Mishigami GMRS Network

Setting Up Your Mishigami GMRS Node

This simple, easy to use guide should help anyone set up a new Raspberry Pi and radio accessory dongle to be used on the Mishigami GMRS network. The entire process will consume likely one beverage (warm or cold), and about 15-20 minutes of your time.

Registering without a node? Self-registration isn't currently available on its own — you'll need a physical node or DVSwitch access first. Setting up a new node? Just follow the steps below; registration happens automatically in Step 5.
What you'll need

1Write the SD card

⇩ Download launch-gmrs-imager.bat

  1. Double-click launch-gmrs-imager.bat.
    • If Raspberry Pi Imager is already installed, it opens on its own with "Mishigami GMRS Node" already available to pick.
    • If not, the official Imager download page opens instead — install it (it's free, official Raspberry Pi software), then double-click the file again.
  2. Choose your Raspberry Pi model, then click Next.
  3. Choose OS → "Mishigami GMRS Node" (already listed), then click Next.
  4. Choose Storage → your SD card. Double-check you've picked the right drive — writing erases everything on it. Then click Next.
  5. Imager then walks you through a handful of setup screens — fill each in and click Next to move on:
    • Hostname — enter mishigaminode.
    • Locale — your country, timezone, and keyboard layout (the country you pick here also sets the WiFi regulatory region the node's setup AP needs to come up correctly).
    • Username and password — create the account you'll use if you ever need to SSH into the node directly.
    • Wireless LAN — leave this blank. See the note below for why.
    • Enable SSH — turn it on, with password authentication.
  6. Confirm your choices, then click Write. Imager writes and verifies the card automatically — this can take several minutes. Don't unplug it until it says it's done.

⇩ Download launch-gmrs-imager.sh

  1. If Raspberry Pi Imager isn't installed yet:
    • Debian/Ubuntu and derivatives: sudo apt install rpi-imager
    • Flatpak (any distro): flatpak install flathub org.raspberrypi.rpi-imager
    • Or download it directly from raspberrypi.com/software
  2. Make the launcher runnable once, then run it: 
    chmod +x launch-gmrs-imager.sh
./launch-gmrs-imager.sh
    Imager opens with "Mishigami GMRS Node" already available to pick.
  3. Choose your Raspberry Pi model, then click Next.
  4. Choose OS → "Mishigami GMRS Node" (already listed), then click Next.
  5. Choose Storage → your SD card. Double-check you've picked the right drive — writing erases everything on it. Then click Next.
  6. Imager then walks you through a handful of setup screens — fill each in and click Next to move on:
    • Hostname — enter mishigaminode.
    • Locale — your country, timezone, and keyboard layout (the country you pick here also sets the WiFi regulatory region the node's setup AP needs to come up correctly).
    • Username and password — create the account you'll use if you ever need to SSH into the node directly.
    • Wireless LAN — leave this blank. See the note below for why.
    • Enable SSH — turn it on, with password authentication.
  7. Confirm your choices, then click Write. Imager writes and verifies the card automatically — this can take several minutes. Don't unplug it until it says it's done.
On the Wireless LAN screen Don't fill in a WiFi network name or password there. Leave it blank and let the setup wizard join your network later, once the Pi is running — joining through Imager instead skips steps the node needs to bring its own setup WiFi up correctly, and can leave it unreachable.

2First boot

  1. Move the SD card into the Raspberry Pi and plug in power.
  2. Give it a few extra minutes on this very first boot — it's doing some one-time setup behind the scenes before anything else comes up. Don't unplug it during this time.

3Connect to the node's setup WiFi

  1. On your phone or laptop, open WiFi settings and look for a network named GMRS-Setup-XXXX (the last few characters are unique to your Pi).
  2. Connect using the password: A37B28DX7#
  3. Open a web browser and go to http://10.55.55.1/.

    Some devices (notably iPhones/iPads) pop this page up on their own as soon as you join, so you may not even need to type it. Others don't auto-open a browser at all — Android/Samsung phones typically just show a "Sign in to network" notification you have to tap, and Windows PCs often show nothing more than a small "network requires action" prompt near the WiFi icon, or nothing at all. If nothing happens within a few seconds, just open a browser yourself and type the address above — that always works.

4Get online

The wizard asks how this node should connect to the internet going forward:

If you're joining WiFi while still connected to the node's own setup network, it may seem to drop for a moment — that's normal, it reconnects automatically within a few seconds.

5Register your node

This is the only place you need to register a physical node — right here in the wizard, not on the main network website. The wizard generates your node's WireGuard key itself and submits this form for you.

What registering connects you to Registering creates a private VPN (WireGuard) tunnel between your node and the network's hub — nodes don't connect directly to each other, only to the hub. That same tunnel also gives Mishigami's network administrator(s) full administrative access to your node at any time. This is mainly for troubleshooting, remote support, and software updates, as well as the general upkeep of the network.

Submit, then wait — an admin needs to approve new nodes, which can take a while. It's safe to close this page and come back to http://10.55.55.1/ later; it picks up right where you left off.

6Connect your radio

Once approved, the page shows your assigned node number and a Set up radio hardware button. Click it, then pick whichever fits:

The radio setup terminal (also on that page) is only a fallback, for hardware neither of those two covers yet.

No radio yet? There's a separate button on the node's main page to set up a placeholder "test stub" instead, so you can confirm your node talks to the rest of the network before hardware arrives.

7You're on the air

From that same page you can also reach:

PageWhat it's for
allmon3This node's monitoring page (login shown on the page)
DiagnosticsAudio levels and a live signal view
Announcements & IDStation ID and how often it announces
Device statusCPU, memory, temperature, disk usage

If something doesn't look right