Hey folks, I’m totally new to the whole meshtastic thing, but I checked the coverage in my area and it is basically nonexistent. I’m not primarily interested in using meshtastic myself but I am super into the idea of deploying my own repeater node to expand coverage here for the folks who may want to use it or need to use it.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally it would be solar powered and waterproof so it can be self sufficient out in the elements and just do its thing. Bonus points if it can be used from my phone via bluetooth so I can fiddle around with meshtastic as a user instead of just an extra node in the mesh.
I don’t have access to a 3d printer or soldering tools, so I understand that limits the options
Edited to remove use of “repeater” as this has a defined meaning in meshtastic.
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I just stumbled across this. Probably available from other vendors, but for reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1MWPF7G/134-3819393-6559008
Looks like it’s got everything you’re looking for and is pretty much a turn-key solution.
Ooh thank you that looks pretty promising! Will add it to my research options
The SeedStudio SenseCAP Solar Node P1-pro (https://www.seeedstudio.com/SenseCAP-Solar-Node-P1-Pro-for-Meshtastic-LoRa-p-6412.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqytb61VMvplLkl4N7dTEDUw2kI7AajazQd9-dAtB8ovYq1EHMj) seems like it might suit your needs. Although it is quite expensive.
I had been looking at this one, but worried if this was a noob trap. I may give it a go.
What you get for the price seems pretty reasonable. You don’t need the GPS for a static node though; it’d just drain the battery faster.
Edit: meshtastic firmware moves quickly. Having a solar node way up high and hard to reach is cool and all but having one accessible for firmware updates would probably be better.
Surely you can do OTA updates? :< noted about accessibility regardless, there’s always things that go wrong
Nope, OTA isn’t yet a thing with meshtastic
I think it may be. The Android app definitely has the ability to do it, although they definitely say to have access to it in case it goes wrong.
I’m not aware of any ready-to-use ones you can buy that are outdoor rated. Pretty much all of the pre-assembled ones I’ve seen are in a handheld or portable form factor.
For a “repeater” node (note the quotes, explained further below), I’ve wanted to pick up one of the new 1 W high power Rak Wireless boards (link). Those have a battery terminal as well as a solar input for charging. All you’d need to add would be a PV panel + battery and put it into some kind of housing. I’d also use a nicer antenna than the little stub one that comes with it.
You should be able to put that together without any kind of soldering, though you would need to wire the solar panel output to a battery-style connector to be able to attach it to the board. There are solder-free wire splicers you may be able to use, but it’s also a good opportunity to practice soldering as there’s little to mess up.
For the housing, you might look for outdoor-rated utility boxes or something like that. Would probably have to drill and seal holes for the antenna connector and solar panel wire, but shouldn’t be too difficult. That, or you may be able to get a friend to help with 3D printing a solution.
Now, back to the use of “repeater” instead of repeater. Meshtastic docs are very adamant about only using the repeater role (now “router” role; repeater has been deprecated in recent versions). In all but the rarest and most optimally placed cases, you’d want to be using “client” or “client base” modes as they repeat messages but without forcing other clients to use them (and thus consuming a hop).
Thank you for the advice and I am taking strong note about the repeater wording! I will definitely set it up as a client or client base.
Yeah, it’s hard to know if people use the word “repeater” colloquially or technically, so I always repeat the Meshtastic warning about that role since it has a high likelihood of being detrimental to the mesh in the area.
Hope you find something suitable because it’s a fun project. I only get a few hits each month (less in the winter it seems) but it’s cool when you randomly pick up someone from miles away and have a chat.
I sort of did the same, but without the weatherproofing and solar powered. I have a Heltec v3 up in the attic which I can interface with both via bluetooth as well as connect to via wifi.
How does being indoors affect the coverage it provides? Its probably not an option in my case sadly as we have like 4ft thick brick walls in our building
These low frequencies have no problems penetrating a roof - I get 30+ km range - but my house is one of the taller ones and the land is almost completely flat around here. You’re right though that 4ft of brick walls would dampen the signal a lot.
Kudos for contributing to the public good!
I bought this Solar Radio Node, ready made, on Etsy. Not the cheapest solution, but it was still pretty reasonable and it works beautifully. It has now been running out in the weather (in Wisconsin) for more than six months without any downtime and with absolutely no maintenance. Rain, snow, and 40 mph winds have not bothered it any.
You can still connect to a repeater from your phone via Bluetooth. It is possible to designate something as an “Infrastructure Node”, which most keeps people from sending direct messages to it. If you do not designate it that way, which really doesn’t have a downside, you will be able to use it as a regular node, in addition to having it act as a general-purpose repeater.
I bought this Solar Radio Node, ready made, on Etsy. Not the cheapest solution, but it was still pretty reasonable and it works beautifully.
I bought peakmesh’s smaller solar node (micromag?) and it’s great. At the time I was using it on my campervan but now it’s stuck to the side of the two-story apartment where I live.
Mine was made by Peakmesh too. They seem to have gotten everything right.
I’ve had more luck with CLIENT_BASE just fyi for roof nodes and another smaller device for general messages. Hope you have fun!
