Meshtastic, MeshCore, CE Marking, and the Hardware Trap

Updated July 2026. This article is a technical and regulatory awareness note for radio amateurs and experimenters. It is not legal advice. Always check your national licence conditions, frequency plan, and regulator guidance.

In the previous article we looked at the frequency trap: in Europe, the common 868/869 MHz LoRa world is not an amateur-radio band. It is licence-exempt short-range-device spectrum. Putting a callsign in a packet does not turn SRD operation into amateur radio.

There is a second trap that receives much less attention:

The hardware itself.

Many popular Meshtastic and MeshCore boards are cheap, capable, and easy to buy. That does not automatically mean they are legal radio equipment for use in Europe. The fact that a board has an SX1262, boots Meshtastic, ships from a European warehouse, or shows a CE-like logo in a webshop photo is not enough.

The American 900 MHz confusion

A lot of online LoRa and mesh-radio discussion comes from the United States. That adds confusion in Europe.

In the US, the 902–928 MHz range is also the 33 cm amateur band. That means American amateurs can discuss 900 MHz LoRa experiments in a context where 900 MHz can genuinely be amateur radio, even though it is also shared with other services and ISM/unlicensed users.

Europe is different.

The common European LoRa/SRD world is around 868/869 MHz. That is not a European amateur-radio band. So when an American article, video, or GitHub discussion says “900 MHz LoRa ham mesh,” that idea cannot simply be copied into Europe by changing a frequency setting.

70 cm is not “ham only” either

There is another nuance we should not hide: 70 cm is not an isolated amateur playground.

In Europe, the 430–440 MHz area is used by radio amateurs, but parts of it are also shared with other services and licence-exempt devices. Around 433 MHz, many people know the familiar ISM/SRD devices: remote controls, sensors, telemetry modules, weather stations, cheap LoRa modules, and other low-power equipment.

That does not make 433 MHz “the same” as 868 MHz. Licensed amateur operation and licence-exempt SRD operation are not the same regulatory category. But it does mean we should avoid saying “70 cm is ham-only.” It is better to say that 70 cm gives radio amateurs a proper amateur-radio route, while still requiring awareness of shared users, national frequency plans, repeater inputs, weak-signal segments, satellites, and existing local use.

“China Export” is not CE

The hobby joke is that “China Export is not CE.” As a warning, that is useful. As a legal test, it needs to be sharper.

A product manufactured in China can be genuinely CE compliant. A product shipped from inside Europe can still be non-compliant. Geography is not the test. The test is whether the manufacturer has followed the correct EU conformity process, affixed a proper CE mark, drawn up the EU Declaration of Conformity, and kept the technical documentation behind it.

A CE logo by itself is not magic.

The EU does not have a central body that simply “grants CE” for every product. In many cases the manufacturer declares conformity under its own responsibility after applying the relevant standards, testing, and documentation process.

For radio equipment, this matters even more, because the Radio Equipment Directive is about more than electrical safety. It also covers EMC and efficient use of spectrum.

A CE board is not automatically a CE radio system

This is the part that creates many false arguments.

Someone finds a CE document for a module or board and concludes that the complete device is legal. That is not how radio compliance works.

A board can be tested as a board. A module can be tested as a module. A chip can be used in compliant designs. But the user does not transmit with a PDF, a chip, or an empty PCB. The user transmits with a complete radio system: firmware, enclosure, power supply, antenna connector, antenna, duty cycle, output power, spurious emissions, occupied bandwidth, EMC behaviour, and intended use.

For CE/RED purposes, the relevant object is the radio equipment as placed on the market and used as intended. If the LoRa board is sold as a development component, that does not automatically make every finished node, case, antenna, battery pack, high-site relay, or Meshtastic installation compliant.

The antenna is part of the problem

For licence-exempt 868 MHz devices, the antenna is not a decorative accessory. It is part of the radio system.

The legal limits are normally expressed as radiated power, such as ERP or e.r.p., combined with duty-cycle or spectrum-access requirements. That means the antenna gain matters. A transmitter that is legal with a small integrated antenna can become non-compliant when a user screws on a higher-gain antenna.

This is why proper licence-exempt user devices often use an integrated or non-detachable antenna, or a tightly controlled antenna configuration. It prevents the end user from easily changing the radiated power, pattern, and compliance state of the product.

A random LoRa board with an SMA connector is different. The board manufacturer may not know which antenna the user will connect. A 0 dBd whip, a small PCB antenna, a collinear, a Yagi, or an outdoor antenna on a mast can produce very different radiated power and interference behaviour.

868 MHz infrastructure is a system, not a pile of boards

The same problem becomes bigger when people build infrastructure.

A handheld 868 MHz node on a small antenna is one thing. A high-site relay, outdoor gateway, mast-mounted antenna, solar box, or permanent MeshCore/Meshtastic infrastructure node is another.

At that point, the system must be compliant as a system. You need the correct radiated power, the correct antenna gain, the correct link budget, the correct duty cycle or spectrum-access method, and the correct on-air behaviour.

This is exactly why simply saying “the board has CE” is not enough. The board does not define the final ERP. The board does not define the final antenna pattern. The board does not define the final duty cycle of a busy relay. The board does not define the final link budget. The system does.

For 868 MHz SRD-style infrastructure, there is also a practical engineering consequence: using gain antennas to compensate for poor planning is not a free option. If the regulatory limit is radiated power, antenna gain must be included in the power calculation. In many cases the sane design target is a modest, controlled antenna such as a 0 dBd-class antenna, combined with the correct link budget and realistic on-air time.

Buying direct can make you the importer

Many LoRa boards are bought from international marketplaces or directly from manufacturers outside the EU. That is not automatically forbidden, but it can change the responsibility.

If you import radio equipment yourself, especially from outside the European market, you may become the person responsible for ensuring that the equipment is compliant for the EU. That means CE marking, documentation, correct intended use, and conformity with the applicable radio rules.

This is the part many hobbyists miss.

“I only bought one board” does not automatically make the radio rules disappear.

If the device is used as licence-exempt SRD equipment on 868 MHz, it must be compliant SRD equipment. If there is no proper CE marking and no EU Declaration of Conformity for the exact product, the safe answer is simple:

LILYGO, Heltec, and similar boards: check the exact product, not the brand

Boards from LILYGO, Heltec, Waveshare, Ebyte, and many no-name sellers are popular because they make LoRa experimentation easy. But legal compliance is not decided by brand name alone.

It is too simplistic to say “LILYGO is always illegal” or “LILYGO is always CE.” Some manufacturers publish CE-related documents for some exact models. That does not mean every board, every frequency version, every antenna, every firmware configuration, and every reseller package is automatically compliant.

The legal question is not:

Did someone somewhere upload a CE-looking PDF?

The real questions are:

• Is there an EU Declaration of Conformity for the exact model?
• Does it cover the exact radio version: 433, 868, 915, 920 MHz, etc.?
• Does it cover the antenna and power configuration as sold?
• Does it cover the firmware and operating mode that is actually used?
• Is the product accompanied by the correct EU or national documentation?
• Is there a responsible EU importer or distributor where required?
• Has the user modified the antenna, firmware, PA, filters, enclosure, or intended use in a way that breaks the original conformity?

If the answer is unclear, treat the board as an experimenter component, not as ready-to-use legal SRD equipment.

The amateur-radio exemption is real, but it is not a consumer loophole

There is a genuine amateur-radio path, and this is where HAREC/class A operators are in a different position from ordinary licence-exempt users.

Across Europe, amateur radio has long recognised self-building, modification, and experimentation. For a HAREC-level operator, using non-CE hardware can be defensible when the hardware is part of a self-built, kit-built, or modified amateur station used under amateur-radio rules.

But that does not mean every non-CE LoRa board from an overseas webshop becomes legal everywhere.

It does not legalise 868 MHz SRD operation. It does not apply to non-hams. It does not allow a shop, club, or group to regularly distribute ready-to-use non-compliant radio products as if CE obligations do not exist.

Basic and novice licences: do not assume the HAREC privilege applies

This is where we need to be especially clear.

A basic, novice, or entry-level amateur licence is still an amateur licence, but it is not automatically the same as a HAREC/class A licence. In Belgium, for example, class B and class C licences have access to parts of the amateur spectrum under class-specific limits, but the broader self-build privilege is normally discussed in the context of class A/HAREC-level operation.

So the practical guidance for basic and novice operators should be conservative:

For basic licences, the safer route is to use CE-compliant equipment, stay inside the amateur allocations and licence conditions, and avoid importing or transmitting with undocumented non-CE development boards.

Non-hams: no CE means no on-air use

For non-hams, the situation is simpler.

A non-ham using 868 MHz is not operating under amateur-radio rules. They are operating under licence-exempt SRD rules. That means the equipment must be compliant SRD equipment, and the use must remain inside the allowed power, duty-cycle, antenna, and spectrum-access conditions.

A non-ham cannot fix missing CE compliance by saying “but it is only LoRa,” “but it is low power,” or “but hams also use these boards.”

HAREC/class A: use the right band

A HAREC/class A operator may have a route for experimental, self-built, or modified amateur hardware. But the band still matters.

If you operate on 868/869 MHz, you are in SRD spectrum. Your amateur licence does not give you amateur privileges there. The device must behave like compliant SRD equipment.

If you want to use non-CE or modified LoRa hardware as amateur-radio equipment, the cleaner direction is to use an amateur allocation, such as 70 cm where national rules and band planning permit it.

Even on 70 cm, this is not a free-for-all. Amateur rules still apply: station control, callsign identification, non-commercial use, band-plan awareness, no private encrypted messaging where prohibited, and proper coordination for high-site or infrastructure-style nodes.

Also remember the hardware detail: an 868 MHz LoRa board is not automatically a good 70 cm board. Some boards are built for 433/470 MHz variants, some for 868/915 MHz variants, and their RF matching, filtering, antenna, and PA behaviour may differ. Firmware flexibility does not guarantee RF compliance or technical suitability.

Is there CE equipment for basic licences?

The honest answer is: sometimes, but you must verify it.

There are CE-marked LoRa products and modules on the market. There are also development boards with partial certificates, attestations, FCC documents, old test reports, unclear declarations, or no documentation at all.

A CE logo in a product photo is not enough. A lab attestation is not the same thing as the manufacturer’s EU Declaration of Conformity. A board sold from a “Germany warehouse” is not automatically compliant.

For a basic or novice operator who wants to stay out of trouble, the equipment checklist should be:

• exact model;
• exact band;
• exact EU Declaration of Conformity;
• proper CE marking;
• compliant instructions;
• known importer or distributor;
• defined antenna configuration;
• known radiated power;
• an operating configuration that matches the licence and frequency plan.

If the seller cannot provide that, treat the board as a lab or development component, not as a ready-to-use station.

The practical split

What we are doing instead: a Belgian 70 cm MeshCore RFC

To move this discussion from “what people randomly do” toward “what we can responsibly coordinate,” we started the Guru-RF MeshCore RFC Belgium project.

The goal is to define a coordinated 70 cm amateur MeshCore/LoRa data approach for Belgium. The target audience is repeater managers, unmanned-station coordinators, amateur-radio associations, and technical working groups.

The first round of comments has now passed. We are in the second draft phase. The next step is to expand the reviewer list. After that, we will set up a pilot test group.

The RF.Guru take

Meshtastic and MeshCore are technically interesting. That is not the problem.

The problem starts when cheap development boards, licence-exempt SRD spectrum, amateur callsigns, non-CE imports, detachable antennas, high-site relays, and American 900 MHz examples all get mixed together as if they were one simple hobby project.

They are not.

868 MHz is not the European ham LoRa band. 70 cm is a better amateur-radio route, but it is shared and must be coordinated. A CE logo is not a compliance file. A CE board is not automatically a CE radio system. A cheap LoRa board is not automatically legal radio equipment. “China Export” is not CE. And the amateur exemption belongs inside amateur radio, not inside SRD spectrum.

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