Meshtastic SAME EAS Alerter

The Meshtastic SAME EAS Alerter is a lightweight tool designed to forward warnings, emergencies, or statements sent over the air to a local Meshtastic network. It operates without needing a WiFi connection. The setup involves connecting the hosting computer to an RTL SDR via USB and to a running Meshtastic node via serial or TCP.

Legal

This project is neither endorsed by nor supported by Meshtastic.

Meshtastic® is a registered trademark of Meshtastic LLC. Meshtastic software components are released under various licenses, see GitHub for details. No warranty is provided - use at your own risk.

💿 Installation

ATTENTION: For the newest version you must install the python CLI

Installation example for Raspbian

1. Install rtl_fm.
   follow these instructions
2. Install the Meshtastic Python CLI
   Follow these instructions
3. Install Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter

# Download the updated .deb file
wget https://github.com/RCGV1/Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter/releases/download/v<VERSION_NUMBER_HERE>/Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter_<VERSION_NUMBER_HERE>_arm64.deb

# Install the .deb package
sudo dpkg -i Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter_<VERSION_NUMBER_HERE>_arm64.deb

# Fix any dependency issues
sudo apt-get install -f

Other operating systems may have a different installation

🖋️ Usage

By default the alerter will find a connected node that is connected via serial or on local host

RTL FM input

• You must pass in the input from an rtl fm stream
• For a detailed installation guide of rtl_fm check out the Installation instructions
• Set the desired frequency to the nearest National Weather Service radio station typically in the 162.40 to 162.55 MHz range

rtl_fm -f <FREQUENCY_IN_HZ_HERE> -s 48000 -r 48000 | Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter

The frequency input is in Hz not MHz

help

Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --help

host

Currently there is a issue with the reliability of TCP, please use a serial connection if possible

• Enter the address of the TCP host to connect to, in the form of IP:PORT

Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --host <TCP_HOST_HERE>

alert channel

• Input the channel number that alerts will be sent to
• By default, (if nothing is provided) alerts will be sent to channel number 0

Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --alert-channel <CHANNEL_NUMBER_HERE>

test channel

• Input the channel number that test messages will be sent to
  • Usually test messages are transmitted weekly from the weather service station
  • These messages can help you tell if your system is working but they can be annoying as they happen often
• By default, (if nothing is provided) test messages will be ignored

Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --test-channel <CHANNEL_NUMBER_HERE>

sample rate

• Input the sampling rate of the input
• Do not modify this if you do not know what you are doing
• Default is 48000

Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --rate <SAMPLING_RATE_HERE>

Full example

• You need both a Meshtastic serial port passed as an arg and rtl fm to run this
• Alert channel and test channel are optional (see above)
• By default (if host is not provided) the alerter will find a node that is connected via serial or on local host

rtl_fm -f <FREQUENCY_IN_HZ_HERE> -s 48000 -r 48000 | Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --alert-channel <CHANNEL_NUMBER_HERE> --test-channel <CHANNEL_NUMBER_HERE>

or

rtl_fm -f <FREQUENCY_IN_HZ_HERE> -s 48000 -r 48000 | Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --host <TCP_HOST_HERE> --alert-channel <CHANNEL_NUMBER_HERE> --test-channel <CHANNEL_NUMBER_HERE>

Remember to replace the placeholder values

📓 TODO

PRs are welcome

• Canadian Location Codes and marine
• Connect to a node over TCP
• Live audio to text transcription for forwarding instructions sent after the SAME header

📇 Contact

If you need assistance deploying an alerter feel free to contact me

• Discord: RCGV_
• Email: [email protected]