I've been a licensed HAM Radio operator since 1989, but just got into LoRa / Meshtastic like a month ago, and I'm addicted. I've now got (6) devices, the last being a T-Deck, and I'll be getting a T-BeamSUPREME, when Lilygo has them available again.
What’s your favorite device by far? I might pick up a t deck as my starter for meshtastic I have esp32s laying around Should I just get some Lora modules ?
@zloneOTM I like my T-Deck, but mostly because it has the keyboard. I want a T-BeamSUPREME since it has GPS. I haven't bought any GPS modules for any of my other devices, yet. I do have a WisBlock I haven't done anything with, and I'm going to add GPS and an environmental sensor to it. It'll probably be my main device for when I'm running around outdoors. I have (4) Heltec V3s in the little factory cases. I may give a couple of those to neighbors to try to get Meshtastic going around here. I've yet to see any other nodes online, but I also don't have an antenna up outside, yet. The devices are fairly cheap, especially the Heltecs, so I'll always have some extras lying around.
I'm only a tech, looking to upgrade to general soon. I so want to get into these as well I'm actually looking to get away from using a cellphone. 73, kq4hcu
@@zloneOTM That's one way to do it...there are tons of devices out specifically designed...but the LORA modules are what communicate digital packet radio (similar to APRS for HAMS) the ESP32's have the software to code/decode the packets
This is the best build I've seen bro . The rest I've seen don't have GPS and in uk 868mhz same rules as yourself. I glued 2 old Nokia batteries together and used those
What a chunky boy ! LoL I'd strongly suggest you implement corner protection for the LCD. You could stick one of those folding rings from a phone case on the back to grip the case easier. Another battery option would be to just use an 18650 holder and swap batteries when they go flat ?
What a well done tutorial. And i like the comment on safe antenna vendors. Ill vna the 5 pack I got from amazon. That sticky antenna that comes with it isnt so great i expect.
This LORA is awesome tech, if you are not aware of this there is a helium network hub you can use them while those hubs acts as signal extender for these lora devices while doing more then extend range. con it uses an internet connection.
those with older t-deck boards may experience issues flashing, where it is stuck at “connecting…” desoldering and removing the d2 diode disables the chip id bug, allowing the flashing of firmware to commence. newer t-deck boards do not have this problem.
Those "915 MHz" antennas are AWFUL. Don't trust what the sellers say, at all. I've ordered boxes and boxes and those antennas, and I usually just get a 2.4 GHz antenna that the seller is pretending is 915 MHz because very few people have the ability to actually verify the frequency.
You are correct, without a VNA it is somewhat a shot in the dark, thats why I put a link to RicInNewMexico's github repo where he has tested and posted the results of multiple different antennas for the 915mhz space, check out his research here: github.com/RicInNewMexico/Meshtastic-Antenna-Reports
@@MrGhost9640NP. FWIW, I ordered the antennas the OP linked in his description; they arrived today, and I checked the SWR on my nanovna, and it had an (appropriate) SWR of 1.4 on 915mHz. It’s not the ideal of 1.0, but it is perfectly acceptable.
End of the world "zombies are coming" type comms...if cell service and all other comms are fritzed...HAMS will be coming out of the woodwork by then ;)
good video. I have been looking at these but the lack of gps has been a holdback nice tutorial to implement the glaringly missing feature. I mean its obvious right? If I want a signal repeater it doesnt need GPS. If I'm replacing my phone on an encrypted messaging app, then my location matters right? right..?
What is the compass orientation in the case? Is it in the plane of the screen (device should be flat on its back when navigating) or the plane of the top surface of the device (device should held more or less vertically when navigating)? Thanks
What watch are you using? Is it a LilyGo T-Watch-S3? If so, where’d you get the firmware? I own the T-Watch-S3 and I can’t find any firmware for it besides the stock firmware and it doesn’t have any LoRa apps (although it has LoRa)
Correct, I am using the Twatch-S3 with the LoRa radio. You can use the same process in the video, flasher.meshtastic.org but select "T-Watch S3" from the device drop down, or you can pull the latest release from the github repo here: github.com/meshtastic/firmware/ and use something like Arduino IDE to flash.
@@HackedExistence so I flashed my T-Watch-S3 and I followed your instructions but it still says "No GPS" I am in a rural region in Ireland... could this be why I have "No GPS" or it just not configured correctly? Thanks for your help.
@@danielktdoranie The TWatch S3 doesnt have a GPS radio, just a LoRa radio. If you want the T-Watch to be location aware, connect it to a cell phone running the meshtastic app over bluetooth and configure the app to send GPS location from the phone to the watch via bluetooth.
I definitely ripped the pad for one of the gps modules trying to pull the metal piece out in the end it would have just stuck to the soldering iron without me pulling on it with snips
I did this a few weeks ago following Random Alley Cat's instructions, and am wondering if mine is working properly. When I first turn it on it will normally get a GPS lock, but it doesn't update position even if asked to by a separate node. I played around in the web client settings, and nothing I did seemed to make a difference. It just gives me the single GPS reading shortly after powering up. If I want another reading the only thing that seems to work is turning it off, and then on again. I'm thinking about putting a different GPS module in, but thought I would ask before doing so.
Stupid Question : do you NEED to remove the GPS pin receiver to solder on your gps module or can you just solder on the module on top of the connections? asking for a friend :)
@HackedExistence I was wondering since I wanna build the exact same build with all of the modules and accessories you've shown in the video... have you also got the Amazon links for those wires as well perhaps? thanks in advance man! love the deep technical dive video instruction btw! it's awesome! ❤
Height is might...get a good 915mhz tuned antenna (not the crappy stubbie one) get that sucker up high...and it will talk for miles! since it's mesh capable and can repeat the messages, chances are you should get the signal/message
note that "up to a few miles of range" is extremely optomistic and the meshtastic people just dont do enough to smack down. REality you are lucky to get a single Km from node to node. you can get a few miles with directional antennas, in the desert on top of poles. in real world 1/2 Km is the limit so you need to put up repeater nodes. These can be in the air and have decent high gain antennas to cover a solid Km around them. Also if you want something to carry that will have decent battery life the RAK devices are the only choice. All these Liligo devices are power hogs and just do not last very long on battery.
@@HackedExistence Wait.. The TDeck works with a RAK19007?! 😄 I would’ve assumed there be some modifications required unless you meant that WisBlock works with Meshtastic in general
Thank you for sharing the great video. I want to introduce you a new Meshtastic device called SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E for Meshtastic. It’s an open-source, nifty card-size tracker with IP65 rating, magnetic charging, working seamlessly with the Meshtastic LoRa mesh network. If you're interested in it, please reply to me. Sorry for typing here, because I couldn't contact you via other methods. Looking forward to your reply.
For being 'designed' for 915mhz an SWR of 2.5:1 is really awful, clearly it's too 'long' (electrically at least) as the dip near 1:1 is the UK freq of 866mhz. But yes, you're right you really ought to have the properly matched antenna for a transmitter (rx well, closer is better and will rx better, but at least no damage) yes, also a ham... I kind of what to slap on a good 3-6dBi antenna at the top of my tower, and run at full 1500w legally allowed for us hams, to see how far I'd reach, haven't played with 33cm much. 23cm tho, that's a blast, and too bad it's limited to 5w for hams. and yes its ham not HAM, it's not an acronym. Love the T deck, thanks for the video, used it to find what case I wanted for mine, and ended up going with the one you linked. Too bad the battery is stupid expensive for 5Ah, 1S.
When you mention battery safety, you forgot to mention that YOU CANNOT CUT BOTH WIRES AT THE SAME TIME OR YOU WILL HAVE A FIRE! The pliers, knife, whatever will short the two wires, the wires will immediately get hot and melt the ensulation. This will allow the wires to short to themselves and pulling the tool away won’t stop the short from happening and you are seconds away from having a big fire. If you are new to electronics or a ham-fist, take it from someone who almost lost his house to a lithium fire-DO THIS OUTSIDE. Fuck around and find out, it’s not worth it.
The standard t-deck gui looks really ugly after you have used the new interface which is in development. I installed the new gui few days ago and can't go back. Looks so nice! Here's the link if someone wants to try it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-I2g5vr_GtbA.html
Funny how all the techs, engineers, and ex military in telecom always called it ground position system. But the earth is measured and navigated flat so it makes sense from a scientific point of view instead of thr retail view found in Plato's cave.
the case instantly broke my t-deck.. very bad design. Not the creator's fault. These T-deck are extremely fragile, when inserting the board, it was so tight that it slightly delaminated an apparently empty region of the board, which turned out to be vital. I could never repair the device and had to purchase a new one. Meshtastic is awful anyways, already clogged and slowly abandoned, investing in this is burning money. The devices are good devices but the community surrounding it is allergic to helping others. No documentation can be found on any intelligent website.. the meshtastic website is a joke where snarky user just wish to prevent other people from succeeding at their own projects. everything is in alpha phase with nothing progressing forward since forever even though we spent millions funding it through ad programs, referrals and hardware purchases. this is just a gigantic scam.
Excellent video, appreciate how you speed up parts of the video. Champion. Edit- using your links in description to order parts now. Edit- all links - items currently unavailable! Doh.
Just a curious noob here, is the USB C port on the bottom to charge the battery or is the USB just a way to connect the T-Deck to a computer? How is the battery charged does it have to be removed? Also, I'm on a website that takes custom 3d printing orders, it is asking me what unit of measurement the design for the case/housing was created in (mm, cm, inches) should I enter centimeters? For material, should I use PLA or the SLS Nylon PA12? Thank you very much for your build and whatever info you can help me with.