solar lora node

i based my project around the harbor breeze mesh node hack - which also has a good guide here, and one more here. below are my notes on assembling a solar powered lora mesh radio node.

components

• $30 - RAK Wireless Meshtastic Starter Kit - RAK4631 - 900MHZ - no additional modules - link
• $10 - Harbor Breeze 60 -Lumens 1 -Watt Black Warm White Solar LED Spot light ( Item #1234868 | Model #TS1859 in Lowes) - link
• $10 - 915Mhz antenna + u.FL (IPEX) to SMA Bulkhead Pigtail Cable - link
• $10 - 2 JST-PH 2 connectors (female) - link (could be cheaper elsewhere, mostly paying for shipping)

process

1.) disconnect existing controller

separate the backpanel from the solar panel. inside you’ll find:

• an 18650-1500 3.7V 1500mAh 5.55Wh battery
• a TW1832-80 charge controller

desolder and then unscrew the charge controller, we wont use it

2.) drill a hole for the SMA antenna and waterproof the connection - try to choose a part of the curve so that the back side of the antenna SMA does not hit the top panel. i drilled a somewhat poorly placed hole my first time and had to squish things a little more than i wanted - the goal is to make sure the angle of the extruding back of the SMA isn’t forced against the back of the plastic.

3.) for the solar connector, it doesn’t exactly fit the JST connector so you need to pull the little plastic housing off the board first. insert the first JST PH 2 connector to the solar connection on the wisblock, and then solder to the solar panel’s positive and negative terminals

4.) insert the second JST PH 2 connector to the battery connection on the wisblock, then solder to the battery terminals

5.) attach the bluetooth antenna using the pigtail connector, remove the sticker on the backside of the BLE antenna and stick inside the enclosure

6.) attach the pigtail to SMA connector, put through the hole you drilled earlier, screw on the antenna outside the enclosure

7.) connect with USB-C to the unit, flash meshcore here or meshtastic here

8.) configure the unit (choose repeater name, presets, etc)

9.) finish waterproofing the unit (switch hole, SMA connector hole)

links

• reddit conversation - on losing battery and some debugging with the on/off switch

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