Idaho Mesh — Radio Configurator

Set up a radio for the Idaho mesh. Everything runs in your browser and talks to the radio directly over USB — nothing is sent anywhere.

Meshtastic
MeshCore

Connect

Plug the radio in with a USB cable, click connect, and pick it from the browser prompt.

Needs Chrome, Edge, or Brave on desktop (Web Serial). Firefox, Safari, and phones can't connect.

Role — what job this node does

What this sets on the radio:

Deployment — how it's installed

What this sets on the radio:

Position & privacy

GPS needs a GPS-equipped node with sky view. Fixed is best for a permanent install. Off shares no location.

Need your exact coordinates? Use freq51's GPS map picker (opens in a new tab), then paste the latitude, longitude, and altitude into the fields above.

GPS map picker courtesy of freq51 (Intermountain Mesh).

How precisely your location is shared on the primary channel — lower = fuzzier/more private, higher = more exact.

Telemetry & neighbor info

How often the radio reports its own health/environment sensors. Defaults come from the role + deployment above; adjust if you like. Seconds, 0 = off.

Device metrics = battery/voltage/uptime. Environment = temp/humidity/pressure (needs a sensor).

MQTT feeder — Intermountain Mesh (freq51) broker

An optional add-on for a base station or router: uplink this node's mesh traffic to the Intermountain Mesh (freq51) broker — the official Meshtastic network in Idaho — so it shows up on the map/site. The device needs its own internet access, and this requires MQTT credentials from the Intermountain Mesh admin.

Owner & device

The names other people see for this node on the mesh.

Sets a fixed pairing code for the radio's Bluetooth. Leave blank to keep whatever it uses now.

Channels

Tick any extra channels to add on this radio (secondary slots). Channels are not different frequencies — every channel runs on the same radio frequency and LoRa settings above. A channel is just a named group with its own encryption key: a separate encrypted conversation you can see and message on, and you only see the channels you hold the key for.

Apply to the radio

Writes everything in one transaction, verifies each step, then reboots the radio once and re-checks after it comes back. Nothing is written until you click.

Progress

    Plain-text serial CLI, except Companion (a different, binary protocol). Pick the role before connecting; it locks once connected.

    Connect

    USB serial — Chrome, Edge, or Brave on desktop only.

    Fixed Idaho mesh settings

    Same on every Idaho repeater. Edit meshcore in idaho-mesh-config.json to change.

    This repeater

    Sets the legal max TX power — the CLI itself doesn't clamp it.

    Optional — leave blank to skip:

    Lat/lon command syntax is unverified against real hardware.

    Apply to the repeater

    Sends the commands in order and reboots once (needed for the band change). Nothing is written until you click.

    Progress

      USB needs the *_companion_radio_usb firmware build. Bluetooth needs a *_companion_radio_ble build — pick whichever matches your node.

      Connect

      USB serial — Chrome, Edge, or Brave on desktop only.

      Bluetooth (BLE) — Chromium desktop or Android Chrome only. Not supported on Firefox, Safari, or iOS.

      On first connect your browser/OS shows its own Bluetooth pairing prompt. Enter PIN 123456 unless the radio's own screen shows a different code.

      Fixed Idaho mesh settings

      Same on every Idaho MeshCore device. Edit meshcore in idaho-mesh-config.json to change.

      This node

      Sets the target TX power, clamped to the device's own max.

      Channels

      #Public is always included. Tick any extra channels to also join (name-derived keys).

      Apply to the node

      Sends the commands in order, then reboots once. Nothing is written until you click.

      Progress

        Needs an ESP32 + WiFi board (nRF52 boards can't observe). Only writes config over serial — never flashes firmware.

        Connect

        USB serial — Chrome, Edge, or Brave on desktop only.

        Fixed Idaho mesh settings

        Same on every Idaho MeshCore device. Edit meshcore in idaho-mesh-config.json to change.

        WiFi

        Needs its own internet access to reach the collectors below.

        Collectors

        Each checked collector uses one MQTT slot. Boards without extra memory can run only 2 encrypted collectors at once (idahomesh is plain TCP and doesn't count). If one doesn't fit, Apply will show it as failed.

        Apply to the observer

        Writes the radio preset, WiFi, and collector slots (clearing any unchecked ones), then reboots once. Nothing is written until you click.

        Per-collector status after the post-reboot check:

        Progress

          Idaho Mesh configurator · runs locally in your browser · nothing leaves this page