ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — It starts with a few boxes of wires, batteries and plastic cases. With a few minutes of fiddling, two dozen Augustana students are connected to a unique network.
It's part of a workshop on Meshtastic, a type of radio device that lets people connect to each other, sharing texts, location data and weather information. Brad Isbell, a student radio advisor at the college's station, held the workshop.
"It doesn't require internet. It doesn't require a cell network. It doesn't require satellite. It just sends radio messages from radio to radio," Isbell said. "Kind of like a digital walkie-talkie."
Isbell brought 28 DIY kits for students to put together.
"You don’t need a lot of electronics experience or technical knowledge to get going," Isbell said. "You can just follow the guide and get through the steps, and get on the air and start chatting."
Once it's built, the device connects to smart phones using an app.
Some students came with their friends and plan on using the app to chat between their dorm rooms.
"It's kind of slow, but it's kind of fun. It's a fun gimmick," one student said.
But beyond that fun gimmick, Isbell said the technology can help people communicate in disaster areas, like those recovering from the Hurricane Helene floods.
"I've seen places where, people have had to climb over lot of mud to get to their neighbor's house to check on them, because they can't call on a phone because the cellular network is gonna be down for a long time," Isbell said.
He'd also like to see more people join the network beyond Augustana.
"We want people nearby to be able to send messages as well. We’re encouraging students to enable these nodes and leave them online so others can relay their messages through the network," Isbell said. "Hopefully in time we can build out a network that covers the entire Quad Cities area."
If you want to join the Meshtastic network, visit their website for tutorials and hardware guides.