Community Mesh Networking Workshop (LoRa + BLE)

### 📡 Local Mesh Radio for Staunton: An Intro to Mesh Networks

What happens when cell service goes down, the internet is unreliable, or we simply want a more resilient way to communicate locally?
Join us for a hands-on introduction to Mesh Networks, a low-power, long-range radio communication system that allows people to send messages directly to one another: no cell towers, no internet, no central authority required.
A local friend and practitioner will walk us through:

• what mesh radio is and how it works (in plain English)
• what Mesh devices can and can’t do
• real-world uses: emergencies, power outages, events, and community coordination
• what it might look like to build a local mesh network in Staunton

You do not need a technical background to attend. This session is about understanding the possibilities: not selling gear or requiring commitment. Curious neighbors, preparedness-minded folks, radio nerds, and freedom-tech dabblers are all welcome.
If you already own Mesh-compatible hardware, feel free to bring it. If not, just bring your curiosity. If you're interested in purchasing a radio please reach out to Kip to signup; there will also be limited ability to purchase at this event as well.
Our goal is simple: explore whether local, neighbor-to-neighbor communication could be a useful piece of community resilience here in Staunton.

Update: We will be using MeshCore firmware for this session, not Meshtastic. The hardware and instructor remain the same. MeshCore allows improved BLE-to-LoRa bridging capability, which better supports our local communications goals. This will allow communication with apps like BitChat, extending our communication network!