Meshtastic Heltec V4 bug keeps position broadcast interval stuck at 3600

A Heltec V4 running Meshtastic firmware 2.7.26.54e0d8d kept position.positionBroadcastSecs pinned at 3600 even after set and configure both appeared to work. A fresh info readback still showed positionBroadcastSecs: 3600, while neighboring fields on the same node, including position.positionBroadcastSmartEnabled, position.gpsUpdateInterval, and display.screenOnSecs, held their new values. That makes the bug look like a field-specific persistence problem, not a general serial or configuration write failure.

The report landed as GitHub issue #11004, opened July 14, 2026 by UnknownEngineOfficial. The node was running firmware 2.7.26.54e0d8d, which Meshtastic lists as its latest beta release from about three weeks ago. The same problem showed up after a direct set write and after a YAML export, edit, and import round trip, so the setting seems to accept input but not survive a readback on this board.

That matters because position timing is not cosmetic in Meshtastic. Position configuration is sent as an admin message in a Config.Position protobuf, and the docs say Broadcast Interval defaults to 15 minutes when Smart Broadcast is off. Smart Broadcast is supposed to increase update frequency when a node is moving and throttle back when stationary, while TRACKER roles broadcast GPS position packets as priority. If a Heltec V4 keeps acting like the interval is stuck at 3600 seconds, a tracker can look stale, burn airtime in ways the operator did not ask for, or miss the battery profile planned for a fixed node.

The practical check is straightforward: write the setting, then confirm it with a fresh info readback instead of trusting the command’s success message. If positionBroadcastSecs still snaps back to 3600, compare the node’s YAML export and import behavior against the settings that do persist, because the working fields already show the rest of the config path is alive. Heltec V4 has also had earlier tracker complaints, including a November 2025 issue about Wi-Fi and BLE connection problems, which makes careful readback checks on this board family worth the extra minute. Until the number on screen matches the number in the node, the mesh will keep behaving by its own clock, not yours.