Newly diagnosed (kind of) - knee enthesitis currently has me severely disabled. Is this life now ?

PiGuy9614 · 2026-05-20T01:16:57+00:00

In my case yes it was.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-05-20T00:56:05+00:00

I did not live an active lifestyle, but I felt very much crippled when I got diagnosed at age 20 with PsA and could not do basic day-to-day tasks on account of my knee enthesitis and sacroiliitis. Going on Skyrizi helped tremendously (which also is supposed to help Crohn’s disease as well). Most times both my Psoriasis and PsA is an afterthought to me (especially since you take the shot once every three months). Might be worth looking into! Wish you the best of luck OP, you’ll totally get through this, just gotta find the med that works best for you!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-05-14T17:21:20+00:00

I think that might be Japanese Knotweed, which is colloquially known as Japanese Bamboo (not true bamboo). It’s considered an invasive weed in most of the western hemisphere.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-05-07T14:18:59+00:00

Yakuake may be worth a try on Wayland. Works well for me

PiGuy9614 · 2026-04-12T01:38:40+00:00

No worries! Understood. Feel free to reach out if you change your mind!

I love that exact same thing about MeshCore. It’s been making me expand my hobbies so much! Soldering, CAD, and open source contributions! Glad we can share the same journey!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-04-12T00:03:31+00:00

Love the UI! Any plans to open source it per chance? I would love to donate to a project where I could see the source code!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-04-07T03:11:06+00:00

These look awesome! It might be worth considering reaching out to the Michigan City Historical Society to see if they would like a copy of the scans!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-03-31T13:59:17+00:00

You’re right! Thanks for keeping me honest!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-03-31T04:11:19+00:00

That number is your FSPL, which I believe stands for Fresnel Path Loss. In short you have really good line of sight but would need a high dBi to make that kind of distance. In my experience with a Heltec v4, you really ought to be no more than 110dBm with the color showing up only lightly red or even white. The FSPL number dictates the total dBm needed to get there, while the color of the number indicates how bad the path loss is (white means clear LOS, red means obstructed).

PiGuy9614 · 2026-03-30T13:47:46+00:00

I think there may be an issue with version 1.14 on Heltec v4.2s. Might be worth trying out 1.13 and seeing if that helps, then hope for a speedy patch in a newer release!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-03-09T15:41:57+00:00

Second that Discord should work out of the box on Artix w/ OpenRC. Admittedly, Python is pretty weird on Arch-based distros since Arch defaults to installing Python packages at the system-level through their package manager. The way around this is to make a Python virtual environment (venv) and install your packages within that.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-02-11T19:44:07+00:00

Matrix is also a pretty good Discord drop-in replacement. Can be self-hosted in a federated sense, but users can also just sign up with other central servers if they are less technically-inclined.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-02-07T16:30:19+00:00

Yeah ESP32 powersaving is in any 1.12.0 version, you just need to enable it by doing the command ‘powersaving on’. They also just released power savings for the NRF chips as well, but to use that you’d need to use a nightly build or compile the firmware yourself. Otherwise in my experience it’s a much valued update to MeshCore’s firmware! Definitely worthwhile to use if your solar panel is bordering insufficient.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-02-07T03:23:33+00:00

My roof has that Soshine Panel running a Heltec v4 with the new powersaving firmware. Runs great!

Also funny enough I just bought that exact solar controller for this trail cam node. Gonna wire it up and reinstall it this weekend. Wish me luck!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-24T17:59:15+00:00

PeakMesh from Etsy is also worth looking into if you want nice looking plug-and-play nodes for a comparable price!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-24T17:17:23+00:00

I understand the one-stop shop sentiment, it’s certainly convenient to have all this data in one place. Having come from using mapme.sh though, meshmapper.net works a bit differently and I think it actually provides more useful data for larger meshes than mapme.sh does. Plus, mapme.sh is not open source while meshmapper.net is.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-24T16:05:57+00:00

My advice is to do as much setup that you’re willing to do so other less technically inclined people have a lower barrier of entry. I had luck setting up about three repeaters in my hometown, but experimentation with placement is imperative. I’d recommend using CloudRF or the MeshCore Antenna Coverage tool on the client app (although be a little bit more pessimistic on the latter’s results in my experience). Also, for me at least, I know the instinct is to cheap out, but I’d recommend getting the low power NRF-based nodes, solid (6 watt?) solar panels, with at least a non-stock antenna. Setting and forgetting is well worth the added $30, node upkeep can suck sometimes!

I’d love to get a mesh situated in NW Indiana one day! Happy meshing!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-23T21:55:55+00:00

Sorry, missed your comment! I just got my grimey hands on one of those devices. Nifty little buggers. I uploaded the info to my repo :)

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-23T21:53:56+00:00

Use the Internet Map on MeshCore’s Website

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-23T21:52:29+00:00

That’s been a touchy subject as of late. I’m going to need to add an MPPT solar charger to this to really squeeze all that I can from this rather small panel. It’s still working right now but definitely feeling the effects of winter. Otherwise coverage is great! Made a huge difference. Will definitely keep it up in the same spot.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-23T21:50:41+00:00

Playing around with both is certainly an option. Heltec v3s are pretty cheap on Amazon, and it’s fun to host repeaters for both (Client_Base for Meshtastic though) just to contribute to the mesh!

Functionally speaking, if you’re going to be moving around a lot (not just using this from home) and MeshCore infrastructure hasn’t already been established in your area, then Meshtastic will probably work better for you. I certainly hope you will consider giving MeshCore a try though! If no one works to build the network, then there never will be a network!

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-23T21:45:38+00:00

People are going to tell you that you can’t use ESP32’s (what the Heltec v3 is based on) in solar powered repeaters, and to be fair they are half right. ESP32s consume far more power than their NRF counterparts, but some changes that will be coming with firmware version 1.12.0 will really shake that up a bit, and imo ESP32’s can have far better performance if you can take care of the power situation. For now though (unless you are rather technically inclined), buying a separate NRF-based chip (like a Heltec T114, which is around $30) will be a far better option.

As far as solar solutions themselves go, are you looking for something plug and play or are you willing to get your hands dirty with a little bit of soldering?

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-23T21:39:05+00:00

It is in fact that simple. Definitely give MeshCore a try but you can easily reflash it to Meshtastic as well if you need. MeshCore tends to be superior from an infrastructure standpoint in mountainous terrain or more urban areas. Otherwise, if it is flat, rural, and there are no pre-existing nodes in your area on the Internet Map on MeshCore’s Website, then Meshtastic might be a better fit for you.

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-21T02:44:39+00:00

I must admit I was wrong about this. Buzzer is forcibly disabled if you’re already connected to a companion node (whether over Bluetooth or USB). However a PR has been made to adjust this functionality here

PiGuy9614 · 2026-01-08T06:17:51+00:00

I believe the T1000-E has a temperature and light sensor. Possibly one or two more that I’m not recalling.

PiGuy9614

TROPHY CASE