Post
Replies:
0
@Edent I've been exploring LoRa as well. Here's my writeup about experimenting with MeshCore for a few weeks: https://mtlynch.io/first-impressions-of-meshcore/
@michael thank you - that was useful and instructive.
Always a delight to be sent random circuit boards in the post 😄
Not sure I'll have enough time before #FOSDEM to set up a full #Meshtastic node, but I'll give it a go!
@Edent I'm glad the box wasn't summarily destroyed in transit for being too suspicious, and I hope you enjoy playing with it as much as we enjoyed making it.
The Femtofox team was strongly influenced by the loss of mobile phone towers in the Northern California wildfires. I still have a dream of solar powered linux nodes as part of a healthy mesh.
The reality is that it's just really really cool to play with.
Well, thanks to WebUSB I was able to flash this tiny board with MeshCore. It connects fine to my phone, but I can't see any other nodes.
The hunt continues!
2 media
OK my #Meshcore friends, what am I doing wrong?
Board is on the 3rd floor (over 6m above ground height.
Powered on, connected via Bluetooth, by a window.
Set to UK long range.
Been up for about 30 minutes and hasn't discovered any neighbours.
I know there are a couple of repeaters near-ish.
Just a case of wait and hope? Stick it in the loft? Increase power?
Any help and speculation welcomed 😄
4 media
@Edent@mastodon.social
UK long? I thought meshcore uses uk narrow.
UK long? I thought meshcore uses uk narrow.
@martin indeed. Read the rest of the thread 😄
@Edent either put it outside the window or further inside the room. To me, where it is, looks like it would block signal. It would literally “skip” — just a thought.
@Edent this doesn't help but I assumed Northampton wouldn't have any #meshtastic traffic and now I'm interested 😀
Aha! I had to unbend the antenna 😁
Now receiving #Meshcore messages. Don't know if any of mine are being seen though.
2 media
Well the #Meshcore is *sort of* working.
With it's new placement I can just about hear one repeater.
I'm receiving some messages, but I guess my antenna is to puny to send any.
My noise floor looks good (I think) and I've discovered a few nodes.
I think I need more power and/or a bigger antenna.
If you're on the mesh, feel free to send me a message and I'll let you know if it arrives (details above).
4 media
@Edent I'm just idly looking at meshcore. How are you getting access to the noise floor? Any ideas if it's an Android-only feature?
@jackchallen it is on the Android app. Don't know about anything else.
Discovered more #meshcore nodes overnight, but still only infrequently receiving messages. Will try moving the tiny antenna to the loft - although that will reduce my Bluetooth connection to it.
2 media
Stuck the #meshcore in my loft. Hasn't meaningfully changed the signal strength.
Might try some different equipment or switching to #meshtastic.
2 media
On the advice of several people, I stuck the antenna at the highest part of my loft, pointing down so it wasn't in contact with the roof.
Signal strength improved - but still poor.
Still can't actually send messages to the nearest #Meshcore repeater.
2 media
@Edent do you have any metal flashing under your shingles? That could interfere. Do you have any obstructions on the outside of the roof very close to your antenna?
Hams call attic antennas “compromised” but plenty of hams also have success with attic antennas. Have you confirmed all your settings are correct by trying to ping a very close repeater? Like less than 25 meters away?
@K3LOE solar panels on the roof.
Nearest repeater is 4km away.
I can hear it - but nothing hears me.
@Edent Sorry, last thought: it’s not unusual for receive performance to be better than transmit performance. It takes power to move a signal through the ether and you don’t have much with unlicensed meshcore. It’s a lot easier technically to hear what others are sending out.
@Edent Yeah, I’m afraid your solar panels might be giving you trouble but I’m also not getting 4km from my repeater with outside Alfa antenna to my node. I would get close to confirm settings then try from outside on top of your roof if you can manage. Others may have mentioned, outside will be best for your antenna.
@Edent Have you already tried it with the antenna standing or hanging upright?
@herrgruen yes. See previous post.
@Edent If you look back through @nullagent 's past history, meshtastic has been shown to be very flawed.
@Edent that 1/4 wave vertical antenna will do better if it has a counterpoise or a ground plane to act against. A ‘rat tail’ counterpoise is just a bit of wire the same length as the antenna, dangling from the outer shield. They’re most common on handheld radios. Probably the cheapest and quickest thing to test.
@m0rpk thanks, I'll investigate 😃
@Edent better antenna could help. I’ve definitely seen a big difference between antennas. Also have you tried the medium range or narrow settings? I think narrow has really taken over as the preferred setting in a lot of places. https://analyzer.letsmesh.net/map?lat=52.82493&long=-1.27596&zoom=5
@alec Thanks. I'm on Narrow - as recommended by others.
Looks like I need a better antenna!
@Edent I have recs for the 915 band, alas I don’t know 868. Something else to mind is the narrow setting has a pretty sharp falloff. It really needs infrastructure relatively nearby to work reliably. If you can figure out the closest repeater you might be able to orient the antenna toward it. Also outside is much more effective, but of course challenging.
@Edent I can hear that poor thing screaming in agony trying to hang on.
@bekopharm damn straight. Electronics should be made to suffer.
@Edent I live in “the hills” outside Austin, TX and meshtastic is basically worthless until I get into a city or go further west into the flatlands. I was very disappointed.
And, not sure what the channels are like for you but the chat for me was definitely not my preferred circle of people. I’m sure that varies greatly depending on your location.
@Edent I have two companion nodes and, weirdly, they don't see the same contacts as each other despite being turned on at the same times.
@Edent I had to get a repeater in the attic before I got any decent reliable connection.
With radio, height appears to be key
@psfshr I'm on the 3rd floor, which I thought would help.
I do wonder if the solar panels on the roof might block the signal if I put a repeater up there.
@Edent That I don’t know. We’ve got panels too on both aspects and still got signals. Brick and block I feel is worse 🤷🏻♂️
Ideal seems to be outside in free air, but that’s not always feasible.
Also depends on the direction of what you’re trying to get to, and how much stuff you’re having to go through on the way. Could just try moving to a different window, might be a repeater in a different direction.
@Edent Most repeaters send adverts maybe once every 12 or 24 hours. So let it sit a few days for the contact list to fill. You should join the test and ping channel and send a ping to see what replies you get back. That should tell you more about who actually sees you.
@jwildeboer Yup - has been on for 24 hours. Only seeing that repeater directly.
My pings go unanswered and my messages to the test channels aren't delivered.
@Edent
AFAIU you run it as companion, right?
To overcome the loneliness (we have all been there), flash this one as "repeater", let it send some adverts once in a while and "Share -> Upload to Internet Map" with roughly your coordinates, and then wait.
(You might need a 2nd board as "companion" to do that admin stuff, the cheapest naked board is enough).
There *are* others like you, who *will* then see and try to close the gap to your repeater, just like you.
Maybe some social media noise in your area helps.
In the meantime, look up your area in https://map.meshcore.dev and drive around, to check reachability. Maybe you know friends and family in-between where you could set up another (yay, 🤣) repeater.
Good luck.
It's pioneering work.
There are not many such opportunities today.
@Edent Then my best guess is that the one repeater you can connect to is operated by a HAM operator who is allowed to send with higher power. Or has a better antenna with higher gain. One of those will be the reason your packets won't make it :(
@Edent I’ve sent a message but the chance of it making it to you from Bristol is relatively slim I think!
@Edent Wait, this is without Internet links in between? That would be fantastical coverage.
My experience here in Berlin (with Meshtastic, though) is that I can't get to a node 4 subway stations (2.5km) from here.
@henryk I can only directly hear one node - about 4km away.
All the others have been seen via the mesh.
@Edent oh, antennas and antenna placement can be very weird to understand and to debug. in general it's better to not have your whip antenna near to a big piece of metal because it will couple with it and throw everything off.
recommendation: take a photograph, measure for a day, move something around, take another photograph, do another day's measurements, repeat.
If you can get the antenna outside rather than inside it will make a difference, but that's not always easy
@Edent I haven't seen your messages (get to Bristol).
When you send a message do you see any repeats? Under your blue message bubble it may say something like “Heard 1 repeat”. If it just says "Sent" then it is possible no one heard you.
You may be able to hear things without anyone hearing you.
- problem is the window
- this type of antenna dont like to kink
- antennas love metal-bases to reduce noise from electronics
@grutzifix ok. Where do you suggest I put it? Not sure how waterproof it is 🤣
@Edent UK/EU Narrow. The default is wrong 
@M0YNG cheers. Have switched over. Nothing discovered yet.
@Edent not shocking. the repeaters are usually set to advertise with large gaps (I think 12 hours)
Put a ping out on the test channel (hashtag test) and check if "sent" changes to "heard 1 repeat". If so, one repeater heard you and you heard it repeat your message.
Try a couple of times if it didn't work immediately...
If not, try another position!
@M0YNG thanks. Nothing yet. Trying a different window 😃
@Edent Before I dropped off, a large part of the UK moved to UK Narrow, so might be worth switching over
@Edent I had a board like that that didn't work at all, so perhaps quality is low. However, how far away are the repeaters and do you probably have a line of sight?
Also stick the antenna on the outside of the window for a while perhaps you have some foil in the glass. But first waiting a few hours is recommended
@Edent For Meshcore in the UK you need to change your radio settings:
Frequency: 869.618
Bandwidth: 62.5
Spreading Factor: 8
Coding Rate: 8
Transmit Power: 22
@edronik @thechaoszone I'll give it a go. Ta!
@dpecos @zipkid woo! I'll try to find you. My Signal and other contact details are on https://edent.tel/
@Edent which one did you get? I might forestall all thinking and simply copy what you're doing ;)
