This update is waaay overdue. There have been so many developments going on in the MeshCore world, and it's been hectic to say the least. So, here are some of the things that have been developing.
LetsMesh Packet Analyzer
The LetsMesh site is the work of Michael Hart, alias @Blink in the forums. I've only recently managed to get the time to explore this, and am really blown away. Incredible work. Such a clean UI too. What is also quite stunning is actually seeing the live growth of MeshCore, and see packet activity in real time.
If you are curious about the physical packet structures, you can click on a packet in the list, and the right-side panel has a beautiful break-down of the packet into its component parts.
The packet data is collected by observer nodes (can be either repeater or companion nodes) which are connected to the Internet typically via a Raspberry Pi or similar, running an open source Python service which posts the observed packets to an MQTT broker. All of these components are dutifully documented on the site.
This site is really crucial to rapidly growing areas like the Pacific North-West, to diagnose a wide range issues, detect outages, and monitor overall statistics. Truly invaluable if you're experimenting with different tuning config, like txdelay.
MeshCore SAR
MeshCore SAR is an alternative mobile app developed by @Niteo specialised for Search And Rescue.
This is used in conjunction with specialised companion radio devices which he has based on the WIO Tracker L1 (EInk), with a UI tailored to SAR, and can also enable packet forwarding (via a pref in the app). Normally, client/companion devices don't forward packets, but in this 'off-grid' context, typically out in the wilds, away from the public mesh, having all nodes forward packets can be crucial.
pyMC
pyMC, developed by @Rightup, is a Python implementation of the MeshCore core C++ library. This makes for a pure-Python building block for any MeshCore node you wish to develop that breaks away from the MCU/Arduino world, and into things like SBC's and more powerful computing environments.
On top of this, he has also developed pyMC_Repeater, which is also a complete re-implementation of the C++ 'simple_repeater' firmware, but with many more admin features like statistics and beautiful dashboard:
Upcoming Release (v1.10.0)
There's been a LOT in the works, and there are pretty significant enhancements coming very soon in the next release:
#Region support & transport codes. I'll be doing a separate post on this, but in a nutshell it's another tool for repeater admins to collaborate and agree on zones/regions, and users can opt to send messages (or even adverts, and other data) to a limited scope. Andy has made an introductory video on this.
Node discovery: There is a new CONTROL packet type, and the first use-case of these is a DISCOVERY request. With this you can send out a zero-hop request to see if there are nodes around you. It will take some time, however, until repeaters (and other node types) are upgraded to support this.
The remote CLI admin now has extra GPS commands, for remotely managing GPS hardware in, say, a repeater or sensor node.
Numerous fixes and improvements, like changes to txdelay, fixes for the LR111x LoRa modules, direct stats support for LetsMesh, new boards support, channel hash conflicts, and much more.
Summary
I've no doubt missed/forgotten all kinds of goings on in the MeshCore world. It's actually super difficult to keep up, even for me! But it speaks to the decentralised/de-corporatised nature of MeshCore, and that it has many different groups doing their own thing, with different goals and outcomes.
The upside of this is that there's nothing holding anyone back, and various groups/geographies are finding they can just run with their ideas, go with whatever configs they believe work best, etc. The growth rate in places like UK, Poland, Pacific North-West, Boston, and my own backyard (Melbourne) have been incredible.