I appreciate it! Much more to come and the advanced series will be starting soon!

Sure thing! And thank you for all of the shares!

Nice!! Let us know how it goes!

Bought four antennas straight off the link but none have the copper "male" wire in the center but rather an empty hole. Are you happy with the antennas you got? Do they work better than the original? Did your antennas come with the "male" wire or without? Thanks

I appreciate it! Glad you're enjoying the videos!!

Thanks! I believe I read somewhere where they had an issue with their screens or something that was delaying production, but should be back before too long!

Appreciate it! The next video will be for the advanced series and will be out soon!

Agree 💯. NRF52 is the way to go for stuff like this. It's crazy how much longer the battery lasts compared to ESP32 based devices.

Comes down to cost and availability.

@@zacharylewis417 That definitely plays a role (although the nRF52 series has many more packages to choose from aiding with design flexibility) but I personally believe the true reason has more do with software compatibility and community support more than anything else. ESP32 has *so* much more community support, software libraries, etc. than nRF52 likely ever will. As for cost, nRF52 SoMs are 3x the price of ESP32 SoMs but the raw ICs are approximately the same price. Given that I've never seen a (good or popular) LoRa device use an SoM, I doubt it's much of a factor. Personally, I'd love to see some LoRa devices based on STM32, or better yet, some of the newer RISC-V platforms. I have zero interest in running a Meshtastic client on an unsecure smartphone so the appeal of a self-contained device (similar to Lilygo's recent keyboard-equipped one) is huge!

Nice!! Was it a tough squeeze?

do you have any links?

Was thinking the same thing. Cheap hardware and redial y available.

Great idea and getting the Parks Service blessing would be huge! Would be a great way to keep people connected while out in the bush!

In the bush you need HF to be able to contact. This device will do 100m in the bush....(and you have to shout....😂😂)

@@jplacido9999 with my current (first) testing, I have gotten further than that, much further.

​​​@@jplacido9999 900mhz goes through trees no problem. It'll be similar range to low power UHF (still a few km line of sight) It's the hills that'll get you. If not calling CooWee! Is still a good method of finding other people in the Bush... Or Australians in general.

It really doesn't

Yeah trying to figure out... what..it..does lol

@@user-jt5vm3mi1w Thanks for your comment it was real insightful.

@@Dan007UT does it measure temperature, pressure only or can it transmit other types of data and if so how?

i think some do and some dont depending on your setup. looks like they can transmit GPS data also . over 900mhz radio bands@@mth469

For sure!

Good point. I'll give that a try. I just got my pre-order email from DX Engineering and confirmed my pre-order. Can't wait to get the D75 in my hands!

Appreciate it! Great idea with the battery extension cover!

Is there a link to this battery cover and which battery you recommend using with it?

why stop at 250km? could be 10000000000km on the right conditions 😂 just have a portal in between

@@hanfo420maybe if you’re on a low earth orbit satellite

@@ohenekojo2561 just spitballing here, but if you have something in low earth orbit you’re probably not taking the Meshtastic route for comms.

@@pabrowncoatbrewer7154 usually no, but it is doable kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kJ5jnMt1p7KVfWw.htmlsi=AGVsEgjY2gZSMvri

@@pabrowncoatbrewer7154 Look up Fox-1B. I hit it with a handheld and arrow antenna the other night.

Sure thing! Glad you liked it!

Thanks, will do!

I do plan on making a video on MQTT, but not sure what route I was going to take. I'll take a look at diet pi and see if that's a good fit! Thanks for the great suggestion!

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hJl2i8ibnszVeZ8.html

Yeah, this sounds about right. Realistically, when I go out camping/go to the woods the woods friends, I plan to hide ammo cans with these every few miles along the road so we can have communications with anyone trying to figure out which camping spot we ended up at. This would theoretically be good for encrypted text messaging in an area that radios already reach. I guess for recon or security purposes, this would make sense. I wish there were a way to get a lot more than a mile or two out of the range of these. No one really makes directional antennas for these right now.

Definitely a good feature of the T-Echo!

@@The_Comms_Channel The RAK units are good for battery efficiency too. I've used as a portable, foldable tripod, 8dBi omni antenna, router/repeater with solar power.

For sure! The WisBlock is a great platform and I love how modular they are.

what do you use it with the "Drone" for

@@johnnybio1 Comms = 400’ antenna

Nice! I still need to do some testing with a drone.

😂😂😂😂 just about choked on my dinner reading this

Thank you! Glad you're finding the videos informative!

Appreciate it! I suspect it won't have the best range, but I'll look into it and see if I can get one to have a look at!

Thank you so much for the support!

Appreciate it! The thumbnail was shot in VA 🙂

@@The_Comms_Channel Hell yeah! Maybe ill aim my 13db at ya and see if you can recieve

Lilygo, not so much, but RAK Meshtastic Starter kits will likely be in stock this week

It's been a lot of fun learning and playing around with LoRa! Here is a link to my jacket. www.orvis.com/product/mens-pro-lt-softshell-hoodie/27XB.html

I think he's referring to the low bandwidth when he says they're like early Internet devices. These are radio devices, so the distance will depend on the environment and placement. Meshtastic is a completely open source project and I don't see a case where it would become something where people would offer their devices up for a cost. These depend on the LoRa based radios which is new technology that wouldn't be found in old mobile phones.

You'll want the one that says "Color: 915MHz SMA M"

Lilygo has posted some videos of them working on just that very thing. Details are still scarce at the moment though.

@@The_Comms_Channel Sweet they seem to be a head of the curve!

I appreciate it! More videos on the way! They sold out fast! Looks like they still have 61 of the standard model without the weather sensor in stock. I've not messed with ATAK + Meshtastic yet so I'm not sure if it's able to read the weather data or not. If not, the standard model will probably be fine for their use case.

5.11 SKYWEIGHT UTILITY CHEST PACK

I can't see anything, but the bigger battery could be blocking it. I'll have to open it up and take a look here soon.

@@The_Comms_Channel ah yes, you said you replaced it. Just in case you'll try it out; just after plugging in the battery it did not happen on mine, but after the first start and shutdown. Since then it's a permanent issue (also documented at Meshtastic and the T-Echos GitHub repositories - but as it seems nothing will happen here).

Aliexpress has them at about $100 each.

Good question! All of the different devices are compatible. As long as a device can run the Meshtastic firmware, it can talk to any other devices running it.

Thank you! I enjoy your videos an everything you teach. keep going!

Can they send to group?@@The_Comms_Channel

Correct, they'll still be able to communicate.

@@The_Comms_Channel gotcha, thanks

Off grid or grid down comms. Encryption is another biggie. The power is that of most wireless smart devices in every home, red light cameras, etc. so tracking it would be very hard for an “opposing” person or group to locate, especially in more urban settings. My take away is use this for more sensitive or private info you don’t want heard or read on a phone or hand held radio. And in the case of emergency or crisis, you just need a way to charge batteries. No need for cell reception or WiFi to communicate to your “tribe”.

@@curtthacker7395 yeah, i get that. I understand the usefulness of dispersed comms, all that's on the wrapper. But if they're just text without a LAN adapter to do things over a real network like video transmission, it's just that: Text. And gps and weather data. Which isn't worth encrypting. You shouldn't ever be using direct language, so anyone being able to intercept it doesn't matter anyway.

One way to look at it is a digital version of CB radio or HAM (minus Morse code). Another way is to communicate with family or friends during extended power outage and cell towers are either overloaded or ran out of generator fuel. Something I learned is you need some entertainment or distraction during these situations. Hearing nothing but trees collapsing from ice after a couple of days gets unnerving.

Good idea. We'll have to see what new devices come out in 2024. WisBlock continues to be one of my favorites and has the best battery life.

They all communicate together over radio signals. I'll be doing a video explaining what Meshtastic is as I've been getting a lot of people asking

It's an e-paper display, you can look up typical specs

For me, I'm part of a subdivision and a mesh network would enable all the residents to send and receive text messages to each other in case the Internet goes down or the cellular service goes down.

No wifi. It doesn’t use it.

Much appreciated!!

Gizont antenna mentioned in the video and the below link? I don't have a VNA but I did real world testing -- it did better than the stock antenna and better than the TE ANT-916-CW-HW-SMA. I used the SNR value generated in the units logs. Part numbers for the Gizont and stock antennas were not available although both are marked with 915MHz.

@@user-mg4gw8mi6z In the video he says he is using a 20 CM antenna, but that the 17 CM should be better, and he will report back. But I can't find where/if he did report back.

Rokland should have more in stock towards the end of the month. I'll make a community post about it as soon as they're back. Be sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you'll get notified as soon as they do. I suspect they'll go fast again.

This should help you out! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fuCUl66qytbVqHU.html

Thanks! Checking it out!

@@wpherigo1 Sure thing! You'll want to watch the WisBlock video that's linked in the description for the flashing process and the video I just linked you can skip ahead to the configuration process after you've done that.

That is correct. Just from what I've read. I've not tested it myself though.

Forgot to mention... you will need the SMA version.

​@@The_Comms_Channel Also what specific model is that antenna analyzer as I could use on for gmrs and ham?

@@michael.w.salter There's a number of them available. I got the version I got because I needed to test WiFi/Bluetooth antennas, but you can get away with a cheaper one for GMRS/HAM. Check out my video where I discuss this and how to use it kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oZuYddVnxsrFXX0.htmlsi=ngLh8RxSV9q7YavP There's links in the video description to the different models. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Thanks!

Off line communications

@@Beavereaver with God?

You could do that.

Yep. All Meshtastic devices can communicate together as long as they are on the same LoRa settings

Place some tiny screws that are flush with the button, around the outside

It connects to your phone via Bluetooth

Same here. I'm probably going to keep mine in a dry bag

Could try to vacuum wrap with the antenna off but not so much to press the buttons

USB-C Port for charging

@@The_Comms_Channel oh thank you. Very nice video. Great work 👏

Not true under most conditions.

@The_Comms_Channel how so? What sort of real world point to point range are you getting non mesh? City or rural?

@@scottbradford192 I've done a range test video. I got about 5 miles between two devices in the hilly surburban area I live in. Up on the mountain I got 23 miles. As long as you have line of sight, these will work.

@@scottbradford192 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bduHYLip3tS8c58.htmlsi=5BT0BhVUaUq5lMx0

@The_Comms_Channel nifty. Guess you are lucky. My wife and I are both hams, in a big city, and both using high powered equipment and no repeaters we are lucky for 2 miles

The modules aren't removable like in the WisBlock, but the GPS can be disabled.

That's basically what it is. All of the devices mesh together to create a network and repeat messages. Great for off-grid communications. More content on this and more devices coming!

Mine is working well and I continue to use it daily! Do you recall what the bugs were?

I can’t remember what exactly it was like 2 years ago when they first got released.

Jacket www.orvis.com/product/mens-pro-lt-softshell-hoodie/27XB.html?recommend=true Chest Pack www.511tactical.com/skyweight-utility-chest-pack.html

Off-Grid Text Messaging. I'll be doing a video explaining it all soon! Stay tuned!

​@The_Comms_Channel I just got one and I have no idea what I'm doing 😅.

💯 same here

Really depends on the terrain and antenna. I'll have a video going over planning a deployment in the advanced series coming soon!

Generally…. LOS … Line of sight

If its in the line of sight...it easily goes tens of kilometers, and can get up to 100km. Current record is slightly beyond 300km as far as I know.

Just communication

Meshtastic works with ATAK

@@The_Comms_Channel yeah, but Need to see of I disabile the phone's GPS It uses the meshtastic's GPS. Next week Will arrive at home the t echo

This is for off-grid communications using Meshtastic

This is for off-grid communications. The device connects to your phone via Bluetooth and then you can communicate with other devices without the need for Cell tower signals or WiFi

They will be for a while sadly.

That would be awesome but the LoRs sats aren't running Meshtastic unfortunately.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info! Probably not a huge deal with Meshtastic being that it's mostly used from the app.

firmware 2.2.19 was just released adding e-ink partial updates for the T-Echo!

Google was banned in your area?

@@ABChgdyhh I’m in prison so I can’t get it rn

Here is the one from the video: www.511tactical.com/skyweight-utility-chest-pack.html

Thanks 💪🏻

Meshtastic.

You could use it to communicate between boats. It would be interesting to see how they perform over water! These aren't waterproof so I would put them in waterproof bags/boxes

@@The_Comms_Channel Thanks for the super fast response!!! I’m assuming it would need a significant height to increase communication distance. Other than this and the water proofing it would be a great device for sure

Sure thing! Yep, height is key with these being line of sight.