Event:        HSMM-MESH introduction and demonstration
Location:    LDS Foothill Stake Center
                 1933 S  2100 E
                 Salt Lake City, UT

Date:         March 28, 2013
Time:        7pm - 9pm


Dear Amateur Radio Operators and other Friends,

You are invited to an introduction and demonstration of HSMM-MESH, particularly emphasizing some valuable applications and operations for emergency communications.  We will meet on Thursday, March 28 at 7 - 9 p.m. at the LDS Foothill Stake Center, 1933 S 2100 E.  (Although odd-numbered addresses in this area are usually on the east side of the street, this one is on the west side, across the street from Dilworth Elementary School.)  I am excited that Dave Bird (WA7RYV) will share his knowledge, skill and ongoing efforts with us.  He will include hands-on opportunities in his presentation which will excite you about utilizing mesh in disasters.

HSMM-MESH stands for High-Speed Multimedia Mesh.  You can read much more about this up-and-coming system at www.hsmm-mesh.org, but I'll give a quick overview.  Quotes are from that website.

Currently using certain versions of Linksys WRT54G, -GS, and -GL series routers, MESH is "being designed, developed and deployed as an amateur radio broadband communications system," focusing on emergency communications.  The wireless router "operates on channels 1-6 of the 2.4GHz ISM band, which overlaps with the upper portion of the 13cm amateur radio band."   

A router is connected via Ethernet cable to a computer and "flashed" or "upgraded" to a different free firmware and then functions through a web browser not  connected to the Internet.  The router, with or without accompanying computer, is called a "node," and multiple mesh nodes constitute a mesh network -- what one might call an intranet.  "Mesh nodes communicate with other nodes over Wi-Fi frequencies and only talk to other mesh nodes on the wireless port."  With a variety of software on the operator's computer,  "most tasks that you can do over a wired network will work on a mesh node," including data transfer/file sharing, shadowing another node, Internet-style chat, live feed from cameras, and telephone calls via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Depending upon true line of sight, mesh nodes with auxiliary antennas "can easily have a range of 10 miles or more using stock power."  Nodes and the mesh are not connected via the Internet, and you cannot connect to the mesh from wireless devices such as computers or smart phones.  Some operators have established nodes on their homes or other buildings and have them running 24/7 so other nodes can establish a mesh with them.  Others have grab-and-go kits or drop boxes for portable nodes in emergencies.

A node connects to the strongest signal it can detect.  If the connected node becomes unavailable, the initial node will search for the next strongest signal.  The success and viability of a mesh is dependent on having lots of nodes so that one node can connect to another node, which also connects to another, which connects to another, and on.

A node in the mesh "wireless computer network . . . can run for days from a fully charged car battery, or indefinitely with the addition of a modest solar array or other supplemental power source."

Assuming an operator already has a computer to use for one of the nodes, developing a node can be relatively inexpensive, especially as used Linksys routers are available on the Internet and sometimes at thrift stores.  The firmware and software being used most at this time are free.  Some operators have put their transportable nodes in plastic laundry detergent or kitty litter containers.  Of course, operators can make nodes more complex and costly, depending upon his/her objectives, with amplifiers, antennas, weather-proof enclosures, cameras, VoIP phones, etc.

Although the node has to be identified with a ham callsign, the computer software can be run under the licensee's auspices by a non-ham, allowing a person who might be proficient in computer applications (or just plain available) to assist in communications during a disaster.

If you have not heard of MESH before now, I hope you will be interested in this meeting; come with a laptop computer in hand, if you like.  If you are acquainted with or have started a mesh node already, you are welcome to bring your node(s) or photographs for display tables; set up before the meeting and show-and-tell with other participants for a short while after the meeting.  If you have Ethernet cables, please bring them as we intend to set up only a few active nodes for the demonstration and link to everyone's computers.  If you have friends who are not amateur radio operators but interested in disaster communications, please invite them.

Come for an informative evening and a fun time meeting and greeting other hams.  After this presentation, you'll surely want to be part of a mesh!

73,

Susan  KJ7ABC