh – even without Wi-Fi, internet, or phone service.
Quick Jump to: What is OC-Mesh | Joining | Devices to Buy | Newsletter | Current Coverage | Credit
What is OC-Mesh?
OC-Mesh is a Lincoln County initiative that helps people in Lincoln County, Oregon prepare for emergency situations.
When regular internet or mobile networks fail, like due to a power outage, overload, or disaster, OC-Mesh ensures you can still communicate with each other.
The system uses MeshCore, an opensource and free network protocol that lets you send messages and optional GPS location to others on the mesh network.
In addition to emergency preparation it can be also used for Off-Grid Communication, Emergency Response & Disaster Recovery, Outdoor Activities and Fishing Fleet Communications to name a few.
LoRa radio frequencies enable long-range low bandwidth communication with a clear line of site.
You Don’t Need Technical Knowledge
✅ A small emergency radio device that you connect to your phone via Bluetooth
✅ Messages travel via repeaters until they reach the right person
✅ No internet, mobile provider, or any subscription needed
Food Share of Lincoln County is at the forefront of this in our area by sponsoring a county-wide MeshCore system beginning in Newport.
Our Mission
OC-Mesh is dedicated to building a secure decentralized mesh radio networks for text-based communication for emergency, government and civil use. We want to empower our community with a communication tool that does not depend on the internet or cellular networks.
Key Features:
For more information about MeshCore and LoRa radios click the button below.
Joining
Are you interested in joining OC-Mesh? You will need to purchase a LoRa radio device. There are a lot to choose from so we will list devices we have used and recommend in a list here or with the button below. There are many other options to get started and it can be a bit daunting at first but we are here to answer questions. Most devices simply connect with Bluetooth to your mobile phone. If you would prefer to purchase a device ready to go without setup or configuration, contact Eric via email with OC-Mesh to arrange that.
Outside of the mesh, we are looking to make an active community on our public Discord Server including a whole section for MeshCore software, hardware and community discussions. So if you have questions, reach out on Discord and we can help you get involved. If you can’t or don’t use Discord you can reach out to Eric via email or signup for our Newsletter below. We will also be putting out short tutorial videos on YouTube soon on how to setup and use devices so stay tuned.
Newsletter Signup
Roles
- Companion: Intended role for end-user devices which provide an interface via the phone or web app (via BLE, USB or WiFi)
- Repeater: Nodes in this role extend the range of a MeshCore Network. It does NOT forward or retransmit every packet it receives.
- Room Server: Turns the node into a simple BBS server for sharing posts. Room servers store message history on them and push the stored messages to users. Room servers allow roaming users to come back later and retrieve message history.
- Room-Peater: A combination of Room Server and Repeater roles. Install the Room Server then enable repeater role via the “set repeat {on|off}” command. Not recommended.
Radio Settings
Once you get hardware you need to use these settings to connect to other nodes in our area. More information about these settings can be found in the MeshCore documentation.
These settings can be found in the MeshCore app listed as USA/Canada (Recommended)
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 910.525 MHz |
| Bandwidth | 62.5 kHz |
| Spreading Factor | 7 |
| Coding Rate | 5 |
Repeaters
Meshcore works well with neighborhood repeaters, increase the range and reliability of OC-Mesh by setting up your own repeater. We are looking to coordinate repeater setup for optimal network performance so be sure to reach out to OC-Mesh on Discord or email to be a part of the network infrastructure.
Channels
Hashtag topic keys are automatically calculated by the system. The keys below are included to help users on devices that cannot type the # (hash) symbol or lack the key calculation functionality. Anyone can start a Hashtag topic, these are just examples.
We will use ‘OC-‘ for emergency and weather to keep our messages relevant to us.
| Topic | Key |
|---|---|
| Public Channel | 8b3387e9c5cdea6ac9e5edbaa115cd72 |
| #oc-mesh | 2ec3eb4819b0807bc94336b8e3a3c06a |
| #oc-weather | 97e1df5c3426f97233542c9596e70117 |
| #oc-emergency | 7f6ba243091db546de0a84aefb7eba82 |
| #lincoln-city | 3dc5fb855e04bd24cdaa1684d0a100bc |
| #depoe-bay | bf4c34568c450aeb2d587404110abb28 |
| #newport | 97102754332c95b8fd7d14a5e4c0fe43 |
| #waldport | 52d4ba1ce9db8a725031757145a39d64 |
| #yachats | f1863b45bb205c3c882e084b5b2ccd97 |
| #protest | 195e9167baf010c4538d8532b6d7296e |
| #testing | cde5e82cf515647dcb547a79a4f065d1 |
OC-Mesh is still in it’s infancy. We are looking for HAM operators, tinkerers, tech folks and other people with knowledge to help us in this endeavor. You can reach out to Eric at Food Share of Lincoln County here or on the OC-Mesh Discord.
OC-Mesh Coverage
MeshAnalyzer & MeshMapper
Using MeshMapper we’ve done a preliminary coverage map of the one Repeater we have operational 24/7. The colored blocks indicate a connection to OC-Mesh.
View nodes in our area on the MeshAnalyzer, below. We’ve set up an MQTT node to upload network analytics for testing and health monitoring. There is no connection to the internet for the mesh to work.
Want to see your node on the map? See above for how to join OC-Mesh.
MeshCore on Youtube
Recommended Devices
Most of these can be obtained from Amazon and other online retailers, ranging from $30 to $120. If you would prefer to purchase a device ready to go without setup or configuration, contact Eric via email with OC-Mesh to arrange that.
| Image | Name | Cost | Phone Needed | Assembly Needed | Screen | GPS | Battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Wio Tracker L1 Pro | $ | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 2000mAh |
 | LILYGO T-Echo | $$ | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 850mAh |
 | SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E | $ | Yes | No | No | Yes | 700mAh |
 | Meshnology w/ Heltec V3 | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3000mAh |
 | LILYGO T-Lora Pager | $$$ | No | No | Yes | Yes | 500mAh |
 | MakerHawk w/ Heltec V3 | $ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3000mAh |
 | LILYGO T-Deck Plus | $$$ | No | No | Yes | Yes | 2000mAh |
Credit to!
Thank you so much to the following for their hard and dedicated work on this technology. I could not have done this with out them and the knowledge and brilliance they bring to this. And thank you to each who helped, posted and solved for everyone.
- Andy Kirby for Meshcore in General and MeshOS Software
- Scott Powell for Meshcore in General and Ripple Software
- Liam Cottle for Meshcore in General and Client App Support
- Rastislav Vysoky for Meshcore Web Flasher
- Michael Hart for MQTT and Meshcore Analyzer
- Cisien for MQTT
- Agessaman for Meshcore-Bot
We also want to call out local businesses and non profits that have helped with getting this going, thank you!
- Food Share of Lincoln County
- Gleens of the Beach
- KYAQ 91.7 FM
- Otter Rock Radio 100.7 FM
- KNCU 92.7 FM
- Lincoln County COAD
