Besides texting there are a number of other things you can do with those little Meshtastic devices.
There are two named modules (think configuration) that can come in quite handy.
The first is the Detection Module. It has a small menu that lets you pick a unused I/O pin on the mesh radio to monitor.
It also has weak pull up available to make a 1 wire to ground circuit. This can be sensed as open or closed with a series switch.
In my application I have a magnetic reed switch door sensor in series that will trigger an alert text that will be sent over the network all or to a specific radio.
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https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/module/detection-sensor/
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The second application came from some scrounging in my junk drawer.
I had some unused 3.3 volt Bosch BME280 temperature/barometer/humidity sensors from a weather station project.
They are very popular and available for under $5.?
Four wires including power/ground connected to the user pins on the radio is the hardware. Enabling it in the Telemetry Config menu turns it on.
Now you or anyone in your network can view the current conditions at the radio's location.
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https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/module/telemetry/
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In previous postings I've shown how you can run these Meshtastic radios remotely using solar power year around.
Put this all together and you can have a remote, self powered node that can observe it's environment.
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73
Mike N0QBH
N0QBH Mike Berg