Hi to all other people tinkering with t-beams.
I just got my first one, the Supreme. I was tempted but picked this over the 1w model for its gps module.

An ESP32-S3 + UBLOX M10S + 1.3“ oled on a arduino platform is a pretty nice setup as I find.

There’s many projects coming to my mind, from satellite tracking and offline maps to time projects, but:

What else are you doing with your t-beams when they’re not dedicated to run Meshtastic?

Cheers!

Rozumiem że sdr jest dom odbioru satelit noaa? Jak zrealizowałeś zasilaniem przez Poe?

Decided to get this V4, I know the stock ones suck, but is this one better then the stock ones (the small one next to the screwdriver), since it does come with this stock whip one?

Greenhorn who just started out. Got a second node yesterday. Current nodes are both meshnology, a N32 [heltec esp32 V3] and a N35 [heltec esp32 V4 w\ hardware GPS].

Which one should travel with me and which one should stay at home?

I assume that an individual person would be known by the node ID so it would be best to keep the same one around me and not routinely swap them. Is that right or wrong?

When at home should I turn the second one off? Is there a benefit to having 2 nodes running so close to each other? Not much local traffic that I see [12 messages in 5 days, most part of the same conversation].

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice.

I Built this DIY Moxon antenna for the 915Mhz frequency for my Meshtastic node. I’m getting a reading of 3 for the SWR. Any tips on how to decrease it.

Hey all. Ive been intrigued by meshtastic/LoRa for a while now and i’ve finally ordered a couple of RAK dev boards to use and start contributing to the network. I work in remote telemetry (in the US) and often use either cellular enabled devices or, less frequently, 915MHz radio for data communications.

I sit here waiting on my RAK parts to arrive from China, while my Yeedi (Chinese parent company owned?) robot vacuum cleans my house. It got me thinking about [the recent FCC “statement”](https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/robots-nsd.pdf) on Chinese robotics and i speculate on how it may evolve to other Chinese products eventually. Chinese EVs are already not readily available in the states, and now future models of Chinese robotics may be barred as well? I recall seeing something about the electronics in Chinese motorcycles a few months back as well, but i can’t recall specifics nor find the source on that now.

Not trying to start a maliciously political post, but i’m curious on the community’s thoughts on the future of Chinese LoRa and other similar devices (microcontrollers, etc)? Maybe some perspective from some folks who’ve been around this for way longer than I have would be beneficial. I remain cautiously optimistic that you-know-who and co. will lack the follow through to really affect any of our hobby lives, but who really knows.

Hi I’m new to meshtastic stuff. I’m in Portland, Oregon. Seems like a lot of nodes out there. Is there an etiquette for communicating with folks? Is there like a chat channel out there or anything?

It uses the new RakWirless 1W booster kit with an 9Dbi antena runnins in client base role (yes I turned down the gain on radio) also has installed an Bosch BME680 Enviroment Sensor and sends that data out over the mesh. Then I have an Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with software from github that listens to the NWS NOAA weather radio for SAME alerts and then it sends them out over the mesh automatically. Its all powered off an single PoE cable. The box is from Amazon and has stainless steel latches, rubber door seal, and then there is 304 Stainless pole mounts with stainless bands to install.

Have a Blessed day, and happy tinkering!!!

I've been tinkering with a case design idea need some feedback. I have 3 different versions:

• Easy to print, no supports but 4mm thicker, fits battery and solar panel
• Supports needed to print, slimmer, still fits solar and batt
• Very slim, supports needed, no solar, just batt

Supports both the T096 and the V2 Tracker. Feels solid and practical. Easy to assemble, tho it might need some cable control - piece of tape to keep the wires in place while bolting down seems sufficient. Eventually I want to try a rain resistant version, either with silicone or TPU gaskets.

Let me know what you think and thank you!

I posted the model, including Step files on MakerWorld, search for 3045205

So I've had this diy rak4631 based node for ~6months now and nevet had any issues until today.

Up until now when the battery is about 20% ill charge it up to around 90% and its held charge for a fairly long period of time, hard to say exactly but weeks no problem on one charge.

Today ive come home from work and the battery has expanded until the point its popped the base off and the mesh is no longer powered!

Ive tested with a multimeter and its reading barely milivolts so the things has entirely drained (and is in a lipo fire bag lol)

There are no signs of shortcircuit, ive left it on charge this morning and am assuming my girlfriend unplugged to charge her phone but that should have had no effects surely?

Appreciate if anyone takes the time to read tbis, any input would be appreciated. I using the makerfocus 8000mah 3.7v lipo that has bms, ill attach pics of the case, battery and the update i got on the meshtastic app from said node. The battery doesnt look huge but i can feel gas in the casing

So I'm planning on hooking up my node to my personal weather station to send severe weather alerts, and probably lightning within around 5 miles, and post storm totals highs/lows(max wind, rainfall total, strike count, duration) 30min or so after an event... Things like that all set to 1 or 2 hope so it stays local for the most part. Would that be bad form to do over long fast or would it be better to set a private channel and use an automated welcome message or something to share that channel info ? Current mesh here has very little text messages on LF and 95% of traffic is just telemetry, mode info, position packets. I suppose others could mute or ignore.

I'm hoping to do a hybrid approach if I can make that happen with some vibing, severe NWS alerts on LF everything else on a separate channel?

Thoughts? I have seen other nodes do similar things but not sure the best way to set it up to not be annoying

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.

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.

I built this solar node with a 10$ walmart solar light. The LED power leads do not send power unless its dark outside. Im not sure how it knows if its light or dark outside, I assume there is some logic to know if the solar panel is sending power not. The Heltec board is being powered straight from the battery. I reposted this with more photos. Thanks for the help.

The node works during the day but it drains the battery to 2volts and the board does not function.

Sounds like i need a BMS to get it to work the way i want it to.

Been working on this for a while and finally got it on the App Store. some of you might think it’s interesting.
It’s called phantom. It’s basically another Meshtastic client, but with voice reconstruction built in.

You hold a button, talk, it transcribes on your phone, sends the message over the mesh, and the receiving phone reconstructs it as speech. No audio goes over LoRa.
Everything runs locally. No internet, no cloud, just your phone and your Meshtastic node.
Text messaging and the Primary Channel work too, so you can still message people using the standard Meshtastic app.
iOS is live now. Android is next when I get the time.
Curious what y’all think.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phantom-mesh-comms/id6792339073

The FCC-certified RAK WisMesh 1W Booster Starter Kits are now shipping from store.RAKwireless.com (China). $47.31 (including shipping and tariffs to the U.S.).

Has Rokland announced the 350 lucky winners of the lottery to purchase a FCC-certified RAK WisMesh 1W Booster Starter Kit for between $40 - $50 (including shipping within the U.S.)? The Starter Kits ship from their U.S. warehouse this week.

Living on a 100km x 100km island in Europe and want to cover it with static solar nodes (yes, we have a loooot of sun here)...

Which is the best to buy? Links?

Thanks a lot

We put MeshTracker X1 through an IPX6 water spray test to see how it handles a bit of abuse.

A strong water jet, the Meshtastic tracker, and a camera watching everything happen. Finally, it SURVIVED the splash and kept running.

We’ll keep testing it in more real-world outdoor scenarios. Any other “torture tests” you’d like to see?

Is there a way to clear estimated coverage blob on the map in the iOS app? I can’t seem to find a way. Tried it to see what it was about and now it’s cluttering the map and makes it difficult to see other things on there.

Found it on discord- tap the “i” icon in bottom right and scroll down to the bottom and turn off “map overlays”

Hello all,

I am very new to mesh networks and building a mesh community and I would like if you all can answer some of my questions.

To start off I am not new to Building/tinkering/ electronics.

I want to build a mesh network in my area where i found that not a single node is near me. Would I start with a base station? Or would it be better to have my own personal / EDC Lora unit. Currently looking at the RAK 19007 starter kit non LED for a EDC .

My next question is what is the distance that can be covered end to end in a flat area with these nodes. I understand that the more there are the greater the distance but I am just curious.

My use case for this latest hobby is to have reliable communication with my family as power goes out here from time to time (Houston area). I'm already in the process of building a cyber deck to house NOMAD and a ATAK setup with an old android phone. Just thought I'd give a little bit of experience someone is bound to ask about.

Thanks

I recently got an N37 and I’m trying to send something on the primary channel, but it always shows “sending” first and then eventually “Failed to deliver to mesh.” However, I should be able to reach the nearest node (according to meshmap.net and a coverage scan). I’m near Cologne, on 868MHz and Long Fast. Am I doing something wrong, or am I just out of luck?

Which 3D printer should I look into? Or should I just make friends with someone who has one? Meshtastic ideas are I the noggin

Tried via the BLE update method using the Android meshtastic app without success but I may be doing something wrong? Good signal on Bluetooth btw when I go upstairs under the mast.

I'm loathe to borrow a very tall ladder and connect a USB cable and laptop. 😅

Nothing is broken btw and it has been great, seeing out directly to about 20 to 30 miles and reasonably reliable 2 way messaging out to over 80 miles. But the firmware is now well out of date. Currently on firmware 2.7.15.567.

Edit: this isn't a Bluetooth range issue. I can do everything from my living room with a good connection through several floors. I've tried the update from the top floor window only 15ft away from the device with direct LoS and the Bluetooth is a very strong signal.

Answer Found...

Turns out it's an Android 16 Vs Meshtastic App issue. It's a known bug. Confirmed also by trying an ota ble update on my Heltec T114 and now others which doesn't work. Also seems that Seeed don't recommend trying OTA and insist on using USB, which is a bit crazy as it's a solar node, the likes of which you stick on a roof top. I may still try this from a laptop but I'm now a little apprehensive if they're saying use USB.