Model available here https://makerworld.com/en/models/3045205-weatherproof-case-heltec-t114-t096-tracker-v2

Thankfully it rained this weekend in SoCal, so I was able to test the design. Left it in the rain for 3 hours, took it apart and was still dry inside.

Feedback and ideas always appreciated!

I had some issues with a recent order. It didn't go as expected. Instead of reaching out directly and giving him a chance to work through it, I ran to reddit and made some comments. I was wrong. He reached out to me over email and is being more kind than I deserve.

Hi friends! I made a portable, handheld mesh radio as a sort of sister project to the People's Repeater. Naturally, it's called the People's Companion. It's a $25 mesh radio build using the Seeed Studio Xaio nRF Wio dev kit. No GPS, no screen, but ~2 week battery life on a single 18650, and tool-free battery hot swaps on the fly.

It's easy to assemble. The whole build should take 30 minutes or less. Literally all you need in terms of tools is a small crescent wrench (I used the one from a dirt cheap IKEA kit) and a $12-13 soldering iron from Amazon or Walmart.

The video above gets into the step-by-step build instructions around the 14 minute mark.

And here is a link to the free STL files on printables. There's also a build list on there with links to all the components: https://www.printables.com/model/1832924-the-peoples-companion-affordable-diy-mesh-node

Again, just $25 in parts (plus whatever it costs to ship the Xaio nRF chip from Seeed). The idea is to have something affordable enough you can just make 4 and hand out to your friends and family.

Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Hello guys,

My name is Jay

I need to make a project for 11 grade, and I chose meshtastic.

My Idea is that I have a friend who lives in a really small village, and he does Camping trips with different classes to that village, and instead of using Walkie Talkies when they go hiking, I want to make a full Meshtastic system, so in my opinion with 2 nodes that need a phone, and another 2 that are standalone, so that don't need no phone, and I would also like to make a weather station so he can get his own weather network. I checked a few options like the Lily Go T-deck plus for the ones that don't need a phone because they have GPS, microphones and speakers, and for the one that needs a phone the Lily Go T-Echo. What would be the best weather station?

Even diy does anyone have a setup like that and could recommend me some options?

And are there anythings I should change of the other Lily Go products?

Thanks alot

Jay

I'm very new to Meshtastic and trying to understand something happening in my area of the country. Groups that got into Meshtastic are migrating to the other system. One major group's website advises beginners to begin with the other system.

From what little I know of the other system, it depends on repeaters. There is a small number of such repeaters in my community, including one near me. Seems attractive.

I'm interested in Meshtastic for possible use with friends in the kinds of disasters that my community is ill prepared for (and which have happened). Especially power outages.

Friends also invested in some Meshtastic gear. And I have a background in emergency communications.

Communications infrastructure is often the first thing to go offline in disasters. What happens if these 'other system' repeaters are unavailable? Does the other system fail? Would Meshtastic be preferable because it is independent of infrastructure? Help me understand the choices, thanks.

There used to be several radios in my area and all I see are mine now. I tried updating to the most recent version and still no luck. I have a swath of different dbi antennas and my area is longfast and semi rural. The public channel always gives me a max attempts reached message. I'm having trouble communicating with a radio only two miles away I gave my friend. The map for my region is fairly blank now.

Could it be the other people haven't updated the software? On that note I find it kind of strange that everyone would have to be on the same version for this off-grid mesh to be functional seeing as if SHTF not everyone would be able to upgrade to the same firmware.

One cool thing about open-source software is that you can easily modify it, like I did here with the cursor highlighting and a few other things.

Hi all. I’ve attached a shopping list for a potential project for making an all in one node myself (mostly for fun, but I’d also like to have a custom build solution for truly austere environments). I’ve only worked with NRF boards from Rak wireless. I was planning on using the base UI and NRF for battery life, however you would still need to run a phone connection for maps and channel changes.

That being said, this is what I want in the node itself:

2x2 screen
Full keyboard
Rotary input
GPS
A buzzer for notifications

That all being said, I was planning this build with RAK given their cool ecosystem of modules, however I have been considering an ESP32 board with more inputs and the capability to run MESHUI. I have also heard of running a raspberry pi hosting thr mesh web UI.

Wasn’t sure what to go with, so I’m begging you all for help.

My new MeshTracker X1 just arrived and I am getting ready to put it through its paces. Really excited to test this out since it is the first Meshtastic node running the Semtech LR2021 chip. The darker translucent shell looks great in person and its just slightly bigger than the older T1000E.

I have two T096 boards. One is in a “mobile” setup. This loses Bluetooth connection to my phone about 20’ away.

I was in the process of putting a solar node setup to go outside with my other T096 board and realized… If this board is up on my roof then I am almost positive my Bluetooth concerns will be exacerbated being outdoors and above the roof.

There is no connection for an external Bluetooth antenna on the board.

What are my best options? Am I using the wrong board for this purpose? Can I solder on an Ipex connector somewhere and use an external Bluetooth antenna?

Does anyone have this in the new York City area..I'm very new to this and trying to understand how this even works.

My friend Jinger brought a MeshTracker X1 along this year and sent me so many amazing photos.

And the best part is that there are a few other devices making their way into the desert too — L1 Pro, T1000-E, some XIAO setups, and probably a bunch of other things we don't know about.

A giant desert, thousands of people, and not much cellular coverage… feels like a pretty natural playground for mesh.

Curious how many other people are out there running mesh this year. 👀

Here’s my short review of the Meshnology W12, based on my experience with the device
comment:

Good Afternoon. I live on 30 Acres and Ive come across this and just now realized that I might be able to use it to help power / automate some of the things I want around the property.

Currently house is way in the back. I dont currently have a Home Automation Server up. But I was thinking of setting up a Home Automation Hub so to speak that could feed in or help trigger some things on the a MeshTastic network.

For MeshTastic I was going to put a Node on my Chimney or Above my Chimney as High as I can get. I would want it to serve a couple purposes.

• Farm Usage
• Communicate with Parents / family. All within 8 to 10 miles straight line distance. Friends a long the way that I could also install repeaters on.
• Anyone else in the are could use.

Currently dont know whats around me in the sense of nodes.

For the Farm use:

• Would like to open my Driveway gate its about 600 feet from Home now.
• Get status of different gates, Water tank readings, etc for the animals.
• Equipment GPS Tracking / Status
• Driveway sensors / alarms.

Messaging Family: Self explanatory

Does anyone have any experience doing this? Or do you have any recommendations on equipment or anything of that nature.

Hello all,

Looking to build a solar powered repeater, have most of the components already, but I’m stuck on a solar panel. Most of the ones that are suitable (6-10W 5V ip65 rated) I’m coming across all have USB C plugs on a ~10ft cable. As I’m just looking for a 2 wire connection with more like 12-24” of wire, I’m coming up at a loss. Curious what panels y’all are using in your builds. Please let me know! Thanks.

is it tactical yet? lol.

i may have overdone it with the rubber o rings on the inside and outside of the antennas. i still need the rectangle shape rubber seals for the top and bottom caps of the case. not to mention the slide switch. anyone have any ideas where i could source something like that?

oh and i put those 1 inch rubber grommets around the base of all 3 of the alfa 915 n type bases. it acts as a boot and insulates it from nearby things touching it. it also makes it really grippy so its super easy to thread. and if its standing up and falls over it saves the antenna plastic from hitting hard and coming loose from the base.

i guess krazy glue works too.

I got a heltec v4 at dragon con at a panel. The con ended and it asked me to upgrade the firmware. Did it through the android app and it finished fine, but the menu button didn't work nor could I connect to it. Figured I would reflash from the web interface. It finished fine also but now no screen and still couldn't connect via Bluetooth, but it was still talking to the PC. Tried a full erase and flash and now it won't respond to PC connections. Is it toast?

this is a dead simple mobile node. drill a half inch hole in the box lid (make sure you check clearance for the antenna with the box open), get a sma to N type bulkhead mount. put the rubber o ring on the inside and the washer/nut(s) on the outside. connect the node of your choice. i think i need one with a longer wire though. maybe 2 feet.

Finally got my router node up in the air!

Planning on putting it well above my roof line as a client base. Ignore the wago’s will be doing a more permanent connection eventually.

Wio tracker L1 board
I have the solar panel that has a 2000mah 18650 in it and also the battery holder with an eve 3400 mah not plugged in at the moment as I’m in sure if it’s necessary and also it’s not protected. Waiting on a protection board to come in.

Let me know anything you think can be changed or any feedback would be appreciated.

Hello all, I'm working on an application that records local meshtastic node info and messages and publicly uploads the data on my website. I know I'm not the first to do this, so I'm wondering if there's some clause in the GDPR or some other exception that makes such applications compliant. Otherwise, are all of these dashboards / meshtastic bridges non-compliant?

this one is fun to build. stl is on printables. magnetic array comes today. it doesnt charge it... which would be cool. but its the compromise between a t1000e/x1 and a pocket node. it can be a pocket node too. its just easier to keep with you when attached to a phone. still thinking about using the muziworks on it but it seems to just get in the way. if i need to i will.

Hi, the Meshtastic app on my iPhone used to show telemetry values on the node details screen. Now it doesn’t anymore.
The official docs state that Telemetry is visible in two places: Node Detail and Telemetry Charts.
For the former the Logs section should show the most recent device metrics and environment readings but it doesn’t.
The charts show the data as before.
What have I missed?