Meshtastic

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A community to discuss Meshtastic (https://meshtastic.org/docs/introduction)

Other mesh communities:

MeshCore: !Meshcore@feddit.org Reticulum: !Reticulum@mander.xyz

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Newbie question - I would like to try Meshtastic (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 month ago by fparri@lemmy.zip to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz

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Do you have any recommendations for a cheap Meshtastic-compatible board? I don’t need GPS or a battery, since I’ll power it with a solar panel or a power bank. Having a case isn’t important; what really matters is avoiding any soldering.

I’m basically looking for a low-cost board with an integrated LoRa antenna. The goal is just to experiment, connecting it via Bluetooth to a PC or smartphone.

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[–] 3holly3@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The Heltec V3 is more or less the cheapest simplest entry into mesh radio. You may have to plug in an ipex connector but no soldering. They can be found packaged with a very basic case (so you’re not handling the raw pcb) and an antenna for 20-30 $US. If you want to spend a little extra and be able to play with the gps features in MT, the Heltec T114 V2 is great and equally simple to set up. That’s what I started with and glad I did. Have fun!

[–] hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

V3 is esp32, bad for solar unfortunately

[–] AverageGoob@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What's the reasoning behind it being bad for solar?

[–] hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

High current draw, something like a rak or T114 is better. Heck there's probably even better cheaper options these days, but anything esp32 based isn't gonna be it.