OK, NGL, my #meshtastic #solar node is fucking sick.

It could run for years with no maintence.

6dbi fiberglass antenna, solar panel, MPPT board from DF Robot, absurdly large battery pack, discharge protection circuit, temperature & humidity sensor, remote administration...

And I plan on running the solar panel through a current sensor so I can keep metrics how much power we're generating. That's the only significant update I want to do.

I think it might soon be time to do a bulk buy and crank out these nodes. They cost about $200 each, but considering RAK Wireless is selling a node with smaller solar panels, smaller batteries and a smaller antenna for $230 that, I'd say I've done well.

Some fellow hackers from the local 2600 meet and I might crowdsource a few nodes and just provide coverage for all of central Illinois. Once we have solid coverage, it'll be more appealing for people to carry devices. Once they are carrying devices, it'll be easier to get some of them to run a solar node to make sure they're getting the best coverage possible. This could set off an unstoppable chain reaction, and I'm all for it.

I just gotta keep grinding, perfecting my hardware rig, figuring out all the gotchas with the software and documenting the workarounds, shafingb what I've learned and offering nodes to people who want to just buy one instead of putting in all the work that I did.