Use a directional antenna placed like 300ft+ high
I've seen people get 500+ miles with a regular meshtastic antenna
#meshtastic folks, having trouble picking beginner devices. Our meetup is trying to figure out how to bridge the 50 mile gap from my farm to the city where we have the meetup using meshtastic and this is our two latest competitors
https://www.yetiwurks.com/product/yeti-wurks-meshtastic-basestation/
Discussion
How do I get access to a 300ft antenna?
Buy a directional antenna
Find the highest point you can possibly get to
Install antenna up there
Or
Install the tallest flagpole you can in your area
Make sure you have damn near perfect line-of-sight to your other node
When you start to desire these types of distances, all you need is *extreme* height and a 100% signal focused to a direct line-of-sight connection. This is where it gets hard.
These tall flag poles are hella expensive too. Like $15k+ easy
How would I know I have line of site 50 miles?
It’s not so simple. Height and terrain is really important for that distance due to the curvature of the earth. Ideally both antennas are elevated above the terrain by at least a couple hundred feet, wherein you run into structural legal issues.
Correct. When ypi start to desire these types of ranges with these devices it becomes very challenging.
The higher you go, the higher your probability is of getting better line-of-sight
But again, now you get into your own height limitations, terrain, let alone what physical height limits you have for your jurisdiction. Most places you can't build anything higher than the local water tower, or flying zone limits, etc.
Do you or anyone you know know of jurisdictions that have been able to convince public entities like fire houses or water towers to install a device for someone or is there too much red tape and access for updates would be hard?
I can only imagine the amount of red tape you'd have to go through, even if you convinced them to even entertain the idea
Kk, I got a lot of farming folks here and i bet I could find someone with a tower to at least let me run a quick test to see how far I can get with it up high. Does directional antenna mean what I think it means? Ie 90 degrees VS 360
Yeah. Find someone with a old TV antenna, a good 150ft+ tall
Omnidirectional antennas are the round ones, as they go 360 degrees with their signal
Directional (what you want) shoot the radio wave like a laser directly where it's pointed to (more so like a cone shape, with the most focused point right in front of the antenna, and the father out it goes it beens to spread, but still focused in the general direction you have it pointed to)
Go on a geography elevation map on the web and put in the areas you are thinking of putting this. Always go with the highest elevation, least amount of hills/mountains/trees around
That's where I'd put it