Inland NW Mesh

MeshCore Channels

The channels we use in the Inland Northwest. Scan the QR with your phone, or tap Add if you are reading this on the device running your MeshCore client. Either way the channel is added for you — there is no key to type in.

Channel names are case-sensitive and exact. A hashtag channel's key is derived from its name, so #inw and #INW are two different channels that cannot hear each other. Use the links below rather than typing names by hand, and you will always land in the right place.

General

Everyday channels for the Inland Northwest mesh.

Public

Default MeshCore channel — every client has it out of the box

8b3387e9c5cdea6ac9e5edbaa115cd72

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#coffee

Casual chat

82cd4bd9e7dda8cae0854281246cc64f

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#ham

Amateur radio discussion

5270db3979da687fa133fec6684cd952

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#inw

Inland NW Mesh — general

89621d49fe7470fcba210433a6faed1c

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#geg-pub

Inland NW public channel

828db403ad9395feb3fd5078e6c181ef

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#geg-test

Testing — expect noise, do not rely on it

eb1ab839c93ac1325966e404e5660eb8

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#geg-bot

Automated / bot traffic

8e07e7d96d330e3c9040867c162a4810

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#geg-ping

Link checks and reachability tests

8ed5488f2c7ed57f693cedd328b2ce1b

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#geg-weather

Weather chatter

5c2931de5a67997e12a6eb91c2af9133

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County Alert Channels

One channel per county, for emergency traffic only. Join the ones you are in or near. Keeping them quiet is what makes them useful.

#emergency-spokane

Spokane County, WA

20f42dcede5a2a4966bc7ee6b1311b2c

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#emergency-kootenai

Kootenai County, ID

ace38954b5ebc2899ea1ddc677bfe390

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#emergency-bonner

Bonner County, ID

f494a3d1d8106ab8d7b3a2e83c8ae1f1

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#emergency-pendoreille

Pend Oreille County, WA

596491358e7184f25305f8a533811e6a

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#emergency-stevens

Stevens County, WA

4bb01793b4b03a13c5ba502e9d1aae81

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#emergency-shoshone

Shoshone County, ID

8dcea6b57986ae250dfdd0a3a1e3935a

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#emergency-benewah

Benewah County, ID

146f6be8eb6f695d43dd4a243342137b

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#emergency-boundary

Boundary County, ID

aae5c8efc362ea448cfcb65ab52dc280

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#emergency-ferry

Ferry County, WA

4a2a19996627bf1345c310863553f9be

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#emergency-lincoln

Lincoln County, WA

baf21b821a1232aedc021ce69d66a94c

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Why the #geg- prefix? A hashtag channel's key comes from its name alone, so a channel name is global — every node running MeshCore anywhere that uses #weather is on the same channel we would be. We tried the plain names and abandoned them: #weather, #test, #bot and #ping filled with traffic from other parts of the mesh, which crowds out local conversation and wastes airtime relaying messages nobody here is part of.

Use #geg-weather, #geg-test, #geg-bot and #geg-ping instead. The prefix is not magic — it is simply a name unlikely to be picked elsewhere, which is all it takes to keep a channel local.

What is GEG? It is the airport code for Spokane International, and we use it as the short name for the Spokane-area region — the same way puw stands in for the Pullman / Moscow area. Regions are how repeaters decide which traffic to carry, and the Spokane one currently covers a few hundred of them. You can see the map, find your repeater and get its configuration on the Region Builder page.

Worth being clear that these are two separate systems that happen to share a vocabulary: a repeater's region governs which traffic it relays, while a channel is just a name people agree on for conversation. Borrowing geg for both keeps the naming consistent — it does not mean the channel is restricted to that area. Anyone can join it; the name simply makes it unlikely that someone far away picks the same one by accident.

Channels are joined, not owned — anyone who knows a name can join, and the key is derived from the name itself, so nothing here is secret. Treat every channel as public.

Public is the MeshCore default and uses a fixed well-known key; the rest derive theirs from the channel name.