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Red River Valley Amateur Radio Club

Amateur Radio in and around the Red River Valley Area of Northeast Texas

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Home » Digital Knowledge » Meshtastic for EmComm on VHF/UHF – Off-Grid Texting Mesh Networks » Reply To: Meshtastic for EmComm on VHF/UHF – Off-Grid Texting Mesh Networks

Reply To: Meshtastic for EmComm on VHF/UHF – Off-Grid Texting Mesh Networks

May 31, 2026 at 3:03 pm #48662
Phillip BeallPhillip Beall
Keymaster

    All,

    Matthew Murphy (KF5NRU) and I are running some parallel processes on the ThinkNode M6.  He is on Android and I am on iOS.  The apps look completely different from each other, so we are having to be careful to read each others notes carefully.  He just took off from the house, but shot me some comments that he wanted me to post up on this thread to give you something more to chew on.

    He specifically wanted me to let the group know that he has an active and operating node at 30 feet elevation on his tower in Reno.  He encourages that if anyone has one of these devices they can try to connect.  His node should show up as “big mind m6“.

    His first 72 hours of airtime for his 30 foot beta test is showing promising results.  It just sits there and charges and stays connected and outruns it’s battery draw using the built in solar panel.  And he has been torture testing it, constantly hammering it with messages just to give it some airtime and try to simulate real world EMCOMM traffic.  Real world range as measured by GPS is 3 to as much as 5 miles.  He is testing from various distances and looking at terrain and topography and measuring his real world range results while holding the handheld unit chest high.

    If anyone has any questions please text or email either of us.

    73

    Phillip Beall (W5EBC)

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    Who We Are

    Red River Valley Amateur Radio Club (RRVARC) is a licensed FCC radio operator (WB5RDD) and an affiliate of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) – The National Association for Amateur Radio®.

    Club members – hams – are persons interested in amateur radio operations and public service. The Club and its members participate in public service events such as the Tour de Paris, Field Day and educational activities, as well as during emergency preparedness activations.

    Non-Profit Organization

    The RRVARC is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.

    Where We Meet

    The Red River Valley Amateur Radio Club meets at Paris Municipal Court (2910 Clarksville St, Paris, TX 75460) usually on the 4th Saturday of each month.

    Note: Special events like Field Day and some November and December meetings are excepted.  Check the events calendar for special location, dates and time.

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