r/meshtastic • u/Arce_Angel • 1d ago

Mini meshtastic solar node

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Diy mini mesh node I built. Pv and antenna are adjustable for different angles. Case is waterproof. Single 18650 cell has lasted 4 days of rain and clouds just fine. Going to try and fit two 18650s in the same case and stress test some more but after that I'm open to building these for others if interested. Open to ideas or improvements as well.

142 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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3

u/MicahInTheMountains 1d ago

Nodes from recycled goods (I lovingly call mine trash nodes) are the best!

Get some RTV marine grade silicone, maybe some of that waterproof almagamating tape and throw some dessicant packs in thar and yer golden.

I like to do the tape around the antenna threads then another layer of electrical tape over that - to protect the waterproof tape from UV. I'll glob the silicone around where the wires and antenna enter the enclosure bc that water ingress will probably happen in some way at some time.

1

u/MicahInTheMountains 1d ago

Oh yah what board did you go with?!

1

u/Arce_Angel 1d ago

Dessicant pack inside is a great idea, thanks. I did a small layer of waterproof rtv sealant around the antenna base and the inside of the 2 screws holding the solar panel base. I'm using a Seeed XIAO nRF5284 & Wio-SX1262 kit. I am thinking of adding more rtv tho just to be safe. I also considered painting the case maybe camo or something to help protect it from sun damage and make it less of an eye sore, tho personally I like being able to see in it.

1

u/vicentEMC2 1d ago

Following

1

u/Arce_Angel 1d ago

I am waiting for a few more nodes and parts to come in then will be building more in these mini cases. I'll be trying different orientations and configurations. The one I pictured is running off all recycled parts minus the node itself. The others will be easier to work with because I'll be using tp4056 boards instead of gutted broken battery charger boards with added bms boards pulled from old cell phone batteries lol.

1

u/Wheysteve 1d ago

This is great. Love the ingenuity

1

u/Arce_Angel 1d ago

Thank you. I seen too many overpriced solar repeater nodes online and looked at my two lonely heltec t114 portable nodes and decided they needed a solar repeater all their own. So I made one with what I had laying around, lol which wasn't much 😅 .I have seen over 50 new nodes already with it sitting on top my fence. Only like 15 are actually in range or online but thats way more than I was seeing. I plan on making more because I have a couple more of those mini cases and want to try and make one or two using the "right" parts.

1

u/akryvtsun 1d ago

Looks great! Who are you going to use it? Do you build your own network?

1

u/haikusbot 1d ago

Looks great! Who are you

Going to use it? Do you

Build your own network?

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1

u/Mario_Rossi1 2h ago

I pannelli con rivestimento di resina si invecchiano rapidamente, dovresti metterci quelli in vetro.