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Connector Types & Coax Cable Using the wrong connector or cable is one of the most common and frustrating mistakes when setting up LoRa hardware. This page covers everything you need to know to buy and connect antennas correctly. SMA vs. RP-SMA SMA (SubMiniat...

Portable & Handheld Antennas Portable antennas attach directly to your device and travel with you. The primary trade-off is between size/weight and gain. For handheld use, a compact 2 - 3 dBi antenna is usually optimal - higher gain antennas are longer and con...

Base Station & Outdoor Antennas Outdoor and base station antennas are designed for permanent weatherproof installation at height. They use larger radomes and N-connector interfaces, and are tuned more precisely than portable whips. ALFA 5 dBi Mini - ~$18 A co...

Directional Antennas Directional antennas concentrate RF energy in a specific direction rather than radiating omnidirectionally. They are used for point-to-point backbone links between fixed sites where maximum range is needed in a known direction. ALFA 12 dB...

Overview A NanoVNA (Vector Network Analyzer) is the essential tool for verifying antenna performance before deployment. It measures SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) and impedance - telling you how well your antenna is matched to the 50 Ω system and whether it is reso...

Current Draw & Power Budgets Understanding how much power your node consumes is the starting point for sizing batteries and solar panels. LoRa mesh nodes have variable current draw depending on what they are doing at any given moment. Typical Current Draw by ...

Battery Chemistry Guide Choosing the right battery chemistry for your deployment is critical. The wrong choice leads to shortened battery life, safety hazards, or a node that fails in cold weather. Li-ion 18650 Cells The 18650 is the workhorse battery for DIY...

Solar Panel & Charge Controller Selection Selecting the right panel and charge controller determines whether your solar node stays online year-round. This page covers available options and selection criteria. Prices are approximate and volatile (as of 2026-06-...

Sizing Your Solar System Proper solar sizing means the system reliably recharges within your worst-case season and holds enough battery reserve to survive your design number of consecutive no-sun days. No solar system runs unattended forever: cells fade with c...

Cold Weather Operation Solar power systems in cold climates face challenges that warm-climate systems do not. This page consolidates solar-specific cold weather guidance. See also the DIY Build Guide > Cold Weather & Winter Operation page for enclosure and bat...

Mains Power for Permanent Installations Where mains (AC grid) power is available, it is convenient and low-maintenance for routine operation: it provides essentially unlimited energy day-to-day, avoids battery-cycling wear, and simplifies the build. But for em...

The JadeNode is one of CascadiaMesh's low-cost (~$50) DIY repeater designs, configured for the standard MeshCore USA/Canada preset (which CascadiaMesh operates at 910.525 MHz in the Pacific Northwest). At roughly $50 in parts, it's an accessible entry point fo...

The Raccoon Tree Node is a long-range forest repeater designed to be suspended from a tree branch using a throw line. In mature forest, hang heights of roughly 30-60 ft are typical, with up to ~100 ft an exceptional maximum that depends on tree height and thro...

The Ikoka Box is a high-mounted infrastructure repeater design intended for fixed installations - rooftops, towers, and elevated structures. It uses the Ikoka Stick radio module (available in 0.15W, 1W, and 2W variants) paired with a purpose-built solar power ...

⚠ ANTENNA SAFETY - ALL DEVICES: Always connect a proper 915 MHz antenna (or a 50-ohm dummy load) before transmitting on any LoRa device. Operating without an antenna creates a severe impedance mismatch. The SX1262 in this board clamps its power amplifier to p...

⚠ ANTENNA SAFETY: Always connect a proper 915 MHz antenna (or a 50-ohm dummy load) before transmitting. The V4 has a high-power front-end module (PA/FEM) that can be permanently damaged by transmitting into no antenna or a bad impedance mismatch — never key t...

⚠ ANTENNA SAFETY - ALL DEVICES: Always connect an antenna before powering on or transmitting with any LoRa device. Transmitting without an antenna reflects power back into the radio and is poor practice that can stress the RF front end over time. The T-Echo's...

⚠ ANTENNA SAFETY - ALL DEVICES: Always connect an antenna before powering on or transmitting with any LoRa device - this is good practice on every board. On the T-Beam's SX1262, the radio has improved antenna-mismatch tolerance, so a brief transmission without...