The LoRa (“long range”) radios I’m using for the Meshtastic mesh network are tiny and cheap, but I’ve had a surprisingly difficult time figuring out how to deploy them. The boards are ready to accept solar and battery power, but it’s difficult/expensive to get lithium batteries shipped to the island and then I’d have to configure mounts and enclosures. Consequently, I’ve just been using a USB-c cable to power the node, but that means locating it near a power source. I’ve ordered an inexpensive solar-powered spotlight, and I’m hoping I can find enough room in it after removing the LEDs and reflector to mount the LoRa inside its weatherproof case and connect it to the battery and solar panel that normally power the light.
My initial plan was to power it using an external battery pack for a phone, but the LoRa radio uses so little power that the external batteries I’ve tried think they’re not connected to a device, and power off. From that, I’m guessing that the spotlight battery and solar panel will produce more than enough energy to keep the radio running.
Today, HA was giving a massage to a friend and having my little flashing light next to the massage table wasn’t going to work. I moved the node to a new location near my desk.
For now, the radio placement isn’t as good as where it was before, which was taped inside an east-facing window. This side of the house faces north, and in that direction there’s only about three miles of sparsely-populated terrain until you hit ocean. Still, it appears I have access to about 146 nodes, and have received relayed messages from as far away as Kaui’i, close to 300 miles and several islands away.
Should the spotlight enclosure work out, I can cheaply and easily build a number of stand-alone nodes and scout the neighborhood for not-spots, and see if folks will let me install the unobtrusive little things on a tree in their yard or some such to improve coverage.
—2p