As a comms professional I would suggest mounting the enclosure upside down. The coax should exit from the bottom of the enclosure so you minimize the risk of water damage. That setup really triggers my OCD. Cool project btw 😃👍🏼 /Tom
It is prudent to have the coax enter from the bottom. In reality, you can turn the entire box upside down. Having an omni antenna pointing straight down will work just as good as having it point straight up.
Living in Georgia, our humidity gets into almost everything, and can even build up a puddle of water. I would think a breathable drain hole (with mesh cover, to keep the bugs out!) Is a good idea. Angeling the unit will help with drainage too!
I think your idea of POE unit is a great idea. A person could run a POE ethernet wire up in the attic maybe even mount it outside in a nice enclosure and bingo you have a repeater at your house. You might even be able to add a battery as a backup if the main power goes down. Every comms conscious person should do that.
My poe+ 56v ubiquiti port runs poe module at 91 deg F in a 65 deg F ambient temp bsmt in open conditions. Inside a closed box, outdoor in the sun would likely be problematic.
9:50 - PRO TIP: With a bank of parallel batteries, attach the positive lead to one side and the negative lead to the other side. This makes the same number of series inter-battery links for each battery to have the same voltage drop for each battery in the parallel battery pack. As shown in the video, the battery on the right will have zero additional wired links and the battery on the far left will have ten additional connections. That left battery will charge to a lower voltage and will be discharged more to provide the needed load voltage.
Had to consider your comment for a moment to understand but then I saw the time link and it all made sense. Wouldn’t a conductor with less resistance make this unnecessary? Suppose a zinc or copper strip was used to bridge the parallel. Could we avoid the diagonal strategy?
@@andrewaldridge860 - It's a good idea to use large conductors on high current battery connections to reduce resistive losses. Is the reluctance to connect the positive lead on one side of a string of parallel connected batteries and the negative lead to the other side based on aesthetic considerations? Is is because it looks wrong, or feels wrong? To ensure all of the batteries are charging and discharging to the same level, it's important to balance the voltage drops within the battery bank. With large enough batteries and battery interconnections and a small charging and discharging current the voltage drops across the battery may be insignificant, but with ten batteries in the battery bank, if the wire and two connections between each battery results in a 0.1 volt drop, that's almost a 1 volt drop between batteries on the far ends. If both connections need to be made on one side for some reason, maybe wire five batteries in parallel on one side and five in parallel on the other side in a 2x5 battery array so the electrical ends of the battery pack are on the same physical end.
For small solar in the continental US, I usually just mount the panel at 45 degrees. This is close to the winter optimal angle. There is way more solar energy in the summer, so I size the panel and battery for worst case winter performance.
18:00 - I would add sealant to antenna connector. You may also wish to consider a vent cap and drain hole for condensation. Also... If u are doing external antenna with a little bit of feed line... I would put antenna connector on bottom to allow for rain drip loop
At 21:04 make sure that all of the actual antenna (which is the white fiberglass section), is ABOVE the top of the mast. Otherwise this can introduce a very high SWR to your signal, impeding performance and possibly burn up your WisBlock. This is only applicable if it's a mast made of metal or other conductive material. Thanks for an outstanding instructional video.
Decent looking build. Couple suggestions: Toss a silica gel pack or two in the enclosure. All openings to the enclosure, including the antenna connector, should be on the bottom where possible to avoid water intrusion. Avoid coiling the coax where possible.
completely new to this . this is a great help because I plan to establish a complete community using this for free . to keep comms running no matter what . Thank you so much .
Oh man, this is the real deal! Thank you so much for the clear instructions. Many of those components aren't available in the EU/UK, but the principles are still super sound.
Thanks for all of your Meshtastic videos. Very helpful. I'm contemplating an emergency comms system that I can quickly deploy for my family (brother is 3 miles west and sister is three miles east). I'll probably 3D print a custom PETG enclosure and mount a solar powered WiFi enabled Meshtastic transceiver on a heavy duty PVC pole screwed into the side of a chimney at each location, with the antenna hanging out the bottom and directly connected to the PCB as coax is lossy at 1 GHz and this is a weak signal application. I liked the suggestion to use a vent filter on the bottom to allow moisture to vent from the enclosure. I try to do that for all outdoor enclosures. I'm still learning what hardware is available so I can buy what I need with reasonable assurance that it'll work in my application and be reliable (no need to press a reset button on pole mounted hardware, etc.) It'd be great if I could make my own inexpensive dipole antenna and have it hidden inside the PVC pipe mast so there's just a solar panel on a plastic box on top.
I was always told to connect the red and the black wires diagonally across the pack so the load is balanced. But your method is more tolerant to a solder joint breaking.
@@The_Comms_Channel thanks man! I’ve watched them all and learnt loads. This solar setup looks unreal on the pole! I’ll definitely be doing one this year
One thing I saw about enclosures in wet environments is purposely butting an open hole in the bottom of the enclosure, the theory being that water is going to get in at some point, so you may as well allow it to drain. They do this on showers, which obviously are in very wet environments, but it might not be worth it if you don't see pretty constant rainfall. I'm going to cite Big Clive here on TH-cam because I seem to remember it from a video where he took apart the pump box of a normal shower.
I got my units in and started playing around. Someone in range of my house actually had a Heltec up already! Now to find the best spots to “deploy” these solar units for best range. I also added an OLED, GPS, and weather sensor to my mobile unit and it works great. Even though the pin mapper showed a possible conflict on I2C it seems to work ok. I’m on the latest firmware. Now to find a smaller flatter battery and design a neat case, I enjoy using fusion360 😊 this will be better than the Lilygo. You could even splurge for the e-ink display on the Wisboard. So many cool sensor options too.
Nice! It was just my friends and I when we first started, but it's growing and we're starting to see new people pop up! I'm sure it will keep growing as well. So many fun things to do with these boards
I have used that 3M "5200 Adhesive".. its sticky stuff! And it will NOT come out of clothing, and barely comes off your skin! I use a popcicle stick to spread it around, since its like peanut butter.
I have been slowly buying your recommendations to build and gain the knowledge yet I am also willing to drop money if you ever open a webpage to start selling your build. They look clean and I see it as an easier way to bring up family members to build a network. Great video as always!
Regarding the tilt of the solar panel - for an off-grid device like this you’re better off optimising the tilt for winter conditions when you have the least sun hours, as in summer you’ll have an excess of energy anyway due to the additional hours so a suboptimal tilt doesn’t matter then.
Great video and build. Regarding the limited charging capacity of the Wisblocks the community should reach out to RAK and ask them to develop a solution that can charge for example a multi-cell (i.e.1S6P) at up to 3A at least. That could also be an add-on Module to the Wisblock Base. Furthermore such charger module should cover also sodium batteries (Na+) that can be charged at down to -10° C which would fit the needs of many locations in the northern hemisphere. Would anyone have an idea how to reach RAK or where to place such requirement to RAK?
I gathered all the parts for this along with some of my own customization. The VENT-PS1NBK-N8001 from DigiKey looks like a smart move, will probably need to make an order of some of those from them. I was wondering about the Li-ion Battery Protection Modules. It says in the description to include them but they aren't used in the video. I reached out to Voltaic Enclosures and they said that what I am looking for is the solar charger board that they sell. (currently out of stock) Just wanted some clarification on this. Anyone else in the Southern California area that ran this same build? I have everything ready to go just want to know if anyone has experience with high temps. The charts show a safe charging temp of up to 113 F and honestly it rarely gets THAT hot here so I'm wondering if it will be fine to run this instead of the new LTO build that's in the works.
I might be reaching too far here, but since you already brought up custom PCB boards, would you consider making a T-Deck board for nrf52 and an ePaper display to be mounted in a BlackBerry or Nokia E63 body (both widely available as new, generic spares alongside compatible batteries)? If so, I would not only pitch in for the initial printed boards, but also would buy at least 10 immediately, with another 20+ more once I show them around Edit: the main reason for asking this, is the obvious greater battery life over the LCD - esp32 based T-Deck (which I have and could use some polishing)
Great videos! I like your detailed approach and method of teaching. Just curious though, what is the internal temperature of the project box with the solar panel attached to the front with the large cutout to allow cable passage? Especially during full exposure to sunlight. I know that those glass type solar panels (front and back) get quite hot when exposed to the sun. Experienced this on several camping trips when charging devices. Just another data point to prevent damage to the circuits or the multiple batteries. Might be a good idea to attach a temp / humidity sensor to the WisBlock base. Thanks for all of your hard work!
14:45 wouldn’t it be prudent to wire in a diode to prevent accidental polarity issues? If so would you need a diode in the positive, negative, or both?
The Sanyo batteries you listed are UNPROTECTED, since there is no bms, you should use protected cells, they are little more expensive but will manage themselves. Make sure the protected cells fit the holders you are using as they tend to be slightly longer. Great video.
If the batteries were in series, I'd agree with you. But they're in parallel. They're forced to be the same state of charge. I don't know as you need much more than a charge controller. It could use something to prevent over discharge. I'm not sure if that's present in the board.
@@russellhltn1396 when batteries are in parallel they can drift in voltage over time, as one goes higher and one lower , you can get into a state where the higher cell can be over charged and the lower charged one undercharged. this can be mitigated by using batteries that have been top balanced but it is still a possible long term issue. its just smarter to use protected cells since you can get them sometimes for the same price and unprotected cells.
@@russellhltn1396 over time batteries can drift in volts, causing a mix of overcharged and under charged cells, its a long term issue, that can be fixed by using a bms or protected cells, bms is the best way but more expensive, but you can get protected cells sometimes at the same price of unprotected cells.
I’ve had a lot of issues getting hams to allow any tower space, I’ve gotten told nicely to fuck off by every repeater owner in my town, guess I’ll just have to put them on usda owned mountains
I am interested in purchasing the full 3 pair battery with the enclosure you used and all the other goodies. I loved the way you built such a nice unit. Thanks and 73 de W3LU
Love this project. This can handle temperatures here In Portugal like 43°C? Maybe the solar panel need some gap between the box and the panel so the air can cool down the box and the panel?
@@The_Comms_Channel unbalanced cells, accidentally plugging one in wrong polarity, a battery that goes bad, etc. I am aware many 18650’s have some of what I mention built into an internal circuit, but not all and certainly not the balancing. From my knowledge cells that do not have the internal circuit generally use that space for more capacity - so there is a trade off. I believe given how long we wish to keep these units in service these are important considerations.
@@The_Comms_Channel not when a cell goes sideways. Anyways for this application not a big deal I guess. That’s why I said not a negative criticism- more of an observation
Where convenient, instead of soldering and putting shrink about the connections, I would use jelly crimps. Add extra protection from the weather and reduce chances of corrosion and rust. Ah nvm, the box has a rubber seal as well, didnt see that. But still extra protection, or for people who dont have a soldering iron.
would you mind adding which junction box gland or grommet would be ideal to use where the hole is for the antenna and anywhere else drilling into the box is needed?
I think I'm in need of a Lead acid battery to use in the solar box set-up, because of my weather? summers can be 105* to 110* and my winters can be as low as -35* with the wind chill. Am I thinking right or is their something else I should be looking for for powering my system? any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!
I'm getting the last couple things I need, and noticed that the battery holders are not on your list. For fitment, I thought it might be important to get the same ones. Where did you get them from?
Hello, I'm trying out this same setup and admittedly only did a single test so far, where I let the battery run down until the wisblock shutdown... I then connected the 6-watt solar panel to the solar charge input to see how the unit would recover, it seemed to recover/power up/bt connect, but would not transmit... I tried disconnecting and connecting a few times, and it was the same behavior. I then connected the solar panel via the usb-c port on the wisblock, and the unit seem to power up, and charge the battery at the same time. And everything seemed to function okay. Have you tried running down until power off and see how it recovers yet? Maybe I have a faulty unit, but thought I'd ask anyways ...Thanks!
For the charge discharge protection you linked in the description. Do you need one for the whole pack or one per battery? If it's one per battery how would you wire it up?
Awesome video, i just got my wisblock and am going to be setting something like this up. Thanks for the great walkthrough. For setting the angle of the solar panel, would it be better to set it up closer to the optimum winter angle since the days will be shorter then?
Sure thing! Glad you're finding the videos helpful. Setting the panel up for the best winter angle makes sense and should work well. Good luck with your build!
Any recommendations for alternate battery options for my solar build I live in south Texas where temps can easily reach 115* and and all help would be greatly appreciated
@The Comms Channel - Hi. Living in Colorado, we have high winds and heavy hail storms. The ratings were not good on the one you linked to. I found a heavy duty one from ECO-WORTHY 12V Solar Panel 10W Solar Panel Battery Charger that would handle this. My question is, can you recommend something that I can put in between this 12V 10W panel and the unit you described in this build (that would reduce the wattage and voltage down to acceptable levels)? Or some other way I could use this heavier Solar Panel. Also, I would be interested in you new PCB board (if I can find all the other components which are currently out of stock)! 😁
store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-green-power-module-rak19004 This will do that. Rokland doesn't carry it so you would have to order directly from RAK
@@The_Comms_Channel- Great, thanks for the fast response. I was hoping there was something (because as a non-electronics guy, I knew that solar panel would fry the electronics with such a high voltage and wattage)! I love that it is Texas Instruments too. Reminds me of the good old days when we had Radio Shacks! 😁
@@The_Comms_Channel - Hi again! I’m over on the RAK wireless (as it looks like they have stock), and I’m looking at a 8dBi Fiberglass Antenna (in order to make something similar to your outdoor LoRa box with antenna). However, I don’t know what “connection type” I should get. It has 3 options… N-Type Male, N-Type to IPEX, and N-Type to RP-SMA. Do you know which one I should get (if I’m going to be connecting to a WisBlock Meshtaskic Starter Kit with accessaries like the “iPEX to RP-SMA Connector”)? Sorry for all the questions. I’d like to get this setup so I can start going through your training videos.
I'd be kind of worried about those two little screws into the plastic enclosure holding the bracket on. I'd think in a strong storm the wind would be blowing on the panel like a sail and tear those screw holes out. Hopefully not!
Question: What happens if / when the batteries go dead, and the node shuts down? Will it come back own automatically? Or does it need a manual push of the "On" button?
If I understand this, do you need to be within bluetooth range with your phone to this unit (mounted outside on a pole etc) in order to use it? I know bluetooth is rather limited in range. Almost seems like, if possible, to put a wifi access point and connect to the board via wifi because of the greater range? Not sure if I understand if this is the unit that would be used for a client - maybe this is a repeater instead, mounted high up? In that case, the bluetooth would be to manage it only onsite? Any info would be helpful.. Thanks...
The Bluetooth range on these is great. I'm able to reach mine throughout my house and use it as a client. If you were to deploy it outside of Bluetooth range, you could use it as a repeater and have a unit indoors.
@@The_Comms_Channel Understood.. Thank you for the quick reply! Makes sense to just use an indoor unit if the range is a factor. One another topic, I ordered the 3000ma flat battery from ROK as it was suggested to buy along with the kit. I assume that will work and that the USB-C will charge it just as it would the 18650 battery? To clarify, at this time, I am not building this outdoor solar unit - I just ordered the starter kits because they became available - have not done anything yet with Meshtastic.
@@3rsullivan Sure thing! Yep, that will work a charge just the same. Just be sure the polarity is correct before plugging in. You'll see a (+) sign next to the battery port.
@@The_Comms_Channel FYI: Rokland was sold out within an hour for the starter kit. I'm glad I ordered as soon as I got the notice - I was going to go with a LilyGo because it's an all-in-one unit.. But can't find them anywhere so I went with Wisblok. I got this email - "We planned to announce more Meshtastic Kit availability via mass email today and gave those on our in-stock notification list an advanced time period to buy some with a 4 QTY limit per person. Our stock sold out in just over an hour. We know many of you on the list did not have time to buy. We will have more available next week, so be sure to re-add your email to the notification list if you are still looking to buy. Two other topics:" Its very interesting to see how quickly this is taking off - people want this for some reason - can't imagine why that is... Your channel is absolutely great. Thank you.
$150-$180 depending on setup. Also, Rokland just got more stock of the Meshtastic Starter Kits that I have linked in the video description. They'll likely sell out sometime today if history repeats itself.
You should do another version of this but with only two batteries and a smaller box. There's also a smaller Wisblock base that is essentially the same as the one you're using, minus the extra unused board area (WisBlock Base RAK19003) which would be more elegant than this one.
I'm looking at the etsy page now, still sold out. Could you at least advise what mounting hardware to get? I am going to attempt to 3-d print my own mounting plate, but I am unsure what screws I should use.
I’m beyond new to this… so this may be a moronic question but- is there possibility of putting a small cooling fan like on a cpu tower into a unit like this ?
Does this have any way to balance the batteries? otherwise if one of them is charged more than the others, it could over charge? Or is that not a thing with having all of the batteries in parrallel?
One last question: (Hopefully!?) How durable is the thin, rigid solar panel? I ask this because we just had a squall line, thunder storm, with 60 MPH wind gusts, at my home in Ga. I would hate to build this fantastic device, only to have it snap the solar panel's wings off in a high wind! Or become wind resistant and get ripped off a mast! Maybe, only time will tell!?
The original ones are a bit pricy, which are these www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Keystone-Electronics/1049?qs=%2F7TOpeL5Mz78b0pqEFIl5w%3D%3D&countryCode=US¤cyCode=USD The alternative ones from Ali Express are the same size and much cheaper if you don't mind the wait for shipping www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802118373710.html Make sure its the option called "2 18650 THM"
💡Don't coil the coax. It becomes an inductor. Use a short cable or leave loose. Also ensure part of that cable immediately goes lower than the socket so to provide a drip loop.
Had some storms with heavy winds come through the area last week. All of our nodes are still doing well. Nothing hurricane force or anything but that 3M 5200 really holds well. If you're super concerned though, the solar node in my latest video should be far less affected by winds. th-cam.com/video/d2vQ87Th8DI/w-d-xo.html
I really want to do this but I'm extremely new to Meshtastic. Let's assume I mount mine 20+ feet in the air in my backyard somewhere. If I'm in my house I can't connect to it via bluetooth from inside my office. What mode do I put it in so I can send and receive messages on a device I have inside my office?
If you're out of Bluetooth range you would need another device inside your home. The Bluetooth range is great though and you can also add an external Bluetooth antenna for more range if needed.
Hi, thanks for your videos. I am currently building this for myself, however, the large antenna link is broken. Can you provide another affiliate link for a large antenna? Thank you.
Just realized the original antenna for this video had a Male N-Connector and the one I linked has a Female N-Connector. I've updated the link. If you've already ordered the antenna and if it's too late to change, it will still work, you just need a different cable. Let me know and I can point you in the right direction
hi, yes I ordered already =) I can order the correct cables tomorrow.. thanks again, looking forward to the build. I have a friend with a professional tower site that offered to let me install there.. should be fun =)
Hi, my son is a militaty comms guy but is having me do the soldering from my electronics background. Everything is straightforward except for this part. In the parts kit he gave me it included a PCH v 1.2M. Is this necessary and where does it go?
The only change that mostly required is low voltage cut off of 3v between the battery and the RAK (if voltage gets to low it can crash the RAK in an unrecoverable automatic way, requires physical manual intervention to unplug and replug the RAK battery plug so it restarts the RAK) Trying to find the seller that has this module
It may be the area I'm in, but I don't think it will be a concern with this large of a panel. We've not had any of our devices go below 80% with 2 batteries
@@The_Comms_ChannelI really dislike TH-cam and automod, try again lol,,,, look for Building a Solar Powered Lora Meshtastic Community Network there is a comment at the bottom on kaspars
I give up as it keeps deleting my post check community if others are interested in keeping battery above 3v so the RAK doesn't crash (assuming it doesn't delete this one as well)
Yeah, they've been hard to come by. Rokland should be getting a shipment of around 1,000 Mestastic Starter Kits within the next 8 days or so. Be sure you're subscribed and have notifications turned on for my channel as I'll post a stock alert as soon as they become available!
Sorry if you covered this, but how far of coverage will this provide? Some buddies and i all live over 30 miles from each other in various distances. Would this be practical for all of us to deploy? Or too far?
@@The_Comms_Channel To connect a family member and i's house is 25.32 KM's. Looks like if i mount the units on 16 foot poles, i should have a little room to spare in terms of elevation tollerance. Do you think this exact unit could broadcast that far?
As a comms professional I would suggest mounting the enclosure upside down. The coax should exit from the bottom of the enclosure so you minimize the risk of water damage. That setup really triggers my OCD. Cool project btw 😃👍🏼
/Tom
Ah, that's a good point! I'll pin this to the top!
It is prudent to have the coax enter from the bottom. In reality, you can turn the entire box upside down. Having an omni antenna pointing straight down will work just as good as having it point straight up.
@@TheSzalkowskisome antennas have breathing holes for lack of a better description in the base and fill with water when upside down.
@@RabbitStu-M7UTS Can you please send me a link to one of those so I can take a look and evaluate if that is a realistic risk or not?
Living in Georgia, our humidity gets into almost everything, and can even build up a puddle of water. I would think a breathable drain hole (with mesh cover, to keep the bugs out!) Is a good idea. Angeling the unit will help with drainage too!
I think your idea of POE unit is a great idea. A person could run a POE ethernet wire up in the attic maybe even mount it outside in a nice enclosure and bingo you have a repeater at your house. You might even be able to add a battery as a backup if the main power goes down. Every comms conscious person should do that.
My thoughts too maybe have a small talent cell UPS for power
@@BobBob-il2ku Yep, PoE build will use UPS
My poe+ 56v ubiquiti port runs poe module at 91 deg F in a 65 deg F ambient temp bsmt in open conditions. Inside a closed box, outdoor in the sun would likely be problematic.
Your instructional videos are some of the best I’ve seen on TH-cam. Great job 👏
Thank you! I appreciate that and I'm glad you're finding the videos helpful!
9:50 - PRO TIP: With a bank of parallel batteries, attach the positive lead to one side and the negative lead to the other side. This makes the same number of series inter-battery links for each battery to have the same voltage drop for each battery in the parallel battery pack. As shown in the video, the battery on the right will have zero additional wired links and the battery on the far left will have ten additional connections. That left battery will charge to a lower voltage and will be discharged more to provide the needed load voltage.
Good spot, I was just about to say the same.
Had to consider your comment for a moment to understand but then I saw the time link and it all made sense. Wouldn’t a conductor with less resistance make this unnecessary? Suppose a zinc or copper strip was used to bridge the parallel. Could we avoid the diagonal strategy?
@@andrewaldridge860 - It's a good idea to use large conductors on high current battery connections to reduce resistive losses. Is the reluctance to connect the positive lead on one side of a string of parallel connected batteries and the negative lead to the other side based on aesthetic considerations? Is is because it looks wrong, or feels wrong? To ensure all of the batteries are charging and discharging to the same level, it's important to balance the voltage drops within the battery bank. With large enough batteries and battery interconnections and a small charging and discharging current the voltage drops across the battery may be insignificant, but with ten batteries in the battery bank, if the wire and two connections between each battery results in a 0.1 volt drop, that's almost a 1 volt drop between batteries on the far ends. If both connections need to be made on one side for some reason, maybe wire five batteries in parallel on one side and five in parallel on the other side in a 2x5 battery array so the electrical ends of the battery pack are on the same physical end.
Ready for the mobile wiseblock video for meshtastic, not a lot of people post about it but low power consumption is a huge plus
The build video. We have all been waiting for this one.
Came here to say the same.
For small solar in the continental US, I usually just mount the panel at 45 degrees. This is close to the winter optimal angle. There is way more solar energy in the summer, so I size the panel and battery for worst case winter performance.
18:00 - I would add sealant to antenna connector. You may also wish to consider a vent cap and drain hole for condensation.
Also... If u are doing external antenna with a little bit of feed line... I would put antenna connector on bottom to allow for rain drip loop
At 21:04 make sure that all of the actual antenna (which is the white fiberglass section), is ABOVE the top of the mast. Otherwise this can introduce a very high SWR to your signal, impeding performance and possibly burn up your WisBlock. This is only applicable if it's a mast made of metal or other conductive material. Thanks for an outstanding instructional video.
Decent looking build. Couple suggestions: Toss a silica gel pack or two in the enclosure. All openings to the enclosure, including the antenna connector, should be on the bottom where possible to avoid water intrusion. Avoid coiling the coax where possible.
Good ideas! Thanks!
I believe the purpose of coiling the coax is to provide a drip loop to prevent water running down the coax and possibly into the enclosure.
@@BOYTLeRoyJenkinsThat is the purpose of the coil, but if the holes are on the bottom, it may negate the need for the coil? Just guessing though.
@@ChristopherScanlan88 Makes sense
You need to weather strip the n connector and the omni connector or water will get in them and rain and snow will kill your power.
completely new to this . this is a great help because I plan to establish a complete community using this for free . to keep comms running no matter what . Thank you so much .
Sure thing! Glad it was helpful!
Oh man, this is the real deal! Thank you so much for the clear instructions. Many of those components aren't available in the EU/UK, but the principles are still super sound.
Thanks for all of your Meshtastic videos. Very helpful. I'm contemplating an emergency comms system that I can quickly deploy for my family (brother is 3 miles west and sister is three miles east). I'll probably 3D print a custom PETG enclosure and mount a solar powered WiFi enabled Meshtastic transceiver on a heavy duty PVC pole screwed into the side of a chimney at each location, with the antenna hanging out the bottom and directly connected to the PCB as coax is lossy at 1 GHz and this is a weak signal application. I liked the suggestion to use a vent filter on the bottom to allow moisture to vent from the enclosure. I try to do that for all outdoor enclosures. I'm still learning what hardware is available so I can buy what I need with reasonable assurance that it'll work in my application and be reliable (no need to press a reset button on pole mounted hardware, etc.) It'd be great if I could make my own inexpensive dipole antenna and have it hidden inside the PVC pipe mast so there's just a solar panel on a plastic box on top.
For cleaning up the edges of the cut: a deburring tool makes quick, clean work.
I was always told to connect the red and the black wires diagonally across the pack so the load is balanced. But your method is more tolerant to a solder joint breaking.
Absolutely brilliant thanks
Cheers! Love your videos and appreciate you stopping by my channel!
@@The_Comms_Channel thanks man! I’ve watched them all and learnt loads. This solar setup looks unreal on the pole! I’ll definitely be doing one this year
Thanks for this great series, very enjoyable.
One thing I saw about enclosures in wet environments is purposely butting an open hole in the bottom of the enclosure, the theory being that water is going to get in at some point, so you may as well allow it to drain. They do this on showers, which obviously are in very wet environments, but it might not be worth it if you don't see pretty constant rainfall. I'm going to cite Big Clive here on TH-cam because I seem to remember it from a video where he took apart the pump box of a normal shower.
Oh, I make point of saying "normal" because one of the other showers he looked at was rather dangerous
I got my units in and started playing around. Someone in range of my house actually had a Heltec up already! Now to find the best spots to “deploy” these solar units for best range.
I also added an OLED, GPS, and weather sensor to my mobile unit and it works great. Even though the pin mapper showed a possible conflict on I2C it seems to work ok. I’m on the latest firmware. Now to find a smaller flatter battery and design a neat case, I enjoy using fusion360 😊 this will be better than the Lilygo. You could even splurge for the e-ink display on the Wisboard. So many cool sensor options too.
Nice! It was just my friends and I when we first started, but it's growing and we're starting to see new people pop up! I'm sure it will keep growing as well. So many fun things to do with these boards
I have used that 3M "5200 Adhesive".. its sticky stuff! And it will NOT come out of clothing, and barely comes off your skin! I use a popcicle stick to spread it around, since its like peanut butter.
It's no joke for sure!
I like the way you think. I was using a POE splitter for one unit.
I have been slowly buying your recommendations to build and gain the knowledge yet I am also willing to drop money if you ever open a webpage to start selling your build. They look clean and I see it as an easier way to bring up family members to build a network.
Great video as always!
Yes, please make more!
Regarding the tilt of the solar panel - for an off-grid device like this you’re better off optimising the tilt for winter conditions when you have the least sun hours, as in summer you’ll have an excess of energy anyway due to the additional hours so a suboptimal tilt doesn’t matter then.
Great video and build. Regarding the limited charging capacity of the Wisblocks the community should reach out to RAK and ask them to develop a solution that can charge for example a multi-cell (i.e.1S6P) at up to 3A at least. That could also be an add-on Module to the Wisblock Base. Furthermore such charger module should cover also sodium batteries (Na+) that can be charged at down to -10° C which would fit the needs of many locations in the northern hemisphere. Would anyone have an idea how to reach RAK or where to place such requirement to RAK?
I gathered all the parts for this along with some of my own customization. The VENT-PS1NBK-N8001 from DigiKey looks like a smart move, will probably need to make an order of some of those from them. I was wondering about the Li-ion Battery Protection Modules. It says in the description to include them but they aren't used in the video. I reached out to Voltaic Enclosures and they said that what I am looking for is the solar charger board that they sell. (currently out of stock) Just wanted some clarification on this.
Anyone else in the Southern California area that ran this same build? I have everything ready to go just want to know if anyone has experience with high temps. The charts show a safe charging temp of up to 113 F and honestly it rarely gets THAT hot here so I'm wondering if it will be fine to run this instead of the new LTO build that's in the works.
Looks very good both on the inside and the outside.
Aha! A SG-50 System, but for makers. I love it.
Does the WisBlock setup contain a charge controller on the board?
I might be reaching too far here, but since you already brought up custom PCB boards, would you consider making a T-Deck board for nrf52 and an ePaper display to be mounted in a BlackBerry or Nokia E63 body (both widely available as new, generic spares alongside compatible batteries)?
If so, I would not only pitch in for the initial printed boards, but also would buy at least 10 immediately, with another 20+ more once I show them around
Edit: the main reason for asking this, is the obvious greater battery life over the LCD - esp32 based T-Deck (which I have and could use some polishing)
Great videos! I like your detailed approach and method of teaching.
Just curious though, what is the internal temperature of the project box with the solar panel attached to the front with
the large cutout to allow cable passage? Especially during full exposure to sunlight.
I know that those glass type solar panels (front and back) get quite hot when exposed to the sun. Experienced this on
several camping trips when charging devices.
Just another data point to prevent damage to the circuits or the multiple batteries. Might be a good idea to attach a temp / humidity sensor
to the WisBlock base.
Thanks for all of your hard work!
What an amazing video tutorial, thanks so much for all your hard work and advice. Absolute legend!
Appreciate you saying that!
14:45 wouldn’t it be prudent to wire in a diode to prevent accidental polarity issues? If so would you need a diode in the positive, negative, or both?
Once again, great stuff!
Hopefully my WisBlocks show up this week.
Awesome job and fyi, the tinkercad link is a errors "Sorry, that page is missing"
The Sanyo batteries you listed are UNPROTECTED, since there is no bms, you should use protected cells, they are little more expensive but will manage themselves. Make sure the protected cells fit the holders you are using as they tend to be slightly longer. Great video.
also charge each battery to the same volt before installing (top balance), so they don't drift in voltage and over charge and discharge
Maybe the board is bms?
If the batteries were in series, I'd agree with you. But they're in parallel. They're forced to be the same state of charge. I don't know as you need much more than a charge controller. It could use something to prevent over discharge. I'm not sure if that's present in the board.
@@russellhltn1396 when batteries are in parallel they can drift in voltage over time, as one goes higher and one lower , you can get into a state where the higher cell can be over charged and the lower charged one undercharged. this can be mitigated by using batteries that have been top balanced but it is still a possible long term issue. its just smarter to use protected cells since you can get them sometimes for the same price and unprotected cells.
@@russellhltn1396 over time batteries can drift in volts, causing a mix of overcharged and under charged cells, its a long term issue, that can be fixed by using a bms or protected cells, bms is the best way but more expensive, but you can get protected cells sometimes at the same price of unprotected cells.
I’ve had a lot of issues getting hams to allow any tower space, I’ve gotten told nicely to fuck off by every repeater owner in my town, guess I’ll just have to put them on usda owned mountains
Boomer mentality. A shame we could accomplish so much if they were more cooperative
I am interested in purchasing the full 3 pair battery with the enclosure you used and all the other goodies. I loved the way you built such a nice unit. Thanks and 73 de W3LU
Love this project.
This can handle temperatures here In Portugal like 43°C?
Maybe the solar panel need some gap between the box and the panel so the air can cool down the box and the panel?
Not a negative criticism: Is it not a bad idea to have Li-Po's in parallel with out some protection circuits/etc?
Protection from what?
@@The_Comms_Channel unbalanced cells, accidentally plugging one in wrong polarity, a battery that goes bad, etc. I am aware many 18650’s have some of what I mention built into an internal circuit, but not all and certainly not the balancing. From my knowledge cells that do not have the internal circuit generally use that space for more capacity - so there is a trade off. I believe given how long we wish to keep these units in service these are important considerations.
Batteries in parallel balance themselves naturally
@@The_Comms_Channel not when a cell goes sideways. Anyways for this application not a big deal I guess. That’s why I said not a negative criticism- more of an observation
If someone can't follow simple instructions like putting in a battery in the correct way, that's on them.
Where convenient, instead of soldering and putting shrink about the connections, I would use jelly crimps.
Add extra protection from the weather and reduce chances of corrosion and rust.
Ah nvm, the box has a rubber seal as well, didnt see that. But still extra protection, or for people who dont have a soldering iron.
Would love to see you offer a full completely built kit!
Can't wait to see how you tackle the PoE, I'm waiting on mine to ship.
Coming soon!
would you mind adding which junction box gland or grommet would be ideal to use where the hole is for the antenna and anywhere else drilling into the box is needed?
I think I'm in need of a Lead acid battery to use in the solar box set-up, because of my weather? summers can be 105* to 110* and my winters can be as low as -35* with the wind chill. Am I thinking right or is their something else I should be looking for for powering my system? any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!
Where do i get the two small white plastic connectors for the battery and solar connection?
I would TOTALLY buy this pre-made it you sold these!! Not to tech savvy....
I'm getting the last couple things I need, and noticed that the battery holders are not on your list. For fitment, I thought it might be important to get the same ones. Where did you get them from?
Hello, I'm trying out this same setup and admittedly only did a single test so far, where I let the battery run down until the wisblock shutdown... I then connected the 6-watt solar panel to the solar charge input to see how the unit would recover, it seemed to recover/power up/bt connect, but would not transmit... I tried disconnecting and connecting a few times, and it was the same behavior. I then connected the solar panel via the usb-c port on the wisblock, and the unit seem to power up, and charge the battery at the same time. And everything seemed to function okay. Have you tried running down until power off and see how it recovers yet? Maybe I have a faulty unit, but thought I'd ask anyways ...Thanks!
For the charge discharge protection you linked in the description. Do you need one for the whole pack or one per battery? If it's one per battery how would you wire it up?
Just one for the whole setup.
Can you please add details of the solar panel?
Awesome video, i just got my wisblock and am going to be setting something like this up. Thanks for the great walkthrough. For setting the angle of the solar panel, would it be better to set it up closer to the optimum winter angle since the days will be shorter then?
Sure thing! Glad you're finding the videos helpful. Setting the panel up for the best winter angle makes sense and should work well. Good luck with your build!
Any recommendations for alternate battery options for my solar build I live in south Texas where temps can easily reach 115* and and all help would be greatly appreciated
Awesome Video
Appreciate it!
Shouldn’t you solder the negative opposite the positive for balanced charging/discharging?
@The Comms Channel - Hi. Living in Colorado, we have high winds and heavy hail storms. The ratings were not good on the one you linked to. I found a heavy duty one from ECO-WORTHY 12V Solar Panel 10W Solar Panel Battery Charger that would handle this.
My question is, can you recommend something that I can put in between this 12V 10W panel and the unit you described in this build (that would reduce the wattage and voltage down to acceptable levels)? Or some other way I could use this heavier Solar Panel.
Also, I would be interested in you new PCB board (if I can find all the other components which are currently out of stock)! 😁
store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-green-power-module-rak19004
This will do that. Rokland doesn't carry it so you would have to order directly from RAK
@@The_Comms_Channel- Great, thanks for the fast response. I was hoping there was something (because as a non-electronics guy, I knew that solar panel would fry the electronics with such a high voltage and wattage)! I love that it is Texas Instruments too. Reminds me of the good old days when we had Radio Shacks! 😁
Sure thing! I do miss the old Radio Shack days!
@@The_Comms_Channel - Hi again! I’m over on the RAK wireless (as it looks like they have stock), and I’m looking at a 8dBi Fiberglass Antenna (in order to make something similar to your outdoor LoRa box with antenna).
However, I don’t know what “connection type” I should get. It has 3 options… N-Type Male, N-Type to IPEX, and N-Type to RP-SMA. Do you know which one I should get (if I’m going to be connecting to a WisBlock Meshtaskic Starter Kit with accessaries like the “iPEX to RP-SMA Connector”)? Sorry for all the questions. I’d like to get this setup so I can start going through your training videos.
@@The_Comms_Channel - I’m also wondering what kind of cable I need to get too.
I like the new way to flash .... seems to be easier....question I have 2 Lilly Go T-Beam v1.2 I assume it will work to flash that as well.
It is nice! I believe T+Beam should work
I'm interested in purchasing an entire kit if possible.
I'd be kind of worried about those two little screws into the plastic enclosure holding the bracket on. I'd think in a strong storm the wind would be blowing on the panel like a sail and tear those screw holes out. Hopefully not!
V1 was similar and held up to 70MPH winds
I stand corrected, good to know!
I’d like a mounting plate if you’re still making those?
Yep, I'll have more on Tuesday at 1PM
Awesome!!
Question: What happens if / when the batteries go dead, and the node shuts down? Will it come back own automatically? Or does it need a manual push of the "On" button?
The device does need to be restarted manually if that happens. That said, the solar panel is oversized and that is unlikely to happen
@@The_Comms_Channel Good to Know!
If I understand this, do you need to be within bluetooth range with your phone to this unit (mounted outside on a pole etc) in order to use it? I know bluetooth is rather limited in range. Almost seems like, if possible, to put a wifi access point and connect to the board via wifi because of the greater range? Not sure if I understand if this is the unit that would be used for a client - maybe this is a repeater instead, mounted high up? In that case, the bluetooth would be to manage it only onsite? Any info would be helpful.. Thanks...
The Bluetooth range on these is great. I'm able to reach mine throughout my house and use it as a client. If you were to deploy it outside of Bluetooth range, you could use it as a repeater and have a unit indoors.
@@The_Comms_Channel Understood.. Thank you for the quick reply! Makes sense to just use an indoor unit if the range is a factor. One another topic, I ordered the 3000ma flat battery from ROK as it was suggested to buy along with the kit. I assume that will work and that the USB-C will charge it just as it would the 18650 battery? To clarify, at this time, I am not building this outdoor solar unit - I just ordered the starter kits because they became available - have not done anything yet with Meshtastic.
@@3rsullivan Sure thing! Yep, that will work a charge just the same. Just be sure the polarity is correct before plugging in. You'll see a (+) sign next to the battery port.
@@The_Comms_Channel FYI: Rokland was sold out within an hour for the starter kit. I'm glad I ordered as soon as I got the notice - I was going to go with a LilyGo because it's an all-in-one unit.. But can't find them anywhere so I went with Wisblok. I got this email - "We planned to announce more Meshtastic Kit availability via mass email today and gave those on our in-stock notification list an advanced time period to buy some with a 4 QTY limit per person. Our stock sold out in just over an hour. We know many of you on the list did not have time to buy. We will have more available next week, so be sure to re-add your email to the notification list if you are still looking to buy. Two other topics:"
Its very interesting to see how quickly this is taking off - people want this for some reason - can't imagine why that is...
Your channel is absolutely great. Thank you.
can a node built to this specification stand up well to extreme weather conditions of -10f-100f?
Can the solar panel be connected to USB-C port via a USB-A to USB-C connector? Why did you cut the cable and connect it to the solar connection?
Charging via USB-C activates some unnecessary chips and uses more power
Great video! Do you have a rough ballpark on what a setup like this would cost all said and done?
$150-$180 depending on setup.
Also, Rokland just got more stock of the Meshtastic Starter Kits that I have linked in the video description. They'll likely sell out sometime today if history repeats itself.
@@The_Comms_Channel awesome! Thanks for the response!
Sure thing!
Not an expert, but don't you need some sort of BMS or balancer when you have multiple cells that you want to charge in parallel?
No. Batteries in parallel balance naturally.
I may be wrong here and am new to solar. Wouldn’t you need some kind of charge controller to keep the batteries from taking too much power?
In tapping into the solar panels USB output which limits it to 5V
You should do another version of this but with only two batteries and a smaller box.
There's also a smaller Wisblock base that is essentially the same as the one you're using, minus the extra unused board area (WisBlock Base RAK19003) which would be more elegant than this one.
The PCB will have holes for the 19003
whats the practical significance of choosing PCB over the acrylic board?
More professional, easier to solder, ability to add features
I'm looking at the etsy page now, still sold out. Could you at least advise what mounting hardware to get? I am going to attempt to 3-d print my own mounting plate, but I am unsure what screws I should use.
New stock will be up on Etsy early this week. Screws and standoffs are M2.5
What mini heat-gun are you using on the shrink tube?
It's part of my soldering station
YIHUA 862BD+
I’m beyond new to this… so this may be a moronic question but- is there possibility of putting a small cooling fan like on a cpu tower into a unit like this ?
Loving the content bro, could you re post the link to the 3d printed plate? Thanks bud!
www.tinkercad.com/things/dckWHvAHVCz-6batt-plate?sharecode=A6JJsrWXCsSr9PiE1TvLOcO-W_x43TpA1GBXbYYUujA
@@The_Comms_Channel thank you sir
Does this have any way to balance the batteries? otherwise if one of them is charged more than the others, it could over charge? Or is that not a thing with having all of the batteries in parrallel?
Batteries in parallel balance themselves naturally
@@The_Comms_Channel Fair enough. I wasn't sure if that was a thing they did in parallel or in series haha
No worries!
One last question: (Hopefully!?) How durable is the thin, rigid solar panel? I ask this because we just had a squall line, thunder storm, with 60 MPH wind gusts, at my home in Ga.
I would hate to build this fantastic device, only to have it snap the solar panel's wings off in a high wind! Or become wind resistant and get ripped off a mast!
Maybe, only time will tell!?
We've had some up for almost a year now in similar weather. I suspect now they'll be even better with us using 3M 5200 adhesive
Great video! Do you have a link to the battery holders?
The original ones are a bit pricy, which are these
www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Keystone-Electronics/1049?qs=%2F7TOpeL5Mz78b0pqEFIl5w%3D%3D&countryCode=US¤cyCode=USD
The alternative ones from Ali Express are the same size and much cheaper if you don't mind the wait for shipping
www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802118373710.html
Make sure its the option called "2 18650 THM"
💡Don't coil the coax. It becomes an inductor. Use a short cable or leave loose.
Also ensure part of that cable immediately goes lower than the socket so to provide a drip loop.
Any idea how this would hold up in heavy wind? I live down here on the FL Coast
Had some storms with heavy winds come through the area last week. All of our nodes are still doing well. Nothing hurricane force or anything but that 3M 5200 really holds well. If you're super concerned though, the solar node in my latest video should be far less affected by winds.
th-cam.com/video/d2vQ87Th8DI/w-d-xo.html
Do you find the wisblock’s charge controller is enough, or would you recommend an external one like the DFROBOT ?
It's not a full solar charge controller, but it does well. Going on over a year without issues.
I really want to do this but I'm extremely new to Meshtastic. Let's assume I mount mine 20+ feet in the air in my backyard somewhere. If I'm in my house I can't connect to it via bluetooth from inside my office. What mode do I put it in so I can send and receive messages on a device I have inside my office?
If you're out of Bluetooth range you would need another device inside your home. The Bluetooth range is great though and you can also add an external Bluetooth antenna for more range if needed.
Hi, thanks for your videos. I am currently building this for myself, however, the large antenna link is broken. Can you provide another affiliate link for a large antenna? Thank you.
Sure thing! Thank you for the heads up! That antenna must no longer be available, so I've updated the link with an alternative.
Just realized the original antenna for this video had a Male N-Connector and the one I linked has a Female N-Connector. I've updated the link. If you've already ordered the antenna and if it's too late to change, it will still work, you just need a different cable. Let me know and I can point you in the right direction
hi, yes I ordered already =) I can order the correct cables tomorrow.. thanks again, looking forward to the build. I have a friend with a professional tower site that offered to let me install there.. should be fun =)
Sorry about that! Was hoping I realized it before you ordered!
Hi, my son is a militaty comms guy but is having me do the soldering from my electronics background. Everything is straightforward except for this part. In the parts kit he gave me it included a PCH v 1.2M. Is this necessary and where does it go?
And THEN I watched the video again and paid better attn. to you actuallu explaining this.
What about battery balancing when using multiple batteries?
They're in parallel so the balance on their own.
Does anyone have a rough price on the total build? Looking at doing this at my house and on a friends farm here in central PA
Do I just need 1 battery protection module per unit, if I use 6 batteries?
Yes
Soo why wouldn't you just plug the USB from the solar panel into the usb-c with a short pigtail?
USB uses more power
@@The_Comms_Channel won't it have a faster charge rate?
@@The_Comms_Channel also doesn't the battery port automatically turn off when the battery gets to 2.5 volts?
What kind of range does the bluetooth have to a cell phone?
About 300 feet
The only change that mostly required is low voltage cut off of 3v between the battery and the RAK (if voltage gets to low it can crash the RAK in an unrecoverable automatic way, requires physical manual intervention to unplug and replug the RAK battery plug so it restarts the RAK)
Trying to find the seller that has this module
It may be the area I'm in, but I don't think it will be a concern with this large of a panel. We've not had any of our devices go below 80% with 2 batteries
@@The_Comms_ChannelI really dislike TH-cam and automod, try again lol,,,, look for
Building a Solar Powered Lora Meshtastic Community Network
there is a comment at the bottom on kaspars
I give up as it keeps deleting my post check community if others are interested in keeping battery above 3v so the RAK doesn't crash (assuming it doesn't delete this one as well)
I think you’ll need a 90 degree USB-C adapter to make software updates easier
That would be handy! I'll be doing a video on updating via Bluetooth to eliminate any climbing up to where the antenna is.
@@The_Comms_Channelvia bluetooth whoa!
All of this is incredibly exciting but no one has any Meshtastic devices stocked at all in the US :(
Yeah, they've been hard to come by. Rokland should be getting a shipment of around 1,000 Mestastic Starter Kits within the next 8 days or so. Be sure you're subscribed and have notifications turned on for my channel as I'll post a stock alert as soon as they become available!
Sorry if you covered this, but how far of coverage will this provide? Some buddies and i all live over 30 miles from each other in various distances. Would this be practical for all of us to deploy? Or too far?
If it's line of sight between the 2 points with the right antennas it can work
@@leexgx doubtful we could get it line of site, believe their are some decent hills between. Darn it
@@ngk330 You can use this website to check between the two locations www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/
@@ngk330 You set up multiple devices to get the messages where you want them to go.
@@The_Comms_Channel To connect a family member and i's house is 25.32 KM's. Looks like if i mount the units on 16 foot poles, i should have a little room to spare in terms of elevation tollerance. Do you think this exact unit could broadcast that far?
When will you stock the Etsy store
I'll have a new option available this week. More info on a video soon
@@The_Comms_Channel thank you so much !
Sure thing! It's up now btw 🙂
thecommschannel.etsy.com/listing/1673053455
I really don't understand why did you used 6 cell of 18650? Isn't it overkill? nRF module of Wisblock uses very low energy.
Some people in areas with periods of not much sun wanted more batteries, but most people should be fine with 1 or 2
Nice!!!
Let's gooo!
Have the Etsy orders shipped?
The 2nd batch of acrylic has not been put up for sale yet.
You need to get hald of Ham SCI
Anyone have a tutorial on creating a private mqtt network
The 3d print file for the plate is gone.
It should still be there. You may have to sign up for an account to view
I know cost fluctuates all the time, but would anyone be willing to share the cost (with time of purchase) so we can all keep track?