Project MOAN: Mother of All Nodes

@Matthew_Ellisor this is quite an interesting idea. Thanks for bringing this up.
We can definitely do this. Do you have any thoughts on how we could regulate such a feature & keep our Mesh network robust?
Here are few I can think of -

  1. Create a vetting process to validate the user’s intent & then provide them with custom FW
  2. Hop count is not incremented only when the Mesh unit is connected to power. This could potentially limit this feature to relay nodes
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I’d rather see a self-regulating structure instead of a community or manufacturer regulatory function but I’m not sure how that could work. Maybe the community version could work now but is that scalable? Perhaps we should wait on P.MOAN1.0 and go from there.

BTW, 2 antennas ordered. This is like waiting for Christmas…

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If the community is engaged enough, scale should not be a problem.
Yeah P.MOAN and other similar projects will teach us a lot!

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@Matthew_Ellisor I am getting it done as fast as I can! More to come asap!

@Matthew_Ellisor Custom firmware to communicate with the node would be awesome! One could:

-Reset the unit if need be
-Get hop counts
-Unit diagnostics
-Battery life left
@Matthew_Ellisor WHAT ELSE AM I NOT THINKING OF?!?

@gua742 maybe this should be in the suggestions thread. But, for now, we’re here.
+1 on the soft reset! How about a remote reset? The unit could generate a unique string which, when received, forces a reset. Could it provide the string when pairing?
All the metrics. Messages received, sent, relayed, unique GIDs handshakes, ratio of time awake/asleep, battery performance (voltage/time cumulative power, peak current, average current… I’m getting carried away. Stopping now and (sorry if it’s rude) I’ll quote myself later on a more appropriate thread.
Waiting on Christmas twice. Once for P:MOAN and again for a shipping notice for mine!
Santa doesn’t visit if you’re awake but I know for certain that USPS does. (Drinks another cup of coffee)

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@gua742 @Matthew_Ellisor have you checked out the goTenna SDK?
You can do all of the above except for ‘Get hop counts’ using the SDK. To help you hit the ground running, we have included a sample app with the SDK.

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At lunch today I did some soldering and got my SMA jumper placed on the board! This will link up directly to an SMA to N connector adapter that will go directly into the high gain antenna! I can’t wait to get home and test it out!

How will I test it? Good question! I have a field strength meter that I will compare against this design and a regular GoTenna Mesh unit. If this was connected correctly I should get at least twice the output reading from the high gain antenna VS a regular GoTenna Mesh unit. Once that step is confirmed all I need to do is make a trip to Home Depot (to get some nuts/bolts and clear silicone), drill a couple of holes and this baby will be on the air!!! Soldering this cable on was by far the hardest thing to do thus far.

Once this is done I will release step by step instructions on how to make one of these in writing AND video!

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Alright y’all! Project MOAN is DONE! Testing will start this weekend! Here is a video of P.MOAN.V.1. I hope you enjoy the video! :slight_smile:

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@gua742 awesome stuff man. :clap:t3: :trophy: thanks for sharing the video. I look forward to your updates from your field tests. In what type of environment will you be testing this?

As far as the color of the case I’m thinking white or baige color case would probably serve better to blend in the open environments. This thing will certainly draw attention to it self. Love it! And congratulations with the build. If you ever consider making a few for a buck sign me up. Either way I’ll be watching this thread for the DIY video.

Still waiting on my :package: :flushed:

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@gua742, awesome design.

Once these become more readily available, this will be an anwesome deployment option for us in strategic spots during a disaster.

How much did it cost you in parts to build?

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I’ll add it up for you ASAP but under $100 (I think). BUT I have AWESOME NEWS!..

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PROJECT MOAN IS OFFICIALLY DONE! Tested the output RF with a field strength meter just now and the power output is at least twice that of a regular unit. This unit is going on my roof as soon as I get home from work. I am sure some kinks need to be worked out but overall it’s a done deal. More details on how to make one coming ASAP! Thank you everyone for your support and Mesh on!!!

IMG_2662

IMG_2661

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@Mark You got some good ideas! Black is also a hotter color and so yeah I am digging the other color options. I will get a video up ASAP. I work a full time and part time job BUT I should be able to pump a video out on Sunday.

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MOAN is up and active!

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Shot and made a video today on how to make an easy longer life battery node.

Here is the video below and also the link to the external battery to get. ENJOY!

GET THIS ONE IT’S SMALL AND IT ROCKS:

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Thank you for this thread.

I’m not very knowledgeable about radio, so correct me if I’m wrong about the following.

The poor/lazy person’s way of doing this, would be to connect one of those inexpensive solar panel chargers to the goTenna directly, and hack a smaller, less expensive antenna into it the same way you did. I think it would be fine as a power source since the goTenna only requests about 1.5W from the charger anyway, according to my USB monitor. Any recommendations about smaller, less fancy antennas? There are plenty of cheap ones for WiFi, and the freq includes the 900MHz range. Would these work ok?

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This one uses a single 18650 like the one you posted but it’s removable and replaceable for future upgrades.

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I am also interested in doing a simpler version, please update me if you find anything worth while.

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