KYKT — GPS Tracker

Note on COM ports: The COM## numbers in this guide are the author’s own, shown as examples — your port will differ. On Windows, open Device Manager → Ports (COM & LPT) with the node plugged in to find the COM number your device enumerated as, and use that in place of the example in every command. On macOS/Linux the equivalent is a /dev/tty.*, /dev/ttyUSB*, or /dev/ttyACM* path. Always confirm your own port before running these commands.

1. Target Configuration

Section	Setting	Value	Purpose
Device	role	TRACKER	Position-only node; no rebroadcast, excluded from routing
Device	led_heartbeat_disabled	true	Battery / discretion
Device	node_info_broadcast_secs	10800	NodeInfo every 3 h
Power	is_power_saving	false	Deep-sleep wake bug
Position	gps_mode	ENABLED	Live GPS
Position	gps_update_interval	60	Fix cadence, seconds
Position	position_broadcast_secs	900	Stationary heartbeat, 15 min
Position	position_broadcast_smart_enabled	true	Send on movement
Position	broadcast_smart_minimum_distance	50	Metres moved before send
Position	broadcast_smart_minimum_interval_secs	60	Floor between smart sends
Position	position_flags	897	Altitude + Timestamp + Heading + Speed
Telemetry	device_update_interval	3600	Battery/voltage hourly
Telemetry	environment_measurement_enabled	false	No environment sensor
Channel 0 (PRIMARY)	position_precision	0	No position on the public channel

Expected battery life with this profile: roughly one day of continuous GPS. First knobs to relax if needed: gps_update_interval 120, position_broadcast_secs 1800. Do not touch power saving.

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2. CLI Procedure (Windows CMD, serial)

Before starting

1. Disconnect the iOS app from KYKT (BLE + serial together makes acks unreliable).
2. Connect KYKT by USB; confirm port in Device Manager (COM18 at time of writing).
3. Every committed write reboots the node. Wait 60–90 s before the next command. If the port disappears mid-run, that is the reboot — wait and re-run the same command.

Step 1 — Config transaction (one reboot)

meshtastic --port COM18 --begin-edit --set device.role TRACKER --set power.is_power_saving false --set device.led_heartbeat_disabled true --set device.node_info_broadcast_secs 10800 --set position.gps_mode ENABLED --set position.gps_update_interval 60 --set position.position_broadcast_secs 900 --set position.position_broadcast_smart_enabled true --set position.broadcast_smart_minimum_distance 50 --set position.broadcast_smart_minimum_interval_secs 60 --set position.position_flags 897 --set telemetry.device_update_interval 3600 --set telemetry.environment_measurement_enabled false --ch-index 0 --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 0 --commit-edit

Step 2 — Wait for reboot, then verify (Section 4).

Step 3 — Re-send any field that did not persist, one field per command

meshtastic --port COM18 --set position.position_broadcast_secs 900
meshtastic --port COM18 --set position.broadcast_smart_minimum_interval_secs 60
meshtastic --port COM18 --ch-index 0 --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 0

CLI rules learned on this node

• --begin-edit … --commit-edit batches --set and --ch-set writes into a single reboot over serial. Channel writes commit fine inside the transaction.
• Only one --ch-index per invocation. A second --ch-index silently overrides the first — use separate commands for separate channels.
• A large transaction may ack but drop one or two fields (seen: position_broadcast_secs, broadcast_smart_minimum_interval_secs). Always verify, then re-send single-field.
• --get prints only non-default fields. A missing is_power_saving or environment_measurement_enabled line means default (false) — absence is not failure.

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3. iOS App Procedure (Meshtastic app)

Use only if serial is unavailable. A GUI save rewrites the entire section, so re-verify with the CLI afterward.

Connect to KYKT over Bluetooth, then:

Settings → Radio Configuration → Device

• Device Role: Tracker
• LED Heartbeat: Off
• Node Info Broadcast Interval: 3 hours
• Save

Settings → Radio Configuration → Position

• GPS Mode: Enabled
• GPS Update Interval: 1 minute
• Position Broadcast Interval: 15 minutes
• Smart Position: On
• Minimum Distance: 50 m
• Minimum Interval: 1 minute
• Position Flags: Altitude, Timestamp, Heading, Speed on; all others off
• Save

Settings → Radio Configuration → Power

• Power Saving: Off
• Save

Settings → Module Configuration → Telemetry

• Device Metrics Update Interval: 1 hour
• Environment Metrics: Off
• Save

Settings → Channels → Primary (index 0)

• Position: Off (equivalent to precision 0 — nothing is sent on this channel)
• Save

Each save reboots the node. Wait for reconnect before opening the next section. After the last save, disconnect the app and run the Section 4 CLI verification — the app has previously written unexpected interval values (0 / 43200) on save.

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4. Verification

Commands

meshtastic --port COM18 --get position --get telemetry --get device
meshtastic --port COM18 --info | findstr /i precision

Expected output — position / telemetry / device

position.position_broadcast_secs: 900
position.position_broadcast_smart_enabled: True
position.gps_update_interval: 60
position.position_flags: 897
position.broadcast_smart_minimum_distance: 50
position.broadcast_smart_minimum_interval_secs: 60
position.gps_mode: 1
telemetry.device_update_interval: 3600
device.role: 5
device.node_info_broadcast_secs: 10800
device.led_heartbeat_disabled: True

gps_mode: 1 = ENABLED. device.role: 5 = TRACKER. gps_en_gpio, buzzer_gpio and tzdef are hardware/board defaults and can be ignored.

Expected output — channel 0

Index 0: PRIMARY ... "moduleSettings": { "positionPrecision": 0 ...

Field check

• position_broadcast_secs = 900 (not 3600)
• broadcast_smart_minimum_interval_secs = 60 (not 300)
• Channel 0 positionPrecision = 0 (not 15)
• No power.is_power_saving line (default false)
• No telemetry.environment_measurement_enabled line (default false)

Functional check from the base

meshtastic --host 10.10.10.195 --nodes

KYKT should appear with fresh coordinates, battery %, and a last-heard within the smart/heartbeat window. Double-press the T1000-E button to force an immediate position send if it has not updated.

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5. Operating Notes

• Double-press button = ad-hoc position send.
• Long-press = power off/on; unaffected by this configuration.
• Never enable power saving on this node.
• Any time the iOS app touches the node, re-run Section 4.