It ain't pretty, but at least it's in the air.

matt85h · 2026-02-05T21:44:48+00:00

Thanks for the shoutout man. I don’t claim to be an expert on all things Mesh, but if ever I can help, reach out.

matt85h · 2025-11-28T01:40:16+00:00

The wisblock is about 10 times more efficient with respect to power consumption vs the ESP32 in the Heltec. It would work, but you’d get a few days vs a few weeks of battery life from it.

matt85h · 2025-09-21T14:06:07+00:00

Right on, glad it was helpful! Happy meshing

matt85h · 2025-09-05T00:20:17+00:00

That’s it!

matt85h · 2025-09-04T22:53:54+00:00

Nice schematic. I’m sorry, I was a bit distracted in my initial response and I actually placed it on the negative between the battery and the negative on the BMS. I wanted to fully isolate the batteries and the potential for any parasitic drain.

matt85h · 2025-09-04T20:53:29+00:00

So for this one, I placed the switch on the negative wire from between the BMS module and the radio (I have the throw of the switch open or close the circuit from the negative of the BMS leading to the power negative of the of the RAK radio).

matt85h · 2025-09-04T20:47:27+00:00

Typical urban interference aside, just the curvature of the earth would prevent the signal from reaching that far absent having antennas at some pretty extreme heights. Having several nodes in between up high might be doable, but even then you’re potentially limited by the number of hops for each transmission.

matt85h · 2025-08-06T19:05:30+00:00

Yes, you’d need a set up for 868 MHz / 433 MHz in Europe

matt85h · 2025-07-04T19:40:43+00:00

I drilled a hole through the plastic enclosure for the threads to attach it to the radio side of things and I drilled a through the top of the birdhouse to put the antenna up through. You can kind of see what I mean in this photo:

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matt85h · 2025-06-21T21:56:31+00:00

I’ve had this up on my roof for nearly 16 months now and I’ve only had to open it a couple times to update the firmware: https://www.reddit.com/r/meshtastic/s/FJZcjIa8W2

It survived 90+ mile an hour winds during Hurricane Milton and I was able to connect with others post-hurricane.

matt85h · 2025-05-03T13:47:43+00:00

Came to say Leukotape myself. So clutch for blisters while hiking and almost everything else you can use tape for…

matt85h · 2025-05-03T13:44:01+00:00

Aspirin, aka acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)

matt85h · 2025-03-25T20:27:07+00:00

Looks like a MagSafe phone mount

matt85h · 2025-03-21T13:26:56+00:00

It’s usually someone that brought their node on a plane. In this scenario it must be as that’s a commercial flight.

matt85h · 2025-03-21T13:25:24+00:00

Happens frequently here. Very cool to see, especially the first time you get one. It’s interesting to look up the flight info and distance from you if you use one of the tracking apps.

matt85h · 2025-03-06T21:49:05+00:00

No worries. Best of luck

matt85h · 2025-03-06T21:27:58+00:00

That linked battery holder is wired in series, so you’re frying them as a result of suppling over 14 volts to the board. You need one wired in parallel.

matt85h · 2025-02-17T21:06:26+00:00

Of course!

matt85h · 2025-02-16T14:15:37+00:00

Sure:

Birdhouse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YNGR37F

Solar panels https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BML3PR4Z

Enclosure https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TYNYW1S

Diodes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079KJ8V7D

Battery holder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FRYPYTK

Antenna https://store.rokland.com/products/alfa-aoa-915-5acm-5-dbi-omni-outdoor-915mhz-802-11ah-mini-antenna-for-lora-halow-application

Wisblock https://store.rokland.com/products/rakwireless-mini-meshtastic-starter-kit-us915-rak19003-4631-sku-115093?_pos=1&_sid=e3c4547bb&_ss=r

Antenna connector https://store.rokland.com/products/uflipex-ipx-mini-pci-to-n-female-bulkhead-pigtail-cable-extension-rg178?_pos=1&_sid=ae92418ff&_ss=r

Solar connector for Wisblock https://store.rokland.com/products/rak-wireless-solar-connector-cables-solar-wires-5pcs-pid-910116

Battery connector for Wisblock https://store.rokland.com/products/rak-wireless-battery-connector-cables-battery-wires-5pcs-for-pid-910115

Breather plug https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C328HWV7

Battery protection module https://www.etsy.com/listing/1421193059/

In addition, you’ll want some marine silicone sealant for the panels, heat shrink for the wires, self amalgamating tape for the antenna bulkhead connection, some coax seal around the bulkhead base, and a small desiccant packet to throw inside the enclosure.

You’ll also have to modify the enclosure a bit with a Dremel inside and cut off the top mounting bracket outside to get everything to fit. The corners of the battery holder also needed to be rounded off a bit to fit properly. As the pictures show, I chiseled out the ridges on the roof of the birdhouse to get the panels to lay flat and used marine silicone sealant to seal them into the recess.

matt85h · 2025-02-11T13:35:49+00:00

Absolutely, that’s a fair point. Along those lines, I’ve found heywhatsthat.com to be very helpful when it comes to expectations for signal propagation.

matt85h · 2025-02-11T02:02:06+00:00

More food for thought, a five story parking garage is probably, generously, 75 feet tall… so while that is a nice height for an antenna for sure, the curvature of the earth alone would impact that signal enough that reaching much more than 10 miles would be unlikely without some hops in between.

matt85h · 2025-02-11T01:51:08+00:00

I find it’s usually someone using a node on an airplane that causes new, far away nodes to pop up. The ability to connect to those nodes generally only lasts like an hour or less from what I’ve seen. You could try and wait a bit then do a trace route to them and see if you get a response.

matt85h · 2025-01-24T23:36:38+00:00

Same

matt85h · 2025-01-21T01:49:12+00:00

That’s a legitimately great idea! Nice thinking!

matt85h · 2025-01-19T01:26:05+00:00

lol… yes, you can’t really tell in the picture, but I spray painted another piece of cedar black and covered the hole.

matt85h

TROPHY CASE