Dude, impressive. When I saw "$250 Solar Node" I thought "Eh, a bit overpriced" but watching all the work you've put into it? Damn. It's not overpriced, it's premium. If you want a node ready for god damn anything, this is clearly the answer. The amount of variation you designed into that mount/case is mind boggling.
Unit ordered! I can't tell you how effective a detailed walk-through is like this in showing the thought that goes into designing and building something like this. I've been completely satisfied with my M1, and I am looking forward to getting the final version of this node!
I appreciate that. This project took way longer than expected. I 3D printed countless prototypes of the frame along the way, and had two of the metal frame prototypes made. So many moments where I was like, HOLY SHIT, if I adjust the positioning of this here, I could get this whole new range of motion here! There was a period of a few weeks where I'd literally wake up every day with a new design idea on something I wanted to add or tweak. I should do a walk-through of the 3D model showing how it evolved. I feel like the project got a little "over the top" at some point, which was a little disappointing because I wanted it to be under $200, but I'm happy I'll be able to offer the "lite" version shortly that will be in that price range too, for people who don't necessarily need all the features in the Beacon.
Thanks to the solar repeater our radio club mounted on the radio tower with our ham repeater on top of a mountain. We did that about a month ago and I have sent and received messages over 200 miles away. The repeter almost covers the whole county. Almost anywhere in the county and places in the next county over can hit that repeater with a 5-watt hand healed. The radio range is about 100 miles with normal equipment. If you use a directional antenna you can go much further. Cool build. I may have to buy one because I need something like this at my house. I have a node I keep in the house and have to keep it in the window to connect. Having a solar on the roof or a tree would be awesome. Nice to see a quality build here. Gonna buy one at the first of the year.
Awesome. Yeah, I need to get out in the field and test this thing with the various antennas I'm offering so I can publish real-world results. But range is impressive when you've got line of sight.
I preordered. I'm stoked for it. Gonna be a nice surprise when it shows up. The design is excellent, and I love how you've taken time with the small details, and even still sussing out the solar panels. It's obvious that it's something you've put a ton of work and thought into.
I’ve kind of been watching a few videos on meshtastic here and there in the last year. This video, YOU and your product just sold me. So I’ll figure out a setup, what I want to do and order from you. Subscribed.
You have a winner with that solar repeater design! I just shared this video out to everyone I know (Friends, family, neighbors, CERT team, as well as my sheriff , town mayor & council member (all 03 small town Western NC good guys that all get it. We are working to set up county Mesh like Austin Mestastic set up. After Helene destroyed our county some eyes where open to the need for alternate communications. Lets get you overworked and begging for a vacation! LOL
Beautiful design. I look forward to getting one. With the Florida heat, your spacing for heat will doubtless be necessary. You seem to have thought of everything.
where did you source that external usbc that plugs directly into the wisblock? Also, have you considered integrating a programmable timer that reboots the wisblock at a set interval to help with the wisblock brownout issue?
This is great, Have a couple of the M1's and want this for my system. Because of the Holidays I will have to wait until late Jan. You making some really great gear! Keep it going Matt!
New sub here, found your setup video for the LILYGO T-Beam Supreme I just got one from a friend and had no idea how to configure it, your video helped me a lot, was thinking of picking up a few more to mess around with in the near future, and saw this about 3 hour ago, I thought wow, if I get into this I can see me picking up one of these. I live right near a fire tower, it's all metal and tops out above the trees, I'm sure they wouldn't care hanging that off the side, I'd even paint it to match the tower!
Out of my price range but very cool. I would recommended putting a desiccant packet in those aluminum housings to trap moisture and replace the packets every 3- 6 months but very cool. I hope they sell well for you.
I really appreciate the thought you put into this design, specifically the range of mounting options and beefy N-type connector. Hat's off for getting the frame made in the US too. So stoked for the production version! It looks like there is plenty of space in the enclosure for additional boards. IP link capability? Larger battery? Thanks for leaving the space to tinker.
Yes, the enclosure has plenty of breathing room inside. Eventually, I will offer a configuration for POE power. Just wanted to get the ball rolling with a single configuration for now, until I can hire some help and get some processes in place. You could do a bigger battery too, but 5,000mAh gives you over 2 weeks of power without any solar input, so it's usually plenty in most cases.
It was something I wanted to offer due to all the aluminum in the frame and enclosure. Surprisingly, I tested the internal PCB BLE antenna and still got about 90 feet outside before I lost connection. With the external BLE antenna I got 300 feet.
Wow.. this is better then any solar kit I have seen for meshtastic. Amazing engineering, your sir are the real deal. I will keep this on my "To buy" list! For this solar panel does it come with integrated charge controller? I did not see one mounted in the unit.
Please offer just the enclosures, without a panel, battery, or the wisblock. You've got a lot of great features in there, but battery won't survive winters in a lot of places, especially at higher elevation, and may have longevity issues with heat in some places even with the isolation considerations you've added. Personally I'd love to be able to utilize the nice enclosure with a remote battery (buried to utilize geothermal for both cold and heat avoidance), with a strategically placed PV panel for snow shedding.. It would be nice if you considered those applications (i.e. external power ingress, etc) if you iterate any further design changes.. Cool stuff regardless.
Love it! Congratulations on this milestone! Hope you get a ton of pre-orders (after mine of course). Does your custom battery prevent the low voltage brownout issue RAK solar nodes are known for?
I've yet to be able to recreate the brownout issue people describe. A lot of the cases I've read about seem to be people using 18650s connected directly to the WisBlock, or batteries with a too-low cutoff circuit. People recommend having a higher overdischarge cutoff/release, like 3v. The batteries I'm having manufactured have this feature. So it should drastically reduce that scenario. Also, the 5,000mAh capacity offers a lot of capacity to bridge periods of cloudy days. But I can't say it's completely solved. Good news is the enclosure has plenty of space for people who want to add a separate charging circuit. I would love to have a custom one developed myself, but I'm not there yet.
For cold I find a mesh covered vent facing down fixes most issues. the electronics running generates heat so you will cause condensation inside even if its waterproof.
A fantastic bit of kit. We are definitely behind in the UK when it comes to Meshtatic. Very few stations in my area. Just hoping that suppliers in the UK get their act together. Basically I have been bodging my setup at home. Would love a system like that. Cheers from old George in Northamptonshire UK. On 868mhz . Plenty vids of mine to watch. ❤
very well thought out design, one of the better I've seen. I would of liked to see it use of 18650 or similar idea for batteries, as it could also allow for possible swap to sodium batteries when those drop in price more
My initial intention was to use 18650s, but I steered away from that because it's really important to have some sort of BMS or other battery protection circuit. So then I started looking at BMS circuit boards, and it got complex because of the required connectors, I ended up just realizing I could save a lot of space and have the protection built-in, and eliminate the risk of people accidentally putting batteries in the wrong way if I went with a LiPo battery pack. But the enclosure has some room in it, it's not impossible if you wanted to, but it would require some reworking of the internals.
I would recommend some fusion tape over the SMA cable connectors to make them weatherproof and a plastic cap for the unused SMA or type N female connectors on the antenna bracket
Really awesome design! Now what it needs is to be emp-proof like some sort of antenna circuit breakers that can auto reset should there be a EMP. That's the most likely thing to cause a grid down scenario other than a strike on the power plant. Really need to talk about spacing / layout in order to get the coverage you need with something like this. Maybe even some sort of forum of users on a map who might be interested in putting one of these up. I talked to the Forrest ranger, he said that was illegal. Maybe there is some way to get a variance or you could spearhead some sort of program like that if you need to get the signal cross country. If there is a lot of state land, or federal land, between you and the person you need to communicate with, arrangements have to be made.
After looking at the specs, I notice it has high temp protection only. What will happen to the Lipo battery when the outside temp falls below freezing?
I've researched the cold-weather risks a bit, and I've explored all sorts of solutions (Most are expensive). It's definitely something I want to tackle down the road as an upgrade, and there's plenty of room inside the enclosure for upgrades/modifications. But after talking with someone in the community who has tested multiple units in the Rocky mountains down to -40°, he feels like the cold weather risks are exaggerated, especially because the batteries charge at such a low rate. You can read more here: www.reddit.com/r/meshtastic/comments/1f51cli/comment/lkq6jzr/? One thing I'd like to test is insulating the outside of the enclosure, to see if that helps at all. But I'm not sure the battery really puts out enough heat to effectively warm the enclosure. I've also heard about people adding heating pads, but then you get into needing some sort of circuit to control the heating pad. LiFePO₄ batteries have good chemistry, but the output voltage is lower, so then you're back to needing a custom charge controller. Btw, the batteries I'm using can discharge down to -20°C. It's just the charging that is recommended to be above freezing.
@@Atlavox Thanks so much for the detailed reply! Those reddit threads were super interesting. I'm looking forward to testing this at Kansas winter temps (not too cold but definitely below freezing) and I'll report back. :)
Lipo is actually tolerant of cold. It is other lithium chemistries that have a problem with cold. I would not worry much about lipo in terms of cold. High temp is an issue, and balancing is extremely important.
Are you considering this for emergency services? They can mount them to vehicles and create a mobile mesh where needed. Especially for disaster response where traditional coms may have been damaged. Basically a rapid deploy network wherever needed.
Nice piece of kit. I love all the mounting options. Lots of thought put into this. I just got a M1 this week but have not had time to set it up yet. Then I got the email about the beacon with the pre-order discount. I ordered the beacon with the optional 32" antenna but have a question about how it is mounted. Does the 32" antenna mount to the beacon assembly or does it require a separate pole mount as in the 32" antenna description? If so I might change the order to the 12" antenna as I want this all to be one piece and not require a separate antenna mount.
Good question. The 32" antenna includes a mounting bracket that can attach to a pole, or bolted to a flat surface. I'm recommending that you shouldn't have it directly attached to the beacon, only because it's so tall, it puts a lot of leverage on the N-Type connector and the antenna rail. It'll be fine temporarily, but not for high winds. If you want all-in-one, the 12" is the way to go. If you want to change it, let me know. Also, I'm going to add a note to that variation so people know. Thanks for pointing that out.
@@Hwy929 Actually, I spent a few hours thinking about this, and have made a few changes to the laser cut holes on the rail for the production version, so it'll allow you to attach the 32" antenna directly to the antenna rail. Let me know what you think
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ordered. the thing I would like to like to see is a power port for an external battery. I have not seen the sun for the last week. I don't want to take my unit down from the pole. external charging would be great.
When you say external battery, what kind of setup are you thinking? The Beacon includes an internal 5,000mAh battery, which would provide power for more than 2 weeks without any solar input. If you have the ability to connect wired power to the unit, you could feed power into the enclosure through the cable gland and power it that way. Or you could always add an additional cable gland on the back cover to connect an external battery if you really wanted to.
Місяць тому
@@Atlavox a cable gland. and run a cable down the pole . if needed I can plug a solar generator, Bluetti, in to the cable to charge the internal battery. summer should be ok, but Winter is difficult. I live in the south. I bet if someone north in Wisconsin or Vermont keeping a battery charged in the winter is harder. My large Bluetti is 3000 watts. Currently, during winter, my four batteries are good for 36 hours. Then because of less sunlight it takes five days to charge the batteries.
I'm brand new to Meshtastic, and I find your products to be seemingly very high quality. You do a phenomenal job explaining their purpose, and the engineering that goes into them is, to be plain, impressive. I'm curious what I would need to create a private / semi private / encrypted mesh that spans ~ 30 miles in one general direction through moderately to heavily wooded terrain, and a patch of low rise cityscape. There are roads throughout, but most are windy and there are very few straight line of site positions available. Cost is not a concern. Reliability is paramount for this mesh. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm not a RF guy, nor do I have much experience with traditional radios, but I have ample experience with all sorts of other tech.
Yeah, it's just the antenna that would need to be different. The WisBlock is the same. I'm still working on getting my VAT set up. Although I've been contacted by a couple distributors, so maybe that'll be the route I go.
You say the enclosure is not tested for waterproofing. Just place a humidity sensor inside and submerge it in a bucket for an hour to simulate wet conditions. Adds a lot of confidence.
Looks solid! I do have a couple questions, specifically what is the power budget with that panel? I'd be setting it up quite far north and the average sun in December is about 15% of florida for example. Also, how well would it shed snow from the panel?
Any thoughts to having a way to mount a yagi antenna instead of an omni? I'm sure I could drill some holes for whatever mount the yagi comes with so it can be aimed, but just curious if this has been thought of yet. I'm in a bit of a hollow and looking at setting a node up at home with a directional antenna pointing out to one of the local mountain tops where a node is. Thanks!
Any development in progress for a unit with an LTO battery? Lithium polymer batteries degrade very quickly if you attempt to charge when the battery temperature is below 32F. In short, this unit would not work for those of us in the northern climes.
Are there plans to produce and sell the previous smaller and more affordable solar node? EDIT wait, I see mention of a lite version below in a reply. Thx.
what is the operating temperature? I know that some devices that have internal batteries and a PV panel have trouble functioning at temps below 38F. My solar cameras struggle to charge when the temp reaches below 38F even though the sky is clear
I live in NE WA near the Canadian border. We have about 4-5 months of sub-freezing temps, (including periods of sub-zero), so I worry about charging lithium batteries. How would that battery fare? Also, how do I prevent unauthorized access via bluetooth?
Fuck yeah! Really loving the lookg and feel. We are already in E-Mail contact and i'd love to include the node in the 2025 Solar Gateway shootout. Will order as soon as they are available and shipable to germany. Did you do any winter tests and runtime estimations under load?
Try out this site to estimate Meshtastic range. It's mostly a line-of-sight calculation so it's location dependent, antenna gain, and antenna height. meshplanner.mpatrick.dev/
The aluminum frame and powder coating definitely adds a lot of cost. That’s why I intend on offering a version without the frame too. I can take advantage of the same enclosure. I just need to come up with a simple mounting arm
Great question. I need to do another video just on the antennas so I can really show all the options. The PCB antenna is literally an antenna printed on a circuit board; It's small, and is internal to the enclosure. It doesn't get as much range as an external antenna. The SMA Bluetooth antenna option has what's called an SMA connector that screws onto the gendered SMA connector on the frame, so you get better range with that antenna.
@@Atlavox Can you make a video explaining the different options? I'd like to order Atlavox Beacon Solar Meshtastic Node on the pre-order but I'm getting stuck at all the different options. Help me choose between the 3 different LoRa Antennas and the two different BLE Antennas. Thanks!
i know nearly nothing about all this so stupid question, idk anything about solar but that panels small, how much power does it output at max in comparison to useage? I'm trying to figure how best to phrase it,like how many radios or sent messages etc whatever metric you measure by,how much does it do in that way.....fml i hope that made sense. I'm just curious how efficient it is and how many could use it how much in what time span?
Dude, impressive. When I saw "$250 Solar Node" I thought "Eh, a bit overpriced" but watching all the work you've put into it? Damn. It's not overpriced, it's premium. If you want a node ready for god damn anything, this is clearly the answer. The amount of variation you designed into that mount/case is mind boggling.
Unit ordered! I can't tell you how effective a detailed walk-through is like this in showing the thought that goes into designing and building something like this. I've been completely satisfied with my M1, and I am looking forward to getting the final version of this node!
I appreciate that. This project took way longer than expected. I 3D printed countless prototypes of the frame along the way, and had two of the metal frame prototypes made. So many moments where I was like, HOLY SHIT, if I adjust the positioning of this here, I could get this whole new range of motion here! There was a period of a few weeks where I'd literally wake up every day with a new design idea on something I wanted to add or tweak. I should do a walk-through of the 3D model showing how it evolved.
I feel like the project got a little "over the top" at some point, which was a little disappointing because I wanted it to be under $200, but I'm happy I'll be able to offer the "lite" version shortly that will be in that price range too, for people who don't necessarily need all the features in the Beacon.
@ There will always be a market for quality, and your videos are a good way to illustrate the kind of quality product you are creating.
Thanks to the solar repeater our radio club mounted on the radio tower with our ham repeater on top of a mountain. We did that about a month ago and I have sent and received messages over 200 miles away. The repeter almost covers the whole county. Almost anywhere in the county and places in the next county over can hit that repeater with a 5-watt hand healed. The radio range is about 100 miles with normal equipment. If you use a directional antenna you can go much further.
Cool build. I may have to buy one because I need something like this at my house. I have a node I keep in the house and have to keep it in the window to connect. Having a solar on the roof or a tree would be awesome. Nice to see a quality build here. Gonna buy one at the first of the year.
Awesome. Yeah, I need to get out in the field and test this thing with the various antennas I'm offering so I can publish real-world results. But range is impressive when you've got line of sight.
I have my Beacon on order along with an M1 radio. Wish you all the best with Atlavox.
I preordered. I'm stoked for it. Gonna be a nice surprise when it shows up. The design is excellent, and I love how you've taken time with the small details, and even still sussing out the solar panels. It's obvious that it's something you've put a ton of work and thought into.
I’ve kind of been watching a few videos on meshtastic here and there in the last year. This video, YOU and your product just sold me. So I’ll figure out a setup, what I want to do and order from you. Subscribed.
You have a winner with that solar repeater design! I just shared this video out to everyone I know (Friends, family, neighbors, CERT team, as well as my sheriff , town mayor & council member (all 03 small town Western NC good guys that all get it. We are working to set up county Mesh like Austin Mestastic set up. After Helene destroyed our county some eyes where open to the need for alternate communications. Lets get you overworked and begging for a vacation! LOL
I truly appreciate the details and thought process that went into designing the Beacon. Looking forward to it. Thank you Matt!
Awesome prototype, and Thank You for your excellent, detailed, clear verbal description....
I ordered one. This one will be installed at the very top of a pristine cloud forest in Costa Rica.
Looks like another great device! Very exciting stuff!
Looks great! Meshtastic keeps getting better hardware all the time
Beautiful design. I look forward to getting one. With the Florida heat, your spacing for heat will doubtless be necessary. You seem to have thought of everything.
Killer setup!! Looking forward to getting a few of these and building out a network in the Appalachians.
My idea as well! What part?
This looks awesome, very impressive. Picked up a couple of your M1s and they are great. Looking forward to try one of these out.
Love it. Pre-ordered one. Also bought 2 of the M1 units from you. You rock!
This is really great! Just what I’ve been looking for. Thanks! 🙏🏻
looks like a great product. very well thought out on the mounting possibilities. looking forward to it
where did you source that external usbc that plugs directly into the wisblock? Also, have you considered integrating a programmable timer that reboots the wisblock at a set interval to help with the wisblock brownout issue?
Really well done! Love the body design. You have thought of everything!!!
Great design. Best commercially sold version i have seen.
I appreciate that. Thank you
This is great, Have a couple of the M1's and want this for my system. Because of the Holidays I will have to wait until late Jan. You making some really great gear! Keep it going Matt!
I appreciate that. Thank you
Great design! I love the rugged standalone form factor... can't wait to get a few.
New sub here, found your setup video for the LILYGO T-Beam Supreme I just got one from a friend and had no idea how to configure it, your video helped me a lot, was thinking of picking up a few more to mess around with in the near future, and saw this about 3 hour ago, I thought wow, if I get into this I can see me picking up one of these. I live right near a fire tower, it's all metal and tops out above the trees, I'm sure they wouldn't care hanging that off the side, I'd even paint it to match the tower!
Brilliant design! Excellent work. Very impressed.
The product looks very professionally made, truly excellent!
Out of my price range but very cool.
I would recommended putting a desiccant packet in those aluminum housings to trap moisture and replace the packets every 3- 6 months but very cool. I hope they sell well for you.
I usually never comment on stuff like this but these look great. You’ve done an awesome job on your products. Keep it up.
Thank you so much!
just purchased, super excited to play with once it all arrives !
very clever setup!
Man thats a super well thought out design. Very cool.
I really appreciate the thought you put into this design, specifically the range of mounting options and beefy N-type connector. Hat's off for getting the frame made in the US too. So stoked for the production version!
It looks like there is plenty of space in the enclosure for additional boards. IP link capability? Larger battery? Thanks for leaving the space to tinker.
Yes, the enclosure has plenty of breathing room inside. Eventually, I will offer a configuration for POE power. Just wanted to get the ball rolling with a single configuration for now, until I can hire some help and get some processes in place. You could do a bigger battery too, but 5,000mAh gives you over 2 weeks of power without any solar input, so it's usually plenty in most cases.
Preordered. Thanks for providing an external BLE antenna option.
It was something I wanted to offer due to all the aluminum in the frame and enclosure. Surprisingly, I tested the internal PCB BLE antenna and still got about 90 feet outside before I lost connection. With the external BLE antenna I got 300 feet.
Wow.. this is better then any solar kit I have seen for meshtastic. Amazing engineering, your sir are the real deal. I will keep this on my "To buy" list! For this solar panel does it come with integrated charge controller? I did not see one mounted in the unit.
Please offer just the enclosures, without a panel, battery, or the wisblock. You've got a lot of great features in there, but battery won't survive winters in a lot of places, especially at higher elevation, and may have longevity issues with heat in some places even with the isolation considerations you've added. Personally I'd love to be able to utilize the nice enclosure with a remote battery (buried to utilize geothermal for both cold and heat avoidance), with a strategically placed PV panel for snow shedding.. It would be nice if you considered those applications (i.e. external power ingress, etc) if you iterate any further design changes.. Cool stuff regardless.
Love it! Congratulations on this milestone! Hope you get a ton of pre-orders (after mine of course). Does your custom battery prevent the low voltage brownout issue RAK solar nodes are known for?
I've yet to be able to recreate the brownout issue people describe. A lot of the cases I've read about seem to be people using 18650s connected directly to the WisBlock, or batteries with a too-low cutoff circuit. People recommend having a higher overdischarge cutoff/release, like 3v. The batteries I'm having manufactured have this feature. So it should drastically reduce that scenario. Also, the 5,000mAh capacity offers a lot of capacity to bridge periods of cloudy days. But I can't say it's completely solved. Good news is the enclosure has plenty of space for people who want to add a separate charging circuit. I would love to have a custom one developed myself, but I'm not there yet.
Nice design work. I think this will evolve nicely.
Cutting edge design. Unit ordered.
For cold I find a mesh covered vent facing down fixes most issues. the electronics running generates heat so you will cause condensation inside even if its waterproof.
A fantastic bit of kit. We are definitely behind in the UK when it comes to Meshtatic. Very few stations in my area. Just hoping that suppliers in the UK get their act together. Basically I have been bodging my setup at home. Would love a system like that. Cheers from old George in Northamptonshire UK. On 868mhz . Plenty vids of mine to watch. ❤
very well thought out design, one of the better I've seen. I would of liked to see it use of 18650 or similar idea for batteries, as it could also allow for possible swap to sodium batteries when those drop in price more
My initial intention was to use 18650s, but I steered away from that because it's really important to have some sort of BMS or other battery protection circuit. So then I started looking at BMS circuit boards, and it got complex because of the required connectors, I ended up just realizing I could save a lot of space and have the protection built-in, and eliminate the risk of people accidentally putting batteries in the wrong way if I went with a LiPo battery pack. But the enclosure has some room in it, it's not impossible if you wanted to, but it would require some reworking of the internals.
Awesome looking product! Very thoughtful.
Impressive design. Really thoughtful
Well there’s something I can cross off my list of things I have to design lol Excellent work.
Haha, that's one way to look at it. Glad you like it.
Awesome design
Nice! Well thought out.
This hands down best off the shelf option ive seen so far. I am hopeful you can ship to Australia?!
Wow, Looks like another awesome product.
Wow well done!
Wow, great design, and great demo!
Looks amazing!
Great idea! Great job! As someone that used to own a Wireless ISP, I have a few ideas I’d like to share. What’s the best avenue to do that?
I would recommend some fusion tape over the SMA cable connectors to make them weatherproof and a plastic cap for the unused SMA or type N female connectors on the antenna bracket
Really awesome design! Now what it needs is to be emp-proof like some sort of antenna circuit breakers that can auto reset should there be a EMP. That's the most likely thing to cause a grid down scenario other than a strike on the power plant. Really need to talk about spacing / layout in order to get the coverage you need with something like this. Maybe even some sort of forum of users on a map who might be interested in putting one of these up. I talked to the Forrest ranger, he said that was illegal. Maybe there is some way to get a variance or you could spearhead some sort of program like that if you need to get the signal cross country. If there is a lot of state land, or federal land, between you and the person you need to communicate with, arrangements have to be made.
That’s what I call good engineering! 👍🏻✌🏻🇨🇦
Very cool. Kudos!
After looking at the specs, I notice it has high temp protection only. What will happen to the Lipo battery when the outside temp falls below freezing?
I've researched the cold-weather risks a bit, and I've explored all sorts of solutions (Most are expensive). It's definitely something I want to tackle down the road as an upgrade, and there's plenty of room inside the enclosure for upgrades/modifications. But after talking with someone in the community who has tested multiple units in the Rocky mountains down to -40°, he feels like the cold weather risks are exaggerated, especially because the batteries charge at such a low rate. You can read more here: www.reddit.com/r/meshtastic/comments/1f51cli/comment/lkq6jzr/?
One thing I'd like to test is insulating the outside of the enclosure, to see if that helps at all. But I'm not sure the battery really puts out enough heat to effectively warm the enclosure. I've also heard about people adding heating pads, but then you get into needing some sort of circuit to control the heating pad. LiFePO₄ batteries have good chemistry, but the output voltage is lower, so then you're back to needing a custom charge controller.
Btw, the batteries I'm using can discharge down to -20°C. It's just the charging that is recommended to be above freezing.
@@Atlavox Thanks so much for the detailed reply! Those reddit threads were super interesting. I'm looking forward to testing this at Kansas winter temps (not too cold but definitely below freezing) and I'll report back. :)
Lipo is actually tolerant of cold. It is other lithium chemistries that have a problem with cold. I would not worry much about lipo in terms of cold. High temp is an issue, and balancing is extremely important.
@ thanks! I’m interested in pursuing this issue. Do you have any references for the claims that you made? TIA
This is awesome. I am searching for a model that puts out a full 1 watt. I hope you have one soon!
Good work man! Ordering now!
Are you considering this for emergency services? They can mount them to vehicles and create a mobile mesh where needed. Especially for disaster response where traditional coms may have been damaged. Basically a rapid deploy network wherever needed.
Excellent design.
Keep going!! It looks amazing!
Very nice design!
Nice piece of kit. I love all the mounting options. Lots of thought put into this.
I just got a M1 this week but have not had time to set it up yet. Then I got the email about the beacon with the pre-order discount.
I ordered the beacon with the optional 32" antenna but have a question about how it is mounted. Does the 32" antenna mount to the beacon assembly or does it require a separate pole mount as in the 32" antenna description? If so I might change the order to the 12" antenna as I want this all to be one piece and not require a separate antenna mount.
Good question. The 32" antenna includes a mounting bracket that can attach to a pole, or bolted to a flat surface. I'm recommending that you shouldn't have it directly attached to the beacon, only because it's so tall, it puts a lot of leverage on the N-Type connector and the antenna rail. It'll be fine temporarily, but not for high winds. If you want all-in-one, the 12" is the way to go. If you want to change it, let me know. Also, I'm going to add a note to that variation so people know. Thanks for pointing that out.
@@Atlavox Thanks, I sent you an email about it. Please change my order to the 12" version.
Modified the antenna rail so you can mount larger antennas!
@@Hwy929 Actually, I spent a few hours thinking about this, and have made a few changes to the laser cut holes on the rail for the production version, so it'll allow you to attach the 32" antenna directly to the antenna rail. Let me know what you think
ordered. the thing I would like to like to see is a power port for an external battery. I have not seen the sun for the last week. I don't want to take my unit down from the pole. external charging would be great.
When you say external battery, what kind of setup are you thinking? The Beacon includes an internal 5,000mAh battery, which would provide power for more than 2 weeks without any solar input. If you have the ability to connect wired power to the unit, you could feed power into the enclosure through the cable gland and power it that way. Or you could always add an additional cable gland on the back cover to connect an external battery if you really wanted to.
@@Atlavox a cable gland. and run a cable down the pole . if needed I can plug a solar generator, Bluetti, in to the cable to charge the internal battery. summer should be ok, but Winter is difficult. I live in the south. I bet if someone north in Wisconsin or Vermont keeping a battery charged in the winter is harder. My large Bluetti is 3000 watts. Currently, during winter, my four batteries are good for 36 hours. Then because of less sunlight it takes five days to charge the batteries.
I'm brand new to Meshtastic, and I find your products to be seemingly very high quality. You do a phenomenal job explaining their purpose, and the engineering that goes into them is, to be plain, impressive.
I'm curious what I would need to create a private / semi private / encrypted mesh that spans ~ 30 miles in one general direction through moderately to heavily wooded terrain, and a patch of low rise cityscape. There are roads throughout, but most are windy and there are very few straight line of site positions available.
Cost is not a concern. Reliability is paramount for this mesh.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'm not a RF guy, nor do I have much experience with traditional radios, but I have ample experience with all sorts of other tech.
looking good! will there also 868Mhz versions avaiable? My understanding is that only the antenna would need to be changed for that right?
Yeah, it's just the antenna that would need to be different. The WisBlock is the same. I'm still working on getting my VAT set up. Although I've been contacted by a couple distributors, so maybe that'll be the route I go.
This looks awesome!
You say the enclosure is not tested for waterproofing. Just place a humidity sensor inside and submerge it in a bucket for an hour to simulate wet conditions. Adds a lot of confidence.
Awesome!
Looks solid! I do have a couple questions, specifically what is the power budget with that panel? I'd be setting it up quite far north and the average sun in December is about 15% of florida for example. Also, how well would it shed snow from the panel?
Very Nice!!
Great design.
Do you plan to just sell this and discontinue the previous version ?
Instead of LiPo any chance you could look into LFP for better longevity?
Any thoughts to having a way to mount a yagi antenna instead of an omni? I'm sure I could drill some holes for whatever mount the yagi comes with so it can be aimed, but just curious if this has been thought of yet. I'm in a bit of a hollow and looking at setting a node up at home with a directional antenna pointing out to one of the local mountain tops where a node is. Thanks!
Any development in progress for a unit with an LTO battery? Lithium polymer batteries degrade very quickly if you attempt to charge when the battery temperature is below 32F. In short, this unit would not work for those of us in the northern climes.
Wouldn't work for a good bit of us south if the mason dixon.
What’s the range on the antenna(s) showed in your video here? Any suggestions for the better of all antenna(s)?
Are there plans to produce and sell the previous smaller and more affordable solar node? EDIT wait, I see mention of a lite version below in a reply. Thx.
Any cold weather (with lower solar exposure) battery life testing yet?
Would Adding a 915mhz amp like 20w-100w make farther connections like HF UHF VHF does ?
I would buy one of these for here in Australia, but I did the conversion, and its dam expensive. I love the concept but.
what is the operating temperature? I know that some devices that have internal batteries and a PV panel have trouble functioning at temps below 38F. My solar cameras struggle to charge when the temp reaches below 38F even though the sky is clear
I live in NE WA near the Canadian border. We have about 4-5 months of sub-freezing temps, (including periods of sub-zero), so I worry about charging lithium batteries. How would that battery fare? Also, how do I prevent unauthorized access via bluetooth?
how will it handle cold? i Live in PA so we have both seasons and I want to throw this up as a public mestastic repeater
Any chance to purchase these before February?
Fuck yeah! Really loving the lookg and feel. We are already in E-Mail contact and i'd love to include the node in the 2025 Solar Gateway shootout.
Will order as soon as they are available and shipable to germany.
Did you do any winter tests and runtime estimations under load?
Throw a power amp in it, looks awesome
...question...
...what's with us from outside the US or Canada?
Is it possible to buy you plans so I can have it lasered locally?
Green is nice.... but maybe offer a brown to help it blend in with a tree.
Tan/Sand would be my preference. Matches house siding.
Rattle can is your friend
That's the plan
I know this is highly depended on environmental factors but any idea at what range a repeated like this would likely be necessary?
Try out this site to estimate Meshtastic range. It's mostly a line-of-sight calculation so it's location dependent, antenna gain, and antenna height. meshplanner.mpatrick.dev/
Any way to order to Australia?
What temperature range will this unit operate in?
Pretty steep price! Hopefully the meshtastic network can catchup to this level of quality.
The aluminum frame and powder coating definitely adds a lot of cost. That’s why I intend on offering a version without the frame too. I can take advantage of the same enclosure. I just need to come up with a simple mounting arm
would you sale this without the mesh board ?
woow that's really really expensive
but it's looks nice ;)
For a cheap way to communicate long range, it soon got expensive with people offering 3rd party add ones.
What's the difference between th PCB and SMA Antenna?
Great question. I need to do another video just on the antennas so I can really show all the options. The PCB antenna is literally an antenna printed on a circuit board; It's small, and is internal to the enclosure. It doesn't get as much range as an external antenna. The SMA Bluetooth antenna option has what's called an SMA connector that screws onto the gendered SMA connector on the frame, so you get better range with that antenna.
@@Atlavox Can you make a video explaining the different options? I'd like to order Atlavox Beacon Solar Meshtastic Node on the pre-order but I'm getting stuck at all the different options. Help me choose between the 3 different LoRa Antennas and the two different BLE Antennas. Thanks!
i know nearly nothing about all this so stupid question, idk anything about solar but that panels small, how much power does it output at max in comparison to useage? I'm trying to figure how best to phrase it,like how many radios or sent messages etc whatever metric you measure by,how much does it do in that way.....fml i hope that made sense.
I'm just curious how efficient it is and how many could use it how much in what time span?
Amateur radio device? What is this, what is it for?
Zptie optimization!
Why dont you ship overseas?