Hey folks, I’m totally new to the whole meshtastic thing, but I checked the coverage in my area and it is basically nonexistent. I’m not primarily interested in using meshtastic myself but I am super into the idea of deploying my own repeater node to expand coverage here for the folks who may want to use it or need to use it.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally it would be solar powered and waterproof so it can be self sufficient out in the elements and just do its thing. Bonus points if it can be used from my phone via bluetooth so I can fiddle around with meshtastic as a user instead of just an extra node in the mesh.
I don’t have access to a 3d printer or soldering tools, so I understand that limits the options
Edited to remove use of “repeater” as this has a defined meaning in meshtastic.
I’m not aware of any ready-to-use ones you can buy that are outdoor rated. Pretty much all of the pre-assembled ones I’ve seen are in a handheld or portable form factor.
For a “repeater” node (note the quotes, explained further below), I’ve wanted to pick up one of the new 1 W high power Rak Wireless boards (link). Those have a battery terminal as well as a solar input for charging. All you’d need to add would be a PV panel + battery and put it into some kind of housing. I’d also use a nicer antenna than the little stub one that comes with it.
You should be able to put that together without any kind of soldering, though you would need to wire the solar panel output to a battery-style connector to be able to attach it to the board. There are solder-free wire splicers you may be able to use, but it’s also a good opportunity to practice soldering as there’s little to mess up.
For the housing, you might look for outdoor-rated utility boxes or something like that. Would probably have to drill and seal holes for the antenna connector and solar panel wire, but shouldn’t be too difficult. That, or you may be able to get a friend to help with 3D printing a solution.
Now, back to the use of “repeater” instead of repeater. Meshtastic docs are very adamant about only using the repeater role (now “router” role; repeater has been deprecated in recent versions). In all but the rarest and most optimally placed cases, you’d want to be using “client” or “client base” modes as they repeat messages but without forcing other clients to use them (and thus consuming a hop).
Thank you for the advice and I am taking strong note about the repeater wording! I will definitely set it up as a client or client base.
Yeah, it’s hard to know if people use the word “repeater” colloquially or technically, so I always repeat the Meshtastic warning about that role since it has a high likelihood of being detrimental to the mesh in the area.
Hope you find something suitable because it’s a fun project. I only get a few hits each month (less in the winter it seems) but it’s cool when you randomly pick up someone from miles away and have a chat.