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Meck v1.6 — Voice Notes Over LoRa, Remote Repeater, Contact Management

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@pelgraine pelgraine released this 30 Mar 17:08
· 147 commits to main since this release
v1.6
60ec294

An update for the T-Deck Pro and T5S3 E-Paper Pro. This release adds voice note recording and playback over LoRa between Meck audio devices (or to any mesh device via the Meck-Mycelium web app), a new remote repeater firmware for managing a MeshCore repeater from anywhere in the world over cellular MQTT, and refined contact export with per-contact selection. Ten firmware variants across both platforms.

📄 Meck_README_v1.6.pdf is included in this release — it covers all keyboard controls, touch gestures, screen navigation, settings, and feature documentation for both platforms, provided in PDF form for convenience.

⚠️ First-Time Flashing — Read This First

Each firmware is provided in two formats:

  • filename.bin — the application firmware only. Use this for updating an existing Meck install (including OTA updates from your phone).
  • filename-merged.bin — includes the bootloader, partition table, and application firmware in a single image. Use this if you are flashing Meck for the first time, coming from a different firmware, or if your device is not booting correctly after an update.

If in doubt, use the -merged.bin file. It will always work regardless of what was previously on the device.

Flashing with the MeshCore Web Flasher (recommended)

  1. Go to https://flasher.meshcore.co.uk/
  2. Select Custom Firmware
  3. Load the .bin or -merged.bin file and click Flash
  4. Select your device in the popup and click Connect

Flashing with esptool.py

esptool.py --port /dev/ttyACM0 --baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware-merged.bin

What's New Since v1.5

🎙️ Voice Notes Over LoRa (T-Deck Pro Audio Variant)

Record and send voice messages of up to 12 seconds over LoRa — no internet, no cellular, just the mesh. Audio is encoded on-device using Codec2 at 1200 bps, which compresses each second of speech into a single 150-byte LoRa packet. This means voice notes use very little airtime relative to what they deliver — a 5-second message is just 5 packets, and a full 12-second recording is 12 packets.

Voice notes can be sent to:

  • Another T-Deck Pro Audio device — the message is decoded and plays automatically through the headphone jack on receipt. Headphones are recommended as the built-in speaker is very quiet.
  • Any MeshCore companion device — connect via BLE to the Meck-Mycelium web app in a Chrome browser on your phone. Voice messages appear as tappable playback bubbles in the DM view and play through your phone's speaker.

Voice notes are sent as direct messages using a pre-set path (direct or multi-hop). The packets are sent with staggered 3-second delays between each one to avoid congesting the channel, so delivery time depends on recording length and your radio preset. For example, on a 62.5 kHz / SF7 preset (e.g. Australia Narrow), a 5-second voice note takes roughly 20 seconds to arrive, and a 12-second recording takes about 42 seconds.

How to send a voice note:

  1. Set a path for your contact first. Go to Contacts (press C from the home screen), scroll to your contact, and press P to open the Path Editor. Press Enter to select 1-byte or 2-byte path encoding, then use S to scroll down and either add repeater hops or set the contact as direct (zero hops). Scroll to Save & Exit and press Enter.

  2. Record your message. Press the Microphone key (the zero key on the T-Deck Pro keyboard) to open the Voice Messages screen. Press and hold the Microphone key to start recording. Release the key to stop. You can record up to 12 seconds.

  3. Choose a recipient and send. Press S to open the contact picker. Contacts with a direct (zero-hop) path appear at the top of the list for convenience. Tap or scroll to highlight your contact, then press Enter to send. A "Voice sent!" confirmation will appear once all packets have been dispatched.

Note: Voice recording and sending requires the Audio variant of the T-Deck Pro (PCM5102A DAC hardware). 4G and standalone variants cannot record or send voice notes, but any device connected to Meck-Mycelium can receive and play them.

📡 Remote Repeater (T-Deck Pro 4G Variant — New Firmware)

A brand-new firmware variant that turns a T-Deck Pro 4G into a self-contained MeshCore repeater with remote management over the internet. Insert an active SIM card with a data plan, configure your MQTT broker credentials, and you can log in and manage the repeater from anywhere in the world via the Meck-Mycelium remote dashboard.

The device connects to a free HiveMQ Cloud MQTT broker over cellular, publishing status updates (uptime, battery, signal strength, temperature, neighbour count) and subscribing to commands. The web dashboard lets you view live telemetry, sync the repeater's clock, trigger adverts, reboot the device, and more — all from a browser, no matter where the repeater is physically located.

This is ideal for deploying repeaters in remote or hard-to-reach locations where you can't physically visit to administer them, but where cellular coverage exists.

Setup requires:

  • A T-Deck Pro with 4G modem (A7682E) and an active SIM card with a data plan
  • A free MQTT broker account (HiveMQ Cloud recommended — see the README for full setup instructions)
  • MQTT credentials configured in a mqtt.cfg file on the SD card

Flash the meck_remote_repeater firmware and the device will boot as a MeshCore repeater, connect to the cellular network, and begin publishing status to your MQTT broker. Open the Meck-Mycelium remote dashboard in any browser to connect and manage it.

Note: Full setup instructions including how to create a free HiveMQ Cloud account and configure the SD card are in the README — Remote Repeater section.

📇 Contact Management — Select, Export, Import & Bulk Operations (T-Deck Pro & T5S3)

The contacts screen now supports a select mode for fine-grained contact management. Instead of exporting your entire contact list every time, you can select individual contacts (or groups of them) and export only what you need.

Select mode (T-Deck Pro): Long-press Enter on the Contacts screen to enter select mode. Use W / S to scroll and press Enter to toggle selection on individual contacts. Selected contacts are highlighted with a filled marker.

Select mode (T5S3): Long-press the screen on the Contacts screen to enter select mode. Tap individual contacts to toggle their selection.

Once in select mode:

Action T-Deck Pro T5S3
Toggle selection Enter Tap
Export selected X —
Delete selected Shift+Del (double-confirm) —
Toggle favourite F —
Exit select mode Q Boot button

Exporting contacts: Press X to export. If contacts are selected, only those contacts are exported. If no contacts are selected (i.e. you press X outside of select mode), all contacts are exported as before. Contacts are saved as a JSON file to /meshcore/meshcore_contacts.json on the SD card, with a timestamp in the filename. The JSON format is compatible with MeshCore companion apps, so you can copy the file from your SD card and import it into the Android, iOS, or web companion app.

Importing contacts: Press R on the Contacts screen (outside select mode) to import. The importer automatically finds the most recent export file by timestamp. Import is a non-destructive merge — new contacts are added without removing any existing ones. After import, the contacts list refreshes automatically.

Viewing and transferring exports: You can browse and download your exported JSON files using the OTA Tools → SD File Manager (connect to the device's WiFi AP and open the browser-based file manager), or remove the SD card and copy the files directly to your computer or phone for use with a MeshCore companion app.

🐛 Bug Fixes & Improvements

  • Minor stability improvements across all variants

T-Deck Pro Firmware Variants

Six companion firmware environment options and one repeater option for the LilyGo T-Deck Pro:

v1.6-Meck-4G-BLE.bin
For T-Deck Pro 4G boards. Full-featured build — messaging, contacts, direct messages, repeater admin, e-book reader, notes, emoji, GPS, map viewer, BLE companion app support, SMS & Phone app, IRC client, web browser, and OTA firmware update. Up to 500 contacts and 20 channels.

Note: BLE is toggled off at boot to save battery. Navigate to the Bluetooth home page and press Enter to enable it when you want to connect to the app.

v1.6W-Meck-4G-WiFi.bin
For T-Deck Pro 4G boards. Same as the 4G-BLE build but with WiFi replacing BLE as the companion transport — connect via the MeshCore web app, iOS/Android app, meshcore.js, or Python CLI over your local network (TCP port 5000). No BLE companion app support. Up to 1,500 contacts and 20 channels.

v1.6-4G.SA-Meck-standalone-firmware (A7682E (4G) version).bin
For T-Deck Pro 4G boards. No BLE or WiFi companion — maximum battery life. The web browser, IRC client, map viewer, and OTA firmware update are all still available (they use WiFi independently, not as a companion transport). Up to 1,500 contacts and 20 channels.

v1.6A-Meck-Audio-BLE (PCM5102A Audio only).bin
Everything in the 4G-BLE build plus the audiobook player, alarm clock, sleep timer, auto-queuing, and voice notes over LoRa — minus the 4G modem features. BLE companion support included. Up to 500 contacts and 20 channels.

⚠️ PCM5102A audio hardware only. The I2S audio pins (GPIO 7, 8, 9) conflict with the A7682E modem control lines — do not flash on 4G boards.

Note: BLE is toggled off at boot to save battery. Navigate to the Bluetooth home page and press Enter to enable it when you want to connect to the app.

v1.6AW-Meck-Audio-WiFi (PCM5102A Audio only).bin
Same as the Audio-BLE build but with WiFi replacing BLE as the companion transport. Includes voice notes over LoRa. No BLE companion app support. Up to 1,500 contacts and 20 channels.

⚠️ PCM5102A audio hardware only — same GPIO conflict applies. Do not flash on 4G boards.

v1.6A-SA-Meck-standalone-firmware (PCM5102A Audio only).bin
Same as the Audio-BLE build but with Bluetooth and WiFi completely removed at compile time. Includes voice notes over LoRa. The radio hardware is never initialised, giving a significant battery life improvement. The web browser, IRC client, and map viewer are not available on this variant. Up to 1,500 contacts and 20 channels.

⚠️ PCM5102A audio hardware only — do not flash on 4G boards.

v1.6-Meck-Remote-Repeater (A7682E (4G) version).bin (NEW)

For T-Deck Pro 4G boards. Dedicated MeshCore repeater firmware with cellular MQTT remote management. Requires an active SIM card with a data plan and MQTT broker credentials on the SD card. Manage the repeater from anywhere via the Meck-Mycelium remote dashboard. See the README — Remote Repeater section for setup instructions.

T5S3 E-Paper Pro Firmware Variants

Three firmware variants for the LilyGo T5S3 E-Paper Pro (V2, H752-B):

v1.6-Meck-T5S3Pro-BLE_NOGPS.bin
BLE companion build. Connect to MeshCore companion apps via BLE. Touch-driven UI with virtual keyboard. Up to 500 contacts and 20 channels.

Note: BLE is toggled off at boot. Navigate to the Bluetooth home page and long-press the screen to enable it.

v1.6-Meck-T5S3Pro-WiFi_NOGPS.bin
WiFi companion build. Connect via MeshCore web app, meshcore.js, or Python CLI over local network (TCP port 5000). Includes the web browser, IRC client, and OTA firmware update. Up to 1,500 contacts and 20 channels.

v1.6-Meck-T5S3Pro-Standalone_NOWIFI_NOBLE_NOGPS.bin
No BLE or WiFi — maximum battery life. Touch-driven standalone operation with full messaging, contacts, reader, and notes. Up to 1,500 contacts and 20 channels.

All T5S3 variants include CardKB support (auto-detected via QWIIC).

Meck-Mycelium Web App

The Meck-Mycelium web app is a browser-based companion that connects to your MeshCore device via BLE (using WebBLE in Chrome). In v1.6 it supports:

  • Voice message playback — voice notes sent from a Meck Audio device appear as tappable playback bubbles in the DM view. Codec2 decoding happens entirely in the browser via WebAssembly.
  • Remote repeater dashboard — connect to your MQTT broker to view live telemetry from remote repeater devices, send commands, sync clocks, and more.

Open https://pelgraine.github.io/Meck-Mycelium in Chrome on your phone or computer.

MeshCore Companion Apps

BLE variants connect to the standard MeshCore companion apps:

WiFi variants connect via TCP on port 5000:

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