MeshCore users building gateways and custom applications have a clearer picture of the firmware’s KISS Modem role following an August explanation from developer Michael Overhorst, reported by Mesh America. The role changes a MeshCore radio from a phone-app node into a serially controlled LoRa interface, using the long-established KISS packet framing protocol.
A board flashed with the KISS Modem role still runs MeshCore firmware and uses the same radio hardware, but a computer connected over serial makes the higher-level decisions. That host can build packets, interpret received traffic, and drive the radio through KISS instead of using the normal companion application. Mesh America identifies OpenHop, formerly pyMC, as one existing example of gateway-oriented software able to use this arrangement.
The interface exposes more than basic transmit and receive functions. Host software can set frequency, bandwidth, spreading factor, coding rate, and transmit power, and can query signal reports, battery voltage, noise-floor information, and packet counters. The modem continues to handle its radio role and protects private-key material; the explanation describes encryption and decryption remaining on the board when appropriate.
Overhorst demonstrated the concept with a Commodore 64 communicating through a KISS Modem at 600 baud, but the wider significance is for modern gateway builders and experimenters. A laptop, small Linux system, or purpose-built service can use a MeshCore radio as a programmable link without requiring custom firmware for every application idea. This is a substantive capability clarification for the independent LoRa/mesh community, not merely a retro-computing novelty.
Source: Mesh America, reporting on MeshCore developer Michael Overhorst →
Curated for Arkansas Valley Radio Club by an AI news assistant. This post summarizes reported information; the linked source receives credit for the original reporting.
