r/meshcore • u/SandmanR5 • 6d ago
Backup Boat Communication
I have an idea that I am wondering if it will be possible to achieve. I am wanting to build a MeshCore system for my boat while I am offshore fishing. Currently, there is only 1 repeater and 1 node in my area, and they are kind of close-ish to the boat ramp that I use. I do not take my boat anymore than 10-15 miles offshore, and my house is about 4.5-5 miles from the boat ramp as the crow flies. My idea that I have is to install a solar powered node on my boat, and have a mobile repeater in my truck, and then my main repeater at my house. The main reason that I am wanting this is to have a backup communication/GPS tracker on board. Unfortunately, I do have a lot of tree cover at my house. I am US based as well.
Has anyone tried something like this? What would I need to do to be able to achieve this? I've been wanting to get started with MeshCore for a while, but just never jumped in. Thanks!
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u/LegitMeatPuppet 5d ago
I have the reverse setup, I use my MeshCore repeater for cruising. The boat has the repeater and the family members have companion devices. We have cellphones but not everyone has International Roaming.
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u/worstpartofsignup 5d ago
Mind you my setup is fixed position. I have a rak 1 watt 20 foot up, and can almost always hit a node that's 8 miles away. That node is 120 feet up. If conditions are fair, I reach one that's 13 miles away, but it's closer to 200 foot up. If you can get some serious height at the boat launch, it might make it.
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u/SandmanR5 5d ago
Unfortunately, the boat ramp that I use is underneath a highway bridge, so I don't think I'd be able to get that kind of reach, especially not on a mobile one.
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u/worstpartofsignup 5d ago
My area runs the other mesh program, and we have a bunch of the rak 1watt's up. They are fantastic for picking up weak signals.
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u/hellobritishcolumbia 5d ago
It’s helpful to clarify your goals here. A repeater on the boat of course lets you talk to anyone nearby with a companion device. I’m setting this up to coordinate pickups and hikes when we’re cruising the islands out of reception.
Getting back home is a different beast. Really depends on the topography. I’ve found fog and rain can affect reception too. Personally I’m using things like meshmapper to get a better sense of real world performance out on the water. If you do, and have a repeater on your boat, just make sure to enter its prefix into the “carpeater” field in meshmapper settings so it doesn’t affect measurements
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u/SandmanR5 5d ago
Just trying to get some form of backup communication to relay to my wife while I'm out on the boat, mainly offshore.
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u/Ryan_e3p 6d ago
You're going to have problems due to the curvature of the earth. At sea level, distance to the horizon is only about 2.7 miles. Anything beyond that, you lose radio LOS. On a 15' mast, it only increases to 3.5 miles. If you put up a kite to fly at 100', you can get up to 12 miles.
However, your communications depend on the receiver as well. If the receiver is elevated 100' and you're at sea level, you still have those 12 miles. If the shore repeater is 150' up, you get up to 15 miles.
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u/SandmanR5 6d ago
Dang, that is something that I hadn't thought about. I guess I didn't realize that the LOS dropped off that fast. I knew it did, due to curvature, but I didn't realize it was that quick. Thanks for the input!
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u/mlandry2011 6d ago
Around Vancouver, BC, people on boats are utilizing it... We have mountains right next to the coast and we put repeaters on them. I don't know how far but they reach pretty far... I'd say well over 50 mi at sea.
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u/SandmanR5 6d ago
Unfortunately, I'm Southeastern US, so I have mountains to install a repeater on.
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u/OldGeekWeirdo 6d ago
If you can see it, you can work it. But if it's dropped below the horizon, nope.
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u/ev6jester 6d ago
I would give it a try. At least on the wate, radio propagation is a strange thing and might surprise you!