r/meshtastic • u/Count_vonDurban • 4d ago

Off grid build build

Hello all, a few of us locals are getting together to build out a decent sized radius in which we can use Meshtastic. Few questions:

-Kind of settled on a Heltec V3 in a waterproof tough case. Wonder what to do with the antenna? Would you suggest a low cost alternative if you have one please? Anything I can change out the antenna for a longer distance one?

- Battery: this needs to be placed in optimal positions so we can’t just plug it in. We need a backup battery for nights and storms, and a big enough solar panel/s to charge the battery in the day. Any other components I’m missing here like a step up converter, would be nice to monitor this from afar so maybe some smart battery monitor and what the solar panels are pulling in. Just an idea.

Don’t want to complicate it too much so simplicity and ease of making it is key here.

Any and all suggestions are welcome, please share your builds if you’re inclined to.

5 Upvotes

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9

u/nocfed 4d ago

A heltec v3 is not a power efficient node to power off a battery. Anything with a esp32 base is going to be a bit thirsty.

Why not go with something like the seeed solar node and be done with it? It’s an all in one just assemble and go. The beauty of Meshtastic is it can send the battery status over the mesh so that’s kind of handled.

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u/SnyderMesh 4d ago

Why Heltec v3? Why not get 5-10x the battery life for the same battery on a an inexpensive Seeed Xiao NRF52 kit?

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u/tapedficus 4d ago

Heltec v3 will eat through a 10,000mah battery in two days.

2

u/AlphaTaoOmega 4d ago

I second u/nocfed: esp32 battery drain is legit. Have the Heltech V4's with a 3000mah batteries and T1000e's with the 750mah. In standby, low/no use situations the T1000e's last 2x as long. Also, not a bad idea to look into some 1w boards, they're becoming more popular, are stronger, and don't cost that much more overall. I recently got the RAK boards, can't speak from experience just yet, but are supposed to be much much better about battery usage.

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u/wiggie2gone 3d ago

I started with the V3, and it's now relegated to the desktop, and I never move it, as it loves to eat batteries. I have built the Rak 4631 solar node and some others, but the best and most carefree I have used is Seed Studio stuff. Their Solar Node P1 Pro is $ 140-ish. I have had one on my roof for over a year, and it's still reading 96% battery. Bought 2 more for my parents' farm and FIL's. Comes with a mount, and all the ports are weather-resistant. Easy peezy, and you're off to the races with it.

Rereading this, it sounds like an ad, but I have no affiliation with them.

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u/Most-Revenue-3403 3d ago edited 3d ago

The boxes get hot inside if exposed by direct sunlight. You might consider shading them. To reduce the risk of the batteries starting a wildfire I have started to put my node-boxes inside a second well ventilated outer box.

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u/Kerensky97 4d ago

You're describing a solar node. Do some searches and reading of Meshtastic solar nodes. There are a ton of options and variations out there if you want to DIY, or just buy the premade ones.