5panel.dance

I've got a few nodes set up here and there to serve different purposes, and I'll be talking about the hardware a little bit here! None of it is anything super fancy, but I think it's neat!

Only a couple of my nodes have location information set, and they're all specific coordinates entered by hand with accuracy turned down. Any maps my nodes may show up in do not reflect anywhere near their actual location, and are for extremely-vague-range-test-reference-number reasons only!

My primary EDC node is a super low-cost nRF52 fakeTec node, based on a clone nice!nano MCU coupled with an SX1262 HT-RA62 module. It's got a 3000mAh battery and an M5Stack CardKB module for sending messages completely standalone, all housed in my Minimesh case! Battery life lasts roughly 2 weeks between charges, and it'll fit just about any SMA antenna I have on hand, though it's currently using a LINX ANT-916, which I've found to be pretty solid.

This node tends to stay in my pocket or bag most of the time! While I'm at work I'll have it up high on a shelf for better reception.

At home, I keep a Heltec V3 running, hooked up to my PC at all times, connected to Meshsense! This node monitors connections between nodes on the mesh and provides data to the global MeshSense map!

This node uses a GIZONT 17cm antenna from AliExpress, which was recommended by the community, and I've had good results with it.