Typical range in ITU region 1

Product feedback & support
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Hello everybody,
This is another topic on range but specifically while in ITU region 1. I’ve read that the goTenna Mesh will auto tune its transmit power and frequency based on what region its operating in.

Im planning a trip to Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland & Estonia now for later this year and now I’m curious what kind of range I will experience when transmitting at .5 watts instead of the full 1 watt that I enjoy here in Canada. Any input is valuable, but range stories from fellow meshers that have first hand experience while operating in this region would be appreciated!

Cheers! :beers:

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From a UK reviewer’s detailed write-up here:

The listed range is 4 miles ‘ish in open terrain. That sounds like a fair assessment to me based on my own limited testing, but due to UK regulation (we do love our bureaucracy!) my output power is lower (0.5 watt) than my American comrades (1 watt). Objectively, I would say that to get 2 devices to chat happily with a range of 3 miles between them, we would have to have some pretty ideal conditions that are not necessarily likely in the real world. I live on the 8th floor of a building facing a large park and I guesstimate that I could hit a 1 mile radius comfortably as long as buildings don’t get in the way. Bare in mind that I am somewhat crippled (effective range reduced by 10-25%) by silly European regulation, most of you reading this won’t be.

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It’s my understanding, based on all of the legal documents online and permit forms, that MURS (used in v1) is strictly prohibited in Iceland, and the 902-928 MHz (used in v2/Mesh) is undeclared, thus not pemitted for use.

The allowed bands for unlicensed SR-devices are listed here:

https://www.pfs.is/fjarskipti/tidnir-og-taekni/tidnimal/tidnisvid-an-leyfis/skammdraegur-bunadur/

The regulation for each specific frequency band is listed here:

The goTenna device is not allowed, because it is not one of the devices operating under allowed frequencies in the country.

Did you find any resources that clearly describe the goTenna Mesh device being permitted in Iceland on the 902-928 MHz frequency range?

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The goTenna Mesh is certified for the 28 European Union/European Commission countries, where such things are covered by the Radio Equipment Directive (RED). Complicated stuff, but Iceland is not a member. You might assume that the goTenna is not certified there in the absence of documentary evidence that it is. However, from the FAQ here:

What countries are supported?

goTenna Mesh will auto-tune to RF frequencies that are legal for use in the following countries:

United States, Canada, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

As for authorization to use the 900 Mhz ISM band freqs, I suspect that it may be classified as something different than an “SR (search and rescue?) device” perhaps? Or they might be behind on updating the website? If goTenna is shipping theree, its legal. There was some brief holdup in the beginning while a few places got last minute certifications in so some delays, but I think the last of those was done some time ago.

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