🙋 Get Involved

VashonMesh is deliberately informal — no dues, no officers, no signup form. The easiest way in is to just show up somewhere. Here's everywhere "somewhere" can mean.

📻 On the Mesh Itself

The most direct way to join is to actually join. If you have a Companion radio (or want one — see the Get Started guide), add a public channel named #vashon-maury in the MeshCore app. No invite code needed. You'll see messages from active islanders whenever you're in range. This is our home base on the mesh.

💬 Discord

Discord is where most real-time conversation happens. Hop into any of these servers depending on what you're after:

  • PugetMesh Discord ↗ — Regional home. The #vashon-mesh channel is island-specific; other channels cover hardware, repeaters, and software.
  • Vashon Island Discord ↗ — The island's general server. Look for #vashon and #vashon-maury to connect mesh activity to the broader island community.
  • MeshCore Discord ↗ — For deep technical dives. The #dev-mc channel is where firmware and protocol discussions happen upstream with the MeshCore developers.
  • EmComm Discord ↗ — Active emergency communications channel. Good for EmComm questions and connecting with the broader PNW preparedness community.

A word of caution about Discord — see the sidebar. It's great for quick chat but architectural decisions made there tend to vanish into the scroll. For durable discussions, use GitHub instead.

💬 GitHub Discussions

For anything architectural — "why did we choose this antenna?", "what tradeoffs did we evaluate for repeater placement?" — use GitHub Discussions ↗. Threads stay searchable for months, can be linked from anywhere, and don't require a rolling invite link. No programming knowledge needed to participate.

📧 Email

Prefer email? The Vashon-Maury Island Radio Club's Groups.io server is low-volume, searchable, and doesn't require joining Discord at all.

  • groups.io/g/W7VMI ↗ — Post questions, announce projects, share photos. Anyone can join — no ham license or fees required.

📡 The Radio Club

VashonMesh is an informal offshoot of W7VMI, Vashon's Amateur Radio Club, through their Auxiliary Communications (ACS) team. You don't need a ham license to join MeshCore activities — LoRa uses unlicensed ISM radio bands. But the club is a great community and their resources (meeting space, Elmer mentoring, equipment advice) are genuinely useful.

🗓️ Meetings

Meetings have been roughly quarterly, announced through Discord and the W7VMI email list. They use an open-agenda format — attendees post questions on a board and the group self-organizes around them. Our first two drew 15–22 islanders with surprising diversity. The third meeting is TBD. Watch the news feed for announcements.

Want to help spread the word? Download our promotional banners to share on social media, in newsletters, or at community events.