Short update - I’ve cycled around the Cedar Cottage neighbourhood with unadulterated MESH unit, and have line of sight (or via reflection I guess) of 1 to 2 miles as promised, along with a very interesting transmission all the way to chinatown which is over 2 miles away.
I’ll report progress on the external antenna component of a Vancouver MOAN in latter part of this thread: Adding an external antenna jack . I guess I’ll have to figure out an auto reset on power outage circuit; maybe the optoisolator approach documented here on board though that is complicated; and as well see if a 10W solar panel and 2 x 18650 battery bank is sufficient for our rainforest winters.
My rooftop mesh unit which will be a permanent relay in future is currently in paired mode to another phone sporadically, for range testing. I’m having to go up and reset (turn it on) once a day - I assume what is happening is extended unpaired time is causing mesh to shutdown on unpaired timeout? Is there a way to disable this timeout function?
Also if anyone has waning interest in their 2017 gotennas and wants to sell them to me, I need one or two more.
d.
p.s. a 10W solar panel is overkill of course on a nice day perpendicular to sun, but on a cloudy winter day output is at most 1/4 and for less hours, so I’ll test whether a low-horizon orientation keeps charging current somewhat even during winter and summer.