Blog - myembeddedstuff.com

How to Build a Voice Shopping List in Home Assistant (reTerminal D1001)

One of the things I always wanted since setting up my own Home Assistant server was a shopping list where I could easily add items by voice, edit them, and have it synced with my smartphone so I could check it from the supermarket. And all of this without depending on Alexa.In this post I'll explain how I built my own using a reTerminal D1001. Why I stopped using Alexa for the shopping list When I tried adding Alexa to Home Assistant, I always ran into problems. Ever since they cut part of its integration with Home Assistant, you have to rely on several skills to get it working, and it never quite worked well for me. I tried the AnyList skill, but…

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September 7, 2026

ShortTutorial

Best way to format SD Card after used with Raspberry Pi (Windows or Mac)

The other day I had to take an SD card that I had in a Raspberry Pi I wasn't using, in order to use it in another device. But when I connected it to the computer, I saw that Windows was only listing a boot partition whose size was not much smaller than what the SD card indicated.Stick around, because in this post I'll explain the best way to format an SD card and why this happened. Why does this happen? When Raspberry Pi OS is flashed onto a SD card, it creates multiple partitions on it. Typically a small boot partition (FAT32) and a much larger root filesystem partition (ext4). The problem is that Windows can only read FAT-based partitions, so when…

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August 30, 2026

Meshtastic build off 2026

Meshtastic Build-Off 2026 – Meshtastic firmware implementation

This post belongs to the series of posts about the Meshtastic BuildOff 2026. The previous posts are:https://myembeddedstuff.com/meshtastic-build-off-2026-retromeshdevicehttps://myembeddedstuff.com/meshtastic-build-off-2026-pcb-assemblyhttps://myembeddedstuff.com/meshtastic-build-off-2026-hardware-bring-upThe final remaining step for my device was to compile the Meshtastic firmware for my board.Official repo: https://github.com/myembeddedstuff/RetroMeshDevice Meshtastic implementation Before starting with the integration of my device into the Meshtastic firmware, it is worth taking a moment to understand how it is structured. In case there were any doubts, it is important to highlight that this is an open-source project fully written with all the Mesh communication protocol logic already implemented, along with many functional modules. Therefore, our main job is simply to define our hardware guidelines and pinout connections.Additionally, if a specific module is not available, it must be implemented following Meshtastic's framework to maintain…

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July 24, 2026

Meshtastic build off 2026

Meshtastic Build-Off 2026: Hardware Bring-up and Initial Validation

This post belongs to the series of posts about the Meshtastic Build Off 2026. The previous posts are:https://myembeddedstuff.com/meshtastic-build-off-2026-retromeshdevicehttps://myembeddedstuff.com/meshtastic-build-off-2026-pcb-assemblyOnce I had the PCB assembled, the next step was to verify that everything was actually working as expected.At this stage, I did not want to jump straight into the Meshtastic integration. Even though that was the ultimate goal of the project, it seemed more intelligent to validate the hardware in isolation first. When you are booting a board for the first time, separating hardware and firmware issues usually saves a lot of headaches.I am going to split this post into two sections. First, why I consider it necessary to create a simple firmware to validate the board and how to do it. Second, an analysis…

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July 15, 2026

Meshtastic build off 2026

Meshtastic Build-Off 2026: PCB Assembly

This post belongs to the series of posts about the Meshtastic Build Off 2026. The previous posts are:https://myembeddedstuff.com/meshtastic-build-off-2026-retromeshdeviceNote: If you like this content and project, please consider giving a like to the following GitHub issue where I discuss my latest progress. I am currently participating in the BuildOff, and your support would mean a lot! https://github.com/Seeed-Projects/meshtastic-build-off-2026/issues/10As a continuation of the project, I have already received the first version of my design. Since I did not order the boards preassembled, the next step was to assemble them myself. In this post, I want to explain what the board assembly process was like and the final result. Additionally, I will discuss some aspects that I have identified for improvement in future versions.First, I will explain…

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July 9, 2026

Meshtastic build off 2026

Meshtastic Build-Off 2026: Designing the RetroMeshDevice PCB

As I announced to my newsletter subscribers, I knew I was going to be busier than usual participating in the Meshtastic Build-Off 2026 competition. Rather than leaving the blog without new posts in the meantime, and because I think this can be a genuinely interesting series, I decided to write about parts of this process so you can follow along with the development of a device from PCB to firmware integration. Though in this case, the firmware side will be a bit different from the usual, since the goal is to get my new hardware running with Meshtastic's existing firmware.The device I'm building is called the RetroMeshDevice. The idea was to build a companion node that is as minimal as possible and doesn't…

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June 8, 2026

Tools

How to evaluate antennas for Meshtastic / MeshCore using a NanoVNA

Not all antennas that come with Meshtastic and MeshCore kits are equal, even if they look the same. While testing these networks, I've come across a wide variety of antennas — many of them bundled with different kits I've picked up along the way. It's true that in field tests, some of them allow you to reach further and get better performance with the same hardware, but you never really know exactly why.That got me wondering whether I could characterize them using some kind of equipment, rather than relying on field tests and trial and error. After some research, I came across a tool born from the maker world that lets us measure LoRa antennas at 868 MHz easily and without the need…

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June 4, 2026

Meshcore

Deploying a Meshcore repeater. How to perform OTA updates on NRF devices.

Introduction Deploying a reliable repeater node in a Meshcore network involves many aspects that need to be considered. What chip are we going to use and what consumption does it have, what type of batteries will power the equipment, how much will we size the solar panels that will charge the equipment, what will be the lifetime of the equipment. All these aspects are basic and very important, since a repeater should be located in the highest possible area to maximize its connectivity with other nodes and very likely it will have somewhat limited access. For example, if we deploy it on a roof, we won't be climbing up every other day to fix problems. Apart from these problems I mentioned, there is…

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May 17, 2026

Zephyr

How to Flash Zephyr RTOS on Windows: XIAO Boards Guide

There is a growing interest in Zephyr RTOS within the embedded community. Unlike Arduino or ESP-IDF, Zephyr gives you a real hardware abstraction layer that lets you write firmware once and compile it for completely different microcontrollers without changing a single line of application code. Think of it as bringing Linux-style portability to the embedded world. That's exactly what I wanted to put to the test. I have four Seeed Studio XIAO modules on my bench: the nRF52840, nRF54L15, ESP32-S3, and ESP32-C6 and while they all share the same tiny 21×17.8 mm footprint and pinout, their cores are completely different. My goal is to benchmark their real-world power consumption and execution times using a single Zephyr firmware that compiles for all of them,…

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May 7, 2026

Meshcore

How to flash Meshcore firmware

In this guide, I will explain how to flash Meshcore firmware onto any device. One thing that people might not know is that most of the devices that are sold with Meshthastic firmware, can be flashed with Meshcore firmware by following these steps.For this guide, I will be using the Seeed Wio Tracker L1 Pro module from SeeedStudio with the preloaded Meshtastic firmware, which is the model I have on hand. This is one of the devices that I was talking about in the previous paragraph. I bought it with Meshtastic firmware, but It supports firmware for both Meshcore and Meshtastic networks.Link to buy: Wio Tracker L1 Pro - Meshtastic [Aliexpress]Link to buy: Wio Tracker L1 Pro - Meshcore [Aliexpress]Link to buy: Wio…

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April 29, 2026