Meshtastic + OpenPlotter — anyone running signalk-meshtastic in production?

[SkipperDon]

LoRa and Meshtastic — what they are and why boaters should care

LoRa is a radio technology. Think of it like a very efficient walkie-talkie signal — it travels 10 to 30 kilometres
over open water on a battery the size of your thumb. It doesn't need cell towers, WiFi, or a subscription. It just
works, anywhere.

Meshtastic is free software that runs on a small LoRa radio device (about the size of a matchbox, costs around $30).
The clever part: every device is also a repeater. If your boat can't reach a vessel directly, any Meshtastic device in
between automatically relays the signal — so the network grows the more people use it.

What this means on the water:

AIS only shows you vessels that paid for and installed an AIS transponder. Kayaks, fishing boats, dinghies, anchored
boats in a fog bank — most of them are invisible. With LoRa mesh, any boat with a $30 device shows up on your chart
automatically. No subscription, no internet, no cell signal required.

You get:
- Vessel awareness — see other equipped boats on your chart the same way you see AIS targets
- Collision alerts — automatic warning when an equipped vessel is on a converging course
- Text messaging — send a message to another boat or a marina with no cell service
- Anchor watch — get notified if a nearby vessel drags toward you overnight
- It grows itself — every new device on the water makes the network stronger for everyone

The goal with WiBoat is to make all of this plug-and-play alongside OpenPlotter and d3kOS — plug in the device, and
other equipped vessels appear on your chart automatically.