I'm going to try this post again... I sent a ping out from Sumter Hosp (1)-> Oswego(2)->StCharles(3)->Oswego(4)->Sumter Hosp(5).
Note that Oswego and St Charles report hearing each other equally well (-0.5db vs 0.2db). Sumter Hosp and Oswego did not hear each other the same by a WIDE margin (8.5db vs -7.5db).
All stations have the same antenna, a 5db antenna.
Sumter Hosp has a Heltech T096 1w transmitter so it is "booming" in to Oswego but struggles by a margin of 15db to hear Oswego. The other repeaters here are using Xaio Seed Studio radios.
In a separate test, I sent a packet from Sumter Hosp to St Charles directly and it heard +7.5db but I could not hear it's answer because the Heltec T096 at Sumter Hosp is stone deaf.
So with teh RAK 4631 and a 8db antenna i got 2db better margin on transmit and loads better margin on receive as compared to heltec T096.
Avoid heltec t096.
EDIT: I have found that the FEM (front end module) on the Heltec T096 is finicky. It seems to either cause increased RX noise or outright mutes the receiver. You can issue the command SET RADIO.FEM.RXGAIN OFF to disable it.
Actually the heltec with the FEM disabled seems to have a 4db receiver adavantage over the RAK 4631.
Before I took down the repeater that WAS on my tower for the past several weeks I ran the same ping/pong test. A RAK4631 putting out 22dbm into an 8dbi antenna gave me 10db at the oswego repeater.
Great minds think alike. The local ham I've been playing meshcore with owns an offgrid supply business near Florence SC. what are the odds? https://www.langstonsalternativepower.com/
Anybody hearing anything about Trump increasing the amount of wild horses that can be sold, shipped over to Brazil (?), mixed in with beef and then being sold back to the US for cheaper beef sales? Glad I like venison, have my own chickens and like beans!!! Scared of meat already in the grocery stores. Ughhhh.
There's another trick up my sleeve.... If a low repeater hears a packet, I think it's prudent to increase the TX delay on it. The idea is to have the tall repeaters relay the packet asap. Then later if the low repeater decides to transmit, the higher repeater can decide if it's heard that packet before and NOT repeat it.
When I say low or high repeater I mean <50ft or >100ft. Naturallly this will vary by your individual circumstances and network topology.
I've been running trace routes all day on these three repeaters. Getting excellent and consistent results. There's a repeater to the east of St Charles that is 20km away and I'm not hitting it. There's a tall one that is 30km away and I hit it yesterday but never today.
So when planning your network, I strongly recommend a repeater about every 15km. I'm getting excellent results with repeaters that are 100ft 33m up.
Given that meshcore can support up to 64 hops, if you put a repeater every 10 miles that's 640 mile radius from your location. Plenty.
I'm also considering that repeaters placed less than 50ft should run a transmit delay.
I'm learning the lessons that cell phone providers learned... you need more and you need smaller cells.
Well.. I shared earlier this week that I volunteered to hold down the fort for a week while my family went on a well deserved vacation to see my mother-in-law in Florida. Of course we had to have at least one surprise while they were gone. One of our dairy heifers decided to go into labor early and I had to quickly pull a calf. Now she's officially a first time cow. I video called my wife and the kids named her Peaches.
You never know what you're going to get into on a farm from day to day. This cow wasnt due for another few weeks, but she wanted to throw me a curveball while I was by myself. Lol.
FIREDRILL. You wake up tomorrow morning and have no water. Did the pump pressure switch fail? Are there ants in the pressure switch contacts? Can you tell if the pump is pulling power with an ampclamp meter? Do you have all the parts you need to repair without leaving home?
