Same old story of a community-driven site resorting to ads for revenue. After feedback they started a subscription-based version called totalFark that didn't have ads. Then they introduced ads on totalFark as well, but didn't vet their advertisers. So some of the banner ads were running malicious code on users browsers.

Love the idea! Kinda like fark.com before they got all shitty.

No worries! If you're starting out you can't go wrong with a T1000-E. It's water resistant, has GPS built-in, and ties everything together in a neat package for ~$35. There are plenty of other nodes out there but it's more of a build your own kit situation. If you're into microcontroller programming and stuff like arduino/RP/etc then Heltec v3 Lora boards are good tinker hardware.

We also have a community here on mander for meshtastic.

Yes! If you leave the default channel enabled it will join the public meshtastic network. But you can run eight channels at once, and the others can have different encryption keys.

The default setting is also to forward any received packets to the mesh, even ones it can't decrypt.

For a good compromise, use Meshtastic. Long-range radio mesh network for texting that phones can use instead of cell networks.

Ah, interesting. I have USB hardwire kits for my dashcam but they're not on a timer. I've seen the T-Echo, definitely something I'll be purchasing in the future. I'm carrying a T-1000E right now.

Great article! It was nice to see some mentions of older projects as well, instead of just things currently (de)funded.

You might be surprised at how many nodes are in your area. The vast majority probably aren't broadcasting their position to meshmap. It's usually only routers or permanent clients that people publish there.

I'm doing something similar with outdoor nodes. This enclosure looks good and the top review used it as a meshtastic node. IP65 ABS Enclosure

Just keep in mind that anything above 3 dBi is going to be directional. A 10 dBi is very directional, so unless it's a fixed antenna and you have very little elevation change between stations I'd go with a 3 or 2.5 dBi omni antenna.

I'll second Rokland. This is a good one if you want some portability. 2.5 dBi Flex

I was about the same with default v3 antenna (1 km). Even a cheap sub-$10 one will get you 3+ km.

Is it a 2.5 wavelength or a 2.5 dB omni? A 2.5 wavelength is much larger than 33 cm and will have dead spots.

But in general it will be harder for it to hear a transmission from the internal T1000-E compared to any significant external antenna.

It looks like that first link just references the original article. Seems to be an AI generated summary, too.

This is about where I am as well. G2 Base station is ordered, and I have some heltec-V3 clients to play around with. A box of T1000-Es to hand out to the kids will be next. We're in a Louisiana river delta so the land here is mostly flat, just trees and some <5 story buildings in a city of ~200,000 people. Hopefully we can get some good range with the mesh and grow pretty quickly. I've only seen two other nodes so far.

No idea about bike licenses.

High power radios in the hands of people who don't know what they're doing can cause a lot of issues. FRS/GMRS radios under 2 Watts in the U.S. don't need a license. Licensing is a way to make sure people using them know how to do so effectively, and provides for stiffer penalties if someone unlicensed causes issues.

Welch's Fruit Snacks. The Halloween packs are small and very snacky, only $0.10 each at costco.