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170 lines
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170 lines
12 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html lang="en" dir="ltr">
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<meta charset="UTF-8">
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
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<title>Map & Waypoints</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="../styles/docs.css">
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</head>
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<body data-page="map-and-waypoints" data-locale="en">
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<pre class="markdown-content"># Map & Waypoints
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The Map screen shows the geographic positions of nodes on your mesh, along with shared waypoints.
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## Map View
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The map displays:
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- **Node positions** — colored markers for each node reporting location
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- **Waypoints** — shared points of interest
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- **Your position** — your current GPS location
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### Node Markers
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Each node that reports a position is shown as a **node chip** marker displaying the node's short name. The chip is colored by the node's own identity color (a stable color derived from its node number) — the same chip used in the node list, so a node looks the same everywhere. Marker color does **not** encode online/offline status. When a node's position updates live, its marker briefly pulses. Nearby markers are clustered as you zoom out.
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### Map Controls
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- **Zoom** — pinch or use +/- buttons
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- **Pan** — drag to explore
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- **Center** — tap the location button to center on your position
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- **Node tap** — tap a node marker to view details
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The floating toolbar provides quick access to the compass, the map type and layers pickers, node filters, Site Planner, and location tracking. Tap the compass to reorient north-up, or tap the location button to center on your current position. On **Google Play** builds a refresh button joins them while a network layer is showing; on **F-Droid** and **Desktop**, refresh a network layer from its own row in the layers sheet instead.
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### Filtering the Map
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Tap the filter button in the floating toolbar to open **Filter map**. **Display** controls what is drawn: **Only Favorites**, **Show Waypoints**, **Show Precision Circles**, and a slider that hides nodes not heard from recently. **Node roles** is a chip per device role, plus **All** to show every role; a selected chip means that role is shown. **Nodes** narrows the set further with **Hide offline nodes**, **Only show direct nodes**, **Exclude MQTT**, **Show ignored nodes**, and **Include unknown**.
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A dot on the filter button means at least one filter is hiding something — check it before concluding the mesh is quiet. Turning **Show Waypoints** off hides every waypoint, including your own. **Show ignored nodes** adds them to the map rather than showing only them — unlike the node list's **Only show ignored Nodes**.
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## Waypoints
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Waypoints are shared points of interest, visible to everyone on your mesh.
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### Creating a Waypoint
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Your radio must be connected — the map ignores a touch & hold while it is not, because saving a waypoint means broadcasting it.
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1. Touch & hold the map at the desired location.
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2. Enter a name and optional description.
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3. Choose an icon/emoji for the waypoint.
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4. Tap **Send** to share with the mesh.
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Waypoints always broadcast to the whole mesh on the primary channel. Unlike a message, a waypoint cannot be addressed to one channel or sent as a direct message.
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### Waypoint Properties
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Property | Description |
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----------|-------------|
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Name | Short identifier (max 29 characters) |
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Description | Optional longer description |
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Icon | Visual marker emoji on the map |
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Locked | If locked, only the creator can edit or delete |
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Expiration | Optional auto-remove date and time |
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Geofence | Optional enter/exit alert area — see [Waypoint Geofences](#waypoint-geofences) |
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### Waypoint Expiration
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Waypoints can be set to expire automatically:
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- **Never** (default) — waypoint remains until manually deleted
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- **Timed** — pick a specific date and time; the waypoint is automatically removed once that time passes. Useful for temporary markers like rally points, hazards, or meeting locations.
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Expired waypoints are automatically hidden from the map so they don't clutter the display. The expiration countdown is based on the absolute time you picked, not a duration from when the waypoint was created or received.
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### Waypoint Geofences
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Any waypoint can also define a **geofence** — an alert area — so you or others get notified when a node enters or leaves it:
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1. Set a **geofence radius** from the preset chips (or **Off** to disable), or tap **Set area on map** to draw a custom rectangular area instead.
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2. Once a region is set, toggle **Notify on enter** and/or **Notify on exit**.
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3. Optionally enable **Favorites only** to limit alerts to your favorited nodes.
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Since waypoints (and their geofences) are broadcast to the whole mesh, only the **creator** is alerted by default. If someone else shares a geofenced waypoint with you, its detail view offers a **Notify me of crossings** opt-in so you can also receive enter/exit alerts for it.
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### Managing Waypoints
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- Tap a waypoint to see its name, description, and geofence radius. On **Google Play** builds the first tap opens the marker's info bubble — tap the bubble to open the waypoint itself
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- **Locked waypoints** can only be changed on the mesh by the node that locked them
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- Unlocked waypoints can be edited by any mesh member while connected to a radio — saving re-broadcasts the waypoint
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- Confirming a delete removes your own copy. To remove it from everyone else's map too, select **Delete for everyone** in the delete dialog; that box appears only for a waypoint you may change (unlocked, or locked by you) and only while you are connected
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## Map Layers
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Tap the layers icon on the map to open **Manage Map Layers**. It imports your own overlays in `.kml`, `.kmz`, or GeoJSON format — including KMZ ground overlays (georeferenced images, such as exported topo or aerial tiles), which drape at their stated bounds. Add one by picking a file with **Add Layer**, opening a file with Meshtastic, or sharing it into the app from another app. **Add Network Layer** instead takes a name and an `http://` or `https://` URL pointing at a KML or GeoJSON file; that layer then carries its own refresh button in the sheet. On **Google Play** builds the toolbar's refresh button re-fetches every visible network layer at once.
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Imported layers are listed with a toggle to show/hide each one and an option to remove it. Each layer — imported or built-in overlay — carries its own opacity slider while it is switched on, so an overlay can be faded back rather than only switched off. This works on the Google Play build, the F-Droid build, and **Desktop**, which shares the same layer store and file picker.
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### Site Planner
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**Site Planner** estimates RF coverage for a transmitter and draws it on the map as a color-coded overlay. Open it from a map control, or from a node's detail page via **Estimate coverage** (shown only for nodes with a known position). Configure the transmitter (location, frequency, TX power, antenna gain and height), the receiver (sensitivity, height), and simulation options (max range, high-resolution terrain, color palette), then run the estimate. Like map layers, Site Planner works on both the Google Play and F-Droid builds, where the finished estimate is drawn on the map as a coverage overlay. On **Desktop** the same form is shown but the planner opens in your browser; to bring the estimate onto the map, click the transmitter pin in the browser, choose the planner's GeoJSON export, then add the downloaded file under **Manage Map Layers** with **Add Layer**. Use the GeoJSON export, not the KML one — the KML is a ground-overlay image this map cannot draw.
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## Position Sharing
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### Enabling Position Sharing
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Your node shares its GPS position based on:
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- **Broadcast Interval** — share the position on a fixed timer
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- **Smart Position** — share only once you have moved far enough; **Smart Interval** sets the shortest gap between broadcasts and **Smart Distance** how far you must move
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- **Fixed Position** — publish a latitude, longitude, and altitude you enter by hand instead of the GPS reading
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- **GPS Mode (Physical Hardware)** — GPS enabled, disabled, or not present on this hardware; offered only while **Fixed Position** is off
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Configure position behavior in **Settings → Device configuration → Position**. The screen is only reachable while your radio is connected, and saving it reboots the radio. For the full field list, see [Settings — Radio & User](settings-radio-user).
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### Privacy Considerations
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> 🔒 **Privacy:** Position data is broadcast to all nodes on your channel. If you don't want your location shared, disable GPS position in settings or use a fixed/fake position. To keep sharing a position without pinpointing yourself, edit the channel in **Settings → Channels**, turn **Precise location** off, and set the slider beneath it — the channel then publishes an approximate area, shown as ± a distance, instead of an exact point.
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## Map Sources
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Every build offers a base map picker from the map toolbar. **Google Play** builds open on Google's own
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map types; **F-Droid** and **Desktop** builds open on MapLibre's vector styles. Further down the base map
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picker, all three offer the same raster base maps:
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Base map | Notes |
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--- | --- |
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Normal / Satellite / Terrain / Hybrid | Google Play only — Google's own map types |
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Liberty | Default on F-Droid and Desktop. Vector street map |
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Positron | F-Droid and Desktop only. Low-contrast vector map; keeps node markers legible over it |
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Dark | F-Droid and Desktop only. Vector map suited to dark themes |
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OpenStreetMap | Classic raster street tiles |
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OpenTopoMap | Raster topographic |
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USGS Topo / USGS Imagery | US coverage only |
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Esri Topo / Esri Imagery | Topographic and satellite imagery |
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Overlays can be toggled on top of any base map, from the layers sheet:
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- **Weather radar** — NOAA NEXRAD reflectivity (US coverage)
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- **Hillshade** — terrain relief, on **F-Droid** and **Desktop** only. Useful for understanding why a
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link fails, since LoRa range is limited by terrain
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### Adding your own tile source
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Any XYZ tile endpoint can be added as a base map, on every flavor and on desktop. Open **Manage Custom
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Tile Sources** at the foot of the base map picker and paste a URL template using `{z}`, `{x}` and `{y}`
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— plus `{s}` if the provider uses rotating subdomains. A national mapping service, for example:
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```
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https://wmts.geo.admin.ch/1.0.0/ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe/default/current/3857/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpeg
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```
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Tiles are cached on disk, so panning does not re-download what you were just looking at.
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On **Android**, the same screen also imports a local `.mbtiles` archive for fully offline use.
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Offline area downloads are **F-Droid only**. Select a vector base map first — Liberty, Positron, or Dark —
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since a download is defined against a vector style and **Start Download** stays disabled over a raster one.
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Frame the area you want on screen, then tap **Start Download** in the layers sheet: that creates a paused
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pack covering the current zoom plus two levels deeper. Press play on the pack's row to actually download it.
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**Google Play** builds import pre-made MBTiles files instead, and **Desktop** has neither.
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## Related Topics
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- [Nodes](nodes) — view and filter your node list
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- [Node Metrics](node-metrics) — signal quality and position history for individual nodes
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- [Local Mesh Discovery](discovery) — traceroute and neighbor info for understanding mesh topology
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- [Units & Locale](units-and-locale) — distance and coordinate display formats
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</pre>
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</body>
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</html> |