Good morning, looking for anyone in Central or even Southern Illinois to join the mesh. I've got 3 nodes up near Champaign but haven't seen anyone else yet.
#US Illinois
junior minnow
lusty vortex
Howdy 👋 '
I have a friend who lives in Mt. Pulaski and has a solar node up on her roof.
I help her with her setup. I'll have to redo her channels soon, so she can communicate with the default LongFast channel.
I told her there was someone near Champaign that has some nodes up and she said she's out in that area sometimes when her son has rodeo.
I'm going to have her create a Discord acct later, so she can join in on this thread.
junior minnow
Sounds great!
floral owl
Hello, everyone. I'm the friend in Mt Pulaski. Finally saying hey, he got me all set.
junior minnow
Awesome! So you've got a node up in your area, have you seen any others that way? I haven't found any in the Champaign area or elsewhere local. I travel between Champaign and Mattoon pretty often but nothing in the 2 months since i got started
floral owl
Hey...yes, a solar one at home, handhelds, and I built one for my truck. Unfortunately, not so far. Had one communication pop up, but no follow through yet. Decatur is my go to for groceries and such, and we're in Monticello a bit for rodeo.
lusty vortex
I redid her channels so she can talk to default LongFast, since then we've seen a Tbeam once in MtP, they sent a few messages and went offline. That was 3 days ago.
We were really surprised to see that, especially within 24 hrs of switching things over. We weren't expecting to see any other nodes in town. That's really cool though. Hopefully they come back online or meet up with us in here.
There was a "JimV" in the nodedb from several long range locations (80+ miles away). It looks like he was flying around with a node. He relayed some nodes packets from a node 49 miles away Very interesting to see.
floral owl
@junior minnow I'll be in Monticello on April 27th & 28th and June 6-8 for rodeo. Monticello is ~20 miles from Champaign. It's still a ways out, but I can try sending some messages from my Truck's node and see if you pick them up.
junior minnow
I'll have mine up and active and see if I pick anything up! Not sure how significant the rise in terrain is. I guess we will find out
floral owl
We looked into it a bit last night too. It’s surprising, when it does seem so flat around here. The Mount in Mt Pulaski is more trouble than I like.
junior minnow
they have contacts with peoria and others
Oh cool, thanks for letting us know. I have a friend that lives in Peoria, and should be getting him set up later this year.
lusty vortex
There was a "JimV" in the nodedb from several long range locations (80+ miles aw...
Aha I knew it. He was flying overhead today too 😄
We talked to him a bit and sent him a link to this thread.
He said he's from Peoria and they have a pretty robust meshnet in that area.
junior minnow
Ahh no I had mine down today, installing new antennas I got in. That's good to hear about Peoria!
proper citrus
Traveled from IA to Ohio for the Eclipse - stopping in Peoria. Setup on the 9th floor of the Marriott and was able to reach 20 nodes! Furthest was 22km away (not sure if it was a direct connection to it or routed). Indeed, quite a robust meshnet.
lusty vortex
Traveled from IA to Ohio for the Eclipse - stopping in Peoria. Setup on the 9th...
Very cool!
scarlet sand
Hello all. I just stumbled across this thread. I have been building a mesh network in west central IL.
We had awesome propagation and ducting this morning and picked up a ton of nodes that we haven’t seen before
floral owl
Hey there….I’m in Mt Pulaski….just about dead center between Decatur and Springfield….pretty much the only one around. Have a solar node at about 30 ft and been lucky to pick up some fly overs.
scarlet sand
Nice! I started building a network between Macomb and the Mississippi River. Linking up with a friend’s network in South East Iowa. I have been fortunate enough that several farms have let me put solar nodes on 100 to 120 foot grain legs.
floral owl
That has been a hope of mine. Just got done building two more boxes and will most likely be able to reach Decatur easily, but don’t know of any others in that area. Have luck with my truck node at 12/15 miles in all directions. Just glad to see it taking off now.
scarlet sand
Same. I started about a month ago. We hope to have Adams county/ Quincy area covered in the next month. Then I am going to work towards Monmouth and Galesburg.
floral owl
Good news! Been at it for quite awhile now with no one in sight. Still a ways off for me but exciting that you’ve been successful in such a short time.
main barn
@scarlet sand How are you deploying you nodes?
scarlet sand
<@700620523138318357> How are you deploying you nodes?
Climbing. All the Grain legs have a ladder and cage system. Most of them have multiple rest platforms one the way up too.
winter elm
If you guys want, you are all welcome to join https://ChicagolandMesh.org
Don't have to specfically be in Chicagoland to participate
scarlet sand
Good evening all. I figured I would bring this thread back to life. Anyone in IL get nodes put up this summer?
swift dragon
Good evening all. I figured I would bring this thread back to life. Anyone in IL...
There a few of us down by St. Louis. Edwardsville area. Other than occasional airplanes, we're unable to see st. louis or Chicago nodes but mesh is definitely growing.
scarlet sand
There a few of us down by St. Louis. Edwardsville area. Other than occasional ...
Awesome! I am located near Macomb in the west central part of the state.
swift dragon
that's a really clean build. I'm guessing radio is in panel enclosure. nrf something?
looks good and
I'm no antenna expert but if I'm seeing correctly, that's it just above the roof. I'd expect the other antenna at same height could be absorbing some of that nodes signal.
floral owl
Followed these build instructions.
And that’s all the further I’d let my son climb to install.
Nrf52 Rak,
Printed the dovetail mount.
Getting somewhere between 15/18 miles.
swift dragon
wow. nice I have a 5.8dBi collinear FRP deal on a g2 down here in Edwardsville but will be up around Rochester /Springfield christmas with a heltec v3 and 4dBi aliexpress frp next week. Looking forward to checking out the scene north of St. Louis. BBBR (a598) will be around 30 feet up. Not sure yet how I'm going to shield battery from chilly and wet but my folks have a 45 foot tower and I'm not keen on heights, That said, BBBR will on and as high as weather permits. 4 hops. hope to catch someone. happy holimas
ancient tide
Heya all! i'm living in Illinois and looking to get started with Meshtastic soon. about 2-ish hours south of Chicago, so if there's anyone in the chicago or Kankakee County area, give me a holler!