Do you have any recommendations for a cheap Meshtastic-compatible board? I don’t need GPS or a battery, since I’ll power it with a solar panel or a power bank. Having a case isn’t important; what really matters is avoiding any soldering.
I’m basically looking for a low-cost board with an integrated LoRa antenna. The goal is just to experiment, connecting it via Bluetooth to a PC or smartphone.
Curious_Canid - 1day
If you plan on using solar or battery power, I strongly recommend against getting any of the boards that are based on the ESP32S3 processor. Get something that uses the nRF52840 processor instead. The main downside is that you don't get WiFi capability. Most people don't use that, but it may figure into your decision.
The Heltec V3 is a great starter, but it uses the ESP32S3. The RAK Wisblock kit may be the best overall choice for what you're doing. The pre-built solar repeaters I see are nearly all best on it. (I have two and they work very well.)
Another good choice is the Heltec T114. It uses the nRF2840 and it is one of the easiest boards to flash firmware onto. My repeaters are RAK Wisblocks, but my personal radios are all Heltec T114s.
And if you really want to get the cheapest possible board to start with, look at Seeed Studio. They have an ESP32S3-baed board that sells complete for under $10. If you want their case for it, that goes up to around $15. It does include an antenna, but does not come with batteries, and the case has no room for a battery.
6
3holly3 @lemmy.dbzer0.com - 1day
The Heltec V3 is more or less the cheapest simplest entry into mesh radio. You may have to plug in an ipex connector but no soldering.
They can be found packaged with a very basic case (so you’re not handling the raw pcb) and an antenna for 20-30 $US.
If you want to spend a little extra and be able to play with the gps features in MT, the Heltec T114 V2 is great and equally simple to set up. That’s what I started with and glad I did. Have fun!
4
hereiamagain @sh.itjust.works - 1day
V3 is esp32, bad for solar unfortunately
2
Señor Mono - 1day
The go to answer, unless I misunderstood your requirements, is always a heltec or a rak wisblock.
Yeah, I have a node that's just a RAK Wisblock kit just hooked up to a USB power adapter and taped together. Works great. Looks like the ESP based boards are a bit cheaper, and should be fine if you don't need to run off battery (they use considerably more current).
2
Iced Raktajino - 1day
HeltecV3 is probably the lowest-cost point of entry. It doesn't have GPS or battery (though it has a battery connector and charger built in if you want to add a battery later). Some come with a case, some don't, but there are lots of cases for them if you have a 3D printer.
The LoRa antenna isn't integrated though (uses a U.FL connector) but it comes with a little mini-whip. I'm not sure I can recall any Meshtastic-compatible boards that have a fully-integrated antenna.
Running it directly from a solar panel is possible, but the ESP32-based boards aren't the most power-efficient. I have one of mine running from solar but it's got a 2000 mAh battery to smooth it out.
The nRF-based boards are more power efficient but they're a little more expensive and may lack Wifi.
Edit/Addition: Also, be careful powering at least the Heltecs from solar -- make sure you use a solar panel with a voltage regulator. I used a small, unregulated 1W panel on two of them and it burnt out the USB->UART controller on them (they didn't like its 6V). They both still work but can't use the USB port for serial connection anymore (have to use an external serial adapter to the pin headers). One of those is now a base station connected over Wifi, and the other is acting as a repeater.
fparri in meshtastic
Newbie question - I would like to try Meshtastic
Do you have any recommendations for a cheap Meshtastic-compatible board? I don’t need GPS or a battery, since I’ll power it with a solar panel or a power bank. Having a case isn’t important; what really matters is avoiding any soldering.
I’m basically looking for a low-cost board with an integrated LoRa antenna. The goal is just to experiment, connecting it via Bluetooth to a PC or smartphone.
If you plan on using solar or battery power, I strongly recommend against getting any of the boards that are based on the ESP32S3 processor. Get something that uses the nRF52840 processor instead. The main downside is that you don't get WiFi capability. Most people don't use that, but it may figure into your decision.
The Heltec V3 is a great starter, but it uses the ESP32S3. The RAK Wisblock kit may be the best overall choice for what you're doing. The pre-built solar repeaters I see are nearly all best on it. (I have two and they work very well.)
Another good choice is the Heltec T114. It uses the nRF2840 and it is one of the easiest boards to flash firmware onto. My repeaters are RAK Wisblocks, but my personal radios are all Heltec T114s.
And if you really want to get the cheapest possible board to start with, look at Seeed Studio. They have an ESP32S3-baed board that sells complete for under $10. If you want their case for it, that goes up to around $15. It does include an antenna, but does not come with batteries, and the case has no room for a battery.
The Heltec V3 is more or less the cheapest simplest entry into mesh radio. You may have to plug in an ipex connector but no soldering. They can be found packaged with a very basic case (so you’re not handling the raw pcb) and an antenna for 20-30 $US. If you want to spend a little extra and be able to play with the gps features in MT, the Heltec T114 V2 is great and equally simple to set up. That’s what I started with and glad I did. Have fun!
V3 is esp32, bad for solar unfortunately
The go to answer, unless I misunderstood your requirements, is always a heltec or a rak wisblock.
https://heltec.org/product-category/lora/meshtastic/
https://store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-meshtastic-starter-kit?variant=43884034621638
Yeah, I have a node that's just a RAK Wisblock kit just hooked up to a USB power adapter and taped together. Works great. Looks like the ESP based boards are a bit cheaper, and should be fine if you don't need to run off battery (they use considerably more current).
HeltecV3 is probably the lowest-cost point of entry. It doesn't have GPS or battery (though it has a battery connector and charger built in if you want to add a battery later). Some come with a case, some don't, but there are lots of cases for them if you have a 3D printer.
The LoRa antenna isn't integrated though (uses a U.FL connector) but it comes with a little mini-whip. I'm not sure I can recall any Meshtastic-compatible boards that have a fully-integrated antenna.
Running it directly from a solar panel is possible, but the ESP32-based boards aren't the most power-efficient. I have one of mine running from solar but it's got a 2000 mAh battery to smooth it out.
The nRF-based boards are more power efficient but they're a little more expensive and may lack Wifi.
Edit/Addition: Also, be careful powering at least the Heltecs from solar -- make sure you use a solar panel with a voltage regulator. I used a small, unregulated 1W panel on two of them and it burnt out the USB->UART controller on them (they didn't like its 6V). They both still work but can't use the USB port for serial connection anymore (have to use an external serial adapter to the pin headers). One of those is now a base station connected over Wifi, and the other is acting as a repeater.
seeed t1000-e
They can be fun to mess with. I tried it out years ago. Good to MeshMap - Meshtastic Node Map https://share.google/NY5NDDzQzRxqGSMP4
And see if any nodes are in your area.
https://youtu.be/VGiNDgdkyhs