WisMeshPocket - The New Ready to go Meshtastic Portable from RAK Wireless!
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- Today's video is covering the new turn-key portable Meshtastic device from RAK Wireless called the WisMesh Pocket. It's currently available at Rokland with promotional pricing, so be sure to pick one up the link before the promotion is over!
Please know, I may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the affiliate links below at no cost to you:
store.rokland....
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I think what held me back the most was simply the time. Between work and home life, I dont have much room for tinkering and play. This being a complete package is a big selling point. I'll take 3.
Same. I have a 3D printer and fully support DIY versions, but with little free time right now I will happily pay a premium to purchase an item that is ready to go out of the box.
Looks like a super slick product, good to see this coming to market. Nice to see a giant battery in an all-in-one solution too, and for a really reasonable price
Definitely good to have more all-in-one options. Hard to beat the price for all of the included components.
Agreed
Just chiming in to congrat TonyG for getting his case design into RAK! 👍
this is real nice. I am loving the development. Now I need a variant of those with a rotary encoder for canned messaging.
Canned messaging?
canned messages. a bunch of standard messages that you can scroll through and pick quickly, without having to type each time. So you do not have to use your phone.
@@makanimike thank u
Very cool, thanks for sharing
Final product should be injection molded. 3d printing is great for prototypes and diy'ers but at some point it's time for a higher quality enclosure.
I've seen mention where that is the plan if there's enough interest.
Agreed. If it was a nicer case I'd buy it
thank you for that video. ordered!
Sure thing!
Fantastic! Wish it took 18650 & came with the Gizont flexible antenna
I have 3 of those Gizont whips. They are impressive for sure.
I'm all on board with the giznot antenna, but I have 4 of these radios (that I made) and with use, it goes through a 3000mah battery in about 50 days. thats... pretty good. oil don't need the bulk of a larger battery. (with gps on battery life is GREATLY reduced)
@@philbe3095 do you have the link for the right antenna?
this is so awesome! but man, i wish this hobby was more affordable
It's always the fun hobbies that hurt that wallet lol
It's outdated. Where I live the channel is packed, so no one can use it.
The protocol that is. The idea should be for a few powerful Nodes in each area and everyone else using one to relay from, not all repeating every bit of traffic in the same area. It causes congestion.
A far better approach would be how the AX25 packet radio works on amateur bands.
We need to set it up that way or it is doomed.
Data rates and reliability are far too low, it is almost unusable now.
I get about 4 strong Nodes, but they are all repeating each other and it's chaos.
Change your broadcast settings to known only and device as client hidden.
@@OH2023-cj9if wow, I assume you are in a sense city? What's next for you then?
Thanks for the work you do for the community. Appreciated
Sure thing! Glad you're finding the channel helpful!
I did not see a gasket of any kind when you opened the case. How would you rate its weatherpoofness?
Great video! I'm new to Mesh. Just confirming this device is plug and play?
Yep! Just Bluetooth to your phone with the app installed and you're good to go!
I hope they make the RAK12028-C1 available separately so others can design cases. I’ve held back designing a Rak case because of the soldering required for the OLED, if that board makes it solder-less I will make a case.
Well, I am running a radio beacon on 902.5Mhz with over 450w erp on a 25m tower. I can report it overdrives the cheap wideband inputs of meshtastic devices for about 3/4 of a mile around my location. As nice as those devices are as toys, they have hardly any front end selectivity and are easy overloaded.
lol
At $85, it's actually cheaper to buy than all of the individual components, printing your own case and assembling it yourself which is a bit strange.
If you already own a 3d printer....lol
@@dallasshaefer6302 Sure, but my point was that printing it yourself is supposed to save you the cost of purchasing a case if you have the printer, so it's weird that doing all the work yourself actually loses you money compared to this package. Usually you pay for the convenience of a turnkey solution. Surely the companies involved aren't selling these at a loss.
This is like $50 ish to make yourself if you can print your own case & you source the parts from Aliexpress
@@BobBob-il2ku I guess I have a hard time reconciling an interest in hardware that promotes privacy and also spending money on Aliexpress.
Congratulations you learned about cost of labor😂
Love the new options coming out and The Comms Channel keeping up with them. I want to set up nodes in my area using the Rak Wisblocks, but in a head to head range comparison I was getting less than half the distance with the Raks than with the Heltec V3’s. Any chance I’m just doing something wrong on my end? I didn’t change any default settings in the app and I thought they both used the same radio module.
Thanks! Yep, same SX1262 in both. I get about the same range on mine. Only thing I can think of in your case is double check the antennas and the SX1262 boost option in the LoRa settings.
Pre-order is not open. Will be weeks at least.
What model is that antenna you're using at 4:45? Thanks for the video! Never mind. I see this answered deeper in the comments. Thanks!
I really wish RAK had a LoRa module with a Power Amplifier, 175mW of the SX1261 is leaving out possible range. 500mW would be the maximum allowed in Europe and would easily increase the range with multiple kilometers
We are building out a rural county in Texas. With solar nodes placed at heights of 50' we are reliably hitting all nodes on the network at greater than 14 miles. From inside my house, I am hitting a solar node that is 55'AGL at 14.2 miles like clock work. Height is might.
@@patrickkahn1870 Absolutely, good antennas and placement are your most important tool! Unfortunately I live in a dense city and one of the flattest countries in the world, so there isn't a lot of height I could use. 868Mhz loves line of sight, but it's nearly impossible to get it over here
I’d really prefer to see a 18650 type battery over the shorter life more volatile lipo. But glad to see more options. Some day we will get a nice turnkey setup purpose made
Same! I know this case has a back option for 18650
Not LiPo. It's the same Lithium Ion chemistry as 18650s
what antenna did you switch to around 4:40?
www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity-Linx-Technologies/ANT-916-CW-HW-SMA?qs=PKuFCuYbGOfeZQiEfd4fWA%3D%3D&mgh=1&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtNi0BhA1EiwAWZaANNcqW5kyoYr6JtcpZ5wdofngoXSV2QM7eIG-SEh_85_cOcUtlirP0BoCp0YQAvD_BwE
This is perfect for me but waiting on the preorder to become available
Stay tuned! I'll be making an announcement once the pre-order is available again.
Its cool but its the size of a freaking cell phone…
I wish they would have someone local here in Australia, all we have is 'suppliers' and with the Aussie dollar tanking in this economy, Id love to 'experiment' but at $80-120 each it would have to be more than a hobby, but I like the videos and the reviews thanks!
When mine comes in (Mid June), I'm going to test that Rubber-Nuby antenna on my NanoVNA, before sticking on a medium length or a longer Gizont antenna.
If the 'stock' antenna has a good SWR, I'll do some 2 mile range testing to see if there is any noticeable difference between them.
Sometimes, you need something that isn't going to poke anyone in the eye. :)
Antenna recommendations?
I've been curious about mesh networks for awhile but I dont want to build one. Finally a turn-key solution for me. Just ordered.
What kind of antenna did you put on it? I’ve got three pre ordered and will need to upgrade them
Ah damn. My starter kits just arrived. Do you know where they connected in the "user" button i.e. which IO line? its not really documented on either Meshtastic or RAK's site that I can readily find...
Instructions can be found on TonyG's printables page. Here is a link to the picture with instructions media.printables.com/media/prints/286657/images/6309828_85c0f65f-d2d7-4188-bc9b-d619ee27803e_657e28fa-291a-4d2a-8a92-28fbee6638e0/thumbs/inside/1920x1440/png/rak19007-5005-assembly-guide-new.webp
@@The_Comms_Channel Legend! Thanks very much!
love it
sir what kind of type of applications have this?
Would be way cooler if it has solar built in. Waiting for a turn-key solar box I can share with non-techy friends that they can mount up.
Check out my video for their new solar enclosure. Not 100% turn-key, but easy enough to get most non-techies up and running
ua-cam.com/video/d2vQ87Th8DI/v-deo.html
I was gifted two of these. They're pretty remarkable. Feels great in the hand.
Nice overview, God bless.
Thanks, you too!
Still out of stock… bummer
Back in stock!
Can you add the bme280 sensor to it or is there an option to add that?
Almost have all the bits together to build out a Meshbook Pro WisBlock standalone unit. Thinking it'll give the T-Deck a run for it's money. Just waiting for the GPS and environment sensors from Rokland.
That sounds like an awesome project! We definitely need more standalone devices.
Do you also have the print files?
For the mechanistic wireless, the non power hog one.
You can find them at printables page for TonyG here www.printables.com/model/286657-rak19007rak5005-case-for-meshtastic
What is the maximum bandwidth?
Very low. Text being the main application
Why don't they give it a larger display or a larger epaper display?
The screen isn't super useful on Meshtastic at the moment l, so it's not a huge drawback really. Meshtastic is really meant for use via the phone.
@@The_Comms_Channel
True but with such a huge case that tiny screen is just ridiculous. Future updates might make the screen more useful. I'd really like a device that is not as reliant on my phone. Especially considering how often most phones need to be charged. During an emergency event or in the wilderness a stand alone device would be preferred.
@@altitude1039
learn to deal with it.
it's about power consumption.
don't like it ?
keep using your smart phone.
it's so much better.
screen especially .
Hey TC2, what was the story with the node placed without permission
I don't have all of the details on it as it was brought to my attention by another party, but basically someone put up a node near someone's tower without permission. It was causing interference which is how they discovered it. To top things off, someone was already working with the owner to get a node up there the right way 🤦🏾♂️
Some people man!
Will there be EU 868 version and EU store ?
Don't believe Rokland will be selling the EU version, but the RAK Wireless site does have that option. Feel free to use our affiliate link and get 3% off if you do pick one up
rakwireless.kckb.st/tc2-m9m
rakwireless offers an EU variant. a bit more expensive though.
Thanks for the video. I'm going to put a order in but I would like to get the upgraded antenna you showed in the video. Could you please post a link for it? Thanks.
Sure thing! This is the antenna shown in the video www.digikey.com/short/j49qzqjt
@@The_Comms_Channel Thank you!
Is there a solar powered version of this Meshtastic unit?
Not this unit. It's too small to have a usable panel. Check out our video on their solar unit
ua-cam.com/video/d2vQ87Th8DI/v-deo.html
Jeannette purchased one today.
I hope to order one as well.
Kevin, do you have any higher gain antenna recommendations for this pocket device?
I have some that I'm testing. I'll keep you updated
Ok, so, basically Helium LMAO. 915Mhz radios.
why the heck can't i get any distance out of my setup?!?
i have 3 heltec v3 and descent antenna's...i can't get more than 1/4 mile between them.
Something doesn't seem right there. Antenna connectors seated properly and everything?
In what kind of environment are you situated? Like in a city with lots of buildings in between the nodes? Are you in a spot with low elevation or surrounded by higher elevation terrain? Maybe lots of trees? I've had lost connection at 300 meters and regained 1.4 km with really good antennas. Might be an unfortunate location for Lora like where I live
how high up are your antennas
On a heltec v3 and small 5dBi aerial on a bedroom window, I get 3miles. The other station is in a block of flats. If I try for a local station, I can get a half mile.
It depends on obstructions and aerials.
One thing to check if you bought an aftermarket antenna is if the antenna i tuned for right frequency. Many antennas online are tuned for EU bands which is 868 MHz. For US the device runs at 915 MHz, so you need to remove cover from antenna and snip a small amount (0.5 cm?) to shorten so it's tuned for higher frequency. You can verify that it's tune with an antenna analyzer or NanoVNA.
Yay your text message gets sent a mile or two ftw
Well, is there a better way to send a grid-free encrypted message (at least) a mile away?
This is a great option for many use cases.
I can tell you that here in Greenland with limited cell coverage meshtastic devices are an amazing option