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I did several more hours of range testing the Heltec v3 #Meshtastic nodes. Is there a place to stash independent testing results and notes for others?

After the first round of testing, I moved the reviever node to the very peak of the roof to see how mych difference it made. A **LOT**, it turns out.

I can quantify that better later aftet I map everything out so I can give everyone the 2 sentence advice on what impacts reception **in practice**.

So far, it seems like RF is absorbed by trees and tall grass (like 12 ft tall, Illinois doesn't fool around when it comes to tall grass prairies!). Banking on straight roads to carry the signal (or rather, the lack of buildings and trees in the road) seems to work well. As a result, straight lines go further than diagionals. And elevation makes a big difference, exactly as you would expect.

#unlicensed #radio #mesh #emergency #prepper #prepping

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Discussion

Majere 1y ago

At those high frequencies youre looking at a lot of interference from foliage. The low TX power stops you from powering through with the signal.

Theres a reason HAM VHF/UHF repeaters are put on towers.

A solar powered node in a weatherproof box at high elevation would do wonders for you.

12 ft tall grass!? Really? Thats insane

Dr. Hax 1y ago

Yeah, when I hit a high spot, I got a very nice range, even despite the trees and buildings. 🎊

It's interesting to see what makes a difference in practice, with my tx power, antenna, and so forth. People always talk about having line of sight, but that's great, but completely impractical in the midwest. There are no real hills to climb here. Also, we have lots of trees and a few 3 story buildings that get in the way.

I plan on trying to somehow schmooze some radio tower space at some point. I need to get a reliable solar powered node with an optimal antenna first. I don't want to have to climb the tower repeatedly, especially if it requires coordination/permission for each time.

I hope to find a wiki or forum or something so I can contribute my experience and learn from people who have already built & debugged solar LoRa nodes.

And yeah, tall grass prairies are a great place to hide/get lost. You can't see people 15 feet away at all. It also absorbs sound, which is pretty cool. 😁

Yet another robot 1y ago

I bet the PCB antenna inside the enclosure is not doing you any favors. If you could get an external antenna on your receiving node I bet see quite an improvement. Also, are you using 900 ISM? it would perform better than the 433MHz. I figured you are, but just in case maybe switch over, using the SX1262 chip?