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Recreational Boating and Marina Networks
Open water offers clear line of sight, low horizon clutter, and the ability to elevate antennas on a mast - all of which favor long-range LoRa links. (Note: the water surface itself causes reflections/multipath rather than low attenuation.) As a best-case over...
Search and Rescue Applications
Search and rescue (SAR) operations are one of the most compelling real-world applications for LoRa mesh networking. The combination of off-grid operation, long range, GPS position sharing, and low cost addresses several critical gaps in existing SAR communicat...
Professional and Commercial Applications
Construction Site Communications
Large construction sites present the same communication challenges as wilderness SAR operations: large area, no existing infrastructure, frequently changing layout, and need for resilient communications that works when cellular is congested or attenuated by me...
Oil, Gas, and Mining Remote Operations
Oil and gas facilities, mining operations, and remote industrial sites often operate in areas with no cellular coverage, where reliable communications are safety-critical and where the cost of conventional radio infrastructure is prohibitive for widely distrib...
Battery Chemistry and Selection
Comparing LiFePO4, LiPo, and lead acid battery chemistries for LoRa deployments, plus sizing methodology and BMS protection.
LiFePO4 vs LiPo vs Lead Acid for LoRa Deployments
Choosing the right battery chemistry for a LoRa mesh node is one of the most consequential hardware decisions you will make. The chemistry determines cycle life, safe operating temperature, charging behaviour, physical size, and total cost of ownership. This p...
Battery Sizing for LoRa Mesh Nodes
Correctly sizing the battery for a solar-powered LoRa node prevents two failure modes: undersizing (the battery dies overnight or during cloudy periods) and oversizing (wasted cost and weight). This page walks through a systematic methodology and provides work...
Battery Management Systems and Protection Circuits
A Battery Management System (BMS) is the electronic circuit that protects lithium cells from conditions that cause permanent damage or fire. Understanding what a BMS does - and detecting when one has failed - is essential for maintaining reliable solar-powered...
Solar Panel Selection and Installation
Panel technologies, Wp ratings, geographic sizing, mounting hardware, orientation, and charge controller selection.
Choosing a Solar Panel for LoRa Nodes
Solar panel selection involves matching the panel's output to the node's energy needs while accounting for real-world efficiency losses, geographic location, and physical mounting constraints. This page covers panel technology, rating systems, derating factors...
Solar Panel Mounting and Orientation
The mechanical installation of a solar panel is as important as the panel selection itself. A correctly sized panel pointed in the wrong direction, partially shaded, or insufficiently secured will fail to meet its energy budget. This page covers orientation ru...
Charge Controllers: PWM vs MPPT
The charge controller sits between the solar panel and the battery. It regulates current flow to prevent battery overcharge and manages the charging profile. Two fundamentally different control topologies are in common use: Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and Max...
Power System Wiring and Safety
Complete wiring diagrams, fusing, wire gauge selection, weatherproof connectors, and battery telemetry monitoring.
Wiring a Solar Power System for LoRa Repeaters
Proper wiring is the difference between a node that runs reliably for years and one that fails intermittently or becomes a fire hazard. (Battery life, not wiring, sets the maintenance interval — plan battery replacement per the chemistry's cycle life.) This pa...
Monitoring Battery State via Meshtastic Telemetry
Meshtastic and MeshCore both include power telemetry features that allow a node to report its battery voltage and charge level over the mesh network. This page covers enabling these features, configuring voltage ADC pins for different hardware, interpreting vo...
Network Diagnostics and Health Monitoring
Tools and techniques for understanding the health of your Meshtastic mesh.
Reading Network Statistics in the Meshtastic App
Understanding what your Meshtastic network is actually doing requires knowing how to read the statistics the app surfaces. The mobile app (Android and iOS) and the web client all expose channel utilization, airtime, packet counters, and radio-level metrics. Th...