Vintage Macintosh.On the mesh.
MacMesh is a hardware and software system that allows your vintage Macintosh to connect to Meshtastic or MeshCore radio networks.
Coming soon.
First public showing at VCFMW 21, at the ComputerClan table.
About MacMesh
MacMesh is two things that plug into each other: an application that runs on a vintage Macintosh, and a small radio unit that hangs off its modem port. Together they put the Mac on a LoRa mesh, a low-power radio network that carries short text messages between people with no internet and no cell towers anywhere in the path.
What you need
A vintage Macintosh with an available modem port and at least 2MB of RAM, running System 6 or System 7. Somewhere to plug in a USB-C cable. That is the whole list. Nothing goes inside the machine, nothing is soldered, and unplugging the unit puts everything back exactly as it was.
| Name | Kind |
|---|---|
| The radioTuned and tested, in a printed enclosure with the antenna fitted. | Assembled |
| MacMeshA real floppy, with the Meshtastic and MeshCore applications on it. Drag them across and double-click. Runs on System 6 and System 7. | Floppy disk |
| PowerAny phone charger will do. Your Macintosh supplies nothing but the words. | USB-C |
Unit 001. Printed, assembled and tested by hand.
Three connections and you are on.
Plug it into the serial port
The round port your Mac already has on the back, the one that used to take a modem or a printer.
Give it power
One USB-C cable to any charger or battery pack. The unit runs entirely on its own.
Open MacMesh and type
Whatever you send goes out over the air. Whatever comes back appears in the window.
LoRa trades speed for distance. A short message carries for miles across open ground, and a good deal further from a node with some height on it.
Every node repeats what it hears, so your message reaches well past your own radio. Coverage grows as people put up more nodes.
Meshtastic and MeshCore both encrypt channel traffic. Anyone scanning the band hears noise.
Meshtastic has the most people on it. MeshCore is newer and leaner. The unit runs either one, and there is a separate application for each.
Making its debut at VCFMW 21.
MacMesh will be running at the ComputerClan table. Come and send a message from a vintage Macintosh.