US - Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro

[quaint marlin]

yeah these soshine's come with two little carabiners that are made for just hanging the panel from a tent pole or branch or something. Won't even need the carabiners themselves, just the holes and a suitable loop of bailing wire, and viola.

the antenna will be on a 90deg mount so that it sticks up vertical.

This is gonna be eazy peazy

[dreamy sapphire]

The cards are all falling into place

[quaint marlin]

https://tenor.com/view/cards-fail-cat-gif-7378069

AND I don't have to buy a pizza peel to put on a 25ft pole 😄

[dreamy sapphire]

OR, you buy a pizza peel, and a pizza stone, and a portable pizza oven, and we make pizza at the MN meshtastic meetup that we have to also organize

[quaint marlin]

I actually already have a portable pizza oven

[dreamy sapphire]

Oh word?

[quaint marlin]

yup

[dreamy sapphire]

I've been eyeing them up for a few months but never pulled the trigger

The brick ones are HEAVY and the sheet metal ones dont look all that good

Want something I can take camping

[quaint marlin]

I've got the Camp Chef one

so you can use green gas cans or BBQ propane

[dreamy sapphire]

Do they take the tiny propane tanks that cook stoves use?

[quaint marlin]

camp chef is sorta a modular thing

[dreamy sapphire]

Or just the phat tanks for grills

[quaint marlin]

there's a base, and then things you put on it.

[dreamy sapphire]

Modularity!

[quaint marlin]

I wouldn't say it's like... 'pack it along with you on a hike' portable but it's definitely "put it in the car easily and assemble when ready" portable.

[dreamy sapphire]

I saw a video where someone made a portable oven out of two paver stones and like 100 bricks

[dreamy sapphire]

Didnt even look that bad

[quaint marlin]

each of those two things are separate units.. you could run just one, switch sides, etc

I believe they have a single burner version

I would imagine it could be adapted to run on the small green tanks vs BBQ tanks. It's the same gas.

[dreamy sapphire]

I got a pocket isobutane burner for camping (totally worth) but got propane instead

It doesnt work with propane

[quaint marlin]

they run at the same pressure

this is the single burner version:

https://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-Single-Burner-Stove/dp/B007PK9RG6/ref=asc_df_B007PK9RG6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693491727545&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12245302661922189110&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9193261&hvtargid=pla-451127481103&psc=1&mcid=2355975d879d3b819380a42a53de817d

[dreamy sapphire]

So I got a propane tank thats speaking to me like the green goblin mask to toss in a campfire and shoot with the 22

[quaint marlin]

it breaks down quite small

and I think their big draw is that it can get pretty hot. You can deep fry turkeys, etc if you wanted.

besides being really portable.

the legs are QD, the hose is flexible, just spend literally 60 seconds putting it together after you unload the car.

if I were bringing mine glamp/camping I'd probably just bring the griddle and BBQ tops so that there are options. Probably wouldn't bring the pizza thing just because pizza prep doesn't really lend itself as a campground activity IMO

[dreamy sapphire]

My mom would make pizzas on the fire grate when we'd glamp at the state parks

They came out very well

[quaint marlin]

nice....

my buddy makes fresh dough from scratch and it makes such a big difference

it's almost like Punch style.. not QUITE as nuanced because this oven won't do 900deg, but it's still comparable

[dreamy sapphire]

Hot take: punch pizza is just okay

I'll go there if I'm nearby but I wont hunt them down

[wide umbra]

https://tenor.com/view/johny-gif-27696534

[quaint marlin]

I find them to be excellent, on par with any of the other neo style joints in town. I think we as MN'ers got spoiled by the fact that there's a punch in every town 😄

[dreamy sapphire]

Pizza Flame though

Thats some good pizza

[quaint marlin]

I've been going to punch since the original sit-down location in highland

[dreamy sapphire]

But my favorite is still Jet's

[quaint marlin]

Jets is a different thing

I love jets but that's like a whole different kind of meal

[dreamy sapphire]

Jets is a masterpiece of art disguised as pizza

[quaint marlin]

for me, punch is lunch pizza. jets is drunk pizza (in a good way)

[dreamy sapphire]

Ngl I've been considering getting a crate of school lunch dunkers

[quaint marlin]

it's so substantial, I'm done after 2 slices of jets. With punch, I want a couple pieces of the salame e fungi, and some salad, and some of that ridiculous rosemary flatbread

[dreamy sapphire]

Jets detroit style is so much food

Even a 4 corner is a meal and leftovers

[quaint marlin]

it is, and it leftovers extremely well, especially with an air fryer

[dreamy sapphire]

I'll confess another sin

I prefer microwaved leftover pizza to air fried

[quaint marlin]

big downside to punch is that it does not leftover well at all. The middle is too soggy.

so you pretty much gotta finish it there

[dreamy sapphire]

Punch air fries better than it microwaves, but ya

[quaint marlin]

it doesn't even to-go well, even if you live closeby

[dreamy sapphire]

Good luck air frying jets back to warmth

[quaint marlin]

I thought you were gonna say that you prefer Pizza Rolls above all.

[dreamy sapphire]

I'm all pizza rolld out for the next year lmao

[quaint marlin]

jets, you microwave for 30 seconds and air-fry for 2min

it comes out just like it was delivered

[dreamy sapphire]

Ate so many of those before I got married and learned how to properly cook

[dreamy sapphire]

Screenshotting that

[quaint marlin]

I mean it's bachelor chow, no questions asked. You're just not old enough yet to be nostalgic for them 😄

so I'm looking at your balcony/chimney and I'm thinking... I don't even need special tools for this. I have a collapsible ladder that I can just climb and reach out or maybe use like... tongs.... to install that node.

[random mantle]

I tried pizza rolls again not too long ago, also remembering them fondly, and was not impressed. I'm not sure if they changed or I changed (maybe both).

[quaint marlin]

pizza rolls have to be prepared correctly. If they're not actually fried-ish, like at least in an oven they're gummy and horrible

that anyone would ever eat those after just microwaving them.... I'm sorry, but face the wall, comrade.

[random mantle]

texture is, for sure, important, but the taste was what I found lacking

[dreamy sapphire]

I would air fry the pizza rolls after I got a frier

Best way imo

[quaint marlin]

only way.

[random mantle]

microwaved pizza rolls

[quaint marlin]

hahaha

this does give me ideas though.... has anyone tried making a pizza that uses pizza rolls as a topping?

juststonerthings

or go full MN, and make like a pizza roll hot dish where it's cooked pizza rolls swimming in red sauce, and covered in shredded mozz

[dreamy sapphire]

Get this man into the kitchen right now

[quaint marlin]

the weird thing is, I just had lunch at 11, and I'm not hungry... just inspired!

@dreamy sapphire would there be an issue if I literally just climbed my ladder and placed the node there by hand as long as people weren't intrigued? It'd look like I was just going up to like, look at the shingles.

it's one of those ladders that collapses down to like a 2 foot stack of ladder rungs.

[dreamy sapphire]

HOA laws say residents arent allowed on the roof

[quaint marlin]

I'd just do it from the ladder

[dreamy sapphire]

If you're quick itll be fine lmao

[quaint marlin]

that would make it so that there's no extra parts or inventions needed to just plop the node there.

and I'll just use a yardstick or a grabby arm thingie to shove it into place where nobody can see it.

and I will install a loop of wire so that it can be re-grabbed if needed.

[dreamy sapphire]

Shame that I just started my new job or we'd have all the time in the world

[quaint marlin]

well, I'm self-employed so I have a weird mix of no time at all, and all the time in the world. I just got the solar panel installed, the adhesive is curing. Node will be ready for chimney by Tuesday evening.

[dreamy sapphire]

I tried to be self employed and turned out to be no good at it

I'll give it another gander in 5 years

Or do what Yeti does and just have a fun side hustle

[quaint marlin]

your node consists of a wisblock, airbuddy 1W amp, voltaic V75 fed by a SoShine 6W panel. Signal stick will be an ALFA 915 on a right-angle adapter. There is an SMA bulkhead for a BLE antenna, so if you happen to have a spare 2.4ghz shorty antenna we can slap that on there too.

being successfully self-employed (if you're a service provider like myself) takes time. You pretty much have to begin as a side hustle and then when you've got a critical mass of repeat clients, take the plunge. I've been doing it almost 8 years now.

I still P/T contract for some big companies, which makes stability easier, so I don't have to hustle for the next gig whenever one ends.

[dreamy sapphire]

I dream of having a factory in my garage pumping out parts to sell. No customization, no bespoke pieces, just a little factory making stuff I design and then sell

A print farm, a little assembly line, bins of product to the ceiling

[quaint marlin]

that sounds like the Smarter Every Day episode that just came out about disc golf

[dreamy sapphire]

It was a very good episode

[quaint marlin]

except those two guys went whole hog, that was nuts

[dreamy sapphire]

I watch a lot of Shop Nation and he did basically exactly that

He's got a commercial space now and he just makes hundreds of parts a week. Prettymuch only miter saw dust collection adapters that are better than the OEMs

Man found a niche and went for it and it worked

[quaint marlin]

so my thought on this node, if for instance your HOA decided to remove the broomstick from their rectum, you could very easily just replace the ALFA915 with that 8dbi stick with an adapter and probably get beaucoup results. You may even be able to do that anyways, you'd just need to probably figure out a way to brace the antenna from wind movement... like print little 45 degree "guywire" legs for it or something.

[dreamy sapphire]

The 8dbi is pretty friggin long, would we need ballasts too?

Roofs get quite windy in storms. I wonder if the chimney would block a good part of that

[quaint marlin]

nah... if anything could literally just attach magnets to the bottom of the node and slap it on a 6x12 sheet of 1/2" steel. It won't move a millimeter

I've positioned the solar panel so that it will generate the smallest amount of lift possible during wind. The node itself is actually pretty heavy and there's nothing stopping you from filling any voids with plastic bags full of sand.

I know for a fact that Alfa915's don't catch much wind (as evidenced by my streetlight nodes being exactly in place, within feet of downed trees recently) and that 8dbi isn't THAT much bigger, is it? I want to say it's like... I dunno 16"?

oh and there are also external points that would be very easy to just use bailing wire to tie it to your chimney in case things got REALLLLLLLY windy.

[dreamy sapphire]

24"

Long boi

[dreamy sapphire]

I'll use the drone and tie it up like an AT-AT

[quaint marlin]

I'm just used to all these 5.8dbi 32" ones, and and 40" 10dbi I put on RV2

[dreamy sapphire]

https://tenor.com/view/star-wars-piper-unicycle-diplein-falling-down-gif-17856581

40"? Good gravy

[quaint marlin]

damned unicyclists

yeah the antenna on RV2 is one of the "rural" 40 inch ones. LongFast's brother has a few on the way for nodes he's building too.

outer ring north metro is gonna be covered much sooner than you'd think

[dreamy sapphire]

I'm gonna have to prune my nodedb in preparation, its at 79

[quaint marlin]

and the two nodes going up at/by your place are gonna be no small part of it

[dreamy sapphire]

I dont plan to move for several years, so I'll happily play host to it to boost the mesh where able

Got that covid mortgage rate, I'm here for the long haul

[quaint marlin]

yeah I refi'd back in 2012 to 4%, not goin' nowhere.

[dreamy sapphire]

Damn nice

[quaint marlin]

I didn't bother with the covid rates, I just took the whole year off paying my mortgage duing the big shutdown

and then paid that all at once when I realized I was gonna have to pay it back eventually

[dreamy sapphire]

I bought this house in 2021 when I got married

Despite it being a sellers market we somehow got 3.3% fixed 30

[quaint marlin]

nice! yeah that's tough to beat

[dreamy sapphire]

I think its upwards of 9 or 10% right now

I wont move for anything more than 5 unless its a killer deal. Like a literal castle on the cheap

[viral pebble]

space ghost is one of you, yeah?

[dreamy sapphire]

ya spaceghost is here

[robust flax]

Yeah

I'm in waterloo

Headed to cedar falls no acks on my side

[viral pebble]

Ahhh I just picked your node up

Six minutes ago or so

[robust flax]

Yeah

[viral pebble]

Must be that magic time near sunrise/sunset

[robust flax]

Hit off a repeater

[viral pebble]

Nice

[nova wigeon]

I'm going to try and leave a DIY solar node on the silo at work tomorrow, will update with coords once it's up

[grand lance]

Glad to see y'all's conversation earlier today about version 2.4. I still have been struggling to hear other nodes with my RAK starter kit. Granted, I live in a brick building with metal lathe under the plaster, but still. Working on flashing back to 2.3.13 and trying that.

[viral pebble]

The building alone would severely attenuate without the metal lath. I have a similarly constructed house. Metal lath and plaster, clay tile walls with brick over top. You really want to get a node outside that can hop stuff inside the house and talk to the outer world

[quaint marlin]

Im actually putting one on a silo near Medina soon, along with a ham repeater

[robust flax]

I didn't forget! Parts ate on the table

[grand lance]

I didn’t think you had forgotten! Just trying to troubleshoot why I haven’t picked up any nodes, even when outside the house…

[dreamy sapphire]

even thought I got a 5ish dbi antenna on a 1w amp I couldnt see my home node from less than a mile, and also through several dozen houses

[quaint marlin]

that's actually a 4W amp 👆🏼

[dreamy sapphire]

I was about to go on a tanget of "oh get a qc3.0 or usb-pd car outlet to usb-c and then get that negotiator board and negotiate 12v to xt60 for the bandit to rip" but car outlets are already 12v

[quaint marlin]

the node I'm putting on your chimney (adhesive is still curing...) will be 1W

[quaint marlin]

Here is all you need to make the bandit into a super car node:

https://www.amazon.com/CASIMY-Connector-Cigarette-Extension-Compatible/dp/B0BP6TYTXP/ref=sr_1_3?crid=8FCY972COKBY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RrfoJGyvdxRni_su6fkJ-QsiV1G3X91shS-poPIG8V4Il1vsIXSsAdJT46oDAnv-DJctgOjenAGrZF9EklrOo9YWNqfWc0A8RV_A-80-drQ5esJa-bXsYzU1X5M-hlF8V6iv-RsSw-_ooEPWW7apC6J-WR5bZCEUBXrC0rFd2aftVsEl5Y_5U50J02pKiMcI8Jtz0K4aKUsxBGfN2LbE0vvn0GAlA6L6DcTFP7WOYj7BFOgbEkXNX8n2O6mHCchgYee2j7zSmUXGazZSwxiqoR2c52Slfy5M4CfTprOtaoQ.tAQML7ug32qUw0tOohyfom6b5F-MakDM9AF_PBLVT34&dib_tag=se&keywords=12v+XT60+adapter&qid=1725979529&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=12v+xt60+adapte%2Clawngarden%2C148&sr=1-3

and then an XT60 to XT30 adapter.

If you're hanging it from the window, I'd suggest a wired one, and if you're just stuffing it under the seat, a wire"less" one.

I've got one of each just sitting here if you need one

I have not been able to find an 12v cig charger that goes directly to XT30.

[wide umbra]

i can easily solder up an xt30 to a cig charger lead if we need it done

[quaint marlin]

that would be ideal.

I've got a bunch of XT30 ends with like 8" of nice thick leads

[wide umbra]

https://tenor.com/view/trump-hiss-hissing-donald-snack-gif-12874197

[quaint marlin]

I've already got one that's adapted and ready to rock.

It's for the node you were gonna test, but if you can make your own I can give this adapter setup to @dreamy sapphire

[wide umbra]

yeah send it on to infered, i can adapt and fabricate as needed

[quaint marlin]

@junior cosmos has a bandit car node as well that would benefit greatly from one. I imagine he probably has XT30 stuff lying around everywhere as well

[wide umbra]

just a few im sure

his inventory puts mine to shame

Finally got my station g2 case published to thingiverse, i know a few of you were interested in it https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6761699

[random mantle]

speaking of cases, the RAK19026 just showed up, and I can't find anything out on the model sites to print for it 😢 It doesn't look like the 19007/5005 cases are compatible

I think it's a newish board, but chatgpt tells me it came out 3 years ago (doubt)

[wide umbra]

are you looking for something to cleanly carry it around like most cases out there, or just something to protect it from debris?

i could probably whip something up but without a board here tough to get something super clean and integrated

[random mantle]

I'm actually not quite sure yet, but I assume I'd carry this guy. I was thinking about trying my hand at modifying an existing design, but I know I won't make time to do it. RAK does have a step file for the whole board out there FWIW

this is the pre-built version they're selling with that board https://store.rakwireless.com/products/wismesh-pocket

[quaint marlin]

I am gonna design something and then enlist one of you guys to print it when that weird tiny phone shows up. Either that or I may design a clip-on backpack for my weird CAT android flip phone. I'm slowly becoming obsessed with all-in-one units based on burner/cheap phones.

[quaint marlin]

I've never seen that device before.

[random mantle]

I think it's pretty new and I'm a sucker for new stuff 😂

[quaint marlin]

@dreamy sapphire I'm gonna scope the Fogerty landscape today in person. I don't think I'm bringing the node and installer, but we shall see.

[dreamy sapphire]

Alright finally got on my lunch break. Ate my sammy and it was good

As always my printer is at your disposal. For something like a carry device I can up the resolution

[viral pebble]

facts are not chatgpt's strong suit

[quaint marlin]

I'm on my way to Fogerty, let me know if my pilot node pops up on your radar

i'll make some pings along the way

[quaint marlin]

yeah that's the one

right next to big head lindahl

view partially obscured by trees is perfect

i'll put the test node up asap

[quaint marlin]

here are the pings i sent out from around the area

let me know how those match up with what you received at your place. I know you should have at least the beep beep

[dreamy sapphire]

I'll let you know when I get home, pocket2 is still running

Did you get a ping from pocket2 out there?

[quaint marlin]

no but i think it's already in my node db

i got many acks though which bodes well

granted i'm running a g2 it still seems positive that i'm getting acks nearby and not-that-nearby

all at street level of course

[dreamy sapphire]

Did you get BS01 in your db?

[quaint marlin]

no, this is my node map from the area

[dreamy sapphire]

They're out by uni and 105th, itd be pretty awesome if you did

[quaint marlin]

i was not out all that long, might have been out of sync with the node announcements

i don't think gspot was out there, i think it ends up in roseville most days

[dreamy sapphire]

So I can definitely hear, just sending out is kinda booty. Strange

[quaint marlin]

oh yeah we will get that solved

hoa buster by itself might work, as might the light node. but might as well do both

listening is always easier in radio

[quaint marlin]

office node map is bonkers

[dreamy sapphire]

Minnesota map is bussin these days

I remember looking at meshmap not 6 months ago and it seemed so sparse I didnt buy a unit cuz there seemed little point

Also @quaint marlin you were talking about crapphones as communicators, the pinephone has an SPI interfaceable sx1262 lora module backplate

Probably needs a ton of linux futzing to get to work, but itd be very seamless

[viral pebble]

It’s probably not a ton of futzing, since there’s a Linux native build already

[random mantle]

I like that idea a lot

[quaint marlin]

Being that there's exactly one true standalone meshtastic node, maybe there's a market for something that's all-in-one but a little cooler than t-decks?

hell you'll probably still make it to market before the t-deck UI goes to beta

[quaint marlin]

Yeah don't take my map as the indication of how the entire metro is... I have yuge blank spots in the west metro that I'm pretty sure have SOME nodes.

and I still have a lot to do in the southern half of ramsey county

[dreamy sapphire]

After some looking, it might only be the pinephone pro

[nova wigeon]

Work got busy and I failed to install the cheap node, will try again as soon as I'm back!

[quaint marlin]

no worries!

have you done a HeyWhatsThat on the silo location? If it's a boomer I will gladly build a ridiculous node for it.

[nova wigeon]

I still have a literal pile of PocketPCs that I think have new enough Bluetooth to talk to a node... gotta get on that.

Also want to make my Osborne One or Tandy 100 work but gotta figure out how to do that in MS-BASIC 😛

[quaint marlin]

someone here (I think in this chat room) made it work with a teletype machine at some sort of a TC Free Geek event a few months ago

[viral pebble]

That was me 😀

It was a pretty dumb test really, I already had the serial to teletype converter I built from before, just wrote a quick script to bridge over

[quaint marlin]

Just picked up another node in Iowa which I assume is a stuck GPS coord

[viral pebble]

which node?

[quaint marlin]

f1b0 I think

it popped up northwest of Ames by probably 25 miles or something

I deleted it, we'll see if it pops back up in the same place

[viral pebble]

hmm, haven't picked that one up

[dreamy sapphire]

I got that one, its in little Canada

Right by 3191

[quaint marlin]

deployment time

If you look up Lincoln pawn on Google maps on Highway 65, look at street view behind it, and there is a radio tower that as far as I can tell is totally empty. It looks quite old, but it may be worth looking at who owns it to see if we could use it

it looks like it belongs to some industrial business, and there may be one tiny antenna on it but that's as far as I could see. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a place like that would let you put a note up as long as you're willing to climb safely

All right the bridge note is up on the light pole

Look for the owl

I have it set to node broadcast once an hour

I'll be curious to see how good the coverage is. It's basically within the top 10 feet of a tree canopy

It's not going to get very good sun, at least not until the leaves fall. It was actually relatively difficult to put up because the tree is so close to the pole

[ripe vector]

Remote 5?

[quaint marlin]

yup

it's just a test node to see if it'll help @dreamy sapphire get to more nodes. i've got a hq node built for him but it's still curing. the tube of 5200 i'm isn't that i just opened seems to take forever to cure

[ripe vector]

I can pick it up in Bloomington but at 5 hops 😂

[quaint marlin]

That's actually not bad!

Google Maps measure from Fogerty Arena to where you picked it up

My guess is it'll be at least 15 miles

I also reset its db right before installing, so it's routing might be a little odd until it picks up more stuff

[quaint marlin]

it's 7.5mi from RV1, so I don't know if it'll do the job, but it's worth a shot.

I haven't received any telemetry from it yet

[dreamy sapphire]

My car node can hit DT Office from my work

Cool

[quaint marlin]

did you switch it over to XT30?

if not, you and @junior cosmos need to... I didn't realize that no matter the quality of the USB cable and car adapter it was still gravely under-powering the bandit.

[dreamy sapphire]

Not yet

[quaint marlin]

like, barely functional.

[dreamy sapphire]

I'll place an order tonight

[quaint marlin]

what part of town is the new gig in?

[dreamy sapphire]

Or just head to microcenter, gotta make my annual pilgramage soon anyway

Near the NSC

Northeast of the airport

[quaint marlin]

yeah you should be decently covered over there. I was getting ACKs all over that side of town

[dreamy sapphire]

I'll also have to reprint the bandit holder and open up the xt30 port

[quaint marlin]

yeah, that was my next design change 😄 I specifically covered it up.... DOH!

[dreamy sapphire]

Lmk how many you want, I think the design is pretty solid

Unless you want me to pretty it up

Oh heck I need petg anyway. Better find time for a microcenter run

[viral pebble]

wow, I gotta say, if you are using the RAK ethernet + PoE and it's running outdoors.....mine lasted a week. now the ethernet module hangs the i2c scan in the firmware. not worth the money IMO

we're thinking ESD during a storm, not even a lightning strike

[quaint marlin]

I actually think the walls need to be thicker. The weight and angle of the XT30 isn't as friendly as USB, where you could just put a 90deg adapter on it to get it to pull "straight down"....

so yeah, regarding that unused antenna mast...

it would easily cover all of blaine.

and it specifically splashes dark red at RV2.... meaning it could be a very easy way to connect north to south.

[quaint marlin]

I don't trust those RAK PoE things... seems like everyone has trouble with them.

[quaint marlin]

BTW if anyone in the north burbs is available for an experiment this Saturday at like 2pm I would like to see what happens if I turn RV1 into a G2 node for an hour.

it'd be a real easy cable swap as a temporary measure to see if it makes a big difference in connecting the north burbs

[dreamy sapphire]

Remote 5 working fine for me! Thanks for putting it up

[quaint marlin]

but can you get further into the mesh yet?

i don't pick it up at RV1

but it should at least give you a decent jumpoff point

also does it gps to the parking lot? i didn't stay long enough to get telemetry

[dreamy sapphire]

It does gps to the edge of the lot. Does it have gps, or did you just static position it?

I can hear your office, rv1/2, remote 2, kb hq

[dreamy sapphire]

I'm hearing MM all the way down in the cities

Wow

[quaint marlin]

just a static GPS set where I parked.

it's only got 3mah of battery in there and it's well into the canopy so I dont think it will last much longer than a week or two. But it should be easy to get down and replace with something more substantial.

I just wanted to see if it helped you get some reach

just picked up two new MERRITT nodes myself.

a mailbox and a repeater (client)

does anyone know if Merritt has ever dropped in here?

I started including a tinyURL to this discord room with my regular longfast spam message

PSA - Nodes at ground level please use Client mode. It improves the range and usefulness of the whole mesh. Router is meant only for tall buildings, radio towers, etc. Cheers! 🍻Discord: https://tinyurl.com/mspmesh

feel free to share that URL with folks, it brings you straight to this room

[quaint marlin]

headed to holy angels. get yer nodes up richfield!

[wide umbra]

https://tenor.com/view/bobs-burgers-im-ready-lets-go-linda-gif-3535003

[quaint marlin]

i got an ack at the roundabout next to HA

[dreamy sapphire]

I get more hearing reach, but I'm suspecting pocket2 (which is permanently home rn) is being wack cuz I cant get a signal out

Lmao, pocket2 (the one with the amp) traceroutes to remote 5 through pocket1, which is just a rak

[quaint marlin]

keep in mind that the routing algorithm specifically picks nodes with weak signal as priority so that you're not just "preaching to the choir" so to speak

You may actually get different results if you reset your node db

You've got an amplified HQ node ready to deploy as well, I think the 3M 5200 has finally cured. I could bring it over to install on Friday if you're available. I could be wrong but you should be able to connect to it via BLE from nearby inside your place.

which would be nice, avoid an extra Hop

[dreamy sapphire]

I definitely have some spare sma wifi antennas, hoping they're tuned to 2.4

they're new enough that they could be 5ghz, hell they have two antennas on those wifis now, maybe it's one for each?

[quaint marlin]

even the pcb BLE antenna that comes with a wisblock isn't all that bad. I have a literally like.. 1" stubby BLE antenna on it right now.

it works, but not great.

we'll test it out during the install and see what works best. I have some bonkers 5dbi 2.4ghz ones too that could get thrown on just for S&G

[ripe vector]

We have messaged back and forth a few times and get consistent acks between us. But don’t think he’s in here. I’ll shoot him a message

[quaint marlin]

Some folks have been chatting about ways to "recruit" (yeah I know that's a terrible term) people who live in high places with a balcony to host a node in the downtowns or nearby in any type of high-rise. I can't really think of more of an incentive than "I'll buy, build, and install it, give you a pocket node, and you can use it any time you want" - anyone have any ideas on that kinda thing? Sweeten the pot?

[quaint marlin]

just had a new node pop up downtown mpls!

[wide umbra]

name???

[quaint marlin]

THREE OH ONE (Shakes & Teas) Kasson, MN

actually getting a ton of new nodes right now

[wide umbra]

kasson isnt close to downtown lol

[quaint marlin]

it's GPSing to downtown

[wide umbra]

guessing it's just advertising in their node name

[quaint marlin]

also AV17 just popped up

AND I connected to the Remote 5 I put up.

all in like one minute

even crazier, I got what I assume is a direct connection to Remote5... from quite a long ways away

like, I get a signal bar.... and it's showing strong.

not sure I believe that i'm directly talking with it

that's 12.5mi away across much, much terrain

it's a restaurant!

ah here we go... Three Oh One was not in downtown, that was the stupid mac app being stuck on the map.

can it be that we're actually picking that up from way down near Rochester?!

[dreamy sapphire]

No fuckin way we got a link to Rochester, something else is happening

I bet theres a node in the city with fixed location to rochester

[quaint marlin]

can call them and ask!

I FB messaged the business asking about the node

they are replying now 😄

told him to tell his dad it got picked up in St Paul

he said sure thing

that's a 65+ mile node beacon if the GPS is right, and I sorta think it's possible

[quaint marlin]

checking out the Pavek museum while i wait for my wife to finish up a dr appt

[wide umbra]

oh hell yeah, pavek is sweet

[quaint marlin]

never been

[quaint marlin]

pretty cool place. been by it a million times, just had a spare half hour to go in and check it out.

between micro center and that place i've fulfilled my geek quota for the day

[viral pebble]

We finally went into pavek for the first time a few weeks ago. Lived across the highway from it for like 2 years like a decade ago

[quaint marlin]

It was pretty cool. It's still bizarre to me that it's a public (open to the public, not state-operated) museum like that in the middle of a quiet area of town.

and it's really well put together, I like how very little of anything is behind glass.

the highlight (at least for me) was goofing around with the Theramin

[viral pebble]

the only thing I wish I could've seen more of is their repair shop, I'm sure it's the standard things but I wanted to steal some ideas, haha

[quaint marlin]

yeah it was roped off and lights-out. I was the only person in the museum that wasn't an employee (it was like 11:30am on a thursday...)

[viral pebble]

Now that I have my bandit nano…this other ExpressLRS radio I’m looking at supports 2W peak transmit power and is less than $40 🤔 https://emax-usa.com/products/aeris-link-expresslrs-control-system

(Gotta select nano 915 from the drop down)

I only found one mention on the discord, probably would need to be ported

[wide umbra]

Yeah one of the lucky breaks with the Bandit was Radiomaster's willingness to speak freely about their designs

And it had mapped to the ELRS standards which made porting relatively simple

[viral pebble]

ahhhhhh. yeah, I imagine you'd have to know what screen it's using, I think SPI requires the right address? haven't looked in a long time

I'm just digging into this now, apparently they all use the same open source ExpressLRS firmware?

haha https://github.com/ExpressLRS/ExpressLRS/pull/1432/files I think this'll help

I have no business doing this but I want to buy this and try and target meshtastic at it

[wide umbra]

Yeah expresslrs is an awesome rc control protocol

[quaint marlin]

To my (limited) knowledge only the 900 Bandit Nano actually has MT firmware for it.

and my guess is specifically because of its "1W" upper limit.

[viral pebble]

I am not even sure if the 2W peak limit is real on this emax unit

it would have to come from the amplifier side, and that's not documented online that I can find

mostly based on the shit-talking here https://github.com/ExpressLRS/ExpressLRS/pull/1432#issuecomment-1047785430

[quaint marlin]

reading shit-talking git commit comments reminds me too much of my old work life.

[viral pebble]

Comments on my PRs at work are a lot more polite than this. lol

[quaint marlin]

Thankfully I am in a place where when I do have to do commits they are not even reviewed by anyone.

[untold owl]

Im not from your area but you guys are the only one's really talking about the Nano and similar hardware so I'm replying so I remember to follow

[viral pebble]

I think it’s nice, people can maybe go over EIRP with it a bit too easy but if you want to use a feed line it can help overcome those losses

[quaint marlin]

Speaking of bandits and lines etc etc...

https://www.amazon.com/Anina-Vehicle-Antenna-Extension-Coaxial-Cable/dp/B0BLNH92KR/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=RkPUz&content-id=amzn1.sym.b0f81224-c575-416a-93d9-20e612928432%3Aamzn1.symc.c7d845cb-4910-45f5-9826-0c6eb52c18fa&pf_rd_p=b0f81224-c575-416a-93d9-20e612928432&pf_rd_r=KSJ6GBB5X7S16RS45BJY&pd_rd_wg=DJIu8&pd_rd_r=2dcf9d0f-463e-4dbe-a23f-834266916482&ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d

This is just a throwaway HAM antenna for your car but it comes with an articulating mount that looks like it'd be VERY easy to switch out for an N Female adapter on a short run of decent cable....

I think I may move both of my cars to Bandits and use the current car-based G2's for other installs to help infrastructure more than they currently are.

[viral pebble]

I wonder if you can get just the mount somewhere. decent cable might be pretty thick. I'm personally not prepared to drill into my car's roof, even with it being a decade old and paid off heh

the mag mount I have supposedly has a 2m run of LMR-100, I need to shorten it to as little as possible

[quaint marlin]

I’ll show you what i mean with the cabling. Hold on

Granted the way i mount both of mine that are similar to this need the vehicle to be a hatchback of some sort.

[viral pebble]

yeah, this mount looks perfect for my prius

this looks like the same thing more or less https://www.amazon.com/fosa-Antenna-Bracket-Adjustable-Vehicle/dp/B0797PQ7ZR

[quaint marlin]

Yeah thats better, good find.

Even has fake nagoya branding!

[viral pebble]

haha yeah

I wonder if any of my nagoyas are real

[quaint marlin]

I'm using the real nagoya on both of my cars, they started as MT antennas but I switched them over to GMRS (which is better, as they're natively NMO mount so antennas are a little easier to come by)

I love how all the "how to spot a fake nagoya" tips are things like "real ones come in a green plastic retail pack" - like nobody could possibly fake that...

[viral pebble]

yeah same with Shure mics

[quaint marlin]

"Shure" it's real...

so here's what I'm thinking for a bandit (or other node) cable for a mount like that:

[viral pebble]

oh, perfect

[quaint marlin]

just enough RG178 to get in the door, and then "hang" the node itself in some sort of an enclosure that would not leave it strained

[viral pebble]

I've been using velcro with mine in the car

[quaint marlin]

both of these are from Wifiexpert. I love that place

[viral pebble]

this stuff is what I use for guitar pedals, it works for attaching to the upholstery too https://www.amazon.com/3M-Dual-Lock-Reclosable-Fastener/dp/B007OXK330

[quaint marlin]

Such a short run of RG174 or RG178 won't KILL you with a normal node, and a bandit will easily be able to blast through it

This service just rules, no bones about it:

https://wifiexpert.us/customRFCable.php

[viral pebble]

oh snap

[quaint marlin]

assembled in CA, shipped quick, incredible prices.

[viral pebble]

would real LMR-100 be too stiff for this?

this is so cheap

[quaint marlin]

I don't actually know, the requirements are different for every application

[viral pebble]

I guess that's a difference of like .08dB between the two

[quaint marlin]

So for instance on my Pilot, the rubber gasket around the hatch is so fat that it has no problem running RG58 and not pinching it.

I've got a couple sample cables on the way that test the LMR200 types, one being the "super flex". I want to see just how super flexible it is

sorry the 240 "ULTRA FLEX".

[viral pebble]

yeah, was just looking at that

[quaint marlin]

so I got one 6" SMA patch in regular 240 and the other in ultra flex.

[viral pebble]

"Perfect for indoor and outdoor applications requiring multiple bending/flexing cycles."

so, like, 10? or 1000?

[quaint marlin]

this little corner of their site is like a candy store

the cables show up in like 4-5 days usually, and are really well-made.

[viral pebble]

I guess this is cheap enough it's not really a big deal either way how many cycles it can do

[quaint marlin]

yep

I mean I might not put it on an assembly line machine that does a million bends a week or anything...

[viral pebble]

Min. Bend Radius (in) 0.75 ok that is pretty good

[wide umbra]

if it's gonna be a permanent install and you can support the connectors so they dont get torqued, i see no issues using it

[viral pebble]

screw it, went with LMR-100. it'll be 3ft and have a connector for a better antenna, with a bandit on the other end. thing should be great in my car

I might just make my own PETG wedge/riser thing for the hatch or behind the hatch

[orchid geyser]

Thanks to whoever set up the discord. Hoping to see the mesh fill in more around the area.

Just got some of the Seeed T1000-E’s yesterday and clipped on to my dog was able to get range about 4 blocks out from my roof antenna (not the limit). Reasonably impressed.

Need to find a better way to clip it on to her though.. looks like she has a work badge.

[dreamy sapphire]

She's the supervisor now

Also the bandit power stuff comes on sunday. I'll do some preliminary modelling for the bandit car node and verify it when the cords show up

Soon™️ we'll have a near perfect car node

[viral pebble]

I'm waiting on XT30 connectors, and apparently a right angle RP-SMA bulkhead, now

and apparently my office is at maximum dysfunction, because my BRIGHT GREEN wire strippers are nowhere to be found

[quaint marlin]

how did you find us?

[orchid geyser]

I saw the message on the default channel about using Client rather than Router (already done) and followed the link. Was curious if there was a website or something else set up. Is this listed somewhere else to find?

I’ve been enjoying testing out Meshtastic overall though I, in general, find a lot of cases where trace routes and acks fail shortly after getting a message from other nodes. Presumably they have a transmit advantage of some sort but I was hoping that being on top of a 2nd story with clear sky to the east with a 5.8 dbi would make some of that more consistent. Definitely seems to come and go with weather conditions and other factors though I have 29 local online nodes listed on mesh map (https://meshmap.net/#848265614). Not sure what the time range is for that.

[quaint marlin]

We are in the process of putting together best practices and what not. Also figuring out how to get that information out to the public without bothering them too much lol

That's me spamming long fast with that message

We are working on quite a few things for the community as resources. A website, a discord server, eventually a BBS on the mesh will be happening

If you don't mind my asking, which node/nodes are yours?

[orchid geyser]

I have a bunch that aren’t always online since they’re battery powered and portable. All of them current start with JS- in the long name and JS in the short name. The one on my roof is JS-Stationary2 (!328f818e) and is in SW MPLS and publishes on msh/US/MN on the default MQTT server.

The others don’t currently uplink or downlink the default channel. JS-Stationary1 should also always be online. There are some Handhelds and Trackers and others that go in or out depending on what I’m testing. Currently messing with JS-Handheld4 which is a T114.

[dreamy sapphire]

looks like I have js-handheld2 on my node list

I've got AL-pocket (and pocket2) and AL-Car

[quaint marlin]

Ah yes, I've got those on a few of my nodes

[orchid geyser]

Nice! Js-habdheld2 is a heltecv3. I did take it around up near surly a few nights ago.

[quaint marlin]

Mine generally have a beer mug icon, and then a bunch without that as well

[orchid geyser]

Nice. I’ve seen some of those with the mug. Remote 1, Remote 2, Pilot, Remote 8, Remote 10, DTHQ, Remote 11.

[quaint marlin]

yep, that's me. I put nodes up all over town. commercial building rooftops, streetlights, etc

[orchid geyser]

What is the meaning for the names ending in a number and k?

Nice!

It’ll be great to have a more stable mesh with connectivity filled in.

[quaint marlin]

that's the mAh total of the batteries. I put the device type in parens and mAh so that I can quickly figure out if the node needs servicing or not based on the power telemetry

[orchid geyser]

Makes sense.

I assume winter may get interesting 🙂

[quaint marlin]

I've had a lot of these up since January. Most will be just fine.

I have a couple out now that are only 6k and they are using smaller solar panels, so they will have to come down and get replaced or recharged.

[orchid geyser]

Oh sweet. Do you have to keep the batteries warm?

[quaint marlin]

Not with enough batteries.

these devices use such a small amount of power that even in the dead of winter (or scorching summer) they seem to be just fine.

will the batteries last years? No idea... but many have already been up for 10-11 months straight with no intervention at all

[orchid geyser]

Good to know. The nrf devices are so much more power efficient.

[quaint marlin]

if you have a nrf52 based solar node in MN, as long as you've got 10,000mah of battery in there you'll be fine most likely

[orchid geyser]

Ok. Hmm..

[quaint marlin]

I've found that you don't even really need "optimal" solar position. Most of my nodes are perpendicular to the ground, and many are facing due north or due east, and they are just fine.

[orchid geyser]

Might have to make some solar nodes.

[dreamy sapphire]

Theres a #1235750724667965532 I believe that uses a home depot solar spotlight as the chassis and panel

[quaint marlin]

There are some great how-to's on solar nodes on Youtube, specifically TheCommsChannel does a great job of presenting the how's and why's.

In general you can expect to spend somewhere between $75-100 to make a solar node that doesn't need intervention other than firmware updates.

or you can go off the absolute deep end like I did and rent roof space on a building and put together a $500 G2 monstrosity

but really, just having decent placement, enough battery, and a decent antenna helps a huge amount, and really doesn't have to cost very much.

[orchid geyser]

Yeah. The rak modular boards are pretty nice. I finally got a 19003 (iirc) board with a gps and 4631 and started playing with that a bit.

[quaint marlin]

apparently they (finally?) came out with a clock board, so you don't need to have a GPS to have accurate timestamps.

GPS is a battery hog, a clock, apparently notsomuch

[orchid geyser]

Oh nice!

[quaint marlin]

https://store.rokland.com/products/rak-wireless-rak12002-rtc-module-micro-crystal-rv-3028-c7-pid-100032

[orchid geyser]

I think the t114 also has an optional spot to populate an rtc.

Nice!

[quaint marlin]

I wish the 114 had come out before I bought 8 gazillion other portable nodes to give to people

[orchid geyser]

I saw it pop up in someone’s video just after ordering a RAK board and modules and was a little annoyed since this was pretty much what I wanted at least for some applications.

https://resource.heltec.cn/download/Mesh Node T114/schematic_diagram.pdf

There’s an optional RTC on there.. not sure if they’ll ship another variant of it?

Sounds like they might have some things to rev the design for anyway given the BT connectivity issues people reported and maybe reduced lora signal (I’m not totally sure.. should do a side-by-side. Was something others had mentioned. ).

I’ll take the current Bluetooth performance over the v3’s antenna design (without replacing it with a piece of wire) any day.

[quaint marlin]

all my v3's have external antennas thank gawd

[ripe vector]

Gonna be flying from Anoka county airport to Watertown and back. Wheels up in less than an hour. I’ll have a node with. Cruising about 2500ft.

[lavish vault]

Yeti here! I saw the message on the meshtastic about the discord. I have YMK1 on my roof in Blaine and YMK2 on a buddy’s house in Shoreview. I carry around Yeti and just got a Station G2 I named YTG2. Also I run Yeti Wurks which sells premade Base Stations and some other stuff.

[wide umbra]

I can usually connect to you direct from richfield

[orchid geyser]

Glad to hear it. There are some nearby nodes I hope I’m making consistent connections for. I’m pretty sure all my connections are good given that it does reach Burnsville and some other places with some frequency. I’m guessing if I were a bit higher up it would be better. Could also try a lower gain antenna but I seem to get pretty good signal nearby so I don’t think it’s too overkill for gain.

[dreamy sapphire]

I see you in the plane!

[quaint marlin]

Welcome Yeti!

Man, putting the discord link in the daily spam message about Routers really paid off today! 😄

[dreamy sapphire]

we got two of them so far

[viral pebble]

never underestimate a discord link -- my friend at Free Geek puts the discord link on info sheets for the retro computers in the store and it really brought people in

[quaint marlin]

I actually spammed that message several times in shoreview this afternoon 😄

@lavish vault Glad to finally have you around! I'm the guy that emailed you a month or two ago.

[quaint marlin]

My understanding of antennas in dense urban areas, even at low heights is that you might as well go for high dbi, as we often have to deal with pushing through buildings, foliage, etc.

the shape of the signal is apparently rather inconsequential until you get up into the high spots.

[random mantle]

nice, two more mystery node owners with names to them now!

[lavish vault]

I’m using a 5 db Taoglas monopole antenna with a mesh 16” pizza pan as a ground plane and it noticeably helped my range.

[quaint marlin]

I just found out my home HQ node wasn't picking up @ripe vector 's airplane but my friggin streetlight node was...

sorry man, missed every message!

not sure how either, they are coming up as 1 hop away

[ripe vector]

We’re heading back to anoka. I’ll send a few more

[dreamy sapphire]

I'm not sure if any of mine got out

[quaint marlin]

there we go... had to restart the damned macos app

just got the medina one and replied

just got your message @dreamy sapphire !

[dreamy sapphire]

heck yea

at least something's getting out

[ripe vector]

Received as well

[quaint marlin]

7 hops away! 😄

I also took your soon-to-be HQ node down for a bit to help

this is more exciting than a high-altitude balloon 😄

what is that like two weekends in a row with an airplane? was it just last week that @nova wigeon did his?

[dreamy sapphire]

I think his plane was the week before

I think it was parts plane, the chicago balloon, and now this!

[quaint marlin]

now I got the Yeti G2 in on the act!

[lavish vault]

I'm seeing them

[quaint marlin]

I'm getting regular updates from the flight now

[dreamy sapphire]

is it on flightradar24?

[quaint marlin]

N52XS

[dreamy sapphire]

Gotcha!

[quaint marlin]

OPEN FIRE!

[dreamy sapphire]

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM

[quaint marlin]

in a YAK52 no less

[dreamy sapphire]

there's the landing

[quaint marlin]

just ordered a pile of 21700's earlier today and another 8dbi antenna... time to make some more nodes

I think I may get @wide umbra to series a bunch of those up for me and run a G2 solar node off it at the office

[lavish vault]

Pizza Pan 5db monopole

[quaint marlin]

it really is a pizza pan!

[lavish vault]

Yup!

[quaint marlin]

I have that same antenna and I can't seem to get it to do anything worthwhile (minus the pizza pan)

that's the original antenna I wanted to use for @dreamy sapphire 's HOAbuster

[lavish vault]

That is because its monopole. Without a ground plane it won't work well. Its a Taoglas to be clear.

[dreamy sapphire]

sounds like you're getting that pizza pan after all @quaint marlin

[lavish vault]

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/taoglas-limited/TI-16-5F11/3724558

[quaint marlin]

yeah that's the one

I don't think a pizza pan will win him any points with the HOA, so I'll just stick with the ALFA915 I have set up for him 😄

[lavish vault]

The aluminum 16" mesh pizza pan was like $7.50 on amazon.

[dreamy sapphire]

yeah lets not give them more ammo

I already technically break the rules

then again some of the rules are actually batshit

I presume they're just to placate the structure insurance and they dont give a shit

[ripe vector]

Yep that’s us! @heady marsh

[quaint marlin]

I wasn't gonna get a pizza pan, I was gonna get a pizza peel

[dreamy sapphire]

I didnt know you could peel a pizza

[quaint marlin]

and I sitll might, it still would make a great node deploy/retrieve tool

[dreamy sapphire]

give me a year or so at my new job and I could make one for ya

they let us use the machines for personal project if we pay for materials

but I gotta get trained on them first

[quaint marlin]

this one would be perfect for the extension pole

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Winco-20-in-Aluminum-Pizza-Peel-APP-20/329283579?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US

there's the Install Wizard(tm) and the Install CHEF.

[dreamy sapphire]

hmmmmmmmm

is that just bolted on?

or are those rivets

[quaint marlin]

could be either really

[dreamy sapphire]

if they're bolts, I could probably fit the peel part in my laser

[quaint marlin]

it's probably rivets

[dreamy sapphire]

get it engraved

of course it wont be foodsafe after that

[quaint marlin]

@nova wigeon has a CO2 laser for branding all the things!

[dreamy sapphire]

I've got a really small CO2 laser lel

only really fits something about 9x13, and only lasers an 8x12

[quaint marlin]

as it is, I think I'm just gonna install your node via a ladder and my long gangly arms. Maybe a hockey stick if I have to push it around a bit.

We are in MN after all

and I just got a new stick

map is LIT tonight

it thinks spaceghost is on the east side, not sure if that's true

[lavish vault]

We need a node in the Moundsview or Shoreview area, high up

[quaint marlin]

yeah, we've got some ideas on that.

[dreamy sapphire]

bola launcher at the big radio tower and running for the hills?

[lavish vault]

If anyone has city hook ups around there and can get access to a water tower or something, I can put some hardware up there.

[quaint marlin]

a true YOLONode

[lavish vault]

Just run a thin ground wire and get power from the antenna itself! lol

[quaint marlin]

the actual thing Pudda and I have talked about is sticking one on the unused water tower at the Arden Hills abandoned ammo factory

otherwise I am generally against water tower nodes without permission

[lavish vault]

That would be a decent spot, its currently kind of a dead zone.

[quaint marlin]

but that one is not active infrastructure

[lavish vault]

Pudda was the guy flying correct?

[quaint marlin]

I'm pretty sure. He is a pilot, and LongFart and he are brothers.

[ripe vector]

Yes. Old ammo plant has some good elevation

[lavish vault]

Ok then I've met and talked with Pudda in person. I just didn't know his discord handle

[quaint marlin]

Here's the HWT map for that water tower

https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=MUTSRSXA

[dreamy sapphire]

that pesky little hill

[lavish vault]

So what are we talking here. Covert night ops? Or just putting on a high vis yellow vest climbing it during the day and just acting like we are supposed to be there?

[quaint marlin]

I am all about the clipboard camo

[lavish vault]

Maybe put a sticker on the hardware saying "Not Chinese Spy Equipment"

[quaint marlin]

"Sure, it's all made in China, but HONEST it's just for us!"

[lavish vault]

lol

[quaint marlin]

My thought is that a node like that should be reasonably blend-in. I would suggest a RAK150 like I put up on streetlights. Nothing too crazy.

[lavish vault]

Got a pic?

[quaint marlin]

wisblock, 15000mah, lasts indefinitely on solar.

[lavish vault]

This is smaller than what I was thinking

[quaint marlin]

magnetically adhered

these are actually about the same size, just not as thick

It's this fella

https://store.rakwireless.com/products/unify-enclosure-ip67-150x100x45mm-with-pre-mounted-m8-5-pin-and-rp-sma-antenna-ip-rated-connectors?variant=42861623771334

but without the ports, I get them without the ports

[lavish vault]

Techincally if you remove two batteries from the solar charger (still 4 x 16850) you can fit a Rak in there

[quaint marlin]

the biggest upside of the RAK ones is that they really blend in. You can hardly tell they're there.

I've got them on freeway exit signs, light poles, buildings, you name it.

[lavish vault]

Gotcha

[quaint marlin]

I also put asset tag stickers on them with a familiar-looking logo, so if anyone gets curious they go "oh... nevermind"

You're looking at the only employee of the MN Dept of Communications

[lavish vault]

🤣

[quaint marlin]

all part of the clipboard camo

hi-viz, white hard hat, disinterested demeanor. Wherever I am, I am there on business and I'd rather be home.

The place we were talking about the last day or two is pretty much THE spot for a node....

and it's nearby you guys up north. It will cover damned near everything

https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=XBMRM4J2

it's the unused radio tower for the Spring Lake Park Public Works building

literally zero antennas on it.

there are plans in the works

[ripe vector]

Some asshole kept following us the whole flight. @heady marsh

[quaint marlin]

well yeah you were a russian in US airspace!

[dreamy sapphire]

"I dont know what a TFR is, but it sounds tasty"

[quaint marlin]

ngl the USAF logo looks sus

like it was put on there at kinko's

[heady marsh]

Darn USAF all over us the whole way.

[quaint marlin]

hit the brakes, they'll fly right by

[quaint marlin]

They were probably also flying with a node but it was in Router mode

or what I'm starting to see in my node list... people using TAK mode...

hopefully that doesn't fuck up the mesh like other modes

[orchid geyser]

Hmm.. may have to give that a try. If I can somehow make it look more visually appealing the wife would certainly go for it. Maybe a ground plane with some RF transparent parts that swing around and make a weather vane 🙂

[quaint marlin]

This is what's known as the "WAF" scale. Wife Approval Factor. It's simlar to the IP scale.

IP65 is 6 vs dust 5 vs water ingress

[quaint marlin]

WAF's first digit is budget, and second digit is attractiveness.

[orchid geyser]

It currently doesn’t score high on WAF.

Budget was ok, attractiveness..

[quaint marlin]

so it's WAF63

WAF63 certified install, well done!

[orchid geyser]

Pretty much. It’s still up so.. 👍

[quaint marlin]

the pizza pan is one of those things where she may not even notice it until you bring it up.

although where your antenna is, the pizza pan would definitely be visible 😄

[orchid geyser]

Yeah.. I was kind of aiming to not make the installation obvious. Unfortunately she came home while I was finishing putting up the antenna 😂 so it was noticed.

[quaint marlin]

with the pizza pan it's a WAF61

I think @lavish vault's gets points added for being way far up on the roof where she may not notice

I believe the international spec for a WAF99 is a free appointment from a professional hair stylist.

[orchid geyser]

I considered doing that (higher up) but was also a little concerned about climbing up further. I think I could strap it to the chimney with some more hardware and keeping enough distance from the vents.

There’s also a pine tree in the front yard that’s real tall. If I weren’t so close to the airport could attempt hanging a solar node up there with a drone.

[quaint marlin]

there could be a third number added to the WAF scale, that of danger.

Like my wife who didn't want me to cut the tree that fell over our power lines a couple weeks ago until Xcel got there

[orchid geyser]

😂 They do tend to have opinions about safety.

I also have a picture of her hanging out a window knocking ice off our roof winter before last with a broom when we got some giant ice dams so..

[quaint marlin]

I thought that's what hockey sticks were for?!

[orchid geyser]

We’re originally from out of state.. somehow never got our standard issue hockey sticks.

[quaint marlin]

Ah, that's sad. They're really handy!

I mean, I play hockey so I use the good ones for their intended purpose, but once they break or are too worn out they are incredible tools!

I use them in the garden as stakes or digging tools, car repair to press the brake pedal or keep the hood/trunk open, you name it

[dreamy sapphire]

I found you can get WAF out of just about any project if you can pipe it into Home Assistant

[orchid geyser]

Makes sense. They’re straight sturdy sticks. We definitely could have used one that day.

Have to be careful with how the automations are set up in home assistant though. She definitely appreciates the lights being able to be turned off from another location.

[dreamy sapphire]

I have an automation for talking to the voice assistant part and she can ask the knockoff roomba to vacuum specific rooms

currently getting it programmed to do the kitchen, dining room and living room at like, 3pm when it wont bother anyone

and the rest of the house on weekends when she isnt in the office etc

[viral pebble]

god the PKI admin stuff is so broken

you can't even set the pub key for admin with the meshtastic python client

bender-u1:python $ meshtastic --set security.admin_key "ssQ46ujSdI7NqIA+4xiW8cdj0XpOdZNcYpLhYiHKew4=" Connected to radio Adding 'ssQ46ujSdI7NqIA+4xiW8cdj0XpOdZNcYpLhYiHKew4=' to the admin_key list Aborting due to: 'ssQ46ujSdI7NqIA+4xiW8cdj0XpOdZNcYpLhYiHKew4=' has type str, but expected one of: bytes lmao

[quaint marlin]

yyyyyyyeah sticking with 2.3.13 for a further while lol

[viral pebble]

legacy admin is not working either

[quaint marlin]

I think I saw something about this on the TCC meshtastic channel where you just have to make sure the admin channel still exists on both ends.

[viral pebble]

it definitely does heh. you also have to set admin_channel_enabled too

[quaint marlin]

thankfully I only rarely ever have to do any remote admin.

[viral pebble]

I use it all the time lol

only messing with 2.5 because I wanted two way traceroutes

this is such a mess

    // and only allowing responses from that remote.
    if (!((mp.from == 0 && !config.security.is_managed) || messageIsResponse(r) ||
          (strcasecmp(ch->settings.name, Channels::adminChannel) == 0 && config.security.admin_channel_enabled) ||
          (mp.pki_encrypted && memcmp(mp.public_key.bytes, config.security.admin_key[0].bytes, 32) == 0))) {
        LOG_INFO("Ignoring admin payload %i\n", r->which_payload_variant);
        return handled;
    }
    LOG_INFO("Handling admin payload %i\n", r->which_payload_variant);```

pretty sure I'm going to be submitting a PR this weekend

[quaint marlin]

finally, the completed HOA-buster for @dreamy sapphire

[lavish vault]

Panel looks pretty big!

[quaint marlin]

it's a SoShine, the typical one.

it's gonna need the juice, there's an amp in there 😄

all powered by a Voltaic V75

Wisblock, AirBuddy AB-IOT 1W amp.

whether or not the antenna gets changed to the 5dbi will depend on how invisible it is from the street (thus, the "HOA-buster" name)

node is designed to lay on its back on a flat surface just out of view, and not draw attention from fellow HOA members, where there's a "no non-TV antennas" rule

[dreamy sapphire]

Unfortunately all congressional attempts to get ham radio incorporated into the OTARD ruling have failed so far

[quaint marlin]

because they're the same NIMBY types that complain about wind turbines out on the ocean ruining their view.

they're fine with it because other, poorer people have coal plants ruining their view.

[random mantle]

you have to prepend "base64:" on the key, then it should work. At least that's how it works for the PSK in 2.4

[viral pebble]

Oh nice, thanks

[quaint marlin]

My home streetlight node hits 100 in the node db…

[dreamy sapphire]

we truly popping here

[ripe vector]

Would have been like 5 nodes a year ago. Major progress

[quaint marlin]

i'd love to see someone in the west's and the east's node map. Obviously I can't pick up everything.

[ripe vector]

Almost nothing out west when we flew over.

[quaint marlin]

I wonder if there is like, a way to supercharge flying nodes' usefulness, like bringing two nodes, and having one of them reboot every 30 seconds so that it rebroadcasts node interrigation, etc

[random mantle]

I have aspirations to get roof nodes in crystal and in oak Grove, so they may help

Still gathering parts

[ripe vector]

It worked pretty well the way it was. Reset node db before the flight. Populated 60-70 nodes in flight. All the way into St. Paul and down into the southwest burbs. Only 2-3 nodes I wasn’t familiar with populated and they were all in the west

[quaint marlin]

what parts are you short? I have a pile of stuff I can donate to the cause

[random mantle]

I appreciate it, but I have it all on order. Have to print some bits too

[lavish vault]

Some one direct messaged me on my YMK1 node asking about wizemesh pocket case. I have a nice Bambu x1c printer and happy to help if you need help. Not sure who it was though.

[viral pebble]

can report one thing nicer in 2.5.x: after getting the admin channel working again (thanks @random mantle ) admin requests using the python client are super reliable. I'm actually working on a PR for improving the timeout issue with fetching every channel by having multiple attempts and a configurable timeout (current one is like 5 minutes, wtf)

[dreamy sapphire]

they're here!

the adapter is really short and the connection is firm enough that I'm not sure if slack management is necessary

in fact the xt30 popping out of the bandit (the weakest friction fit) is probably desirable if it gets snagged on a passenger, rather than pulling on the print and cracking it

[wide umbra]

You can adjust the xt30 tension by pushing a screwdriver into the contact pins to expand them

[lavish vault]

I think the cable on my home brew suction antenna mount died on me. Going to replace the rg174 with a kmr240. Hopefully that will last longer

Pretty sure the window crimped it too hard….

Got crap reception today driving around St Paul. Pretty much only hit things 2-3 blocks away.

[lavish vault]

What are you building?

[dreamy sapphire]

getting proper amperage to a bandit nano

for a car node

[lavish vault]

I wonder how its performance compares to the Station G2? I know it’s much cheaper…..

[dreamy sapphire]

time will tell, but the bandit can allegedly do 1w of output

[quaint marlin]

whereabouts in St Paul? I've been out and about but I think I saw a new node pop up a little bit ago

Menamena?

[random mantle]

thanks! I have the same printer, I'm just waiting for some cooler weather so I can open the windows and print ASA without gassing myself

[lavish vault]

I was at the Nativity Festival

[lavish vault]

My daughter’s Irish dance school was performing there. https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZFvjGs9PtdVeSaD26?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

[lavish vault]

Yeah they suck… I print my integrated mounts with it, but do it overnight when I’m not in my office.. Also brims are your friend with asa, 110deg print bed too

[quaint marlin]

ah yes... much of mac/groveland/highland has very little coverage

[lavish vault]

We were at Mac Grove Festival yesterday performing too, but I didn’t bring my node. Next week she has the peanut butter and jelly festival.

[quaint marlin]

I've got a couple node options for deployment in highland but none of them have great coverage.

[viral pebble]

the bandit definitely eeks a little more range out with the same antenna, based on my informal testing

but that might just be TX. I doubt it has an LNA that even comes close to the Station G2, if it even has one

[quaint marlin]

That's why it's $50 less than a G2 😄

[viral pebble]

true, true 🙂

[quaint marlin]

but only a few bucks more than most non-amp'd nodes.

[viral pebble]

I really hope heltec or someone makes a T114 style board with the beefier radio soon

having that little extra power would overcome a lot of the annoyances of having to eliminate a feedline in cases where it would be really convenient

[quaint marlin]

yep, that's a big reason that bandits are good car nodes. You can run a decent length of cable and not get severely punished for it.

Can also go “best of both worlds”:

This setup (except with a Bandit most likely) will be the rig on my new-old car at the end of the month.

[viral pebble]

https://media1.tenor.com/m/s9NIppPAjaEAAAAC/silicon-valley-this-guy.gif

[quaint marlin]

I'm hoping to bring two identical setups with me to St Louis and drive home with two rigs set up with identical antennas and cables, and do one as a G2 and one a Bandit, and see who picks up the most nodes.

provided I can get the two nodes to ignore each other.

[dreamy sapphire]

I wonder if I have the skills yet to make a pocket node out of wood

[quaint marlin]

ooooh that would be sweet!

[dreamy sapphire]

A walnut and brass pocket node strapped to a belt would go so hard

[quaint marlin]

and a brass-plated coiled spring antenna

go full steampunk

[lavish vault]

Anyone else try the Meshtastic - Matrix relay? I'm trying to set it up rigt now.

[dreamy sapphire]

They make brass powder infused PLA

The body could be printed and a cutout to glue in some 1mm walnut ply

[quaint marlin]

I don't even know what matrix is

[dreamy sapphire]

I never got around to trying matrix at all

Its like a weird federated discord clone thing

[lavish vault]

Self hosted open source communication platform.

[lavish vault]

kinda is

[dreamy sapphire]

I never quite understood federated platforms

Yikes, brass PLA is 12 bucks for 100g

[quaint marlin]

I bet you could laser cut thin pieces of wood to make a case

[dreamy sapphire]

Alexa save "brass pla pocket node" to my invention list and also play Despacito

[quaint marlin]

or maybe you could do a 3DP case that has a laser cut wood faceplate to make it a little easier

[dreamy sapphire]

I bet the brass would eat up rf too

Externals required

[quaint marlin]

yeah that's it... a 3DP inner, and 2 or even 4 thin laser cut wood pieces to make a veneer

[quaint marlin]

Could do a leather one in a similar fasion, but it would require some leatherworking skills

[dreamy sapphire]

Externals required

I have a leather guy

[quaint marlin]

I'd like to see a leather-clad T-Deck 😄

it's the node with the most available surface area for premium materials

[viral pebble]

Palm-style leather holster 😄

[quaint marlin]

get that old-guy cred with the belt-holster node

belt phone holsters are the new white new balance

[viral pebble]

I always forget that nRF nodes are super power sippy with no gps or other peripherals

you got any nodes that you just leave out there on battery with no solar?

[quaint marlin]

I haven't done that before, though I had a couple built that I decommissioned

[viral pebble]

my chutil is pretty high at home and I have one that didn't even drop 1% in 10 hours

[quaint marlin]

after my experiments with the small solar panel (and now several nodes out in the wild that way) I just put them out there

[viral pebble]

this might be heresy but I wonder if 2.5.x is a little better with power usage

[quaint marlin]

I've got a node that I put up the last weekend of the fair that's facing due north on a street light with 6k and it's still at 74%

2.5 will likely be better

I'm gonna get forced onto it sooner or later I'm sure.

[viral pebble]

the PKI admin stuff is annoying but as long as I have oneliners I can use with the meshtastic cli to set them up from my laptop I don't really care. I don't care for how it works so far but no doubt it's more secure

[quaint marlin]

I'm hoping that my first re-visit to my big node will just be to do a firmware update at some point this fall

[viral pebble]

yeah, don't blame you for waiting. devs are still saying wait to put 2.5 in places you can't immediately reach often

[quaint marlin]

I really want to see what its node list is like

it's gotta be full (assuming 100 is the limit)

[quaint marlin]

Turbo Tim's on University has a radio tower.

I'm definitely going to ask if I can use that

[lavish vault]

I asked the people who own the radio tower near blackstack brewery on prior. They wanted $279 a month in “rent”

[quaint marlin]

i pay less than that for a whole year 80ft up in roseville

Besides, they have a huge smokestack right next to it that is ripe for an installation

Not to mention a defunct water tower

[quaint marlin]

I really am going to talk to the owner of Turbo Tim's, I imagine they will be totally fine with it, maybe even for free.

I will run the HWT when I get home in a little while while

If it's the boomer that it probably should be, I will most definitely reach out

From my estimation it looked like it was probably an 80 foot tower on top of a 20 foot building

[quaint marlin]

To be honest, that's not a ridiculous price. Especially if it gets you 24 hour access, and use of their electrical.

I would have expected it to be more expensive, like at least 1000 a month

The tower you're talking about is almost as tall as taller than the smokestack nearby, and if we had a community Meshtastic group that had a small budget we could plop a note on top of it that would cover pretty much the entire metro area

I wouldn't be surprised if we could talk them down in price by explaining that we're not a business but a community-based radio club or something like that

Additionally mentioning that there's no need for their electricity or wiring may be able to sweeten the deal

[bold basin]

Thinking of jump starting Meshtastic in my area. Found this:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1048791528/all-in-one-waterproof-solar-powered-off

Any feedback on:

1. Is this any good?
2. Seller trustworthy?
3. Reasonable to roof install in south metro in CLIENT mode?

[dreamy sapphire]

One 18650 and the smaller panel might brownout in a minnesota winter

Client mode is fine. If you dont know what you're doing, generally make it a client and it wont go tits up

[ripe vector]

Yeah I wouldn’t go for something that only holds 1x 18650

[dreamy sapphire]

There was a solar node I saw on youtube last night

When I get home from work I'll get the link for you. It was a comparable price but comes with 2 batteries and space for 4

[ripe vector]

Where in south metro?

[bold basin]

Southwestern Apple Valley. There are some nodes nearby-ish but otherwise the area looks like it could use a node!

[bold basin]

Thanks!

[dreamy sapphire]

Oh I just remembered it was out of stock. I'll get the link anyway

[bold basin]

There's a large water tower on a large hill in southern Apple Valley. Would be great to get a node up on that. 😉

Highest point in the area.

[dreamy sapphire]

Good luck getting permission to put something on an active water tower

[lavish vault]

I'm comparing cables with my VNA. I have a RG 174 thin cable and a SRM240 thicker cable. The 174 has a loss of .20 db and gives and SWR of around 1.3 or Logmag of around -24. The 240 has a loss of .06 db and gives and SWR around 1.6 with a logmag of about -13. Which do you think I should use?

[dreamy sapphire]

I know some of those words

[lavish vault]

Basically which is more important. The better antenna balance or the lower dB loss

Or is a wash and i should use whatever I like

[bold basin]

Yeah. ☹️ My guess is a water tower is probably a serious no-no to touch.

[wide umbra]

VSWR of 1.6 = 5.3% reflected (lost)
VSWR of 1.3 = 1.7% loss

[quaint marlin]

I generally opt for better SWR because I don't want my RAK or whatever is the main radio to cook itself over time with reflected TX

[quaint marlin]

What's the application BTW? Building, car, etc?

[quaint marlin]

Correct... at least not an active one. I would argue that accessible inactive ones are fair game, but you should still keep whatever you mount to it subtle so as not to draw unwanted attention.

[quaint marlin]

In answer to your questions:

1. It's decent. Well made, etc... but not really truly deploy-ready, at least not in MN.
2. The seller is one of the lead Meshtastic developers, and he's been selling nodes for a long time so yes, reputable.
3. yes definitely. We will help you build a node.

IMO for $140 you can make a much more powerful, effective node to put on a roof.

I have a huge pile of parts to make solar nodes, and we have another node seller right here in this room, who makes pre-made solar nodes that will run circles around the one on Etsy.

https://www.yetiwurks.com/product-category/communication/meshtastic/

[lavish vault]

Car

[quaint marlin]

I would go for the thicker cable if you're going out a window, you can actually get something that will cut out most if not all wind noise and of course moisture, if you wanted to keep it installed permanently:

https://www.savageutv.com/products/window-pass-through-for-starlink-cord

I've got a length of this stuff, it's great. Lets you pass something as thick as LM400 through if you really wanted to. (but don't)

You could also probably pretty easily mimic this type of thing with a strip of weather seal from a junked car door, and a drill.

but for 23 bucks, it's turnkey.

I am currently designing and maybe via @dreamy sapphire producing a 3DP window clip that can use a very short run of RG174/178 that won't be exposed to the elements (much).

and yes it looks like a toilet 😄

but it uses a fender washer as the antenna bulkhead/cable mount, so it can be easily switched out for various antenna/cable options

it's just about to go into "pre-pre-alpha" testing somewhat soon. Just got some backside foam at Ax-Man today so it can't damage window tint.

The back is set up for an interference-fit "basket" clip-on that will allow modularity for whatever kind of node.

Could even theoretically do solar panels like @dreamy sapphire already did for his first window clip setup

[quaint marlin]

Yep, she's a boomer alright:

https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=BCBUPJW2

I just talked with the manager there, and am emailing the overall site manager for the company.

Alright, email is sent, let's see how we go.

[dreamy sapphire]

Reference pic for those not caught up

[lavish vault]

Yup! Please buy my stuff!!!! 🤣

[robust flax]

Most cell towers in areas like that wouldn't be 1k a month so it varies.

[lavish vault]

Good luck!

[lavish vault]

Check out my communication section. https://www.yetiwurks.com/product-category/communication/

[quaint marlin]

Also if you buy from @lavish vault you're shopping local, which is good!

[dreamy sapphire]

Slight problem with my bandit car node

Requires a car

[wide umbra]

Ask the flatbed if you can install it on his rig for the drive

[quaint marlin]

Now I'm not gonna say it was the problem, but if your battery were drained because of a faulty alternator it may have been the thing that "pointed out" the issue.

[dreamy sapphire]

Oh no it was much worse

Alternator pulley started walking off, which caused sideways strain on the tensioner, making the bearing heat up and melt the plastic idler wheel

So I'm out a belt, tensioner, and alternator

[quaint marlin]

Not good, but could be worse, if the issue had caused the water pump not to work for too long of a time

GUYS

holy shit!

Turbo Tim himself blesses the antenna tower!

you just gotta ask!

So who else needs some tower space for their ham club or GMRS repeater or......

[viral pebble]

wow! if you want some favors from ham clubs you could make an introduction for them

[ripe vector]

Hardwire a G2 up there?

[wide umbra]

i love that this is where we are landing

[viral pebble]

should just move back up there at this point, might be easier than maintaining my one tall building node

[quaint marlin]

You'd be the first person in history to move somewhere based on meshtastic coverage 😄

BTW if you are in the market for auto repair ( @dreamy sapphire ) Turbo Tim's is actually a good shop.

[lavish vault]

Let’s jump asap! What do you need to get started?

[quaint marlin]

I'm working on that right now. I'm gonna call Tim today once I'm out of my morning meetings and see what's up.

the only thing I know I have that's' ready to devote to the project is a spare G2

other than that, we've gotta plan the node out.

POE powered G2 with a pi zero or something up at the top, and solar/battery sled on the roof. Show up with a laptop and plug into the Ethernet cable to do updates and such....

[lavish vault]

I can lend a 5 db RAK antenna and waterproof box

This antenna. I have the clamp mount for it.

[quaint marlin]

I'm probably gonna go bigger and get another 40" 10dbi one like I've got on RV2

[viral pebble]

Turbo Tim's is cool. idk if their location in NE is still there but we went to a cool art market inside there once

[quaint marlin]

yeah they have multiple locations now

[viral pebble]

wow that rules

[quaint marlin]

Here's the street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9557912,-93.1711388,3a,75y,43h,102.55t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-loIcAxZ8NWGZ5T5TnalxQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[viral pebble]

fucking excellent. I shoulda never moved, but covid made everyone crazy including me

[quaint marlin]

I'm actually thinking we may want to go even a step further for antenna for this one, like something that is made to actually be saparated from the tower by a wavelength, etc

[viral pebble]

my friend and I have been talking informally about doing stuff like two nodes, where one has a yagi to go long distance, the other an omni (or another yagi to link up another far mesh), locally backhauled to MQTT just for the two nodes, to do some kind of extremely complicated antenna diversity

he already has a 900 yagi on a mast on his farm

so if you have carte blanche to go nuts on this tower you could do some wild stuff like that

I suppose the yagi would have enough radiation to the sides in close proximity to not need MQTT too

[quaint marlin]

Alright, meeting Tim next Monday on-site to go over things!

[swift bay]

Sector antennas?

[quaint marlin]

What's that?

[swift bay]

Basically, those blocky antennas you see on cell towers. Halfway between a yagi and an Omni, 60-120 degree beam. Nice because they don't stick out like a yagi or log pole, but also boost range.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/mcgill-microwave-systems/MM-ANT-FP-915-13dBi-IOT/21673850 something like this. I don't think meshtastic has a great multi-antenna/node story though. Raspberry Pi + Mqtt broker as a local bridger could be interesting but I think that would still cause flooding.

[quaint marlin]

I'm open to listening to any ideas - Just tempered with the fact that this is a good site, not the best site, so while experimentation could be a good idea, it may make sense to just KISS.

In fact I will likely just put a tried and true wisblock solar node up immediately and then we can see how it goes and plan around those results.

[viral pebble]

At the tall building site, AT&T just left all their sectors when they moved out. Like attached to the building still

But they’re huge as hell, so I get it. Buddy says the main thing they’ll tear out is the heliax lines to reuse them

[viral pebble]

Yeah, it’d definitely be a patch. You’d almost need some other software goop in the middle to manage things besides just MQTT

[swift bay]

Yeah, especially since climbing that tower constantly is sure to take a few weeks off your life. Reliable electronics + BFO (Big _ing Omni) is the best bet. I think that multi antenna configurations are going to be crucial in wide area/low density scenarios long term, but that area is already well covered as is

[viral pebble]

I'm sure people will start coming up with hardware solutions for that stuff after a while

like multiple radios on a meshtastic node

if that could even possibly work, electrically, let alone in the firmware. I know some people have multiple lora hats on rpis

[bright grove]

Hey Brew Swillis. I made it finally

[quaint marlin]

Welcome!

"140424" is a good friend of mine, who I'm sure will have a more appropriate handle soon 😄

[viral pebble]

looks like I'm going to be staying in the area the week of Oct 21st for work. should be a good time to have a node with, I'll be in a hotel in downtown minneapolis.

meshtastic crew meetup when?

[dreamy sapphire]

Hopefully my feet stop trying to kill me by then

Dont get a job standing on cement for 9 hours, kids

[quaint marlin]

i'm up for a meetup, i've already met four or five of these nutcases.

[lavish vault]

I’d meet up if it works with my schedule.

[wide umbra]

And he only lightly bites

[quaint marlin]

and i'm like a meshtastic piñata. if you smack me with a stick cables and adapters fly out like candy

[quaint marlin]

What's your new job? Why so much standing?

[nova wigeon]

I stuck my redneck node on the silo at work today, but the battery had died. Guess I'll see if it comes back to life after a sunny day 😛

[viral pebble]

If it’s esp32 based it might need to be booted manually to come up

[dreamy sapphire]

deburring sheet metal parts that come out of a laser worth more than my house

[quaint marlin]

details on the node hardware plz! 😄

[nova wigeon]

It's an outdated TTGo, a battery I stole from broken bluetooth headphones, cheap USB solar panel, and silica gel pack in an old olive jar 😆

It should show up as SFP3, but I don't think the GPS location is set, so IDK if it will show up on any mesh maps.

[quaint marlin]

I'll see if I can hit that part of town tomorrow and verify that I find it!

[nova wigeon]

Hopefully it's sunny out and the thing charged. I'll check on it next time I'm at the building.

I have some better solar USB battery banks that I was going to use for another project, but they ended up not working. So now they'll be for Meshtastic nodes if and when I have time to put more together!

[quaint marlin]

I think it's supposed to be cloudy all day today ☁️

so I have decided to do a slight "naming convention" change on my nodes that are out in the wild. I doubt it's consequential but maybe an idea for the future so that at a glance the node map makes a tiny bit more visual sense.
I'm keeping the long names the same but I'm changing the short name for my infrastructure nodes to just an emoji that shows that node's structure/attachment method. So a 🏢 for building, a 🧲 for street pole/sign, and once the tower nodes start going up, either a 🔗 chain link, or a 📡satellite dish (Not sure yet).
This will keep the node list from looking like the map to a bar crawl with beer mugs all over the place.

This concludes this morning's meaningless ramble.

[lavish vault]

Anyone here Mr Garbage? It just popped up this morning.

[quaint marlin]

I think I saw that one pop up a couple days ago too

[dreamy sapphire]

🗼

What about that emoji

[quaint marlin]

I thought about that one, I wish they just had a normal looking tower instead of one godzilla would attack

[viral pebble]

try to communicate now, punks

[quaint marlin]

there ya go

[viral pebble]

making sure that's actually unicode

ok I don't think it is

[quaint marlin]

yeah it's not

[viral pebble]

🤷‍♂️ https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/1F4F6/index.htm

[quaint marlin]

I looked through the whole unicode for some sort of utility tower and there ain't one

[viral pebble]

that's really surprising. also, that one is too long for shortname

really, meshtastic could stand to have a dedicated iconography beyond unicode symbols, in this case, like APRS

like, an outright image of a mountain with a tall mast on it for ROUTER would give a slight indication it shouldn't be in your front yard

📶 might work

nope, also too long

[quaint marlin]

what do you mean too long?

if you can copypasta the symbol itself it should work

[viral pebble]

some unicode symbols are longer than 2 bytes and are too long for shortname

[quaint marlin]

ah

[random mantle]

I couldn't get emoji to work in the CLI or the web client 😦

[viral pebble]

▲ ¯_(ツ)_/¯

📡

not really correct....but it's an antenna

fuckin 32 bit!

I hate unicode

[lavish vault]

@quaint marlin revisting the Turbo Tims discussion yesterday, I came across this youtube about how they are handling hi and low db antenna setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob6DhsqoU5I

[quaint marlin]

yeah I've always wondered how well this guy's stuff actually works

I could be wrong but I think he's on this discord server as well

[viral pebble]

people really worry too much about keeping the antenna connected to their heltecs

[quaint marlin]

I have it on good Authority that running pretty much anything Meshtastic that isn't the G2 without an antenna won't really harm it. Another exception might be the bandit nano

[random mantle]

I've always been super careful about that since they have big scary warnings on the devices. Good to know it's not as critical as they make it out to be.

[wide umbra]

it is bad regardless of the device or transmitter. lower power transmitters can often survive a lot longer with high swr's due to the lack of heat that is generated, but make no mistake, it's still suboptimal even if the transmitter remains functional.

in the fpv world, crossfire receivers have small transmitters in them for sending telemetry back. many racers opt to run without an antenna to save weight and space, and eventually those 17mw telemetry tx boards do burn up

[random mantle]

I'll keep being careful, but it's good to know that it's not likely to let out the magic smoke if you briefly turn it on accidentally sans antenna

[wide umbra]

yeah absolutely

in the ham world, this explains why running a rubber ducky with a highly variable SWR on a 5w HT isn't really a big deal, as even reflecting 20% of the power back is only 1w. Whereas on a 100w HF rig, 20% would be 20w and therefore a lot more stress on the components

im just making up a percentage here to illustrate the point, but for reference a 20% reflection would be around a 2.7:1 SWR

[robust flax]

So long time stander.. buy quality boots.. yes they are expensive yes they are worth it. Softer isn't always better. 2 if your back is hurting tighten up your laces too.. 3 it's going to take a few weeks to a month to get s

[robust flax]

Stamina built up. It sucks

[dreamy sapphire]

I went to the red wing store and paid whatever they asked

Got some Irish Setters with the $60 inserts the computer said would be best

[robust flax]

Give it time and ibuprofen.. not too much tho. You'll fuck your kidneys ask me how I know.. dint forget water.

[cloud sequoia]

So I'm currently visiting and I'm staying in Bloomington. Any recommendations on where to get a good connection to the mesh?

[dreamy sapphire]

I don't even take painkillers

I just raw dog life

[dreamy sapphire]

Plenty of links at the roseville Keys

And they have good food

[wide umbra]

Bloomington is yugeee with lots of varied geography and we are still working on getting reliable connections between the different geographic parts of the metro area. that said, to the south, ghost mesh 1 has good coverage and to the north there's a few in downtown high-rises that get down this way. Im just north of Bloomington and have a good connection to those links, look for Epson 2600