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__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 -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

### 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

### 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

### 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

### 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 -s 48000 -r 48000 | Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --alert-channel --test-channel

or

rtl_fm -f -s 48000 -r 48000 | Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter --host --alert-channel --test-channel

> Remember to replace the placeholder values

# 📓 TODO
PRs are welcome
- [ ] Canadian Location Codes and marine
- [x] 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: Benjaminfaer@gmail.com