Custom Ringtones

There are a few devices out there that support the use of RTTTL ringtones. Two options currently available include:

Most any node with a buzzer should support custom ringtone configuration as well, but your mileage may vary.

A Little Background on RTTTL

Ring Tone Text Transfer Language (RTTTL) is a configuration protocol that allows you to create musical output with a simple string configuration. The default ringtone for most Meshtastic devices looks like this:

24:d=32,o=5,b=565:f6,p,f6,4p,p,f6,p,f6,2p,p,b6,p,b6,p,b6,p,b6,p,b,p,b,p,b,p,b,p,b,p,b,p,b,p,b,1p.,2p.,p

That ringtone has 2 parts: a header and the ringtone notes.

Ringtone Header

24 - Name/identifier for the ringtone (usually ignored)
d=32 - Default note duration (32nd note)
o=5 - Default octave (5th octave)
b=565 - Beats per minute

Ringtone Notes

After the header, you have a list of notes to play. Notes are comma-separated and include 4 parameters:

duration
pitch
octave
dotted-duration

If we break down the first 6 notes in the default ringtone as an example, you'll see this:

f6 - F note in 6th octave (duration defaults to 32nd note)
4p - Pause/rest lasting 1/4 the default duration
2p - Pause/rest lasting 1/2 the default duration
1p. - Pause lasting 1 beat with dot (1.5x duration)
b6 - B note in 6th octave
b - B note in default octave (5th)

Meshtastic Notification Config

To change the ringtone on your device, go to the External Notification tab in your node configuration via the app or WebUI. Near the bottom of the page, you should see an entry field titled Ringtone. Paste your custom ringtone here.

Be sure to set the Nag Timeout to a lower number, otherwise it'll pester you over and over again until you press the button on your device. If you set it to 0, it will only play the notification once.

Nokia Composer

Here's a good website that allows you to play with RTTTL strings and have them play back for you in the browser. Plus it has some fun examples baked into the page.

Nokia Composer

Examples

Legend of Zelda Get Item

24:d=16,o=5,b=120:g,c6,d6,2g6

Super Mario Theme (Shortened)

24:d=4,o=5,b=100:16e6,16e6,32p,8e6,16c6,8e6,8g6,8p,8g

Mario Coin

24:d=8,o=6,b=200:b,e7

Mario Power Up

powerup:d=16,o=5,b=200:g,a,b,c6,d6,e6,f#6,g6,a6,b6,2c7

Nokia Ringtone

24:d=4,o=5,b=180:8e6,8d6,f#,g#,8c#6,8b,d,e,8b,8a,c#,e,2a

Morse Code CQ

24:d=16,o=6,b=120:8c,p,c,p,8c,p,c,4p,8c,p,8c,p,c,p,8c,8p

Use Cases

One thing that's pretty handy to use the ringtone for is a locator. If you send your node a message containing the bell emoji (🔔), it can trigger the ringtone for as long as you allow the Nag Timeout. This is useful for those times when you leave your T1000e in the laundry basket and can't find it (like many of us have done).