US - Philadelphia PA/Delaware Valley

[silk sinew]

Hey all! Wanted to make a thread specifically for Philly area folks

[silk sinew]

I saw several new nodes today!

[bleak tangle]

Yah! Starting to get messages from up near the art mesuem down in south philly

[patent rampart]

Very quiet across the river here in Mt Laurel, occasionally pick up some aircraft pings

[silk sinew]

Did you see Spark NG recently?

[patent rampart]

Yesterday I think

[silk sinew]

Yeah me too! I guess it’s someone local?

[patent rampart]

Not sure, didn't get full node info

[true osprey]

Alllllright how do I get this going??

[silk sinew]

Let’s get some more nodes in high places in Philly! We need some in South Philly (speaking selfishly)

[silk sinew]

It’s either someone local with a plane or someone who flew into Philly and flew out a few weeks later

[true osprey]

I’m from Chicago and saw that screen lol

I need to know how this was made 😂😂😂

[silk sinew]

Haha I’m writing up a thing about how I did it! I’ll post it in the general channel soon (I’ll tag you)

[true osprey]

Cool, thanks

Good luck growing the Philly mesh

We in Chicago have a decent mesh that has taken months to build

You can basically receive all around Chicagoland but can’t send

Unless ur in the city

[silk sinew]

I’ve heard good things about the Chicago mesh! Hopefully I can visit sometime soon

[patent rampart]

I flew in and out of Philly last week. Saw a ton of nodes coast to coast from the plane but out in the Bay Area near San Francisco it was almost as pervasive as cell service lol

[true osprey]

Yeah I am one of the leaders for Chicago

Cool project and good luck in Philly!

Fly over sometime

[patent rampart]

A friend and I tried it at CBP for a Phillies game recently. I left a node in my car parked on the top floor of the casino parking lot and we were pretty much able to chat from anywhere in the ballpark

[silk sinew]

I also brought a node to CBP about a month ago! Ended up chatting with someone else who was in the park. I think I could reach the CC nodes from the upper level seats too, although I didn’t see any responses

[patent rampart]

Yeah I picked up PHL router 1 and had a bunch relayed from there

[silk sinew]

Hello to three new south Philly friends I saw this morning! Willet, codemann2, and hacker pager

[wicked coyote]

hackerpager is Retry, he lives at 19th and Arch

[silk sinew]

Is it your design? https://famicoman.com/2018/11/06/building-a-replica-hackers-pager/

[wicked coyote]

Lol it's close actually

https://shop.exploitee.rs/shop/p/the-hacker-pager

[silk sinew]

I knew the name was familiar, they were selling those at Defcon right? Too bad it doesnt look like they’re selling them now. I’d love to take a look at it, hopefully I run into retry at some type of meetup

[wicked coyote]

Yeah I think they were selling them there. He's likely to be at jawncon, not sure he goes to iffy often anymore. You could also try messaging him over the mesh, I think he has a personal node RTRY or ABRT or something like that

[bleak tangle]

Might try and set up a meetup at Hive76 one of these days

[silk sinew]

Hell yeah let’s do it

[lone karma]

I've seen a hive node before, is that them?

[silk sinew]

Not sure, @bleak tangle did you set up a node already?

[bleak tangle]

Have not set that one up

I have three currently. 2 permanent and 1 for walking

[silk sinew]

Saw a ton of new nodes in the last 24 hours including…. Is that Bel Air, MD? Was there a flyby?

Caught the tail end of some conversation

Oh wow that was definitely something from the air!

[lone karma]

No span though 🥲

Span should be able to just barely hit the top of the skyscrapers in Philly

!7b8b9b9c is the ID

Lemme go check if it's seen anything

That node is 100km away and I regularly see it

[silk sinew]

is span really high up?

[lone karma]

Kinda

I wish it was 10 ft higher

[silk sinew]

Wow I’m impressed, how many miles is it from CC?

[lone karma]

Um

Cc?

[silk sinew]

Oh center city phila sorry

[lone karma]

Oh

27 miles

We can see the glow of Philly from the deck

[silk sinew]

I feel like I have seen a device called span before but it’s not on the mobile device I have with me. I’ll have to check my home node database

[lone karma]

So it should be able to reach the tallest buildings

I regularly see those old TV towers for free on Facebook marketplace, but scrappers always get to them and destroy them before I can get one

The pole is some old steel pipe that I bolted together.

It wiggles in the wind, and guy wires aren't allowed as decreed by Grandpa

I am allowed to do whatever I want where the pole is... I have a secret plan to use white gravel and set up solar panels on that wall of the shed. I already have the solar panels

I can get cement and dig anchors

There are airports nearby, and I don't want to get in trouble with the fcc

I think the highest I can go is 100m

[wicked coyote]

If you do get an old tower, do not climb it under any circumstances. So many amateur radio guys die or are otherwise severly injured climbing old towers

[lone karma]

The idea would be to mount everything and then push it straight

Then everything can be done via Bluetooth

Rak board ftw

But I don't have the ability to transport such a tall thing

How do you do it?

Usually the bolts are rusted to dust and fused to the frame

If someone wants to get rid of their old tower, and they live relatively close to perkasie PA, lmk because I am looking for one short enough to not need FAA registration

[wicked coyote]

Yeah if you can't break it down to move it I don't know how you would transport it

[lone karma]

Helicopter

[wicked coyote]

You could try penetrating fluid and a breaker bar, or a torch if you're going all in, but I would hope the seller would break it up. Scrappers probably come with an angle grinder and just cut it

[lone karma]

Yeah, the destruction

I can't find anything under $100 online for more than 25 feet

These are audiophile prices

Do people really pay $200 per 10 ft of what looks like IKEA furniture

[silk sinew]

I saw Mehron’s drive by today from South Philly!

[grand apex]

Hi

just one message?

I sent one around 13th and tasker but the next one didn't get acknowledged

[silk sinew]

Not sure. I just connected to my node and see a long convo about pine street, but no idea what time. 13th and tasker is near me, that might have been the one I saw earlier!

I’m around 15th—16th and tasker

Can’t usually get a message from 13th

[grand apex]

I saw the other chatting this evening, but I typically seem to be getting just pieces

I regularly see about 6-7 nodes online these days, but I think it's pretty rare that I can get a message through

but.. my nodes have both had the antenna come unplugged while on for unknown amount of time, so not sure how reliable they are at this point

[silk sinew]

Same, I think I’m just out of range that I often see nodes but can’t get a reliable enough connection to send or receive

[crimson portal]

What channel do people use ?

[grand apex]

I just stay on the default LongFast

[bleak tangle]

Same

[grand apex]

It’s only been in the last few months that there are high enough nodes to have much of a mesh

[silk sinew]

Yeah I do LongFast too

[lone karma]

I made the PA channel with the key PA==

LongFast over mqtt is nerfed, but it works fine over the PA channel

If you add the PA channel, you'll likely get more traffic

[lone karma]

Test the antennas! Do you have a nanovna?

[grand apex]

not yet

[lone karma]

I have one that I can share usage of

I live in Quakertown, if anyone wants to use it I can bring it to a park or something

I've got a thermal camera too

[grand apex]

Not likely to get out there soon, but will keep that in mind!

One had the pigtail disconnect and the other had the pigtail rip out at the base of the antenna. Though I haven't noticed them performing differently.

[bleak tangle]

I have some spare connectors if needed

[grand apex]

Thanks - I did end up getting a bag of replacements so now I have a bunch of spares too.

[bleak tangle]

Had the same thing happen to me lol

[wicked coyote]

@silk sinew not sure if you saw but retry will be bringing a few hacker pagers to jawncon, presumably to demo

[silk sinew]

Oh nice! Did they send that message over meshtastic? I didn’t see it

[wicked coyote]

Nah, in the jawncon chat someone asked about the pager

[wicked coyote]

Also made a little video I'll need to edit up

Replaced the node at my parents'

[lone karma]

I saw 2 new folks not in the discord! I'm bringing them over rn

[lone karma]

This is my map on my stationary node

No Internet

Impossible distances 😂

[silk sinew]

Not impossible with a plane!

[forest pond]

Damn no radios from Scranton popped up?

[lone karma]

Nope not yet

[forest pond]

I gotta see if there's a way to reach out then

We got about 25 radios out here

[lone karma]

There is a spot

Film grimpus might be able to put up something tall

There's a water tower next to him; he might be able to get permission to put a solar node up there

You can see Philadelphia from where he's at

My dad works in an office building

He can put one in the window

[median tapir]

Hey all, newly on mesh from Downingtown.

Hoping to connect with some folks from the west Chester mesh to see if we can connect over the hills.

Assuming my best bet is to try to get folks on the hills to let us put nodes up. But this valley is brutal.

Though elevations on the West Chester side are less extreme.

[silk sinew]

I’ll say hi if I find myself driving through!

[inland plank]

Hey there! I put Meshtastic meetups on the Iffy Books calendar for the next two Saturdays, 1–4 p.m.

If you want to connect from home, we’ll do a live stream at https://iffybooks.club/meshtastic

[bleak tangle]

Anyone going to 3DPrintopia (ERRF) this weekend?

[silk sinew]

I am!

[bleak tangle]

See ya there!

[median tapir]

Heh, I am quickly becoming anti 3d printing.

[lone karma]

Why?

If it's the cost, just print stuff yourself. If it's the difficulty, yeah aligning and making sure the filament is the right type and stuff is annoying.

[silk sinew]

I’m also curious. I met someone at defcon who remarked that it’s very hard to be into meshtastic if you don’t have a 3D printer. He was mostly referencing that just about every case was 3D printed

I guess a benefit of being part of the meshtastic community and not having a 3D printer is you can probably reach a bunch of new friends who might be willing to print you things via your meshtastic node 😉

[median tapir]

So, that's why. Printers are pretty pricey. And so people get this idea that you can do stuff like Meshtastic or console mossing anymore without it. So people endnup thinking they're priced out of hobbies.

It's cool tech, but I don't like how it shifts the messaging around this stuff.

[silk sinew]

That’s an interesting perspective, I can see where you’re coming from. Well, just know if you need something printed I’m always willing to help out (provided you can pick up from Philly and cover filament costs!)

[median tapir]

Nah, I'm old, I just kit bash existing stuff.

Just wish more people would get creative and make their own thing and not think they need a printer and hop on thingiverse.

[silk sinew]

Double sided tape will always git er done 💪

[lone karma]

A drill and glue always helps

Sometimes all it takes is a hot glue gun to 3D print yer own enclosure

[silk sinew]

Official meetups at Iffy! I’m going to try to make the 10/5 one. Anyone who’s connected to the center city mesh want to send out some info about it to other mesh members who might not be aware?

[silk sinew]

I bought one of these a while ago and it finally arrived. Interested to find out about the range, I’m hoping when I walk around in center city it’ll be enough to get me connected to everyone

[median tapir]

Well, positive stuff in Downingtown. Had a node appear, sent DM, got ack but no response. Not the best scenario, but it at least means we've got toehr folks playing out here. And it acked at 3.8km, so my setup is doing OK.

[median tapir]

Nice, should make a great EDC.

[lone karma]

I'm trying to get my dad to put one in his office window

[median tapir]

I'm gonna experiment with some selfsustaining solar nodes and see if I can convince the local trail with an abandoned water tower let me put one up there.

[lone karma]

Remember, get permission in writing

It may be abandoned but it's still a government infrastructure

[wicked coyote]

I googled it and I'm not entirely sure which thing with the same name this is

[lone karma]

Did anyone see LL glow today

[silk sinew]

https://www.seeedstudio.com/SenseCAP-Card-Tracker-T1000-E-for-Meshtastic-p-5913.html

[lone karma]

Ll glow should go up and down the turnpike every once in awhile

You should also be able to see solar bees

[wicked coyote]

Ooh neat!

[silk sinew]

There’s been so so many new devices in the Philly area in the last two weeks!

[rugged swan]

I'm in Montgomery County (Collegeville). I've yet to encounter a node in my area. I have the Wismesh Pocket as my one and only device so far (T-Deck Plus incoming soon).

Only time I've encountered other nodes was when I brought my device with me to the Allentown area when playing disc golf

[rugged swan]

Is this something you have built onto a Raspberry Pie?

[silk sinew]

Yep! A Pi 5. I wrote up how I did it here: https://boda.codes/post/meshtastic-buddy-list

[rugged swan]

I have one of these collecting dust. Seems like it could give it some good use. I'll check it out.

https://raspad.com/

[silk sinew]

Oh that seems like a great device for this!

[thick bear]

Wow lots has happened since I was last on!! And a new channel! 🎉

[median tapir]

Anybody else chat with the guy on the plane going to Cincinnati?

I didn't get to message them, but I had reach to Aberdeen Maryland hopped off of him.

[silk sinew]

I didn’t see them, but I’ve reached that Aberdeen node before! So cool that it reaches all the way there

[old compass]

I receive tons of messages but can only get one out every once and a while 😦

[old compass]

I'll be there this saturday

[silk sinew]

I’ll be at the next one!

[median tapir]

Headed out to Lancaster for the day, see if I can reach out to Lancmesh.

[median tapir]

Searching ro Amish radios, no luck yet.

[wicked coyote]

My buddy has one near Parkesburg/Cochranville

[median tapir]

Not even a node ping yet, but gonna be in Lancaster soon and I know they have a decent mesh.

[median tapir]

Interesting, Parkesburg is about 18km from me. Is he running a base station or just a personal device? Trying to get a mesh going out here in the boonies.

[wicked coyote]

He's running a base station about 12km south of Parkesburg's downtown

[median tapir]

Interesting, though the terrain out here super sucks until we get soemthign up on one of the big hills.

[deft smelt]

hi, i'm emory, and i am a part-time resident of philadelphia and i am absolutely delighted with all the nodes i am seeing lately!

i work in IT security and privacy, and lately my recreation has been household IT projects using local AI models. i operate a GMRS system for household and neighborhood use in iowa city. i am especially excited about the prospect of local services like a BBS.

i will be trying to arrange my travel to let me attend a meetup at Iffy,

[silk sinew]

If you’ll be at the meetup at iffy on 10/5 I’ll be there too!

I’m going to bring all my various devices

[thick bear]

This is me as well (malvern area) there’s no great high spots just rolling hills

[median tapir]

Yeah, I was in malvern earlier in the weak but couldn't make contact. How do you have your antenna set up? Mine is in the attic, bu looking at getting it up in a large tree outside. Have a theoretically weather proof case ready to go, just need to sort out getting a throw line up 50 feet.

Granted, I also had my unit inside the car, which makes a big difference.

But malvern to Downingtown should be totally doable.

Hop in Exton would certainly help though.

[silk sinew]

On my way to the meetup! Reminder, you can join virtually too

[rugged swan]

How was the meetup?

[old compass]

always a fun time when im around my fellow nerds lol
got my battery kit there

[merry bone]

hey I'm just getting caught up on this channel.

I also saw the guy going to Cincinnati. didn't get to it in time to respond...

we are working at the Chester county library in Exton to get a node installed. almost done building it. might help with coverage. stop by the makerspace there if you're interested.

[median tapir]

That's awesome. I'm working to get mine higher/outdoor currently. Will definitely try to stop in if I get a chance.

[wicked coyote]

If anyone's going to be at jawncon this Friday I'll bring my nanovna and a fistful of adapters if anyone has antennas they want swr checks on.

[thick bear]

I have it on an old DishTV sat mount but that’s on the first floor roof so not great elevation

[hollow jackal]

Hi all. Is there any chance there is a node running on one of the towers up in Roxborough? I have line of sight of them far off in the distance from the roof of my condo building in center and was trying to decide if it's worth a shot

[grand apex]

I would be pretty surprised if there was. That would be great though. I can't imagine what the logistics involved and cost of that would be.

[hollow jackal]

Yeah I 100% assumed as much, but figured if it was, everyone would already know about it

I know there's some HAM use on them

[grand apex]

I don't know for sure but seems like we'd know about it. That would be a true use case for Router role I'd say.

[median tapir]

I mean, can always reach out and try to get one up there.

[smoky ember]

is there a regional mqtt server for philly?

[median tapir]

There is msh/US/PA as a topic on the default mqtt

[median tapir]

Need to get one up here...

[smoky ember]

This is a neat tool for checking the expected coverage of a given node
https://meshplanner.mpatrick.dev/

[median tapir]

Neat tool, as expected if I can get it up another 5 m I'll be in much better shape. Weak signal all the way out to Kennett Square. Might be able to hop to Philly. But at 10m, that hill means death.

Red is the hills in the photo.

[smoky ember]

yeah I'm in a little bowl surrounded by hills on all sides at 1m

at 5m it's not much better

[median tapir]

Yeah, bummer I don't live on the hill in Germantown anymore, 20 years ago I could have helped.

[bleak tangle]

If there are any electronics shops/game stores in the area it may be worth chatting with em to see if they would host a node.

[wicked coyote]

I bet the Radio Shack in New Holland would consider it

[grand apex]

I just learned about that existing yesterday. Amazing.

I thought they were all gone.

[wicked coyote]

Yeah there are still some independent stores out there. I haven't been to this one but from the pictures it looks like they changed nothing

[merry bone]

@median tapir if we get this library node going we should be able to link your node, according to this

but yeah getting anywhere south is gonna be tough

[median tapir]

Sweet.

[thick bear]

Yea I’m below those hills and to the right! East Goshen park area

[median tapir]

I keep seeing those nodes in mesh map and trying to figure out how to make it happen.

Need a friend on the hill.

[serene flower]

Down?

[serene flower]

I've been thinking to put one at an abandoned building in Devon and seek out more options for renegade routers

[wicked coyote]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TDg8m4Wa1so

[median tapir]

Gah, went camping and had the ndoe in my car but forgot to check it. Was running a camping trip for 12 cub scout families, so too distracted

Node DB has some new entries.

[lone karma]

https://wisp.heywhatsthat.com/

[lone karma]

You guys can anyone see my SPAN

I changed the antenna on it

[grand apex]

No but didnt you say you’re solar bees? I see that all the time now.

[median tapir]

Oh man, is whoever was gonna mess around at the Exton library playing right now? My node dB is going wild.

@merry bone are you playing at the library?

[shadow forge]

you running full power out of the station G2? I have one but its sitting on my shelf with all the other stuff I need to do

[wicked coyote]

Hell if I know, I left it on default settings I think

[merry bone]

I had it on Thursday but it's inside right now. possible someone else there is messing around.

the node is BOOK so if you see that...

[median tapir]

Ah, cool.

[grand apex]

Is this PM02 ?

It's been on my node list lately

Also I sent a message from 127km away to this node and got an ack

[wicked coyote]

It's PM03. I'm surprised you got anything from PM02, it's just a tbeam in a closet on the second floor of my house in the burbs

[grand apex]

whichever one is somewhere in media/swarthmore area

I hit that one

[wicked coyote]

PM02 is Springfield and PM03 is Wallingford so it could be either

[grand apex]

yeah, just checked. it was PM03

[wicked coyote]

Nice!

[grand apex]

there were conditions last sat night that let me hit philly from southern DE which I've had happen more often than not

But your node might have been the only one that I actually got an ack from

and now I'm seeing it show up on my node list in south philly, but not all the time

so anytway, seems like it's probably a good setup

[wicked coyote]

Very cool to hear you were able to get an ack from it! I'll probably do something similar to replace PM02 once I feel like crawling around in my attic.

[long oasis]

This weekend should be fun.

[wicked coyote]

I want one but it is just out of my price range

[silk sinew]

I want one but they’ve been out of stock every time I check!

[median tapir]

Everybody: Meshtastic is a low cost hacking project.

Exploiteers:

https://tenor.com/view/hold-holdmybeer-gif-27239469

[hollow jackal]

Finally got my node up and running downtown

[hollow jackal]

I'm able to reach 2 nodes that are 0 hops away, but it doesn't seem like I'm seeing any nodes 1-3 hops away. Is that pretty typical downtown? Or is this a user error on my end

[bleak tangle]

Where in the city are you?

[hollow jackal]

Old city

[bleak tangle]

If you are on the first floor it could make sense

[hollow jackal]

4th floor, but there's some tall buildings around. I'm guessing the old two nodes are likely in a similar spot then if I'm only get 0 hop nodes, but nothing beyond that

I've got access with (and interest from) a friend to the roof of his condo building if I can eventually build a self-sustaining node to be placed up there

[median tapir]

I've got a self sustainable node I'm working on.

So far, I think the solar is in pretty good shape. But I can't monitor the battery remotely with the current setup.

The MPPT regulates to 5v, which should prevent brownout. But also means the battery monitoring is wonky. Looking to get a battery monitoring board before trying a full independent deployment.

Ocne I can monitor the battery properly planning to mount outdoors for a while and see how it goes.

Right now it's a first cheap build, two 5v 200mA cells in parallel with a 5v MPPT, a 3000mAh battery, and a Pi pico with the waveshare lora hat.

[grand apex]

What’s the node name or maybe the last 4 of the MAC address?

[hollow jackal]

Mine is Meshtastic 7d50. I can see baqi1 and "Meshtastic 6cc8"

[grand apex]

I saw 6cc8 3 days ago and I’m in Pennsport

That was direct too. But it could have been mobile at the time.

Based on the mesh around the city, it seems like you’d be seeing more nodes if you have the default setting and a proper antenna, especially on the 4th floor

[hollow jackal]

I'm sure it's not an ideal antenna. It's just want came with the heltec v3 initially

[grand apex]

Oh yeah that could definitely be the issue I’d say.

[hollow jackal]

appreciate the input. I'll try another antenna in a few days rather than continuing to bang my head against the wall

[hollow jackal]

Can you tell if 6cc8 was also "?" hops away for you? Would br good to know if it's an issue on my end or another node's firmware being out of date

[grand apex]

Well it was a direct signal but it was a few days ago and not seen since.

[hollow jackal]

Thanks for checking

[median tapir]

OK, still not seeing friends, but tall node experiment is go in Downingtown.

[lone karma]

Lol you do?

It's in my dad's car

My dad is LL Glow

I am JL Vroom, SPAN, and 904c

I have another, but I lost it

Rak boards are so small

[median tapir]

@merry bone next time you're at the library it's BCR. I'm thinking we have a chance now with it outside and up high. Better than with the attic node anyway.

[grand apex]

Yeah LL glow and solar bees are usually online

[lone karma]

Are you connected to mqtt

Also where are you at?

[grand hull]

👀

[lone karma]

At night solar bees should be in the macungie area

That's supposed to be it's permanent location

[wicked coyote]

allegedly

[silk sinew]

Retry, do you have an in on us all being able to buy hacker pagers?

[grand apex]

No MQTT, south Philly

[grand hull]

should have a batch of them late november, but there will also be a hackaday article hitting around the same time so that batch will probably sell out quick

will probably be wearing a pager around pumpcon

[timid dagger]

what bands are people running near Philly?

[silk sinew]

If you think of it, I’d love a heads up that they’re coming! I subscribed on the website with my email

[grand apex]

as far as channel - I usually see a good 15 or so nodes online on the default channel.

[grand apex]

How did you launch it up there?

[median tapir]

By yeet

[silk sinew]

It just occurred to me that drone could be a viable delivery method for the node I want to put on top of my roof. Did you literally throw your node up there @median tapir ?

[median tapir]

Now, I threw a weighted line and pulled up a heavier line and then pulled up the node gently.

[timid dagger]

that wasn't my question, are the nodes in Philly running 915MHz or 433MHz?

[wicked coyote]

There's tons on 915

[timid dagger]

k

[median tapir]

Basically all of US is on 915, 433 has a lot of drawbacks.

[timid dagger]

433 in the US requires a license, and has to be run clear text

I found this discord after searching for LoRaHam on 433

[grand apex]

Yeah I didn't realize anyone was using it

[timid dagger]

part of my interest is using it on the HAM bands, and with that opens the possibility to run on several bands

[hollow jackal]

So I got a better antenna, went to the rooftop of a hotel parking garage in the neighborhood that's 7 floors up, and I'm still only seeing the same two nodes. Could it be a config issue on my end or is that expected?

In Old City and the two nodes are Meshtastic 6cc8 (? hops away) and baqi1 (0 hops away)

[grand apex]

Are those just in the list from before ?

Are they showing as online?

[grand apex]

Since you're testing, it might be a good idea to reset the node db as a fresh starting point.

[obsidian wraith]

Hey all! Glad I found this finally. I'm down in Delaware, popping nodes up around NCC. I have one in Old New Castle, 90ft up, with a 5.8dbi antenna

[grand apex]

I'm down there a lot and will be on the look out

[grand apex]

Passed through old city a little bit ago and saw baqi1 but that was it

[hollow jackal]

Thanks for confirming. I drove across CC on 676 and back on Pine and picked up Phillymesh01 at least so maybe no one bridged across from Old City to deeper into CC yet

Also had a drive back and forth on 95 to Warminister. Didnt pick up anything on that drive, but admittedly my antenna placement wasnt ideal in the car

[hollow jackal]

Probably missed you passing through. I was out and about with my node since about 230pm

[grand apex]

Saw your cq message so I think your setup is good!

[hollow jackal]

That was after we hit a red light along Pine on the way home. Maybe the issue is getting from me (at home) / baqi1 over to pm01

[grand apex]

There's a lot of nodes along pine st

[hollow jackal]

And we're on our own little island in OC in the mean time

Ive got a second node coming so I can leave one at home on wifi and do some testing next week. I can try from some rooftops I have access to eventually then

I sort of imagined putting something up on a rooftop near me, then figured most stuff from home would bounce out from there

[grand apex]

It would be great to have something high up in OC

[median tapir]

Get one on Billy's hat.

[hollow jackal]

That would definitely do it! Lol I have a straight shot from a nearby rooftop

[median tapir]

Cross bow!

[hollow jackal]

Picked up 19 nodes last night with the new antenna in the same spot. Maybe I just needed more patience with the new antenna

Or BAQI1 moved to a better spot because most are 1-2 hops away

[median tapir]

Sweet, first mesh contact locally!

[median tapir]

At a minimum probably 3.5 miles

Hoping to get them on here so we can try to sort the connection no drone

[lone bridge]

ZBD is my node, we did a workshop at TABConf6 and setup 120 meshtastic devices last weekend, got it setup at home tho no contacts on ground, taped it to a cheap drone and got contact.

I was a little surprised I figured would see one or two things in Coatesville itself.
Atlanta area had good coverage, I was seeing nodes as far as Knoxville, TN 5-6 hops away.

[median tapir]

Ah, yeah, our hills make linen of sight a real pain.

Really need a good node at the top of one.

[lone bridge]

yeah I need to look but think I can plant a solar light/node about 4500 ft across the valley on other side and might be better? Might try driving over to that side and check tomorrow.

[median tapir]

If we can get that going and @merry bone gets his node up and working at Exton library, we could have OK coverage through the whole valley.

Then it's jsut a matter of getting something up on a southern hill to bridge to west Chester.

[lone bridge]

Better antenna and farther can hear both.

[median tapir]

Very nice.

What antenna?

Been debating upgraded antennas for the attic.

@lone bridge is 6893 you?

[lone bridge]

yes

I think it is a 5db gain from rfd900 radio setup I had laying around from old drone project.

[median tapir]

Ah, I'm considering getting this for the attic. https://store.rakwireless.com/products/5-8dbi-fiber-glass-antenna?variant=41525014495430

[lone bridge]

this was point I did get both your station and mine with higher gain antenna, albeit a little spotty.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Extra+Space+Storage/@39.9953143,-75.7994651,5979m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sextra+space+coatesville!3m6!1s0x89c6594901855899:0xeabca722a17559dd!8m2!3d39.991308!4d-75.786131!15sChdleHRyYSBzcGFjZSBjb2F0ZXN2aWxsZSIDiAEBWhkiF2V4dHJhIHNwYWNlIGNvYXRlc3ZpbGxlkgEVc2VsZl9zdG9yYWdlX2ZhY2lsaXR54AEA!16s%2Fg%2F11c76dw9hv?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I was on 2.5.6 beta, upgrading firmware to 2.5.8 beta

[lone bridge]

Moved down hill with less trees in LoS, will play with positions some but got rough location that is close

[median tapir]

Nice. Got this bad boy coming Tuesday. Bingfu Lora Antenna 915mhz outperforms 5.8 dbi 8dbi Helium Antennas in Some Use Cases - 4dbi with 10ft Cable for MNTD RAK V2 Nebra Bobcat 300 Sensecap M1 HNT Helium Hotspot Miner SyncroBit Gateway https://a.co/d/6qtUJNN

[median tapir]

I have soalr node, but it's currently powered down stuck in my tree.

[lone bridge]

did see one other node that yours briefly.

[median tapir]

Ooh, Maryland must have been an atmospheric blip

[median tapir]

@lone bridge are you seeing my acks seeing your pings? I might have some transmit issue.

Seeing your range test as well.

Tackling some house chore, but about to try getting the solar node down. Main problem was I used a rope to hoist it and the raido was too light to counter balance the string. Might tie a dumbbell weight on if I can get it down.

[lone bridge]

Got some tracebacks still messing around with locations some

[lone bridge]

Okay that seems consistent now

[thick bear]

Looks like I saw someone today

[median tapir]

Sow weird, the one sitting in my car with a s tubby little antenna is better for you than the one in my attic.

[merry bone]

I hope to make progress this Thursday. it's built we just need to get it outside.

[median tapir]

Sweet

[merry bone]

hopefully I can at least leave it on inside

[grand apex]

Are either of these yours?

[median tapir]

It going through the one in my car remains insane.

This is the antenna in my car.

And this in the attic.

I'm starting to think I got ripped off on the longer antennas and they not tuned for 915.

Luckily the fiberglass I have coming is like double the length and reviewed quite well for 915mhz.

[lone bridge]

yeah without a VNA hard to know if antenna's are legit beyond enough reviews of people that have checked.

[median tapir]

Yeah. This experience feels like enough proof for me.

[median tapir]

@lone bridge well, antenna is no longer upright, horizontal now, but today I learned that foldable antennas lose a lot of strength when folded.

Already seeing improvement to RSSI and SNR.

[lone bridge]

Moved positions so less unsightly for others pointing slightly down hill better

[lone bridge]

@median tapir Your position app on the mobile is pretty chatty, sends update every 10s.

[median tapir]

Seriously? That's wrong.

[lone bridge]

yeah looking at debug packets and do hear it directly

[median tapir]

Fixed.

Must have not persisted the shift back after a range test.

[median tapir]

Still wild, bigger antenna comes tomorrow. Planning to get it properly vertical and a long term mounting solution in pce. Right now ti's just resting up near the apex of the roof on a beam.

Debating between screwing the antenna mount to the beam and letting the box hang off and using pipe straps to support the box.

[lone bridge]

yeah I got a 2 6W USB output panels for $11 deal showing up so I can get the battery charged up.

[median tapir]

Nice, whenever i get the solar node out of the tree I'll start redesign.

It was close, lasted 6 days before going silent.

[lone bridge]

Current iteration

[obsidian wraith]

Yup, both of those are mine!

[median tapir]

Ooh a south facing hill, very nice

[obsidian wraith]

Interesting that you saw those. CR595c is on Centerville Road near 48, and that D422 was one we were testing out towards Hockessin, DE

CR595c is up about 60ft on a building.

[grand apex]

That was from the observation deck of the DuPont environmental center at the riverfront

[thick bear]

Put my node back up high(ish) — Malvern PA by East Goshen Park

You’ll see this one on meshmap

[median tapir]

Hmm, don't think the hills will let me get there, but new antenna arrives today.

[median tapir]

@lone bridge might not get to this til the kids go to bed, but if you can keep your node relatively static I will be testing this out tonight.

[lone bridge]

Saw some new ones, and apparently one from airline flight

[obsidian wraith]

Ok that makes sense then. You were smack in the middle of my 2 elevated nodes. Which node were you?

[grand apex]

I was using one called Pigeon

[obsidian wraith]

Ok that isn't in my node list. Cool that you saw them though

I was actually considering putting one there, but there was no need. I'll have one in Wilmo on a very tall building as well.

Looks like the signal was strong too.

[grand apex]

Maybe you have it as 93b0 in your list?

[obsidian wraith]

Negative.

[grand apex]

I did send out a message on long fast and got an ack from someone

[obsidian wraith]

oh yup! that was me

Wierd that it's not in my list.

[charred grove]

Anyone out in Harrisburg area? When I was out there, I was surprised everyone is saying they are part of 'dauphnet' but when I google it I can't find a website or group talking about the project. Obviously Dauphin county etc...

[median tapir]

Boom, two better antennas and Downingtown/Coatesville route is down to a -4 SNR.

Attic node, chungus version.

[hollow jackal]

Let me know how it goes for you. I'm keeping an eye on some fiberglass antennas for a possible future rooftop node but wasnt sure if it was worth the $$

[median tapir]

So, was $40. But so far has cut SNR by over 50%. @lone bridge and I now have both of our nodes indoors and reliable connection at roughly 9km

@merry bone 🤞hopefully we can connect Thursday with that chungus in play

[thick bear]

Is everyone on here on meshmap or would annotating a map image with some circles be something people would participate in? It would be interesting to do some planning / triangulation — it’s exciting to see so many people in the greater Philly area!

[median tapir]

Yeah, most of my nodes are on mesh map. My solar node has no network, so not on mqtt

[hollow jackal]

I have OK to MQTT turned on for a non-ESP board that cant connect to wifi. Would someone else's node then be able to update my nodes on meshmap on my behalf? Are there options there?

[lone bridge]

If you have OK to MQTT it should relay on nodes that have uplink enabled on channel.

[median tapir]

Yeah, I had that going for my pico build before it got stuck indefinitely in my tree.

[silk sinew]

Not my STL but this charging puck is such a slick addition to my RF EDC charging set up

[median tapir]

@merry bone still planning to test at the library tomorrow? Just going off of what @lone bridge and I have going between Coatesville and Downingtown, I'm thinking we may have success. The terrain is better and the distance is shorter by a kilometer.

[merry bone]

yes I will be there this evening from 4ish to 7ish.

node is BOOK.

[rugged swan]

I plan to get one of these printed. Wish my local library had a printer to use

[bleak tangle]

Stop by Hive76 during an open house one of these days

This Sunday is the philly 3d printer meet up. Happy to help get a small print off for ya

[median tapir]

Well, I will be away from home as of 4:45, so won't be home to test from the base node. However, at like 5-6 I'll have my portable node over in exton.

[merry bone]

I just turned it on. it's inside but on the 2nd floor. let me know if you see it

[median tapir]

I'm near Marchwood, can check on my mobile. My base station should status every 15 min or so.

But building I'm in has thick walls, so best bet is to see if you can hit KTZA

[merry bone]

I don't see anything.

[median tapir]

Ah, getting up high is key. But the hills and buildings are brutal by us too.

[merry bone]

yeah we have to get it outside.

[merry bone]

I have to get an i2c connector to get the battery charge state reporting to the rak board, but once we get that working we are going to button up the enclosure and get it on the roof

so hopefully in another week or two, as soon as I can figure out the connector, order it, and get it installed

[median tapir]

Nice

[merry bone]

is anyone here the node SHADOW MOBILE?

I see that pop up occasionally

[median tapir]

No, it shows up all the time

I tried to make contact tonight when I was in lioneville

[grand apex]

I’ve seen that from a pretty long range in Philly

[median tapir]

Tried to send the discord link, one send failed, the other might have gone through.

[obsidian wraith]

My main tower node is on meshmap, but I don't have my other permanent ones up there yet.

[merry bone]

is there a way to auto send something like that if a new node pops up?

[silk sinew]

AFAIK there’s no auto reply on meshtastic. However this could definitely be done with the CLI if you attach a raspberry pi to a node inside the library. You could even use my buddylist code to determine if someone is a “new” contact. But you’d have to make sure to tailor it so it isn’t annoying. If you only send it once there’s no guarantee it gets through, if you send it every time it connects that’d be an annoying. Maybe only send the message once an hour for the first day and then not at all after that? But you’d also need to send it as DM so as not to spam any mesh you might eventually create

[median tapir]

Or send as a DM, which has assured delivery

Liek, you should get back a firm ack on receipt for DM.

[silk sinew]

Does this work? IIRC you will get an ACK in DMs even if another device who isn’t the receiver of the DM received it

Or at least this was the case for private groups not sure I’ve tested with DMs but I have to assume they work the same way

[median tapir]

I don't know all the details, but you get two.

The app has cir Le that gets a checkmark, that means mesh received.

But also person with a checkmark, which means received by destination.

Only applies to DMs.

So, the data has got to be there in the protos.

[median tapir]

Working on an rss to mesh module at the moment, to bridge chesco alerts onto mesh. But I could start on a howdy bot next.

A tally, now that I think about it, with the mesh eventing howdy bot might be pretty simple.

Might shift.

[merry bone]

the android app seems to know when a new node pops up. I get an alert when it happens. might be a good starting point

[median tapir]

It has a pub sub topic, that seems to not be working for me, when app spins up it reads node db, but isn't getting updates from the pub sub.

[lone bridge]

Saw this briefly, tho GPS seems incorrect for signal levels

[thick bear]

Picked this up 2 days ago in Lancaster. I assume a flyover bridged us

[merry bone]

so turns out I already had the parts I needed for this. got it set up today and took it outside to test...

getting a hair shy of 300mA on solar

the rak board takes like 140mA on transmit and uA while idle so that should work just fine

just have to get it on the roof now...

[rugged swan]

Curious. Are you all using MQTT on your EDC devices? Also, Do you use your EDC devices in Client or Client_Mute roles?

[grand apex]

The node I carry around is in client mute and the one I have at home is client without MQTT - however it is picked up by another node reporting to the map

[obsidian wraith]

All of my hip devices are Client Mute. My primary node (100ft up at house) is still in client mode, although I suspect I will make it router at some point. I only use it for relaying my house nodes. I do have MQTT on that though to relay position to meshmap. The rest have MQTT off....some of my nodes are solar and I want to minimize power.

[rugged swan]

I generally keep MQTT on since I don't have any other nodes near me (aside for my own I'm tinkering with).

I have a rak4631 device at home (Wismesh Pocket). Is there a way for it to proxy to my computer over USB or Bluetooth, or can it only proxy to mobile devices?

[shadow forge]

I have my home device proxy via Bluetooth to an unused tablet...works fine

[obsidian wraith]

With a RAK you absolutely can use both serial (usb) and bluetooth, then use the web client.

[rugged swan]

I know I can use the web client, but is that enough to connect to mqtt?

[hollow jackal]

I have an always on Wireguard tunnel to VPN back home from my phone. Handy for receiving messages on my home node, just wish there was an easier way to be connected to one BT device and one Wifi device

[obsidian wraith]

AFAIK, no, although I'm sure you could parse the serial data, but really you need a device with ethernet.

[rugged swan]

Didn't think so

[obsidian wraith]

you can add an ethernet port to the Rak

https://store.rokland.com/products/rak-wireless-wisblock-ethernet-module-rak13800-pid-100076?srsltid=AfmBOoqoEIvv7tTEEWEOfDJcBcwi11Qm174EKExyWzxJsTX_hoPAORbS

[rugged swan]

It would be cool if it supported some sort of usbc - ethernet adapter for both network access as well as to power the device via PoE

[wicked coyote]

I'm planning on putting a rak in my attic and running it off of fake poe

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073P7J1KR and https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TL-PI30G-Injector-Wall-Mount-Certified/dp/B0DCXYXR71/

[thick bear]

Fake POE works awesome, I use those on a number of rPis and other small devices

[obsidian wraith]

Looks like I picked up some new nodes pretty far north. 6893 and 7d80 up in the Downingtown area. Crazy!

[median tapir]

7d80 is my attic omni and 6893 is @lone bridge omni node.

How did you manage that? Off one of the flights or a new antenna setup?

[obsidian wraith]

I'm not sure, although I'm seeing Gl0W in Bridgeton which is 25 miles. My main node is pretty high. They were both this morning at 8:04AM, and they were directly on that tower node (F178). They were full packets too. Got position data.

Looks like 6893 Hopped thru 7D80

For reference, tower node is near 39.659915589488406, -75.56953949141642 (F178)

[median tapir]

Ahh, I'm trying to get something outside. Wonder if it will help.

[obsidian wraith]

It should. Especially if you can get it on a pole up a bit higher. What kind of antenna?

[median tapir]

This one, it's currently inside my attic. But trying to get time/courage to climb up there and put it on an outdoor mount.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D7K986W?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

[obsidian wraith]

That's a good one. Got a NanoVNA?

[median tapir]

Not yet.

[obsidian wraith]

Happy to bring mine up. Also have a few other DB antennas you'er welcome to try.

[obsidian wraith]

One of the Delaware guys put a node in Middletown on a kite. Added quite a few nodes to the db today.

CDZ-Airborne is his.

[hollow jackal]

Oh that must have been a194. I didnt get the full node name but i got the test message in center city

[silent pasture]

Picked this up a few days ago

[grand apex]

Saw 6DF2 today from near Middletown

[thick bear]

Will be flying over yall from PHL to PHX in about 2 hours - 🦙 Emotional Support Llama

[obsidian wraith]

Node?

[thick bear]

!208e88d0

[obsidian wraith]

Nope, not in my node list.

[median tapir]

https://tenor.com/view/pineapple-express-craig-robinson-matheson-i-seent-it-gif-5293998

[obsidian wraith]

Anyone know who: Harvey ED68, R2, GreenPlace_Repeater, or KC3WRY are? They're always in my node list.

[grand apex]

I picked up a node from allentown/emmaus area here in south philly yesterday I think it was. Don't recall the name and can't find it now but maybe it was from the tower you mentioned.

there's still a PA thread. It just seemed useful to split off philly area discussion.

[obsidian wraith]

Takeo, Great to hear. I'm in Delaware, but I've got a place up in Mt. Pocono, so that's next on my list.

I wonder if we can get in any of the mountaintop state parks. I wasn't joking about Camelback when I said it. I'll probably end up with a Private MQTT server to bridge them in the beginning.

[thick bear]

Anyone?

[obsidian wraith]

Yup. He's one of the Delaware guys. He's on FB, not sure about here.

[hollow jackal]

I still havent gotten back to getting a solar powered roof node together. I finally broke down and got a 3d printer - partially to print a case for my heltec - and got sucked into that rabbithole for a little while

[grand apex]

Same here. I want to get one on my roof soon, but I don’t have easy access. It will need to be pretty reliable once I do sort it out because I won’t be able to get it easily.

[obsidian wraith]

I overbuilt my solar nodes. 4x18650's so it can run nearly the whole winter without sun.

[glacial trout]

I've been checking in MeshMap.net, but I don't see many if any nodes in North Philly. (Not even that north, Fairmont/Francisville)

I figure my next step is to set up one on my roof to help that.

[hollow jackal]

Do you have MQTT set up to meshmap? Or at least OK to MQTT on?

[glacial trout]

I do. The only devices I currently have are a WisBlock RAK4631 and I just got a SenseCap T1000E. Currently though both of these devices randomly reboot, and also randomly factory reset. But since both devices have the same issue, I can only assume it's either Meshtastic Firmware or my Phone. Either way, I see my device pop up randomly on Meshmap as self reported.

[hollow jackal]

Under Lora do you have this set? And "Uplink enabled" on the LonFast channel 0 settings

Im not too familar with using proxy to client. Im just using it on my Heltec that's directly on wifi

[obsidian wraith]

Hey folks, if you need more nodes in Philly proper, I have some buildings that I have access to.

[hollow jackal]

From what I can see, we're missing coverage in NoLibs/Fishtown. I see a few in Center City and sometimes west, but i never see anything north of me in Old City

[silk sinew]

I’d love love love a high node in South Philly…. Do you have access to any places there? We once tested that Bok would connect all of south Philly

[hollow jackal]

And very rarely east into Camden. Someone had a mobile node there and started to bridge over to NJ

[silk sinew]

Hive76 in Kensington is a few weeks away from installing a node on their roof btw if anyone’s in that area. I think it might be 6-10 stories?

[hollow jackal]

The roof in Old City i want to put a node has a straight shot view of the towers in Roxborough. It would be crazy to get a node on one of those

[obsidian wraith]

First on my list is a 4 story on Parkside near the Mann. I can get access near 3rd and Callowhill (6 stories), and near 13th and race (12 stories). Those will definitely get nodes eventually. Also possibly near Master and American, 5 stories (if I need to pull a favor). I saw a bunch of nodes in Philly already, so my focus was going to be getting Delaware on the map connected. I don't want to add any that's going to muck up nodes already properly handing the mesh.

[obsidian wraith]

Nope. Not specifically. No clients down there.

[silk sinew]

Dang, if you know of anyone who works at Bok…. I’d love an in there

[silk sinew]

What work is it that you do that you can get on the roof?

[grand apex]

@obsidian wraith I’ll be in southern DE again next week. I’ll look out for your tower node.

[obsidian wraith]

IT consultant, and we do alot of roof mounting of things, Wifi bridges, Starlink, etc, so permission is nearly guaranteed. In fact, many have been enthusiastic about it.

[obsidian wraith]

Ping me when you are.

[silk sinew]

You’re going to become the most popular guy in this channel 🙂

[obsidian wraith]

I sure hope not! Just a dude helping out a cool project.

[glacial trout]

I have a rooftop of a rowhome in Francisville

[glacial trout]

Never had that on previously and it showed up on the map, but I just enabled it

[glacial trout]

Looks like even though I've turned it on, my node still isn't showing up in MeshMap.net anymore

[glacial trout]

Where in Philly do you see a bunch of nodes? Are you getting more nodes pinging some of yours from North Philly? The nodes I see also mostly seem to be only in Center City.

[hollow jackal]

Same - mostly center city

[glacial trout]

Damn you do have some solid reach, I'm right by the Met and still have yet to have a proper ping, but then again, I don't always venture into Center City.

I do plan on setting up a node on my roof though, glad to help expand the mesh either way.

[hollow jackal]

If you can hit some of the Center City nodes, it definitely helps. I only got to one or two nodes in my neighborhood directly, the rest are 2-3 hops away

[glacial trout]

For the nodes you're setting up on rooftops, care to share a buildlist on how you're handling the setup/enclosure so they're weatherproof and needing less maintenance?

[silk sinew]

I’d also love to see this. The one at Hive76 is using POE so that a solar panel and batteries are not required.

[grand apex]

If you get one on a roof there with a decent antenna I bet you’ll see a bunch of nodes

[glacial trout]

I'm willing to do that, just want to make it weatherproof, hence the ask for some aide on that.

[grand apex]

I’ve been looking through #enclosures-discussion and there are some practical examples using off the shelf cases. There is a comms channel video for a solar setup that seems pretty good and simple. I’ll find the link to the enclosure he uses.

[obsidian wraith]

ok yeah I certainly don't need to add any in Center City. Looks like the one out by the Mann might be good though, which is the first one on my list anyway.

That's what my node generally looks like. I've got some testing with external charging boards, and different antennas. That's a 5.8dBi

[grand apex]

Does using the usb instead of the dedicated solar input make a difference?

[obsidian wraith]

On RAK's, apparently no.

[rugged swan]

If you have MQTT on and you are seeing a ton of nodes (like I was) then that is likely why your device was randomly rebooting. Apparently these devices can't handle a ton of nodes so they put in a limit on the newer firmware.

https://github.com/meshtastic/firmware/pull/5338

[glacial trout]

Well that would do it...

And would explain the random factory resets as well.

Time to install the latest Alpha builds...

Though I really dislike that after a new firmware, I have to re-pair and reload my config

[rugged swan]

I've had good luck just updating the firmware without doing the erase first.. YMMV

[glacial trout]

That's how I'm doing it...and each and every time...have to repair.

[rugged swan]

Interesting

[thick bear]

When updating (vs erasing) I’ve been fine on all builds in the last year or so. Wonder what’s going wonky for you

[glacial trout]

No idea. How are you updating? I'm using flasher.meshtastic since I see no way to do such on Android

[thick bear]

I drag and drop the .UF2 onto the external media, I think that’s the only way on these right?

Sometimes a shell command works better, gui on my Apple laptop hangs. Haven’t tried from android tho

[glacial trout]

That's how I do it on windows. Always a wipe and then my Android Phone needs to repair and restore configs.

[median tapir]

Noooo

Was parked and had my node on the roof of the car... And then left... And now it's gone.

[shadow forge]

RIP node

[median tapir]

@lone bridge not seeing you on my attic, fyi

[obsidian wraith]

Not magentized or suctioned? Ugh.

[median tapir]

No, I was parked and forgot it was up there.

[lone bridge]

Yeah battery died.

[lone bridge]

back up.

[glacial trout]

I really can't wait for the Android App to look better like the iOS one...

[rugged swan]

Just a wish or are they working on making it look nicer?

[glacial trout]

A wish, but I can only assume eventually it will look nicer. Granted, anyone can contribute and help, I'm just not a coder to be able to do such.

It does feel/look like the iOS version runs better and it's easier to access most of the data needed.

[median tapir]

Yay, new node coming tonight. First RAK device.

[obsidian wraith]

Where's is going?

[median tapir]

Replacing my car ndoe that I lost.

[obsidian wraith]

OH. Suck.

[median tapir]

No case, no battery, in flight, but needs a field tst... What's a boy to do.

[grand apex]

haha, noted.

[merry bone]

now I'm curious

[median tapir]

https://tenor.com/view/ew-clint-eastwood-gif-10176901

[bleak tangle]

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/velvetwhip/1451218

Not fully meshtastic related but similer group of peeps

[obsidian wraith]

Do any of you have nodes sending position to Meshmap over LoRa? I have a node connected to WiFi sending to the map ok, but for the life of me, I cannot get other nodes to send. I'm trying to get more to show up even for just a few months so people can see that we're out there.

On both my Primary private and secondary LongFast I have MQTT uplink enabled, with approximate position. On the remote nodes, I do have MQTT on with Map Report enabled. Still won't show.

I've got to be missing something simple. I just can't seem to find the specific items on the wifi and non wifi nodes to enable to make it work.

[silk sinew]

Super cool, please pass on if you see this again!

[obsidian wraith]

So I swapped out my tower node with a Station G2, power turned up to legal limit. Swapped out my TBeam Supreme tower node. Signal got WAY better to my other router nodes, but SNR got WAY worse. Cavity filter on the way.

[silk sinew]

Stupid question, when you say “turned up to the legal limit”, how did you do that? I assumed there’s one power setting. I also have a G2 and I’d like to get the most out of it

[narrow garden]

======================================================================
Technical Details

For Station G2, The factory default setting is PA output = 30dBm (SX1262 TX = 10 dBm), but if the user selects Full Erase and Install when updating the firmware, the default setting will be cleared.

#define SX126X_MAX_POWER 19 is defined in variant.h, so any software setting sx1262 tx power>19dbm will automatically fall back to 19dbm.

This is not to protect the hardware, because even if sx1262 tx power =22dbm, which is the max of sx1262, it will not damage the PA. This setting is to avoid exceeding the P1db point too much and causing unnecessary harmonics.

Regarding SX1262 TX = 30dBm/27dBm in the APP, the default setting here is actually the highest transmit power allowed in the area. The current maximum transmit power of a device without PA is 22dBm, which is the physical limit of SX1262. The specific situation can be seen in the log output of the serial port.

HAM mode is only used to comply with FCC regulations. Even if you do not set HAM mode and set TX power to 16dBm, the PA output is still 35 dBm (3.16 W). However, in this case, the communication is still encrypted and does not comply with FCC regulations.

When TX power is set to 19 dBm or above, the PA output is 36.5 dBm (4.46 W). Regardless of whether HAM mode is set.

More Info: https://wiki.uniteng.com/en/meshtastic/station-g2#summary-for-lora-power-amplifier-conduction-test

In short, the TX power set in the APP or CLI is the input power of the PA. The Meshtastic firmware has no idea of the actual output power.

[obsidian wraith]

I set it to 17dBi to compensate for a cable.

[silent pasture]

No way

[obsidian wraith]

89km hunh? I am continually surprised.

[silent pasture]

No crazy antenna or elevation either. My truck node picked it up

[grand apex]

Looked like that was a plane

[silent pasture]

That makes sense

Damn you get the speed on the iPhone app... fancy!

[obsidian wraith]

It's good though that we're all starting to see the same things. On FB, the Lancaster / Philly / Delaware guys are all reporting we're starting to see each other. I regularly pickup a node in Red Lion, PA, so we're not that far from Jersey to Lancaster in a hop or 2.

[shadow forge]

My current build sitting in my backyard. Already seeing 7 other nodes and she's just sitting a few feet off the ground. Im.seeing how that panel performs before I toss her on a mast in my yard.

[silk sinew]

This looks awesome, what solar panel is that?

[shadow forge]

POWOXI 6V 1.5W Solar Panel to... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LD9YN27?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

[silk sinew]

Are you working off any docs or did you just throw it together yourself?

[shadow forge]

Just tossed it together after researching parts etc.

[wicked coyote]

Ooh, some new activity from Ridley Park

[shadow forge]

someone is asking in the FB group about it also.

[obsidian wraith]

Yeah that's me. I saw them down in Delaware.

[shadow forge]

you running the G2?

[obsidian wraith]

I was the one asking. Not the one in Ridley. (And yeah, just got some G2's in this morning)

[wicked coyote]

I need to boost the power on my g2

Also PM01 will be moving up 30 floors

[grand apex]

nice! that will be great.

[median tapir]

Omg, I cut the rope as short as I could to reduce rope weight before the big winds today... Node is still stuck in the goddamn tree.

[merry bone]

is it supposed to be in the tree? I'm confused whether this is good or bad

[median tapir]

It's stuck, it was supposed to be int he tree and able to come. Down for maintenance.

But I forgot to consider how light the node is snd how it won't exert force when the rope is let slack.

So it just lives there now...

Forever...

I was hoping sicne it's a box it would ebe less aerodynamic than the rope and get pulled off, but, nope.

[lone karma]

If it's a rak board, you can still update it remotely 😅

[median tapir]

It's a Pi pico, and my solar experiment failed, so once the battery dies it never came back online. Thus why I want to get it down to see what I can do to fix.

[onyx swallow]

@merry bone Did the library node happen? Cause went to the library and my device found nothing.

[lone karma]

How high is it?

And what's it's location?

I have a big ladder

And a big rope

We could throw the ladder over the branch to dislodge it...@median tapir

I have a pole saw too

I could go to the top of the ladder and nudge it free with a pole saw

[median tapir]

60 ft give or take.

[merry bone]

the node exists but it's not on the roof yet. we are working on that.

[onyx swallow]

Okay, I was going to use it to test my device since I have seen a single node yet

[lone karma]

My ladder is not tall enough. You're gonna have to use a rope with something on the end

Have you tried yanking the rope?

Walking it farther down the branch?

Does anyone know who the locust valley estates node is?

They haven't updated their node, and it's a rak so you can use Bluetooth to do it.

I messaged them a few times about helping them update it, but they have not responded.

[median tapir]

Yeah, stuck on offshoots, I was yanking it for weeks, ended up cutting it to reduce the counter weight. We'll see.

[lone karma]

Have you tried flying a drone into the tree?

I have a bb gun, maybe that would help.

[placid turret]

Probably not helpful but when we were trying to put a swing up on a big tree in the backyard we needed to get a rope over it. If you need to get another rope in that area, try using one of those Kong dog toy balls with the hole in the middle. They're a good weight in that you can throw them far but momentum means they'll also go further than something like a tennis ball.

[merry bone]

they have a small standalone node there and the rak one that is eventually destined for the roof, but they are generally not powered up. if you stop by ask in the makerspace and they can power one up for you to test with.

[lone karma]

https://tenor.com/view/exercise-thor-chris-hemsworth-thor-love-and-thunder-swinging-the-chain-gif-26087179

Whip it like those Chain whip exercises

[obsidian wraith]

Cool. OK the BelAir MD guys are starting to creep onto the Delaware nodes. got in touch with those guys as well.

[median tapir]

Gah, gotta get over these hill in downingtown/Coatesville

[lone karma]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bdKG7CJvTa22fUCL9?g_st=ac

Ask them if you can use their hill

[median tapir]

Actually, I think this one might be better to stash a node. https://maps.app.goo.gl/KdrVhYdAUDTcprVP9

[lone karma]

Here? 39.9789604, -75.6902597

The issue IMO is that theridges there will cast coverage shadows

But since it's lora it might be fine

[wicked coyote]

So PM01 is now at about 500 feet, though still indoors.

[obsidian wraith]

Hey folks, if anyone is running MeshSense, there's now a beta map which is infinitely more useful than meshmap. It's not MQTT https://meshsense.affirmatech.com/

[wicked coyote]

Ooh, is that just included in the normal package?

Nevermind I'm dumb, seems that they are maintaining a map but we can't run one ourselves yet

Meshsense looks cool though, I'll probably run it when I don't have to hack the code to work on arm

[obsidian wraith]

You run it separeately on Windows / Mac ? linux

https://affirmatech.com/meshsense

[wicked coyote]

Yeah, but no arm support out of the box

Only x64 on linux

And I see a PR to hack it by disabling Bluetooth, but they update so frequently it could make things a merge nightmare if there are breaking changes

[onyx swallow]

Is it a high location? What makes you think this places is better?

[median tapir]

It's a pretty big hill and also located on the side of the valley closer to West Chester which has an active mesh.

[obsidian wraith]

Drove up to Philly today for a Wings game at Wells Fargo. Tried acking once I got out of range of my tower on 95, and got nothing the reset of the way, even on the Platt. Noone's got nodes that cover down there? Unfortuantely, I don't have any clients in the South Philly area that I can help out on.

[silk sinew]

South Philly is rough, lots of low lying buildings and no high antennas. I’m smack dab in the middle so my window nodes don’t reach the highway

[obsidian wraith]

HM. Bummer. I'm suprised no HAM's have tried a water tower or something like that yet. I also wasnt sure if the downdown ones were up high or not. Like the Phillymesh ones. I had a StationG2 with a 5.8dBi on the roof.

[silk sinew]

I’m very much hoping Philly Whisper will allow us to put a node at Bok, they already have some antennas. But I have yet to make a node

[obsidian wraith]

I can ask them. I use them in 3 locations up there, and my plan was to pop nodes on those buildings at some point if you folks need them.

3rd Callowhill, 12th and Race, and over by the Mann.

[silk sinew]

Hell yeah! I think we’d love to use POE because that’s what Hive 76 is using and we could just make a second identical node once we work out the kinks with the first one

[obsidian wraith]

Those would be solar nodes first. Until I know this is going to stick, I'm not going to commit to running a line up 12 floors (not cheap)

That said, my tower node down here is POE.

[silk sinew]

Idk how POE works, but if they already have an antenna set up there (since that’s where they beam their internet out from in south Philly) I thought they might already have POE up there. No?

[obsidian wraith]

Nope. That POE runs thier equipment. I'd have to run another wire up, at least at my clients. We have POE there, but I'd have to get one of my techs to work with the building an run wire up. Easily $500. My RAK solars are working perfectly down here in DE.

[silk sinew]

Gotcha. I’ll see how @merry bone’s library solar node goes and maybe copy his plans

[grand apex]

Was this you?

[obsidian wraith]

YUP! Wierd. Never ACKED and never got a reply.

[hollow jackal]

I got it in Old City too

[grand apex]

I saw it later in the evening in South Philly

[obsidian wraith]

Nada. Well, still beta right?

I had good signal to my F178 tower all the way up to the DE border, and then I lost it.

[grand apex]

I often test different spot around the city to see I can reach my home and it’s not uncommon to miss the ack but have the messages waiting for me when I get back

[obsidian wraith]

Bugger. I don't even have new nodes. Zero. They are all from previous.

[grand apex]

Was your node actually set for more than 3 hops or is there some other reason this happens? I see 4+ hops in the list pretty often.

[obsidian wraith]

Absolutely I'm set at 5

But tha's why I didn't get the response.

[grand apex]

Yeah

[obsidian wraith]

Until the mesh gets denser, I'm running higher hop count.

[silk sinew]

I made it home to check my node, I saw you!

I’m in the heart of south Philly, facing west

[obsidian wraith]

The Lancaster / Harrisburg guys have a thick enough mesh they probably can't. 95 corridor we can

[obsidian wraith]

I'm not surprised, the G2 is at max allowed power, and I have a cavity filter, as well as a VG antenna on the car....plus that nice ground plane.

Although I probably look crazy with that 5.8 sticking out of the top of my car.

[thick bear]

We’re set to have one up there! I just need to make the time to finish provisioning it and get back to the roof 😬

I was wondering if Wisper would possibly mount nodes for us at some of their other locations… maybe once we get the hive node up I’ll see what I can coax Mark to helping with 🙂

[thick bear]

I’m happy to make more solar RAKs, been loving my Lowe’s solar light hack some of the peeps created

[placid turret]

Any idea how that antenna might do in an attic? And whether an absurd amount of spray foam insulation in the attic might interfere?

[median tapir]

Mine in the attic works OK. Not the best, but makes it like 4-5 miles over to @lone bridge . But it also depends on the local topography.

[placid turret]

Any info or link on the antenna you're using in the attic?

[rapid jasper]

hi all

got some sensecap t1000e cards that i'll have moving around the area

hopefully they help make some hops happen!

[grand apex]

Which solar light is that?

[silk sinew]

You managed to get this working? I bought one of these but I must have burned out one of the components because its now toast

[silk sinew]

There’s a channel in this discord dedicated to it! I’ll see if I can find it

[silk sinew]

Here ya go: https://discord.com/channels/867578229534359593/1198011215025283124

[silk sinew]

That’s so awesome! I very much hope you can get this going! My home node would appreciate it so much

[silk sinew]

I’ve got so many random components in my basement including a spare rak board and a few spare solar panels, happy to donate

[grand apex]

Ok yeah it just looked a little different so I wasn’t sure if it was the same thing

[silk sinew]

Be warned there’s several different methods of wiring it in that channel. If you complete it and feel like writing something up please do!

[grand apex]

I got a t114 recently and put it in my window with a soshine panel and it’s been going for 5 or 6 weeks but the weather for the last week and the upcoming few days is really pushing it.

Then again it’s not facing the best direction. Just testing it out for now. It’s amazing how little power these use compared to the v3.

But these boards with the solar charging built in make it so easy. I guess the only thing I’d want to do differently if it was outside would be to have some cut-off so it stops charging when it’s too cold for the batteries.

[rapid jasper]

Sorry if this is repetitive just trying to make sure i'm understanding roles correctly.

I have three t1000e sensecap cards.

One will be at my property always somewhat higher up on the outside of the house (client)

One will be on my person 24/7 moving around (client mute)

One will be on my car moving around (client mute)

would that be the right roles?

[grand apex]

I see that setup being recommended on here

[rapid jasper]

To be honest I really wanted the devices for point to point at festivals/fairs/parades/hiking but if I can help the mesh between those use cases I would want to!

Is it better to just get a stronger antenna client for the property if i want to give back to the mesh?

[grand apex]

There’s some good info here https://github.com/meshtastic/antenna-reports

[grand apex]

I may have misinterpreted your question. But for helping build out the mesh, a fixed node with a properly tuned antenna in a good position is what you’d want.

[silk sinew]

I think (as far as I understand) you may wish to get the highest power possible for your stationary node. That might be a station G2 with a good antenna, or even a rak wireless or heltec would be fine (and cheaper). But I don’t think putting the T1000 high up would improve it too much, it’s pretty underpowered

[rapid jasper]

thanks! yeah I was speaking more to getting a higher powered antenna than the t1000 for mounting up high

[median tapir]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D7K986W?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

[placid turret]

Thanks!

[thick bear]

https://www.printables.com/model/958722-meshtastic-harbor-breeze-solar-panel-n-type-antenn

Details and links there on the evolution of it

And mixmaster linked you the channel in here. Fun group over there, some in our area too!

[lone karma]

What's there in the shrink tube on the battery terminal 😆

Also, PSA to everyone that's using the original wires for the solar panel: those wires SUCK

Replace them with stranded or solid ethernet if you can!

[rapid jasper]

where is a good spot to buy the rak board? for the solar lowes

just curious if there are any stores i can buy them at or if it's really just online

[obsidian wraith]

WOOP! Saw PM03 down here in Delaware this AM. Wasn't a good connection, RSSI was -117, SNR -12.5, but it was there!

[obsidian wraith]

Amazon, or Rokland.

[thick bear]

Or Rakwireless directly from China

Rokland is free shipping at a premium per item. Rak has a shipping fee but cheaper per item

[wicked coyote]

Those are the two vendors I've used

[shadow forge]

I saw a few message from Delaware yesterday...and I'm in berks County.

[obsidian wraith]

Must have been a plane. Bel Air saw us too.

[obsidian wraith]

Ok it had to be a plane then.

Hey Philly / Lehigh people, are you running meshsense yet? I'd love to get an idea of what you have up there. https://meshsense.affirmatech.com

[rapid jasper]

how do you run meshsense?

i'm not familiar

[wicked coyote]

I'll run it for PM02 and potentially PM03 when they have an official arm release

[wicked coyote]

It's companion software you run on a computer that connects to your node via lan or Bluetooth

[rapid jasper]

oh okay

i'm having a little trouble finding my local ordinances to mount an antenna on a tall tree on my back yard

any tips for finding that kind of stuff

upper darby if relevant

[wicked coyote]

Do you live in an HOA?

FWIW at the county level you are probably fine as I know many people in Delco with some wild antennas.

You could call the township but it might be better to ask for forgiveness instead of permission. I doubt someone would report it if they even noticed it

[grand apex]

@wicked coyote did you notice much difference in your node list after moving yours to the higher elevation?

[wicked coyote]

It was about the same from what I saw but what I should probably look at is if I see more direct connections

Unfortunately though a lot of nodes don't report location so I can't tell if I'm connecting to someone in South Philly or around the corner

[wicked coyote]

Would definitely be curious to hear if they agree to host nodes. I floated the idea of meahtastic nodes to some of the pcw folks about 2 years ago but it didn't really fit in with that they do. The sites to actually put mesh nodes would probably be Wisper's anyway.

[obsidian wraith]

Yeah I haven't had a chance yet to ask Whisper, but frankly, the few sites that I have I don't need thier permission. I've got the hardware on order for those 3 sites. I'm doing LTO batteries and a more robust box. Not sure what gain antennas yet......3dBi probably. It's disappointing that PCW wasn't on board. It's nearly the same outreach, and we don't even need power. Sheesh.

It's going to be awhile yet though. I'm trying to get connect reliably to your mesh, Bel Air, and the Lancaster folks......

[wicked coyote]

The few times I met with the PCW folks they didn't seem to have any cypherpunk crustpunks, or really anyone who knew knew more than how to install a ubnt ap and acquire it in unifi. And that's not a dig, for what they're doing they really just need to be installing APs, but I didn't really connect with anyone interested in the underlying protocols or radio physics, no hams or hackers, etc.

Nobody nerded out with me lol

[obsidian wraith]

IT would be great to have the contact of their high nodes.

[wicked coyote]

I think it's just wispr

[grand apex]

There is actually someone involved with PCW who is a LPFM guy and I showed him a node at an event. He was intrigued by it but I’m pretty sure he lives in Latin America full time now and works remote. But, I can understand why an org wouldn’t really be interested in getting involved if there wasn’t a use case that was part of their work.

[wicked coyote]

Ah, I think his name was Allen? I only met him virtually but we did talk about how he used to run a Commotion network.

I'm also a little confused how pcw is structured. If I recall, they have 501c3 sponsorship from the movement alliance and in most of those agreements the sponsor has a lot of control and final say on things. I could posit that they might just know this is too far off of the project goals and would be questioned.

Also, if anyone knows any 501c3 orgs that would like to sponsor PhilTel provided we continue to meet our mission statement and doesn't want to acquire us let me know 😛

[obsidian wraith]

Are you folks doing that meeting on the 23rd? I may come up and say hi if you are.

[wicked coyote]

I think @silk sinew goes to those?

[silk sinew]

@obsidian wraith I do often! I’ll be out of town for this one though. I love to go and show-and-tell all my stupid meshtastic devices haha and I’ve met a few people from LoRa in real life there. Definitely recommend going! I often learn something new about meshtastic when I go

[thick bear]

Ditto!

[cunning crystal]

I had my t1000e turned on from MIA to PHL yesterday and picked up like 150+ nodes coming up the coast

[grand apex]

I’m assuming this is you and you were actually in Philly at the time?

[cunning crystal]

nah mine is SEED should have picked it up last night around 19:30

[grand apex]

Ah, this Miami one came in this morning with the flyover

[cunning crystal]

long name is T1000-E

on the way down last week our flight got diverted to RDU when someone flatlined on the plane, then our plane got struck by lightning

That was a bad start to a vacation

[grand apex]

Wow

[rugged swan]

I'm running it with my T-Deck+ via IP.

[merry bone]

hey everyone, hoping someone here can tell me if this is typical, ok, not ok....

I got a nanovna-h a while back and finally got it set up and calibrated. I tested an antenna I had on my node (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D19JJBKZ) and these are the results I got:

the green is 915MHz (meshtastic frequency or thereabouts) and the red is the best antenna performance. that's further apart than I was expecting but I don't know if this is normal. I haven't done any antenna testing like this before

[wicked coyote]

Seems higher than I would expect

[grand apex]

I don’t have a nano vna or really know how to work with it., but I believe the center you are wanting is actually 906.875 if I recall correctly. @wicked coyote tested several antennas I had laying around and they weren’t good.

[wicked coyote]

915 is in the middle of the Lora band but yeah I think long/fast is at 904 or 906ish MHz

[grand apex]

I’m pretty sure I had been using a wifi router antenna for awhile haha

[merry bone]

yeah unless you change it it defaults to like 908 I think...

which is even worse for my antenna

[wicked coyote]

Did you do your calibration or measurement near concrete or big metal surfaces?

[merry bone]

I did it on a table that is probably particle board or wood. was probably within 10" of my laptop.

is that an issue?

[wicked coyote]

Nah that should be fine

Did you calibrate after you set the frequency range or before?

[merry bone]

after

[obsidian wraith]

yeah, that looks like a bad antenna.

[merry bone]

I checked it too on the smith chart by putting the load, short, and open back on and they were where I'd expect them

[obsidian wraith]

Do you have a known good to validate? Did you try it straight? Those 90deg ones can go off the charts when bent.

[wicked coyote]

Thats a good point as well

[merry bone]

it was straight

it's the only one I have to test at the moment

[obsidian wraith]

Where are you? I have tons, you're welcome to borrow one , or bring yours down. I'm in New Castle, DE

[silk sinew]

If you want next time I see you I can bring the bajillion antennas I have. I have several from rockland that I think are good and several from iffy that I think are bad

And some random ones from Amazon

We could spend the whole day testing antennas lol

[merry bone]

I am sure I will see @silk sinew first, but thanks anyway @obsidian wraith. also I'm in Chester county, pa, not exactly convenient to new castle.

[cunning crystal]

Every time I go to use my nanovna I have to watch 3 youtube videos to remember how it works

I’ve got a station g2 coming this week, I’ll have to test out the antenna that comes with that as it is supposed to be pretty good

I’m no expert, but I recall the videos saying when testing you want your antenna oriented in a position similar to how you would actually be deploying it

aka not laying on a table

[lone karma]

Look at FAA guidelines. Check HOA bylaws. That's it.

My node is near several airports so mine isn't taller than the tallest tree, but I could go all the way up to 50m without any permits I think

40ft off the ground is still pretty tall

[obsidian wraith]

Let me know how it goes with the G2. My initial testing here over the last few days hasn't been great compared to the Tbeam I replaced, even with a 915 cavity filter. I'm watching from Meshsense, and the "chatter" goes WAY down.

[cunning crystal]

Oof hopefully I have better luck, it’s quiet here so i’m not sure i’ll see any difference initially. I don’t have a filter on order, are you using the stock antenna or?

[obsidian wraith]

Nono, I have a 5.8 at the top of my tower. The last piece I need is the LMR400 cable. That's the only "untuned" part.

[cunning crystal]

ah yeah, not sure i’ll see a ton of diff in my attic 😄

[obsidian wraith]

Neil Hao responded over on the Antenna's thread, but I don't completely understand his response, since I'm not really an RF guy, although I know most of the basics. Almost like "the G2 is so sensitive, you really should use a dipole rather than a high gain monopole"

[cunning crystal]

it’s pretty rare i even see anyone around here unless im driving around although i did catch someone walking? by the other day

[shadow forge]

A vertical dipole? its doable I guess but weird at 915mhz

[wicked coyote]

The good stuff!

[obsidian wraith]

Yup, well the Dipole that he sent. He essentially said "you can't tune monopoles well enough without a properly sized ground plane" But yeah for some reason this amazing G2 is deaf compared to the TBeam, as far as I can tell....EXCEPT for my other fixed nodes, which got WAY better. It's so odd.

[shadow forge]

Aww youre not instilling confidence in the G2 I have sitting here that I havent messed with yet...

[obsidian wraith]

Sorry, Follow the Austin guys thread. Sounds eerily similar. There has to be a reason, I just don't understand it.

[obsidian wraith]

@merry bone Are you SXBL? Anyone know who that is? They're smack in the middle of Chesco, and could be a great link. I've got a buddy off Pusey Mill road that's 100% onboard, which is getting really close now.

[merry bone]

nah not me. I'm near Exton

[thick bear]

Newest node 🙂

[grand apex]

Going up in Philly soon?

[thick bear]

Yessums! At the Hive76 Makerspace in East Kensington

[silk sinew]

I should probably know this, but what’s the black cable that’s going out the bottom? External power?

[tepid zephyr]

Black cable is plugged into the USB, probably for updating via serial. Looks like the far left bottom is GPS. And POE on the right. One nice setup

[thick bear]

Bottom is USB-C, just saved me messing around closer to the board and bumping stuff or opening the enclosure

Left side is LoRA / N-Antenna connector, GPS is i the middle on a standoff - hoping this works well enough instead of having to drill another hole for an external GPS antenna

POE power/Ethernet on the right, correct

[thick bear]

Thanks!

[tepid zephyr]

Oh wow i glossed right over that GPS antenna, didnt even see it. lol

You keep the PCB lora antenna in there for testing? thats what threw me for a loop

[thick bear]

Correct exactly, if you zoom in you can see its disconnected now that I connected the external antenna

[cunning crystal]

my station g2 arrived so I slapped it upstairs, of course it doesn't see anyone because my part of mont co is a ghost town

For whatever reason BT doesn't seem to work but it may be because I have WiFi enabled

[silk sinew]

Visiting the Pioneer Valley and love to see so many nodes that are so far from me!

[obsidian wraith]

Anyone want to get in on a group buy of the Airframes.io cavity filter? He needs 16. I'd be in for a few.

[silk sinew]

Suggestion for anyone with a node in center city: make a bot that posts the weather every day! I saw it up in Massachusetts and it encourages everyone to use the mesh more

[grand apex]

also would love to see a channel with the EAS alerter https://github.com/RCGV1/Meshtastic-SAME-EAS-Alerter

[median tapir]

Alright, mobile node engage.

[cunning crystal]

I wish I could get some height here, might be able to pickup this node I see on the map 4 mi away

[median tapir]

Need to figure out wiring for the car, but antenna works well.

Thinking I'll route it through the roof to the center console and have a node in there with no battery powered off of the cigarette lighter.

[obsidian wraith]

Md guys are doing that too.

[merry bone]

I got a couple test messages today at like 3:50PM if that was anyone here

[median tapir]

@merry bone what node? Might be me,was testing the external car antenna.

[merry bone]

@median tapir node was 315f

[median tapir]

Ah,yeah,that was me.

[cunning crystal]

drive on out to the burbs so i feel like i’ve accomplished something

nobody drives by me

though i did get a random happy boxing day message from someone who was cruising i guess

I wish the web interface was more flexible, i have my G2 base station connected via WiFi which means it disables the BT so I have to use the web interface and it is.. not great

Oh just found this project, this looks cool: https://github.com/meshtastic/network-management-client

Not sure how I never saw this before

I tried out Meshsense but I’m pretty meh on that, feels like it’s the mid 90s and i’m running linux on the desktop

[obsidian wraith]

ARE you the Ridley Park G2 base?

[cunning crystal]

Nope I'm up in Lansdale

[obsidian wraith]

Hows your testing on the G2 vs something else?

[cunning crystal]

That proton client hasn't had a release since '23 and does not want to connect via TCP so that's out I guess

Well it's equally quiet so, so far the same? I bought one of those ALFA antennas to see if there's any differene but that won't come for a week or two

[obsidian wraith]

I've got one of those Alfa's coming today too actually.

[cunning crystal]

When company leaves I gotta get up in the attic and see if there's some power up there I can tap up to, maybe try to move my ADSB antenna up there too

We're TRYING to build a new garage and I'm like man it would be cool to have an actual tower attached to it, but given all the red tape just trying to get the building up I am like whatever

plus, WAF on anything tower-like is slim

I have some giant ass no joke 75' conifers in the back yard but there is NFW I am attempting to scale one of those

[obsidian wraith]

Bow and arrow, and a rope? Works suprisingly well.

[cunning crystal]

Could also just launch one of the cats

[obsidian wraith]

That was actually serious. Make an inverted T out of PVC, mount your node, and pull up by the string / rope. We connect 2 extra at each end of the left and right pieces to help guide. This isn't my page, but an example: http://www.nemarc.org/mesh.html

[cunning crystal]

I actually have a flagpole but I'd get shit for hanging stuff up there too

(it's in the back yard of all places)

[obsidian wraith]

No way to paint / stealth node in the tree? HOA?

[cunning crystal]

Nah they’re just huge and on the property line

[grand apex]

ha - that's not me in the article, but I also was hitting that fjp router all summer from lewes

[grand apex]

currently nothing in lewes though... seems to be very reliant on atmospheric conditions

[wicked coyote]

We sre never gonna find this guy

[silk sinew]

Someone needs to drop them a link to this channel via the mesh!

[wicked coyote]

I'll do it after I replace PM02 after today or tomorrow

The tbeam keeps dropping off wifi and I want to throw a rak there anyway

[silk sinew]

I got a “just passing thru” message this morning! Wasn’t looking at my node at the time so I didn’t see it until around noon

[median tapir]

You can connect via IP in the app on Android

[cunning crystal]

Yeah I’m diehard Apple and that’s a no go there

I do have an android tablet here somewhere

[median tapir]

@cunning crystal in my attic I installed a split outlet/switch where the old switch for the lights was and am using that to power my node.

[cunning crystal]

Yeah I gotta poke we have hvac up there but the lights I gotta plug in via a lead dangling off the ladder so there might not be readily available 120v up there

Also slightly concerned about humidity since it’s an unconditioned space essentially

[tepid zephyr]

https://groups.io/g/NEMARC/topic/meshtastic_tree_node/106358736 Thank you for posting this, ive been wanting to do a tree node since i have some terrifyingly tall trees to work with. i posted the direct link to the build for more info if anyone needs it.

[wicked coyote]

I've been thinking about my future attic install and Im pretty sure I'm just going to run cable up there for antennas and keep the radio(s) in a closet a floor down. I bought some POE stuff but not sure I'll use it because the heat up there might melt a board

[cunning crystal]

You have to cope with line loss in that scenario however

My fancy indoor ADSb antenna already has like 20’ of coax on it so I might just shove that up there if I can be bothered to fish it down

[wicked coyote]

Yeah I think at most I would be doing like 2 meters the loss for that is within my comfort zone

[cunning crystal]

I could also just put the g2 in an enclosure since it’s basically an exposed board, but at that point i may as well just shove a rak build up there

[wicked coyote]

I've never understood the thermal benefits or drawbacks of using an enclosure somewhere like an attic. I get using something light-colored outside for the sun and rain but in a hot room with little air movement is there a benefit for a box around the board? Would the board just heat up the air in the box and if you had vents wouldn't it mostly just equalize temp? Of course adding a fan and heatsink or something might help

[cunning crystal]

Well, my attic’s eaves are open so i’m mostly concerned with humidity not the temp

likely not a huge issue but those g2s cost a lot more than rak

[wicked coyote]

Good point

[cunning crystal]

I kinda want to build one of these https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1317962516592070770/1320393168218226860/image.png?ex=677006f7&is=676eb577&hm=c46675a07580bb3f76e2aedc18b0d3559aefd094222ed70f4b9f0bb03032a9ef&

With those LTO cells you can throw that anywhere and you’re g2g

[cunning crystal]

Caught this earlier

[obsidian wraith]

Lifted a solar tree node today 80ft. Worked way better than we thought. Kept 2 extra strings on the T ends to be able to swing the panel as needed.

[wicked coyote]

I've been trying to message the Ridley park base stations to tell them about this chat but haven't got an ack yet

I feel like this ends with me driving to Ridley Park

[obsidian wraith]

There's a dude out in ChesCo that I feel the same about. Discord or FB, I don't care. He's RIGHT in a dead zone to help get to the Lancaster mesh.

[grand apex]

I’m picking several long distance nodes this morning. At least one of yours @obsidian wraith

[hollow jackal]

I have a weather station hooked up to Home Assistant and eventually was hoping to figure out how to pass the rain sensor data over to meshtastic

I figured the hyper local rain data may be useful to others

[silk sinew]

That would be super cool! Like a message sent out when it’s about to rain in 15 mins or something

[hollow jackal]

Yeah I'll just need to figure out the API calls. There's some articles about a Home Assistant integration but it seemed to be more for read only and using MQTT. In the case, it would just broadcast that the sensor is detecting rain and could say rain accumulation. It's a weather sensor rather than forecast

[thick bear]

I’d also love to do this! Let me know how you make out

[patent rampart]

I don't have anyone near me on the mesh but I've played around with HA and Node-Red integration; it is actually fairly easy with MQTT to send messages to the Mesh

[hollow jackal]

On awesome. I have my heltec already set up with the meshtastic mqtt server so it shows up on the map. Did you set up your meshtastic node to your own mqtt server? I had considered an mqtt bridge to have both configured but didnt get beyond considering

[patent rampart]

No, I'm not connected to the public MQTT server...I was already running a local MQTT for home automation stuff so I just pointed my node at that for automation use.

[median tapir]

Not stuck! Hot one up on me!

[median tapir]

Are you in the Facebook group?

[cunning crystal]

Linky

[cunning crystal]

Ah, found it

[obsidian wraith]

Which one? I'm in the PA one, the Susq Valley one, Delaware one.

[median tapir]

PA would be bets bet to look for a ndoe imho

[obsidian wraith]

Yeah I've asked. I'm going to end up driving out there.

[bleak tangle]

@quasi dragon

[obsidian wraith]

Looks like another plane? I got a whiff of lots of Philly nodes about 3 hours ago.

[grand apex]

Yeah probably I saw at least one of your DE nodes in my list again. But I was also wondering if that Ridley Park node is helping make that happen.

[quasi dragon]

Oh, that was me. Took a node on a flight down to MD and back yesterday morning

[median tapir]

Nodes carried on person really should be client mute to avoid blowing up mode lists.

[obsidian wraith]

Agreed. I have to clear my node list when it goes from 20 to 60 fast. (It is damn cool though)

[rapid jasper]

i think i'm a little confused by client mute

does it just not repeat?

[silk sinew]

I must admit, I’m a bad meshtastic user who never learned what all the different roles do. I gotta read up on this stuff

[grand apex]

Client mute is the one that receives but does not repeat yeah. It’s good for a scenario where you have more than one node present in the same area or are in a situation where your node isn’t going to reliable for the mesh (passing through an area etc)

As far as I understand

For example if you have a node on your roof and one in the house you don’t want the one in the house also flooding the mesh with packets that are redundant

I imagine there are a number of other scenarios where you have a node that doesn’t make sense to be resending messages

But you might get a more accurate answer than mine in #help

[obsidian wraith]

Here's generally what I post:
Here's the lowdown:
IF it's in your pocket, or on your person, Client Mute (no repeating, which you don't really want since Line of Sight is key)
IF it's on your roof, Client mode, full repeater.
IF it's on a mountain or many many story building and you've coordianted with your local mesh, maybe router mode. Maybe. Router mode rebroadcasts every packet regardless which can be a huge issue if you're inserting hops where they don't need to be.
That said, if you're out in the woods, or doing atak, then client mode for everyone makes sense.

[rapid jasper]

gotcha

I think I might shift my sensecap card trackers to mute then

[quasi dragon]

That generally makes sense and I will admit to being ignorant to the second order effects of the different modes. But it is a bit restrictive to certain uses. Everyone seems to have a different idea how to use meshtastic. For example, I'm very interested in large deployments (cities, regions) and trying to observe how multiple hops propagate and handle dynamic routing.

Errant nodes seems inevitable for an uncoordinated mesh. To inderstand a bit more, what are the issues associated with extra repeated packets (aside from poor use of spectrum)? Do the extra packets significantly degrade service or chew up battery life on solar installs?

[quasi dragon]

For reference, I'd love to coordinate with folks here and take one up between Philly and NYC. Bridge the networks for an hour or two. See what's possible

[median tapir]

Client mute is key for anything mobile (car, on person, flying) because if those nodes happen to be in advantageous positions they both destabilize the mesh (pull routing) and flood node DBs. As far as I understand it

[obsidian wraith]

Conor, the issue with repeater mode is that it may force extra hops into a mesh that can stop a message from getting thru. I'll see if I can describe here:

Node A ----------------------------------- Node B ------------------------ Node D
\ /
------ Node C--------------

If everyone is in client mode, node A will transmit to B then D. However, if node C is in repeater / router mode, it's going to force a hop between A and B. That's why the mesh needs to settle / be observed first (or if you have a router on the top of a mountain with 2 valleys on each side, that's an obvious roll for router mode.

[quasi dragon]

The idea of mobile nodes falling into advantageous positions is a feature in my mind. It seems like there might be a mix of goals because you're discussing having a stable mesh where I'm excited about a more dynamic environment. Does meshtastic require a stable routing network? And stable could be many different time frames. I suppose I'm thinking on the scale of many minutes. Not nodes popping in and out over seconds

Additionally, what issue occurs with a flood in the node database? Aren't most users attempting to achieve as large a network as possible?

And thanks for taking the time to explain. I believe I understand the issues that having an errant router node could cause. And fully agree about the detrimental effects it would have in many cases. I'm trying to learn more about the effects and potential etiquettes of client mode versus client mute.

Sorry to be controversial here but I am a little confused. The things you are describing as negatives are the exact reason I became interested in meshtastic

[grand apex]

Well, I think there is a general assumption that a common goal is a reliable off-grid communication tool. Ad-hoc connections that last minutes seem more like novelty/experiemental projects and depending on how they're done they could negatively impact a more utilitarian mesh. Doesn't mean there's not a place for both depending on how it's done, but that might be the discrepancy you're describing...

Like to me it’s more interesting to be able to reliably communicate across the city than to see a blip from a plane that’s 500 miles away. It’s still cool, but doesn’t really offer much else. But I bet there is some stuff in #1217252717844500480 along the lines of what you’re thinking.

I’ve seen people on here doing balloon nodes etc.

[quasi dragon]

There's a lot of fuzziness in that concept of reliable off-grid communication tool. To me it's still involves a lot of individual mobile users trying to communicate with each other. Disabling the mesh on everybody's node (client mute) seems detrimental to individual users connectivity.

With all of the mobile nodes in mute mode, it would be closer to a cellular network with a shared mesh backhaul. A very cool and interesting network but it is a specific vision somewhat layered on top of meshtastic. Not at its core IMO

And to give an example of a scenario that's happened to me. I was once in the basement of a building and had a friend up on a higher floor. I was able to get my message out no problem because their client acted as a relay. I give that example to highlight that users needs are also fluctuating. I would never normally need service in that basement and no one is going to provide it. But I happen to be there. And when I happen to be there, other people happen to be there too. So the automatic routing is able to do its job. A crowd can help service itself in a proper mesh.

[quasi dragon]

And thanks I'll definitely have to check that out. Might be more my speed

[grand apex]

I don’t think that basement example conflicts with client mute if I understand correctly. If the node in the basement is on client mute, it’s ok because it’s the node upstairs that’s doing all the repeating to the “outside” /rest of the mesh in the area. Unless you mean there’s another node near you in the lower level that can’t hear the upstairs one for some reason… anyway I’m just figuring this all out myself. This topic would probably get a lot more feedback in the general room.

[quasi dragon]

In that scenario both my node in the basement and my friends node on a higher floor are mobile client nodes on our person. We were using them to message between each other and other people not in the building
*Or at least trying to. Nobody ever noticed a message until 30 minutes after they got it

This blew up so much more than I expected. Generally not one for conflict. Not sure I'd want to bring this to the main channel.

And I really appreciate all of your thoughts and feedback! Lots to think about.