Radio for Prepper.team
When the mobile network is gone, LoRa remains: small radios (Meshtastic) that relay text messages, position and SOS from device to device — no network, no server, no fees. The Prepper app connects to them via Bluetooth. You don't need to understand the whole Meshtastic universe. Here is what to buy and what to do.
Which device for what
Simple, for a child
Credit-card size, built-in GPS, battery lasts days to weeks, waterproof, one button. No display: sits quietly in the school bag and reports its position. With the Prepper app on a phone it is the child device. Without a phone: the button sends a help message.
Budget entry
The best-selling Meshtastic device: small display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. Honestly: the ESP32 chip draws power, a battery barely lasts a day. So less of a pocket device and more of a base station on a power supply — exactly how our "Home" station runs. Screw the antenna on before powering up, or the transmitter dies.
Long battery life
The nRF52 chip needs a fraction of the power: weeks on one battery instead of hours. This is the pocket device for adults that sits in the backpack and is still alive in an emergency. Heltec T114 has a colour display, RAK is modular (solar, GPS), the T1000-E see above.
Typing without a smartphone
When the phone is dead or broken, you need a device that can read and write on its own. The T-Deck has a real keyboard and display. The M1 shows messages and position on e-paper, which stays readable without power, and has canned replies at the push of a button.
Base station at home or at the fallback place
Permanent power, Wi-Fi, mounted as high as possible: attic, gable, mast. Antenna height is the single most important factor for range — more than any device. The base station fetches warnings from the Prepper server and relays them into the family channel as long as it has power. A power bank or a small solar panel bridges the blackout.
Four steps to the first message
What radio can and cannot do
Range: many kilometres with line of sight, one or two in town, less indoors. Every device relays messages — three devices in good spots cover a town. Two distant places, such as a city flat and a holiday home, remain two separate islands.
Text only: about 200 characters per message, no calls, no pictures. Position and SOS fit.
Bluetooth only while the app is open: a web app keeps the radio link as long as it is in the foreground. In an emergency: keep the app open, phone on the power bank. The radio itself always receives and delivers later.
Legal and free of charge: anyone in Europe may use 868 MHz without a licence. The devices keep to the prescribed air time by themselves.
No substitute for the emergency services: the SOS goes to the family, not to 144. In danger to life always 144 or 112 first, as long as any network is up.
What the Radio tab looks like in the app is in the handbook. Questions: office@prepper.team. We sell nothing and receive no money for any recommendation.