UPGRADED Meshtastic Heltec V3

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Links from the show: HRCC Amazon Store: amzn.to/3UEAn9b (I earn from qualifying purchases) Tony G 3d orinted case: www.printables.com/model/561389-heltec-v3-case-for-meshtastic Smol case: www.printables.com/model/741974-h1-case-for-heltec-v3-running-meshtastic

[@KillRoy0351]

Where did you get your SMA pigtail for the antenna? I keep buying the wrong one

[@zerofox3d]

Pop me a message bud and I’ll send you a few of my cases, they are widely regarded as the best available and I ship worldwide (I’ve had a very humbling few months since I went a little viral) I wish I was as comfortable as you talking on camera 😆

[@innercityprepper]

Simon's "H1" pre-built Heltec v3 cases are fabulous! I give them to friends to help propagate the mesh.

[@N1RIP]

For 3D printed fasteners etc, I really recommend getting a Harbor Freight tap and die set.. it will literally last you a lifetime and make those fasteners go in much easier. Go ahead and pick up a combination tap drill set as well. Pop right in your drill and ream'er out. Nice vid Josh

[@tropho]

Great video, fun to watch :) Thanks for showcasing Simon's and my cases!

[@Ammed_KN6STX]

I have a bunch of Meshtastic nodes components to put together. Can’t wait to get into it!!! Great video Josh!!!

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I have another video coming up shortly on flashing the Heltec V3, it’s easy.

[@scotterdog1036]

Yea! This journey has been soooo fun!😅 Bleeding edge! I have 9 nodes now.

[@KillRoy0351]

I have this exact project on my workbench this week and was looking for a video of someone doing exactly this with the exact same printed case and device. Thank you

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Glad I could help!

[@dougbas3980]

I printed TonyG's cases myself in ABS & ASA filaments which are weather resistant. His design work is excellent. I have the GPS unit and switch and that is a difficult fit. Watching your video was helpful. Thank you. Doug, N8VY

[@Mary-wk6of]

Thank you so much Josh! Great video, looks like lots of fun!☺️

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

It is!

[@d.b.cooper]

Damn dude, I built like 25 of them now and they’re all over San Diego county. A couple of them are connecting up to you guys.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I hit a few of the mountain top units from here.

[@chriss7393]

Im in north county...any here?

[@d.b.cooper]

@@chriss7393 oh yeah, we have a ton of them in North County. There’s two on Palomar Mountain right now.

[@d.b.cooper]

@@chriss7393 hundreds

[@DMPatches]

I'm just getting into this near lakeside! About to get my first node.

[@fax565]

Just got a few of these on order. I wonder if I could put one on my HS720G drone if there is any issues legality wise with this. Might see a few other nodes that way.

[@WeekendRanch]

Awesome video man, thanks for that!

[@LeeMcc_KI5YPR]

I still have no application for Meshtastic. Good thing, considering how many other projects are lined up.

[@MrBubba123bubba]

Is there a video on the "custom job" yet?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Nope, but it will be used in the next video that is dropping tomorrow while I fly out to Hamvention.

[@Clembassador]

You can also have the GPS pull from the phone so you don’t need to have GPS installed and that’ll save battery too!

[@chrisjohnson8741]

A small thing, but it's a good idea to shut down the device before disconnecting the antenna. 95% of the time it's fine, the other 5% it's toast.

[@One-Eyed-Willly]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@digital.rancher]

Woot, good stuff! Thx Josh!

[@thesickhorseranch]

@12:37 I just flipped my hat around backwards!!!

[@garryhammond3117]

Great instructional video! - 73 - Cheers!

[@89yjrj]

Does the battery recharge when the transceiver is plugged in to USB? I assume it does, but would like confirmation if possible. Thank you and great video!

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Yes it does

[@89yjrj]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse Nice! Thank you.

[@fredhulesii1435]

Josh, which case back did you print for the 3000mAh battery. This would be for the second example in your video which included the GPS. There are many back covers to choose from. Thanks

[@conraddobler676]

I was JUST looking at doing some upgrades to my two basic heltec units

[@williamwiese9963]

Are these good for long range? Looking for something but can't decide on what to get. Great video.

[@RuneVenes]

Isnt it sketchy to change antennas with the unit on? 21:40

[@dougbas3980]

Yes

[@ragheadand420roll]

Omg it was almost a few seconds. Hes gonna burn it up. Omg. Sad hams. 😢

[@BoboAthanassion]

I'm a stupid HAM, but can you tell me why one would build these devices and for what purpose. However; it does look like a fun and educational build.

[@scotterdog1036]

It's a gateway drug to ham radio. 😊

[@scotterdog1036]

And it might actually be handy post apocalypse.

[@LeeMcc_KI5YPR]

If the internet and phone networks are down, it is a way to have comms in a community. Maybe a hunting camp, as @Ham Radio 2.0 suggested.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

The reason to build these is to communicate off grid with other people or share local sensor data.

[@major__kong]

These kinds of devices trace back to things like goTenna, which isn't making consumer devices anymore. Their use case was allowing a group to stay in contact without cell towers and not need a ham license. So things like camping and hiking. However, I suspect goTenna got out of the business because that use case for the average person just isn't important, and they probably didn't have great sales. If you do emcomm or support something like CERT, you could imagine these being used at the tactical edge and gatewayed to ham radio or part 90/95 radios for back haul. You could probably do ICS form data with these things.

[@JDWatkins]

Josh, a roll of 3M double sided tape would do wonders for your build.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

You’re right. Good call.

[@georgehughes4568]

Where @ hamvention are you?

[@BillyMcCord]

Josh are you coming to Hamvention?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Yes.

[@DirtyBirdDiesel]

is there a way to buy these ready to go out of the box? id by a bunch if they were turn key.

[@l0wpass]

The stubby antennas included with three heltec's I've got were turned to 868Mhz on a calibrated nanoVNA. They're sketchy.

[@AutieTortie]

868 is the EU frequency. You probably just bought the wrong thing or bought it from an idiot seller.

[@l0wpass]

@@AutieTortie I bought the right thing (4 times) directly from Heltec.

[@glevideo]

Check the resonance of those long antennas with your Nano VNA. Mine were resonant at around 830 and 850 MHz. Nowhere near 906 MHz. They need a little work. If you crack the antenna open to trim it, do your VNA check with the antenna cover slipped back on because the cover does affect the resonant point of the antenna.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Did you consider that you weren't giving it a good enough ground plane to test it effectively? HT antennas are a nightmare to SWR test since you're generally not creating a good enough ground plane in most cases.

[@voiknallen1447]

​@@HamRadioCrashCourse The antennas I received from the Amazon link above read an SWR about 1.3:1 across the 33cm(900MHz) band. I think they are great! For what it's worth, they seem to be dipoles, which are inherently balanced. Adding a ground plane may be unnecessary. True to our nature, I popped one open to have look inside. It looks like a coaxial dipole, which I've heard referred to as a "Bazooka" or "Sleeve Dipole." The feed line enters a small brass pipe from the bottom. The braid is connected somewhere inside the pipe, making the pipe one leg of the dipole. The center conductor extends out the top of the pipe to serve as the other leg. I believe the dimensions of the pipe are designed to compensate for the reactance created by running the coax inside a driven element. Maybe also add a little gain (embiggen the bottom of the doughnut). Both antennas I received seemed to be tuned for 1.2GHz, but have a wide SWR bandwidth. 1.3:1 is plenty good enough. I don't feel compelled to fiddle with it. Thanks for all the great recommendations. I'm having a blast with Meshtastic!

[@12chuck0351]

Link for the wire you used?

[@a11aaa11a]

Isn't that coax bend sharper than it's rated for?

[@k30ep]

On the big case what rear cover file do you use to fit that battery?

[@JbowlizzleKC]

After flashing to 2.3.10 my V3 (HelTXT) wont let me connect from my cell phone. I've tried to reset a number of times and still no luck. I've changed back to different Versions and it still wont let me connect. Is this an apple issue that wont let me check it until its location is set?

[@JbowlizzleKC]

An update, removing from bluetooth is important to get it to connect again from the app. All fixed

[@Rustconsleclips]

Good to know🎉🎉🎉

[@canidsong]

See kids, this is why you always remember to put out a Mickey's tallboy and some cookies for the demo gods.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Mickey’s hand grenades for the blood god.

[@cmarchi128]

Can you use JB Weld instead of soldering?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Nah

[@dougbas3980]

JB weld is not an electrical connection, but after soldering, you could strain re-leave the wire.

[@marklus406]

Cool video

[@hdtravel1]

Can you buy Meshtastic devices already assembled and built ? What are the brands or sources ?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Links should be in the description.

[@billypoe3703]

Are you going to keep deleting?

[@k6usy]

Pro Tip: Only hold soldering irons when you are actually using them. Never just hold it while doing other things.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

100% that is exactly what I screwed up on there. I seldom ever do that.

[@Sebass8017]

What if you hook up a car battery to it? What would the lige be?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Could kill your device. Wrong volts, wrong amps.

[@kleetus88]

that 480mAh battery looks a bit tight fit, laterally, when it gets hot(ter), will this be an issue? I don't want anything bursting in your pocket.

[@nathanz7205]

Power draw is very minimal. Not going to heat up any battery.

[@d.b.cooper]

Man, you gotta build them with the Wisblock modules so much better

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I have those too. 🤙

[@BerneK]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse do you find them to be more power friendly than the heltec?

[@WamocIsolda]

Can we get links to the parts you used for this?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Updated!!

[@WamocIsolda]

@@HamRadioCrashCourse Thanks!

[@arie1293]

An inexpensive way to hold pcbs in place (edit: for soldering hook up wires) is using some blue tack.

[@turdferguson2863]

Hey!! Are you a pilot? I'm excited to see what happens with a node on the harness!

[@joestubblefield1948]

can I talk/test with a mesh say 150 miles in a rule area?

[@LeeMcc_KI5YPR]

Not without substantial antennas on both end.

[@TrevHolland]

Even with substantial antennas, the answer is very likely "no". Unless you have zero obstructions, most tests are showing about a 3 mile range between nodes in typical environments. 7 hops, maximum, means you'll get about 21 miles, and that's IF you have enough nodes to propagate the message. Even if we give it the benefit of doubt, call it 25 miles, and double that distance, you're still only at 50 miles. Triple it? 75 miles. Still no where near the 150 you're after.

[@LeeMcc_KI5YPR]

Sorry...I understated when I said "substantial". I was thinking highly directional (big dish), and cell-tower tall. Substantial. With rare exceptions during very rare atmospheric phenomena, the frequencies are line of sight, which means you pretty much have to see the other antenna.

[@Drthunderer]

“Over the top”. 😂😂😂😂

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

You’re the first to catch that!

[@markcarico546]

If you don't burn yourself are you even soldering?

[@patrick70335]

Hey, does anyone know if I can hook up the meshtastic to a ring solar panel and charge off that? asking for a friend : )

[@huseinabdul1]

What is the plug type for that? I just looked it up it looks like it’s putting out 5.5 V which I think might be good, but don’t quote me on that.

[@huseinabdul1]

Sorry I meant is it a USB plug? I’m not familiar with ring stuff. I bought a few solar panels from Amazon that worked plus bought a few more from AliExpress that also worked as long as they’re around 5 V.

[@patrick70335]

@huseinabdul1 it's a USB C. Ideally I would hope this is running Ning off the battery and there is a charge controller built into the meshtastic. So it shouldn't pull in all 5 volts.

[@huseinabdul1]

@@patrick70335 i’m pretty sure it actually does charge, but I’d be careful to push it. I used a different model where it actually had a spot to plug a solar panel into it to me was a little safer. I’m pretty sure this one should be fine.

[@MXarcx]

Nitecore usb cable, my man

[@TheKetsa]

sharp U-turns with coax shall be avoided.

[@6pfk]

just a tip in built charger only charges at 100mA so 30000mA will take for ever. got me.😢

[@MaryBrownForFreedom]

If you tin it first it might not fit thru the hole!

[@ragheadand420roll]

Plastic on plastic. Metal on metal.

[@Oberkaptain]

I should make a case that can take a 16340 battery.

[@TrevHolland]

Tried getting in to this but they are way too hit-or-miss with transmissions. My messages come back as "ERROR" and look like they didn't get received even though they were. The Meshtastic team offers no support. People on the Discord say the same canned response, "get a better antenna" or "get it higher." Meanwhile, I'm at 1000 feet with an upgraded antenna. And 7 max hops means you're only talking to folks within a close area. It's a neat technology but, for off grid comms, it's a novelty. Better off getting a HAM license if you want to communicate off grid.

[@DawnPatrol-ce5rk]

Sounds like u, much like many many others found out way too late in the game had a burnt device. Usually occurring when antenna not plugged in and pwr on, the rub of it is- it still works just at very marginal minimal distances, so it appears to be in fine order though it may not be. This is popping up all over the place. That said it’s sure far from perfect, but that’s the hobby of it, if it weren’t that way, there would be 7B of them out there in everyone’s back pocket. But it improves everyday and is a lot of fun and 1 of very few options in the sector for the non licensed

[@TrevHolland]

@@DawnPatrol-ce5rk I certainly hope I'm wrong on this, because a burned radio would make me at least feel better about this whole thing, but I don't think mine is. I have nodes pretty far away in my nodes list, with an SWR of +/- 5. I know an SWR of 5 is generally trash, but I was told that's a common SWR for these little whip antennas. I'm not sure how to check which nodes were my first hop, though. I'll contact the seller (this was a prebuilt unit from Etsy) and see if a burnt radio is a possibility, though.

[@TrevHolland]

@@DawnPatrol-ce5rk Well, after some testing and doing traceroutes, I am hitting nodes around 5 miles away (on a hill that I can see from my house). They're using GPS so I'm fairly confident in the distance accuracy. It doesn't appear to be a burnt radio. That said, nearly every message I send still results in a cloud with a line through it and the status "ERROR". Oh well.

[@ChristopherJohnston-ml6pc]

​@TrevHolland I have verified 5 miles on my RAK Wisblock devices using Google maps after sending messages. Both were my own nodes so I was able to verify the message after I got home from the test. I have 4 RAK nodes.

[@rainmannoodles]

I got a pair of these to experiment with. I knew about the potential issues with the antennas not being plugged in (honestly, something the hardware should be able to deal with, but these are cheap Chinese trash radios so whatever) and I had no problem connecting the two nodes together. Getting more than about 1-2 blocks of range between them (line of sight) is basically impossible. And I've seen exactly 0 nodes anywhere - I've driven around with one, taken it multiple places... nothing. I suppose there are some very specific pockets where people are running dedicated high-gain repeaters, but otherwise Meshtastic is basically a novelty.

[@Beeehall]

maybe a dab of hot glue would help with cable management. great video

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Great idea.

[@howardbernier2289]

No links.

[@n2yqt]

I could smell that solder burn from NY :/

[@scotttucker5331]

What is this device for?

[@Robbie-sk6vc]

Remote sensing, communication, expiramenting.

[@DonzLockz]

Super nice but more stuff to buy and build. Lol

[@jshbsng3986]

Can we get a “plum” counter lmao

[@carascojasper]

Hi im starting meshtastic, however i left my node at home and when i got home i say in longfast sender "16jail" sent just jumbled numbers and letters. I do live near a prison 2 miles away. I wanna know what would you do? Would you bring it to the attention to the authorities? Or just let it be?

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

I’d probably see if I saw more traffic and then made a decision.

[@mrw1160]

Ripple radios firmware is already looking better than meshtastic deapite being some solo project

[@whollymindless]

Blood sacrifice complete.

[@NoroAmehr]

That is not an antenna, but a dummy load.

[@hanfo420]

The first case has design over function. So many flaws. Would not recommend it.

[@realbaconproductions]

Where’s muh affiliate link? Been meaning to order a few of these as backup comms with the family, might as well help you a little along the way! 73 KN6ZJX

[@HMybach]

i like it ´73 DO3MY