24/7 meshed towns/Dedicated relays

To confirm relay mode, you want to press the power button only once. As @MikeL called out, you’ll see the LED light triple-flash if relay mode is confirmed.

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@MikeL and @anon62894636 thanks to both of you. Sorry I assumed from the instructions on the website that you triple click to confirm it is in relay mode. Below is what the Gotenna.com website says:

Step 1: Turn ON your goTenna Mesh

Step 2: Triple-press the Power button and watch for the LED status indicator to turn on. Quickly triple-press the Power button once again to confirm relay mode. The light will pulse 3 times then turn off.

Thanks for calling this out! That is the process to set relay mode. If you want to verify that relay mode is set, you would press one time. Additional button pressing would disrupt relay mode.

@anon62894636 At 44 I hope I am not losing my marbles quite yet :slight_smile: but as with the above instructions, there may be some confusion caused. Maybe an update to the instructions? Something similar to:

“Step 2: Triple-press the Power button and watch for the LED status indicator to turn on. Press the Power button once to confirm relay mode. Quickly triple-press the Power button, the light will pulse 3 times then Relay Mode will be turned off.”

Here’s the full process to set up relay mode, you do want to triple press twice.

  1. Power on the Mesh.
  2. When you see the LED light, triple press the power button.
  3. When you see the solid LED light, triple press again.
  4. You’ll see the triple flash, then the LED light will go out. This sets your device in relay mode.
  5. To verify the Mesh in on in relay mode, you can now press the power button once. If in relay mode, you’ll see the LED light flash 3 times, then remain off.

@MikeL How are the 8000mAh Solar packs running for you? It seems my cheapo 8000mAh solar packs with a 1.2W panel prefer to just turn off after the GTM is fully charged and not come back on :frowning:

Doing good so far. I haven’t been down in the south end of the coverage area as much the last few weeks and was just thinking I should do some more testing with the weather warming…then it goes back to winter here. Should be good and warmer now starting this weekend.

Thought I had a problem with the two spare packs, one of which powers my test rig. I swapped in the crashTenna to run it, that poor abused GTM that fell off the roof of the land Cruiser and got crushed a bit. The device seemed to be working, but the battery packs discharge in about 2 days, rather than a week. crashTenna doesn’t get noticeably warm, but either there’s an issue with its charge circuit or the way the new power switch is wired is causing an issue. Needs further exploring but I don’t think it’s a power pack issue.

Yours sounds like your power pack doesn’t have “always on” as a feature. The Voltaic V15 and V44 power packs both do (going by memory, so I think I have the model #s right), as do many of the more recent general market power packs, including the ones Im using. It’s a feature often called something else, so you may have to do some reading between the lines r contact the seller to cofirm.

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@MikeL Just so I am understanding correctly. Are you testing with just the 8000mAh solar packs connected to the GTM or are you connecting the solar packs to another battery source (Voltaic) and connecting that to the GTM?

Just the 8000 mAh battery packs, as I subbed them for the lower capacity Voltaic V15 I was using previously. Solar panel plugs into them and the GTM plugs into it. The whole thing is enclosed in a secure case, so there’s no solar input available for the tiny panel that is on the battery pack.

Note that you do have to turn on the switch that is on the endpanel with this particular item (the one linked above.) If it doesn’t seem to act Always On, then push it once on a full charge and see if that works. Sorry I can’t be more specific on instructions, as it didn’t arrive with any.

Hi Geo,

Just as an aside, you might consider 3/16" X 500 Ft Dacron Polyester Black Cord - you will find that it weathers far better and outlasts paracord.

73, dave

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Yes, I agree the Dacron Polyester Cord is very good! I use it for all of my antenna support projects. It also had very low to no stretch.

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I have the same thing. How did it work?

Excellent thread, love to see theses solar projects and the panel battery solutions look like a quick easy way to make a dedicated relay!!

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It takes some experimentation to find what works best for your latitude and seasonal factors, but it’s fun to see things as less theoretical and more hands on. Here’s a pic of my latest config for a stationary relay.

Inside view

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Here in Sayreville, NJ we were hit bad by Hurricane Sandy. Everything was down. Power was out for 10+ days for many people. Longer for some others. Cell sites were down. Cable modems down. We would literally have to drive two or three towns over to get gas and the lines were horrible. Coming back to town at night was eerie. The whole town was black.

The GTM would have been great for us here for those who had the ability to recharge them. I had a generator as did quite a few others.

I envision getting my town setup with a number of relay nodes located in various locations. I think the Solar Powered box relay works best as it is independent of grid power. With a battery you should be able to get 24x7 operation without commercial power.

The key is getting the nodes in place but then getting people in town to purchase them and be prepared for a disaster where they could be used. I think this would be a great way to get the community to come together better in a time of need all while using the same phones we always do.

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