24/7 meshed towns/Dedicated relays

It would be interesting to know if just this solar panel and built in battery in the goTenna unit would be enough to keep the goTenna powered through days when there is only 8 hours of sunlight or on cloudy days. I suppose it also depends on how many messages the goTenna mesh unit is trying to relay each day.

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I’ll be using an external battery: SLA 9 to 12 AMP.

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@gua742 what modification are you planning on doing if any to extend range with the external antenna on the pelican?

Amazon same day delivery :wink: picked up one of these units. Showing image with gotenna v1 units to put things into perspective here. I know the size of mesh units are much smaller.

Not sure I would use this large panel to power 1 mesh unit 24/7, a bit overkill don’t you think?

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@Mark, the goTenna MESH charges at current of around 250 mA. Since the panel in question is capable of up to 2 Amps, it definitely seems to be overqualified. However, I think there will definitely be cloudy days when it’ll be nice to have that extra surface to catch the elusive sun!

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@Turnerb, the goTenna MESH charges at around 250 mA, which is at rate of around 0.4C (C = Capacity). Most solar panels are capable of above 500mA. So given a decent solar panel and couple hours of sun, goTenna will be juiced up again. And since the unit is designed to last 24 hours with a fully charged battery, it should last through the night to be recharged again the next day.

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My stationary unit has been on solar power for 48 hours so far. Just got home from work and its sitting at 100%. I’ve not had chances to check how far it dips over night before the sun comes out… I’ll report back as i get more data.

It’s an older Anker 4 panel. Can’t find the amazon page anymore since it’s been replaced with a newer unit.
This panel is likely overkill, and i’d like to find one i can mount to my weather station mast semi permanently (3.5 stories up).

EDIT: Found it:

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Wow! Keep us posted. It will also be interesting to see how seasonal weather changes effect battery life.

Will do. My solar powered weather station (bloomsky) and the current location of this test setup are on a semi ideal arc for most of the year. The trick will be to find a water proof solar panel and mount for the mast.

My test setup simply has my portable panel inside the window at the bottom of this image.

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DELETED.

They mention its NOT to be used with other systems… but the mount might do the trick with off the shelf panels.

So based on the little info I have. you would have to still have a cell phone attached to get GPS coordinates and relay Messages to other gotenna users? or can the relay work with just the gotenna being on? And would you have to have mesh or would v1 work?
Actually thinking about cheap android phones with no cell service, attached to gotenna for the GPS function. if they are near wireless the phone could connect to it. not sure the benefit though as relaying messages to SMS may not function with out the cell provider?

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As far as I understand it a dedicated 24/7 mesh relay is simply a mesh unit that is always powered on (whether it be on or off grid power).

This unit does not need to be actively paired with a phone to do its job (simply relay other messages).

Not sure why you would NEED a phone constantly paired to the dedicated unit unless you wanted others to be able to get the dedicated units location.

AFAIK only the mesh can act as a dedicated relay (not v1)

I’m sure if any of this is incorrect a dev will chime in.

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All correct! :slight_smile:

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Devs; If the dedicated unit drains all the way down to power off (say during a weekend of heavy storms)… How should it recover? Should it power back up once charge is applied or will it stay off until manually powered on?

The NE had a bout of HEAVY storms this friday. My dedicated unit dropped to 5% before the sun broke Saturday AM.

If they dont power back gracefully then we will need to rethink dedicated systems… perhaps requiring battery backup.

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@Advocate it will stay off unitl manually powered ON.
You may have to consider a battery back up, in case a similar scenario, repeats itself.

This feedback is really valuable. Will keep this in mind when we plan future product improvements.

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We have setup 2 goTenna Mesh always powered ON stationary relays at goTenna HQ in downtown Brooklyn, NY!
https://www.imeshyou.com/

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Just about at one week of 24/7 on status using solar power only.

One day she got down to 5% when we had 3 inches of rain in 12 hours… but other than that it seems to dip to around70% overnight and then charges back to 100% quickly during the day.

If anyone know of a solar panel that has a battery built in that allows simultaneous discharge and charge it may be the ticket to avoid down time in low solar days.

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@Advocate Here is a low cost one you can consider
https://www.amazon.com/X-DRAGON-10000mAh-Foldable-Shockproof-More-Green/dp/B01MYMJP6M/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1501768393&sr=8-7&keywords=solar+charger+with+battery

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What is the max power during transmission? What is the sequence of transmission power when a Mesh unit is searching for another mesh? When it finds another mesh does it try to lower power?

How often does a mesh check QOS [ quality of signal]
If no other Mesh is found how long does it take to go into standby mode?

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@kb1eea the max power during transmission is 1W.
We currently do not lower power. As you may be aware, range performance is highly dependent on the environment. Your environment changes constantly. To give each transmission the highest chance of success in a constantly changing environment, we default to the highest permissible transmit power i.e. 1W.
goTenna Mesh has been designed to provide up to 24hrs battery life when always transmitting at 1W.

The wake-up/sleep cycles for goTenna Mesh are optimized to ensure that 100% of messages are received while maximizing battery life.

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