October 24th Meetup
Meshtastic Overview + Configuration Session
Place: Shepard of the Hills church just off Valleydale
4887 Valleydale Rd, Birmingham, AL 35242
Time: 6:30 PM
Birmingham Mesh Discord Server!
Email us to get a Discord invite! info@bhammesh.org
August 17, 2024
Huntsville Hamfest weekend! We gave away a couple of Heltecs to those hams that found our hidden message on our “BBS in a backpack” node!
August 12, 2024
The Bald Rock Meshtastic Repeater was installed yesterday! Check your node list for BaldRock_RPT (limited time only). For now, while we do some testing, it’s on a previous firmware and in the Router_Client role. Within a couple of weeks, we’ll be changing it to “repeater” doing all_no_decode.
Join us on discord! DM us on Twitter, Facebook, or LongFast for an invite.
July 26, 2024
Lessons learned on “treepeaters”:
Wear a hard-hat when launching ropes and pulling them through tree branches. They are cheap, but will save your noggin. Luckily, nobody got hit with branches, but working without a hard-hat when branches are falling out of trees is dumb. I’ve been dumb, but I’m much better now.
Box to box cables need really really good strain relief. I don’t have a good solution yet, but at the very least, put a prussic knot around an exiting cable to provide some. Use enough wraps on the knot to grip the cable more than you think is necessary.
Snags happen. When pulling a box into a tree and lowering it. If a repeater enclosure has squared-off corners, we should design something to help the box slip past branches on the way up and down. Maybe it’s a 3 liter soda bottle piece slipped over the cord… maybe it’s a 3D printed tapered wedge. It needs something.
It’s not good enough to shoot a line over a tree and immediately use it. The initial path of the line will be draped over more branches than it needs and hoisting the repeater node up through that will cause snags and will potentially set the node at an angle producing a bad take-off radiation angle from the antenna. Therefore, before hoisting the repeater node up, reset both sides of the line to be as close to the trunk as possible. Do this by pulling your plumb or weight up towards the highest point of the rope, then letting it drop back down. Then, go to the other side of the rope, tie the weight and do the same.
Tie the hoisting line in a loop to avoid a bundle of slack at the base of the tree when the node is pulled up. Before hoisting the node up to its highest point in the tree, cut and tie the other end of the rope to the bottom of the enclosure making a loop of line that goes from the node, over the top of the tree, back down to the ground and to the bottom of the node. This does a couple of things. It gives you something to pull the node up or down even if it snags. It also avoids having a big bundle of cord equal to the height of the node at the bottom of the tree to deal with.
Bring optics and at least one other person. Binoculars, a spotting scope, a telescope… something to spot the node when it’s in the tree. You may need to change the line or angle as you hoist it up the tree.
Those lessons were recently learned when installing SSHD and GNRW (South Shades Crest Repeater and Greenwood Repeater) sponsored nodes.
July 10, 2024
New 3D files posted. We’re going to use Printables.com going forward instead of Thingiverse. Old designs are still on Thingiverse.
These latest designs are made to mount a pair of protected 18650 batteries into various popular enclosures along with a RAK 19007 (the base board the comes with RAK’s WisBlock Meshtastic Starter Kit).
July 7, 2024
New node deployed! We deployed a new “sponsored node” on South Shades Crest. It’s about 64 feet AGL using a RAK Meshtastic Starter kit and 6W solar panel.
For now, it’s in Router Client mode for now with a short name of SSHD. Drop in on social media and let us know if you see it in your node list. After a couple of weeks, it’s role will be changed to “repeater”.
July 6, 2024
Update for BirminghamMesh.org
We donated hardware to a couple of ham radio clubs and are waiting for installation on the towers before we announce the specifics. The nodes will be in repeater mode and set to skip decoding. The idea is to just repeat everything they hear and use the elevation to everyone’s advantage.
I’m working on a node to go at a friend’s house on South Shades crest, but some rain delayed me, plus I got tied up in CAD doing some more 3D files. It may go up tomorrow if everything works out.
I’m working on the website and other social media too, but we’ll be adding a node map to show our “sponsored” nodes’ general locations on the webpage.
Here’s what I’ve been drawing up in CAD:
It’s a RAK Meshtastic Starter kit board carrier with desiccant box and double 18650 lid for it.
Consider the 18650 mount an “alpha” version because I really need to test the latest iteration in situ.
Parts:
Meshtastic Starter Kit from Rokland
Battery Spring Plates from Amazon
Waterproof Enclosure from Amazon
3D File for Carrier Board on Thingiverse
3D File for Battery Mount on Thingiverse
June 26, 2024
Presentations, Hardware Recipes, Meshtastic Videos, and Links added under “More Information”.
Also, tomorrow (June 27th, 2024 at 6:30pm), we’ll be presenting an overview at the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club so come check us out. The meeting is at 1449 Court PL, Pelham, AL 35124
Update 09:00pm – Thanks for having us at the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club meeting this evening. It was great to meet everyone and talk about this technology and what it can do! We’ll meet again soon for more in-depth Q&A.
BirminghamMesh.org 