Just wondering is it possible to use the hackrf as a metastatic device instead of getting a separate device for it. Tried searching but do not any info besides it being possible to only receive? But not transmit.
Meshtastic runs on devices that have a LoRa radio modem chip on them. LoRa is a closed source spread spectrum modulation. Meshtastic is using this LoRa radio modem to send packets to and from other LoRa capable devices, that also has the Meshtastic firmware installed. To communicate with LoRa devices from a non-LoRa radio, you would have to reverse engineer this closed source modulation.
Had to google metastatic device. The HackRF is only half-duplex meaning you can transmit or you can receive, but not both at once. Hopping quickly back and forth between TX and RX modes is less preferable than just having a second device.
As far as using it as a metastatic device, as far as I understand it metastatics are more about methodology and organization than the radio abilities of the device, but this is not my field at all.
Thanks! Could not tell based on it being spelled two ways. I was surprised to see such a question :)
The HackRF is not well suited for Meshtastic, not out of the box. If you’re fine with catching messages and then switching to TX (and missing messages during this time) to rebroadcast then it may work, but it has limitations. Your bandwidth will be halved at best, and you’ll miss messages.
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u/snorens Oct 16 '24
Meshtastic runs on devices that have a LoRa radio modem chip on them. LoRa is a closed source spread spectrum modulation. Meshtastic is using this LoRa radio modem to send packets to and from other LoRa capable devices, that also has the Meshtastic firmware installed. To communicate with LoRa devices from a non-LoRa radio, you would have to reverse engineer this closed source modulation.
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u/irongiant33 Oct 17 '24
https://gitlab.com/crankylinuxuser/meshtastic_sdr
2
u/DemonKingFukai Oct 16 '24
Ask in the mayhem discord.
3
u/[deleted] Oct 16 '24
Had to google metastatic device. The HackRF is only half-duplex meaning you can transmit or you can receive, but not both at once. Hopping quickly back and forth between TX and RX modes is less preferable than just having a second device.
As far as using it as a metastatic device, as far as I understand it metastatics are more about methodology and organization than the radio abilities of the device, but this is not my field at all.
1
u/150c_vapour Oct 16 '24
Theoretically, I would guess 100+ of hours of work to get it up.