If you’ve been curious about LoRa mesh on the Island, Ridgeline is the place to start. It’s a live observatory for the MeshCore mesh across coastal BC, run independently by the community.
What It Is
Ridgeline maps the nodes and repeaters on the network, streams a live packet feed, and charts coverage and link health. Its data comes from listen-only “observer” stations that report what they hear.
The mesh centres on the Salish Sea: Greater Victoria, up the Island through the Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo, and across to Metro Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. The footprint grows as people add more repeaters.
Radio Settings
Use the MeshCore North America preset with the frequency changed. All four settings have to match or you won’t hear the mesh:
- Frequency: 909.000 MHz
- Bandwidth: 62.5 kHz
- Spreading factor: SF7
- Coding rate: CR5
Heads up: the network moved from 910.425 MHz on October 1, 2026, so older guides may show the old frequency.
Getting On
Flash a compatible radio with MeshCore, set the four parameters above, and it’ll start hearing neighbours and relaying traffic. Then check the live map and packet feed on Ridgeline to confirm your node shows up.
I’m currently running an Elecrow M9 and a RAK WisMesh Tag. You can find me on the “Public” channel on the mesh!
My Observer: PMD – Station G3
I also host an observer for Ridgeline. It’s a Station G3 with OpenHop Repeater firmware, linked into Ridgeline so it uploads what it hears to the network and shows my local statistics.
You can see it on Ridgeline here: PMD – Station G3.
Leave a Reply