Austin Mesh is a group working to build a solar-powered #meshtastic radio network in Austin, allowing anyone with a smartphone to text without power or internet
Simple Experiment - if the Voltaic Systems V75 battery totally dies, will it turn back on and reboot the #meshtastic device once the sun comes back? The answer is yes. This is the simplest possible Meshtastic repeater setup and it eliminates all of the battery/solar management.
Worlds cheapest #meshtasfic repeater: $80. It's just a $13 solar panel and a $67 Lilygo T-Echo. The USB connection between the two was just waterproofed with some Proxicast silicone tape.
@Will_W_Welker Yeah it's just an SMA connector so you could screw on any 915mhz SMA antenna. But be aware that the stock antenna has a "skirt" so a different antenna won't look as nice.
I just put the solar panel at the edge of the porch and left the Liligo sitting on the coffee table out of the weather. For the past 2 weeks it's stayed alive in the Texas heat. Next step is to epoxy on a cheap box for the echo and put it up in a tree.
Bad news - my “poor man’s radio tower” - painter’s pole with paracord guy wires - failed last night during the thunderstorm. Antenna mount also failed on the case. Radio is still operating and has 81% battery. I wouldn’t recommend this tower design. #meshtastic#solarpunk
Also using stainless steel cable ties instead of plastic. Wrapped the USB connector in Proxicast self-sealing silicone tape. Planning to add Kapton tape to the connection between the USB-C cable and the board (should keep it in place despite wide temperature swings).
New #meshtastic solar node V2: now I’m including a 2nd 6watt solar panel which is USB connected to the main board. When the battery is fully dead and the sun comes up the power from the larger solar panel will restart the radio. No more dead nodes.
Did you know the world record for the longest distance achieved by Meshtastic was broke last Sunday? By 40 km! In a pretty unique way too! This led to quite the excitement for those of us following along in the discord server. Check out the details here: https://t.co/Z1nnWSRw8z
@mrc7001 I’ve got one on a 30 foot pole with the solar panel facing southwest - battery level (2000 mAh) never gets below 20% - it’s been raining for days and here’s what it looks like at 10pm: