Atlavox Beacon Meshtastic Solar Node | First Look

[@dansklrvids7303]

Unit ordered! I can't tell you how effective a detailed walk-through is like this in showing the thought that goes into designing and building something like this. I've been completely satisfied with my M1, and I am looking forward to getting the final version of this node!

[@Atlavox]

I appreciate that. This project took way longer than expected. I 3D printed countless prototypes of the frame along the way, and had two of the metal frame prototypes made. So many moments where I was like, HOLY SHIT, if I adjust the positioning of this here, I could get this whole new range of motion here! There was a period of a few weeks where I'd literally wake up every day with a new design idea on something I wanted to add or tweak. I should do a walk-through of the 3D model showing how it evolved. I feel like the project got a little "over the top" at some point, which was a little disappointing because I wanted it to be under $200, but I'm happy I'll be able to offer the "lite" version shortly that will be in that price range too, for people who don't necessarily need all the features in the Beacon.

[@dansklrvids7303]

@ There will always be a market for quality, and your videos are a good way to illustrate the kind of quality product you are creating.

[@rbmwiv]

Thanks to the solar repeater our radio club mounted on the radio tower with our ham repeater on top of a mountain. We did that about a month ago and I have sent and received messages over 200 miles away. The repeter almost covers the whole county. Almost anywhere in the county and places in the next county over can hit that repeater with a 5-watt hand healed. The radio range is about 100 miles with normal equipment. If you use a directional antenna you can go much further. Cool build. I may have to buy one because I need something like this at my house. I have a node I keep in the house and have to keep it in the window to connect. Having a solar on the roof or a tree would be awesome. Nice to see a quality build here. Gonna buy one at the first of the year.

[@Atlavox]

Awesome. Yeah, I need to get out in the field and test this thing with the various antennas I'm offering so I can publish real-world results. But range is impressive when you've got line of sight.

[@chingibson8315]

You have a winner with that solar repeater design! I just shared this video out to everyone I know (Friends, family, neighbors, CERT team, as well as my sheriff , town mayor & council member (all 03 small town Western NC good guys that all get it. We are working to set up county Mesh like Austin Mestastic set up. After Helene destroyed our county some eyes where open to the need for alternate communications. Lets get you overworked and begging for a vacation! LOL

[@Abednego-v2r]

Great design! I love the rugged standalone form factor... can't wait to get a few.

[@Djaevu1]

I truly appreciate the details and thought process that went into designing the Beacon. Looking forward to it. Thank you Matt!

[@digital.rancher]

Looks like another great device! Very exciting stuff!

[@funwiththefamily4279]

just purchased, super excited to play with once it all arrives !

[@yeahimnotcool]

I usually never comment on stuff like this but these look great. You’ve done an awesome job on your products. Keep it up.

[@Atlavox]

Thank you so much!

[@BryanKirch]

Impressive design. Really thoughtful

[@MrTarvo]

The product looks very professionally made, truly excellent!

[@jamespick3007]

This looks awesome, very impressive. Picked up a couple of your M1s and they are great. Looking forward to try one of these out.

[@kylehazachode]

Preordered. Thanks for providing an external BLE antenna option.

[@Atlavox]

It was something I wanted to offer due to all the aluminum in the frame and enclosure. Surprisingly, I tested the internal PCB BLE antenna and still got about 90 feet outside before I lost connection. With the external BLE antenna I got 300 feet.

[@williambryce8527]

This is great, Have a couple of the M1's and want this for my system. Because of the Holidays I will have to wait until late Jan. You making some really great gear! Keep it going Matt!

[@Atlavox]

I appreciate that. Thank you

[@HardcoreFourSix]

Wow, great design, and great demo!

[@Hwy929]

Nice piece of kit. I love all the mounting options. Lots of thought put into this. I just got a M1 this week but have not had time to set it up yet. Then I got the email about the beacon with the pre-order discount. I ordered the beacon with the optional 32" antenna but have a question about how it is mounted. Does the 32" antenna mount to the beacon assembly or does it require a separate pole mount as in the 32" antenna description? If so I might change the order to the 12" antenna as I want this all to be one piece and not require a separate antenna mount.

[@Atlavox]

Good question. The 32" antenna includes a mounting bracket that can attach to a pole, or bolted to a flat surface. I'm recommending that you shouldn't have it directly attached to the beacon, only because it's so tall, it puts a lot of leverage on the N-Type connector and the antenna rail. It'll be fine temporarily, but not for high winds. If you want all-in-one, the 12" is the way to go. If you want to change it, let me know. Also, I'm going to add a note to that variation so people know. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@Hwy929]

@@Atlavox Thanks, I sent you an email about it. Please change my order to the 12" version.

[@ShoelessTim]

Out of my price range but very cool. I would recommended putting a desiccant packet in those aluminum housings to trap moisture and replace the packets every 3- 6 months but very cool. I hope they sell well for you.

[@erickmcquillin1359]

Awesome looking product! Very thoughtful.

[@unwin42]

Love it! Congratulations on this milestone! Hope you get a ton of pre-orders (after mine of course). Does your custom battery prevent the low voltage brownout issue RAK solar nodes are known for?

[@Atlavox]

I've yet to be able to recreate the brownout issue people describe. A lot of the cases I've read about seem to be people using 18650s connected directly to the WisBlock, or batteries with a too-low cutoff circuit. People recommend having a higher overdischarge cutoff/release, like 3v. The batteries I'm having manufactured have this feature. So it should drastically reduce that scenario. Also, the 5,000mAh capacity offers a lot of capacity to bridge periods of cloudy days. But I can't say it's completely solved. Good news is the enclosure has plenty of space for people who want to add a separate charging circuit. I would love to have a custom one developed myself, but I'm not there yet.

[@dansklrvids7303]

After looking at the specs, I notice it has high temp protection only. What will happen to the Lipo battery when the outside temp falls below freezing?

[@glock2101]

New sub here, found your setup video for the LILYGO T-Beam Supreme I just got one from a friend and had no idea how to configure it, your video helped me a lot, was thinking of picking up a few more to mess around with in the near future, and saw this about 3 hour ago, I thought wow, if I get into this I can see me picking up one of these. I live right near a fire tower, it's all metal and tops out above the trees, I'm sure they wouldn't care hanging that off the side, I'd even paint it to match the tower!

[@arikjohnson412]

Looks amazing!

[@MichaelJohnson-gm4rt]

Wow, Looks like another awesome product.

[@levisorenson7873]

Beautiful design.

[@AndrewTalbert]

Very nice design!

[@teotwaki]

I would recommend some fusion tape over the SMA cable connectors to make them weatherproof and a plastic cap for the unused SMA or type N female connectors on the antenna bracket

[@waylonk2453]

I really appreciate the thought you put into this design, specifically the range of mounting options and beefy N-type connector. Hat's off for getting the frame made in the US too. So stoked for the production version! It looks like there is plenty of space in the enclosure for additional boards. IP link capability? Larger battery? Thanks for leaving the space to tinker.

[@magnade]

very well thought out design, one of the better I've seen. I would of liked to see it use of 18650 or similar idea for batteries, as it could also allow for possible swap to sodium batteries when those drop in price more

[@MedicalAnalyst]

Keep going!! It looks amazing!

[@leoguy7758]

looking good! will there also 868Mhz versions avaiable? My understanding is that only the antenna would need to be changed for that right?

[@Atlavox]

Yeah, it's just the antenna that would need to be different. The WisBlock is the same. I'm still working on getting my VAT set up. Although I've been contacted by a couple distributors, so maybe that'll be the route I go.

[@chrisb2418]

This looks awesome!

[@dredge999]

Any development in progress for a unit with an LTO battery? Lithium polymer batteries degrade very quickly if you attempt to charge when the battery temperature is below 32F. In short, this unit would not work for those of us in the northern climes.

[@JowieC]

Any thoughts to having a way to mount a yagi antenna instead of an omni? I'm sure I could drill some holes for whatever mount the yagi comes with so it can be aimed, but just curious if this has been thought of yet. I'm in a bit of a hollow and looking at setting a node up at home with a directional antenna pointing out to one of the local mountain tops where a node is. Thanks!

[@dangerdc5482]

Looks solid! I do have a couple questions, specifically what is the power budget with that panel? I'd be setting it up quite far north and the average sun in December is about 15% of florida for example. Also, how well would it shed snow from the panel?

[@TonyNovation]

What's the difference between th PCB and SMA Antenna?

[@stvsanders]

Any chance to purchase these before February?

[@ActuallyRyanK]

What temperature range will this unit operate in?

[@AndrewMcClenaghan4182]

Any way to order to Australia?

[@Uplateondatube]

Great design. Do you plan to just sell this and discontinue the previous version ?

ordered. the thing I would like to like to see is a power port for an external battery. I have not seen the sun for the last week. I don't want to take my unit down from the pole. external charging would be great.

[@HardcoreFourSix]

I live in NE WA near the Canadian border. We have about 4-5 months of sub-freezing temps, (including periods of sub-zero), so I worry about charging lithium batteries. How would that battery fare? Also, how do I prevent unauthorized access via bluetooth?

[@RandomDude989]

Green is nice.... but maybe offer a brown to help it blend in with a tree.

[@Hwy929]

Tan/Sand would be my preference. Matches house siding.

[@alldecentnamestaken]

Instead of LiPo any chance you could look into LFP for better longevity?

[@jb76489]

I know this is highly depended on environmental factors but any idea at what range a repeated like this would likely be necessary?

[@Atlavox]

Try out this site to estimate Meshtastic range. It's mostly a line-of-sight calculation so it's location dependent, antenna gain, and antenna height. meshplanner.mpatrick.dev/

[@kc8pnd]

Pretty steep price! Hopefully the meshtastic network can catchup to this level of quality.

[@Atlavox]

The aluminum frame and powder coating definitely adds a lot of cost. That’s why I intend on offering a version without the frame too. I can take advantage of the same enclosure. I just need to come up with a simple mounting arm

[@kayna-funkt]

Fuck yeah! Really loving the lookg and feel. We are already in E-Mail contact and i'd love to include the node in the 2025 Solar Gateway shootout. Will order as soon as they are available and shipable to germany. Did you do any winter tests and runtime estimations under load?

[@x81reaper]

woow that's really really expensive but it's looks nice ;)

[@tommy4pmi]

Shirts... black on green.

[@sb10101]

sometimes you sound like Kermit 😂

[@tomthompson1198]

awaiting for someone to design somethign similar, make it 3d printable and post it for free to thingaverse.

[@muirindustries]

Super helpful comment. Could you be any cheaper? The man clearly put a ton of effort and time into it and the best you can do is await stealing it to print at home. Wow.

[@Uplateondatube]

Wow just wow .