The Ultimate Meshtastic Device - Long Range Comms
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2024
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I love that the files for the case are sold so the designer can be compensated for his work and people can print their own cases without waiting for shipping, customs, etc. If not already available, I think I'll CAD an enclosure for a pole mounted case that uses a homemade vertical dipole antenna, a solar panel and an 18650 battery, and upload it to Thingiverse and Printables. I've been looking for an off grid comms system that my non-ham friends and family can use and Meshtastic has advanced to that point.
Did you upload yet? If so can you send the link?
@@fierceseaman - No upload to Printables and Thingiverse yet. It's RAK's fault. 😛 I ordered my WisBlocks on 13FEB24 and it's nine days later and they haven't shipped yet. The first few days were the extended New Year celebration in China but I was expecting my order to ship on the 18th or 19th. I sent them an email asking when my order would ship but they haven't responded in two days. I check the order status online and it's still "Thank you for paying us, we'll email when your order ships, and please earn a bonus by telling everyone to buy from us". I have all of the other parts, including the PVC pipe for the masts. I'm guessing it'll be a couple of weeks for the RAK order to arrive. The CAD is mostly finished but I want to test the enclosures as fully assembled and working nodes to avoid uploading vaporware. Rokland shipped the antennas the next day, the quality looks great and the prices were reasonable. Unfortunately, they were back ordered on the WisBlocks. I revised the design from my earlier post. I'm using an 8.5 dBi antenna with an N connector but the 5 dBi antenna would work, or a smaller antenna with a base flage that mounts an SMA connector in an N sized panel hole. I'm using four 18650 batteries but any number up to four will work. I'm using a fairly large 6 watt solar panel. I think it's going to be very nice. The enclosure should print on any printer with a standard 200x200 mm bed or larger.
@@fierceseamanfollowing
Sounds great.
Looking forward to it.
Hello, I have been living under a rock in the NW, this is massive to me, thank you and look forward to the future.
I'm also in the same area. Picked some of this stuff up. Can't wait to get started and playing around with it all!
Amazing! Thank you for The Manchester photoshoot:) pictersque and beautiful even though looks like Silesia in Poland
Since most of the omnidirectional setups are vertically polarized, those using yagis, quagis, and other directional antennae should mount them for vertical for best results.
glad my case arrived today before the crush. It’s a lovely case.
Ran across these today and was impressed. Ordered one and all the accessories and shipping to the USA.
Wow, this is great, Lewis! I'll definitely have to give this a go where I live (in the States), cheers!
Excellent ! And i like the Drum'n'bass too 🙏
I picked up one of these because of your first video. I have it set up and running!
Ordered a Heltec board from AliExpress with a bunch of IPEX to SMA connectors and different antennas to mess about with. I may slap a repeater in the loft if required also. Asked to join the group seeing as I too am in NW UK!
T-Beam have an SMA connector soldered to the board, so perhaps a little bit less loss versus a pigtail and then SMA connector! Every little helps at this low power :)
I've got a few older Lilygo boards that work really well, but I prefer the T-Deck with its larger display and keypad.
I'm just getting into Meshtastic in the last couple of months and it's a lot of fun! I just wish I lived in an area where more people were doing it. I'm in a semi-rural area with some nearby larger towns and so far I've only seen a handful of other Meshtastic nodes, and none of them anywhere near my house. I have a node in my attic and may deploy a solar-powered node on a nearby mountain ridge soon.
Awesome vid and I love those cases. Might have to buy that design file and print with a local vendor since I'm sure international shipping isn't cheap.
I've got a couple of boards on order right now, thinking set up one at the office and one at home. I've got an ADSB receiver in the attic already and I think I can run another USB adapter off the power strip that is already up there. Hope I can some decent range.
Interesting you mentioned Repeater...
Been reading all the Meshtastic Docs
Default config is "Client Device"
There is also a "Repeater" Config, and that's all it does, "Repeat" whatever it receives
These would be good in some High Locations.
Great video as usual, not sure about the ultrafire cells. Maybe things have changed but back in my torch collecting days they didn't have the best rep. Consider some samsungs or Panasonics when you next stock up. 👍
Really nice of the creator of that 18650 case that you can buy the STL files from him so you can print your own in whatever color you want.
“Buy” the stl?? Hell no
Why not@@plumbdaddy3
Nice? They ought to be free. Once upon a time, people did not only create things for profit, but because they wanted to contribute to society and do good in the world. How far people have fallen that we praise someone for putting a price on something so simple...
@BearDemocracy did you ever stop to consider how expensive a decent printer costs? Not only that but also the supplies and hours it takes to design and test before being happy with your design... so much invested into it! If a person has the money, why not help a person out a little so that they can continue coming up with good designs?
I totally understand what you're saying about sharing without charge just to help the overall project, but don't take advantage of someone and go all entitled about it.
Do your part to support the project and help those who are putting their own money into it. This enables faster growth of any project.
@@MicahFunk That should be donation-based. I would be far more likely to support a creator after I have actually been able to try out the creation - otherwise, I'm handing someone money for virtual files that may or may not work as intended or shown. If we stop demanding money for everything, people won't have to beg for it just to survive.
Two of my favourite Comms channels released both at the same time 🤙
What's the other one?
@@Desmaad Andy Kirby, but away from mesh you also have Fred in the shed 👍
whos the other one?
A lithium battery named Ultra Fire, lol!
I have Ultra Fire batteries. They are pretty good, despite their name! No Fires .... yet? 😅
UltraFire has a reputation for disassembling recycled (bad) laptop batteries, cutting them apart, testing the cells, and selling the ones that haven't quite failed yet. Spend 30% more and buy a new battery from a reputable manufacturer.
@@chrissewell1608 nonono ultra fire are scary, quite literally a fire risk
I think they're owned by Ladbrokes, the bookie in the UK.
I would stay away from these or actually from all the batteries that display a fake capacity
Meshtastic is taking off big time right now!
it needs to, we are heading into uncertain times and i think folks are prepping for comms blackouts
So much so that the shelves are bare.
Everything is on back order.
Waiting for mine to arrive. Pinted a case already :-)
indeed, thankfully I started my journey (read: obsession) a few months ago and already have 10 nodes of various size and functionality built :D
@@idonotcomplyrevolutionyeah, I don't think that many people are getting this stuff for "paragliding" like on the Rokland site suggestions
The more I see of these, the more tempted I get!
ditto- too bad many are sold-out
Love your videos about LoRa, got myself a device on the way.
Perfect for a node in my flat
73 M7TUD
This is awesome, thanks!
Just ordered 4 nodes for Downtown - Augusta GA
Hope to meet some of you soon
I live in the West Ga. Area, and was wondering how well these would work for our club members to create a net work. I am interested to see how it goes!
Just recieved today - i will keep you posted
@@BracaPhoto Well?
Meshtastic having its glow up ❤
Brilliant! Thanks Lewis
Cheers Paul!
So im in the US and these are plentiful, but i just folloi your link in the ukt and everything is sold out wow these are hot in the UK!! Going to grab two and start building. Great video!
Got a link ?
Thanks for the video RM! I love these little doodads anyone in Northumberland look out for my node!
Just an FYI, those ultrafire cells have very fake specs on them, you could get a lot longer life with a more reputable cell. Really interesting little board though, might have to give one a try!
Can't post an 18650 cell without some opinions lol. If you post surefire or fenix, you get beat up by the price/cost. If you post the cheap ones, you get beat up on specs and fire hazard. What's the standard for folks to not complain?
@@scottleggejr Some of the ultra fire cells spec 5 times their true capacity, stay away! For high capacity Samsung 35e’s a great shout, for high performance (low internal resistance, high discharge applications) molicel p28a’s are as good as you can get. Sony and LG make some good cells too
@@scottleggejr They aren’t a fire hazard, just claim specs that are literally impossible with current battery technology hahahaha so if you’re designing something based off the specs you’ll be disappointed, it’s a PSA not a complaint! Hope that helps and for future reference current battery technology tops out at around 3500mah per cell in 18650 form factor
@@scottleggejr I can’t post links unfortunately, but if you look up any review sites who do independent testing you can confirm everything mentioned above! Nothing there is opinion based.
I work on battery packs for PLEV’s so if anyone reading has any questions happy to help and fo through the maths behind it
brilliant have look in to buying 1
When everything is prebuilt in one ready plug and play case I'll buy one
That already exists, look at the Lilygo T-Echo
@@cool110is it meshtastic compatible?
@@dfgdfg_ Yes, I'm using one as my main portable client
I live in the mountains in canada and this is interesting, thinking i should try a repeater for my commute because i dont even het cell signal in some locations
Not just your video, but yes, a couple of boards are due to be delivered over the next couple of days :) I have also just seen those cases in another video, and they will be on order too.
I ordered one as soon as I had finished watching your last video. Interested in some extreme range testing hilltop to hilltop.
Amazing video my brother 😊
Thanks n
Another great video, but wow them ulefone rugged seem expensive
Champion mate
Hi Lewis, thanks for this very informative video.
What could you say about 433 vs. 868 MHz Lora coms? Pat
me and a mate cant wait to get set-up.
This looks like fun. I’ll have to see what is available next for the US market.
same here- i trying to figure out what i need.. some say get it off amazon, other say aliexpress- dont matter- i feel ali be cheaper but take longer- i just want everything- dont want to order twice and miss out..
I tried one of those directional yagi antennas shown at the 2:12 mark. It didn't do the SNR any favors, and i accidentally discovered the fact it worked better at a right angle to the stations and and horizontal - exactly opposite you would expect. I think it's because the yagi increased the noise floor more than it helped bring in the signal I was after.
Yagis are bullshit. They've never worked (been testing wifi/cell stuff for years). Parabolic is where it's at. Pretty cheap and 20-30 actual dbi gain.
I removed the Hi-Rose connector on my Heltec board and soldered on a proper edge mount RP SMA, 1.7mm width, to avoid using a flimsy pigtail. I'm sure I also gained 0.5dB both ways like that. Backside is all ground plane so all 4 legs of the SMA connector can be soldered.
Do you have a link to the connector you used? They come in different spacing for board clearances.
@@WhenIWasAKitten It was an aliexpress thing. Board is 1.6mm thickness, so when I saw a listing for a 1.7mm spacing one, I decided it was close enough and got one for 30 Cents. (I tried posting the link, even without the aliexpress.... first, but YT refuses me to post anything that looks like a link) It fits snugly, also when the solder mask on the backside is removed. The center pin simply rests on top of the 0 Ohm resistor so easy to solder the center pin. The item listing title is "RP-SMA-KE SMA Female PCB Solder Edge Vertical Mount RF Coaxial Connector 180 Degree Antenna Socket Thru Hole Plug Socket" The listing had more versions to choose from, I chose no.4, the one specifying 1.7mm.
Awesome, thank you! @@Tore_Lund
Got two on the way, to be coupled to a Supaerials 868mhz 8dBi omni-directional antenna on the roof, and another for on my car dash with a small Paradar 868mhz whip. Can’t wait for them to arrive.
I've been thinking about a directional antenna since I can't actually pick anything else up where I am most of the time. I was just wondering if you'd considered setting up a Nodemcu board with a stepper motor so you can rotate it over LAN rather than going up into the loft if you want to try different directions? Should be quite easy to set it to rotate a bit every 15 minutes (or however long you have your beacon interval set) to do an automatic scan for nodes in different directions as well I suppose. Would be a lot easier to set up if you have a 3D printer of course. I'm not quite ready to spend £60 on an antenna to do that myself yet, but I might try in future
Telll LoRa, I love her ❤️
Blown my mind
Spotted my nodes on the map in your video Andy
Wher are you
@@RingwayManchester North Cornwall buddy
Thanks 👍
I've got a 20Watt amp that will work on 868MHz and live on a hill with views to Manchester and Wales and beyond, so it will be interesting to also run a preamp and see how many people i can contact. I will be using a home made Slim Jim type antenna to keep the radiation angle low. Many 1/4 and 5/8wave designs tend to fire upwards which is of no use for distance. They might have more gain, but less blanket coverage.
Drop me an email re Kelsall :)
New subscriber here! a great video.. I'll be sure to check out your previous video's... quick question.. when ordering which frequency should I choose? (noob). atb
868mhz for sure
Nice...! Have got one ordered up for use here in the Ribble Valley. What type is the supplied SMA connector Lewis...? Will make sure I've got the right adapter to hook up to my antennas, thanks 👍🏼
It’s an sma female I think, I always get mixed up . Has the hole in
@@RingwayManchester Cheers Lewis. Looking at the video it looks female SMA like you say. The male SMA has the threaded collar on it and the pin. Conversely, RP-SMA swaps the pins so the pin is on the female and the male (with the threaded collar) has the hole.
good move on ditching the ultrafire. you should also swap to "tab" based 18650 holders.
I built a couple solar powered nodes for a friend, used waterproof boxes like you would use for a phone while kayaking. had plenty of room so I used a 4x 18650 holder and (actual) 2500mah cells. overkill probably, but I had them on hand.
Do these boards have charging circuits built in then ?
@@MONTY-YTNOM the one my buddy provided did.
Hey what do you mean by "tab" based battery holder?
@@Mavi222 look at the ones 18650ed sells. Beefy tabs not springs
Thats cool, Im struggling to find one now they are all over TH-cam :) @@NamesGolden
I've been looking into LoRa for a project that I would like to do at our 7.5" Scale Train Club. My idea is I would like for each train to have a LoRa outfitted with GPS and a screen. The screen would show speed and indicate if the train is going to fast, to slow, or just right. The Speed, GPS data would be transmited back to our trainstation where I would like to display a Google map of the railroad layout as well as the GPS locations of the trains and their ETA back to the strain station. Additionaly would be nice to be able to signal from a train if there was trouble and they needed assistance. Our club is in a wooded park so there are lots of trees but I think LoRa might work great for this. I'm just not sure how to get started on something like this. I and solder and write code I do have those skills.
I'll get one setup in the Hope Valley. Can I reach Manchester? We'll see!
I think I just picked up your base station node, I’ve got a heltec v3 - no idea what time doing!
I was stood at the trig point on Halkyn Mountain, north wales, which according to the mesh map is about 75km away!
Carl? Is that you?
@@RingwayManchester not Carl… Ste based in north wales 🏴
Did you message ?
@@RingwayManchester I tried, I first sent “test” followed by “on halkyn mountain”, “on halkyn mountain” - it was cold up there so we didn’t hang about long.
I’ve just put a video up now, when we got back to the car, I tried again as it was showing 50% signal strength!
Mrs wanted to go home though, so headed back.
Oh right! Someone else was up Pentre Halkyn
Lewis, Do you have a link to the 868MHz 'wifi style' antennas you're using? I've bought a few supposed 868Mhz but found they're nothing of the kind having plugged it into a VNA. Generally they're 2.4GHz, adverrised as 868MHz - Good old Amazon!
G7DMQ
I love the idea on lora but I have no use for sending text and I am not interested in to text analysis to get data from it. I am sure there are ways to send other data types but I havent found a good reference yet
Took a look at the meshtastic lora map and compared it to the helium lora map, and one of them is a clear winner.
That's not really a fair comparison, though. I've been active in both the Helium and Meshtastic communities and there are ways to do Helium mapping that just aren't being done in the Meshtastic world right now (I have a device for doing Helium mapping and have done quite a bit of it myself). Also, every Helium node asserts its location and that's all public info whereas Meshtastic nodes don't have any sort of central database and don't have to report anything they don't want to. And Helium is dying and nodes are dropping off the network constantly (I took down my node months ago since I couldn't reach any other nodes and the cryptocurrency side of things got too complicated and all the apps are hopelessly broken).
I have 4 nodes now and ordering more. I want to setup my home as a repeater using the repeater setting. Can elaborate on that?
Is there anyway these devices could be made to generate their own 2.4ghz WiFi bubble so that other WiFi iot devices could connect to it and transmit data back to a server? The use case is for notifications from CCTV and alarm kit
The case is cool, would be nice if you could change the battery externally.
Would love to see something like this ported to the Helium global LoRaWAN network
Where can we pick these up all ready to go out of the box and put together ready to use?
Hiya Lewis,got a trek,868,is it worth reflashing software??
So the location data is strictly dependent on what the user enters? I realize it's low power, but I'm still paranoid about DF. Especially in a SHTF situation, which is when I'd probably use it most
You can configure a fixed GPS location, use live GPS data from an attached GPS if your device has one (like the Lilygo T-BEAM), or it can get the device location from your phone (if you're using a phone with that node). If you don't want to reveal your location your best bet is to turn off phone location sharing in the app and put in a fake location in the fixed-location configuration option. There doesn't seem to be a way to completely turn off location sharing, at least not yet.
Try the Lilygo T-Echo, or their T-Beams/T-Beam Supreme superior to the Heltec.
Mine’s on its way.. from a seller who’s having a breakdown trying to keep up with demand..😬👍
How long is the battery life? One of the older models I bought only lasted 8 hours on a giant 18650 battery which is terrible for battery life for a device just sitting in standby
is there much difference in range between the 433 and the 868 MHz band?
weather proof casing with room for a solar cell , would it run forever ? ?
Could these be used by hikers to keep in touch on trail?
If I read correctly these heltac boards don't come with build in power circuit safety, right ?
Some battery's do have build in protection.
Now does the battery holder fit in that heltac case ? Cause battery's with added protection are slightly longer
“Power circuit safety?” 😂 it’s milliamperes there Nancy…
Does this network has anything to do with the Helium Network? Or does it uses it in any way?
I honestly don't get the heltec + custom 3d printed case vs LiliGo t-echo? Heltec costs $53.21 for one heltec lora32 v3 with shipping to the UK/EU. The Liligo which comes with a fabricated case and included a lithium battery pack as well, lands at 77,31 USD with everything included. I know it's more expensive but the t-echo uses less power due to being powered by the NRF52840 MCU as well as using an eink display. So it's pretty much superior in every way that matters. What am I missing here? 😊
Nice👌
I would make a Cyberdeck with this.
Hah Bryn knew who they were chatting with.
Is there a public map so I can see who's around me? I'm in the USA I'm just curious if they're popular around here.
Curious..bCould technology like this be hardwired into a regular cell phone from the manufacturer
this tech would be great for bicycle tracking so if your bike gets stolen you could know where it is. but i cant find small enough packages that could be hidden inside /on a bike without beeing seen or are too obvious
If these could be put on a just a few amateur radio satellites would that work?
Will it work on a grid down situation?
Can’t find the FB group. Is there a link?😊
Does this need any license to use, I’m in Australia
I was under the impression that UK didn't allow ham third party communication because it competed with their communications. I am surprised they haven't stopped this, yet.
Our government if so preoccupied with figuring what a woman is and how not to get lynched by the mob outside, that at least they are not paying attention to what happens in some areas. There's zero resource committed now to bandwidth monitoring and security, unless you'll overtake the frequency, they don't even care. DIY bits like this go through customs with ease as well.
can it overcom social media sensorship??
Just a case for $40 shipped. What a rip.
Shipping costs are not set by the guy who makes them, Thats set by YOUR post office
I wanna do this and make a lil network that would be so fun
I didn't catch it on the video, what frequency range will get the longest distance?
my case arrived today after sitting for agonising days at the evri hub lol.
Do I need a licence to mess about with this?
If so, have you done a video on the differnt kinds of licence exams you can do? I'm vaugely aware of them but wouldnt know where to go in order to do them.
It’s licence free
@@RingwayManchester ah. Nice. Might give it a go.
@RingwayManchester do you know if that's true in the US too?
Does it use the Helium network at all ?
Where do you start.Im a South African and need a off grid comms due to our Electricity issue
There should be plug and play with software install. That way much more people will be interested
Would these devices also work well in the U.S. ?
*DnB fades in*
Hi can not see case link have I missed it thanks
If you have the Battery Option case with a 18650
If you plug in USB-C Lead, does it charge the 18650.?
Thanks
It does
@@RingwayManchester Cheers... Thanks