Having built my version of the Solar Meshtastic Node, tested it for a few weeks and planned out possible locations, it was time to actually put it out in the world to see if we could connect people in northern Brisbane. (If there were any.)

Finding a home

During mapping I had narrowed things down to a couple of spots up on the range that might be suitable for placing a Meshtastic node. The challenge was always going to be turning a marker on a map into a real spot with real sun and someone happy to have it there.

Who would have thought, but after a bit of asking around, I managed to track down some contact details of someone who owned a property near where I was looking at.

Up the hill

The spot did not disappoint. As soon as I got up there it was obvious that it was going to be a great place for a node, you can see all the way out into Moreton Bay.

The missing pieces was how I was going to mount it. After some thinking and research, I found a garden stake from Bunnings. This allowed me to stick it into the ground and keep it clear of regrowth. Nothing fancy, but it worked and every meter of elevation helps.

The position gets sun for most of the day, is out of the road on the property and should hopefully give coverage to a wide range. tick, tick, tick.

Coverage

With the node up and running, the next thing was to see what it could actually reach. I dropped its real location into the planner and mapped the coverage.

Good, it covers the parts that I wanted it to cover, but what I found was that it actually reached a little further south than I expected — new nodes started appearing that I wasn’t anticipating. All still within the mapped coverage from the planner though, so it seems to be estimating pretty well.

Next steps

Now that it is deployed I want to do some real-world testing to see how the modelled coverage compares to what I can actually reach with a portable. Traceroutes from a few spots around the area will tell me a lot more than a map ever could.

I am also keen to see how it holds up over a longer stretch — I am of course nervous about leaving a node on the edge of someone’s property, but figure that is par for the course. For now though, it is up, it is solar powered, and it is talking. A good start.