Local mesh
Join your local mesh: match the protocol and settings the group publishes, shown here as the group states them.
CascadiaMesh MeshCore
Preset USA/Canada (Recommended) · The group's setup guide tells new users to pick the USA/Canada (Recommended) preset in the MeshCore app.
Source: the group’s own page
Puget Mesh MeshCore
Preset USA/Canada (Recommended) · 910.525 MHz · 62.5 kHz bandwidth · SF7 · CR5
Source: the group’s own page
VashonMesh MeshCore
channel “#vashon-maury” · Setup guide: set the MeshCore app region to US (902-928 MHz); #vashon-maury is the island's channel.
Source: the group’s own page
LoRa settings differ in bandwidth. FCC Part 15 (§15.247) sets a 500 kHz minimum bandwidth for its higher power limit; narrower settings fall under other limits. We show what each group publishes and don’t judge it. The rules in plain language.
Community mesh networks
CascadiaMesh
Community MeshCore network of mostly solar-powered repeaters across the coastal Pacific Northwest. The group says it currently covers British Columbia, Western Washington and Western Oregon.
Puget Mesh
Volunteer-led community building off-grid LoRa and ham data networks around Puget Sound. MeshCore is its main network, with AREDN for licensed operators and an older Meshtastic network kept for compatibility.
VashonMesh
Informal Vashon and Maury Island group that helps islanders get on MeshCore and links to the wider Puget Sound mesh. Publishes a step-by-step setup guide, device catalog and emergency comms notes.
Neighborhood emergency hubs
Seattle Community Emergency Hubs
Volunteer-run gathering places across Seattle where neighbors meet after a disaster to share information and help each other. The city's emergency management office supports the program; volunteers run the hubs.
VashonBePrepared NERO neighborhood groups
VashonBePrepared's Neighborhood Emergency Response Organization (NERO) program helps groups of five to fifteen households on Vashon-Maury prepare together and check on each other in storms, outages and earthquakes.
Emergency comms groups
Seattle Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
Licensed amateur radio volunteers overseen by Seattle's Office of Emergency Management. They support city operations and neighborhoods, including the Community Emergency Hubs, when normal communications fail.
Vashon Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
Emergency communications committee of the Vashon-Maury Island radio club. It trains volunteers, keeps radio caches, runs net control and relays for island response groups such as CERT, and can send email by radio.