Meshtastic

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Base station hardware suggestions (mander.xyz)

submitted 5 days ago by Redwood1@mander.xyz to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz

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I posted here a couple days ago, but I think my post was removed. Someone accused me of being a bot.... But I'm not a bot. I'm not sure what that's about. Maybe it's the way I write.

Anyway. I want to set up a base station on my house. I looked on the metastatic site and the nearest base station to me is around 25 miles away. Is it possible to reach this far with equipment a mere mortal can possess?

I live on a hill in a marine environment is that helps. I can power it with mains power or set up a solar panel. I would be open to spending a few dollars on the right setup if it means I can connect to the greater network. I'm IT savvy, but a radio noob.

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

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[–] Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Get a nice big antenna, meshtastic has a list on GitHub of their testing results.

https://github.com/meshtastic/antenna-reports

I just ordered one of the bigger antennas, the price was $40 which is higher than they listed it as.

[–] Redwood1@mander.xyz 3 points 5 days ago

Thank you. I need to do some measurements and figure out which of these antennas is best, but this is a great list to work from.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

The record is 205 miles. So it's doable. Being on a hill helps.

Also, I know you see the closest one on a map is 25 miles, but that doesn't mean it's the closest. In my area most nodes appear not to offer their location, they're not reported on maps.

Put a node up high as you can and see what you see.

[–] Redwood1@mander.xyz 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Would it be better to put an antenna up high and keep the node closer to the building? If so, what sort of antenna?

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

If you want to do that you should use the new Rak 1W wisblock board. Longer cable equates to signal loss. That will need to be wall powered though, unless the solar panel and battery are hefty.

Funny enough there's a video on that board that goes into antennas for you.

https://youtu.be/SQ8TnKPmTn4

[–] Redwood1@mander.xyz 2 points 5 days ago

Thank you. This is just what I'm after and this video is very informative. I think this is what I'll try.

I need to do some line of sight geometry around my property to see what the best antenna placement is.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago

Unless my math serves me incorrectly, that unit requires 7.5 watts at maximum power draw. So you need a battery capable of supplying 2.5 amps to be safe.

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Its possible with very clear line of sight. But it might be difficult. At 1watt or below a "noicy" air conditioner may break up your signal.

Give it a shot with a cheap node and see what you get!

[–] Redwood1@mander.xyz 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Cheap node? I've heard of heltec v3 and sense solar P1. Are these good choices?

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago

Probably. I have a couple of heltec v3s. I personally got 2 of them so I could test out the LoRa and placement before my solar setup was done. Now they are permanently wall nodes next to a window. Room (client) -> Solar (client_base) -> other nodes. Works well.

They are decent at most things EXCEPT solar because they take a bit of power and have a nasty habit of bootlooping at certain voltages. It only really occurs if you want them to be solar.