Right now ill be putting it up near the Cleveland Dam north of Vancouver for some testing. The long term plan is to make this a long lasting portable relay that I set up once in a tree near a campsite to cover the whole camping area, wherever that will be.
ahhhhhhhhhhhh…Take my money… LOL
Very nice design. I’m working on a replaceable battery for one of my goTenna units. Planning on using a Zippy 1S 3.7V (5800mA) battery. I’m hoping the goTenna can charge this battery using it’s internal charging circuit. This battery matches the type and voltage of the internal battery.
Here’s a really quick and dirty 3D print of my concept shark fin for my roof rails. Seems to work pretty well and I am able to get the goTenna Bluetooth signal into the car. This type of design should help against the Faraday cage of the car and allow longer range.
The main purpose is to act as a low key transmitter for my car roof; something that will blend-in and not draw attention to itself.
Right now the design is modular. The actual mating part to the rails can be unbolted and swapped out to match multiple vehicles. The next version will have a hard wire connection to vehicle power or a small solar panel for on the roof. When the design is all finished I’ll upload it to thingiverse. I welcome anyone else to create adapters to mate with their vehicles.
This is great! @MikeL, check this out for the mobile Mesh!
I’d love to see a 3D print design to attach Mesh to a bike. Maybe also have a little compartment for a battery pack. Anyone up for the project?
Definitely sleeker than my pickle jar, that fin looks like it means business. For the80 series Land Cruiser and many other vehicles, an adapter that does flat roofs will meet the needs of many… Few roofs are completely flat, but so long as there is some flexible material as the seal at the mounting surface, that will accommodate many of them.
When doing a corded version, having optional exits as cutouts might prove useful.
Here is a quick design for a bike mount meant to accommodate a 35mm seat post.
I decided to not go with a battery compartment at this point since its unlikely that i would keep it attached for more than 24 hrs.
Magnetically attached shark fin.
This is awesome!
Who wants to 3D print me one?? We have a few avid bikers here at HQ who would love to get in on this.
I’ve never used a 3D print service before. Do I just download the file from ThingVerse, then upload to PrintEverything and purchase?
I’d be more than happy to print one or a few out and send it/them out. The design uses very little plastic (for the bike mount at least).
Is there a specific address you’d like it sent to?
Thank you! I promise we’ll post pictures of our mesh-adorned bikes and send some swag in exchange. I’ll DM you the address
Not a problem! The amount of plastic used is about 1/20th what goes into the parts of an NS1, so it really is a drop in the bucket. I should have them in the mail tomorrow.
I’ll be including a fourth in case you overtighten the screws while attaching one. If you find that you have to tighten it too much to make it secure then I would suggest wiping some silicone on surfaces that touch the post to add friction.
I love that you are putting this out on Thingiverse. Thanks.
The bike mounts are awesome! @Danielle_Naven is already sporting one. Can’t wait to install mine
My next challenge:
Who can make a mount that balances the weight of a Mesh so it can mount to a drone? I have to admit, while a hair tie got the job done, my Mesh could have been way more secure. I sincerely thought I was going to lose the drone and the Mesh in the east river.
Anyone interested in an outdoor mount inside a Stevenson screen? I’m thinking two different mounting options, bolt-on for the side of a building and tie-on for around a tree. I think I’ll tackle the design this weekend.
Yes. Also something that can be hoisted either up a flag pole or from a rope thrown up into a tree. Also one that can also hold a battery pack and have a mount for a solar panel?
Hey Meshers! Danielle here from HQ. I wanted to see if anyone is interested in designing a waterproof case for goTenna Mesh that allows the power cord to connect to a solar panel. Below is a link to a case we have in mind, but it wouldn’t allow for the cord to come out of the box.
The Mesh devices will be connected to this solar panel.
DM me or send me an email at naven@gotenna.com if you are interested in collaborating on this project!
You should be able to:
- Drill a small hole in that case. Make it wide enough for the cable and connector to fit through.
- Install a small rubber grommet to make the whole secure and safe. This prevents the cable from fraying against sharp edges.
- Run the cable through the hole / rubber grommet.
- Seal the hole with silicone.
Wouldn’t that work?
Here’s what I did with a very similar case. If you do drill these, take it slow and if possible find a drill bit that is designed for plastic. These usually have a different angle at which the cutting tip is set at.
Problem with just drilling a hole is usually the connector on the end of the cable. In some cases, this could be applied after the cable snakes through the hole, but this usually won’t work with most forms of USB connectors.
Here’s what I did to solve these issues. Instead of drilling a hole, I carefully cut the two sides of the hole with a razor saw. Then I carefully grabbed the end of the cut plastic and snapped it off. Using a round file of the right size, I then deepened the cut to full depth while shaping the rounded bottom of the slot/hole.
Since in this case the opening is on the bottom side of the box once it’s hung, I did not apply silicone to form a seal. The lid of the box has a rubber seal that comes into contact and is close enough in contact that it seals well enough without the silicone. This is the box our home relay node resides in.