Meshtastic DIY - How To Build Your Own Meshtastic Node ESP32 & Lora Radio
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.radio/post/3984948
Make your own Meshtastic LoRa Node with our easy DIY guide. A complete step-by-step for building your customized mesh communication system
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The LilyGo T-Echo is probably the only device you need.
It's pretty much the only one that comes ready to go out of the box.
inexpensive? Really
...yes?
idk about that, a heltec is 15-20$ while t-echo is 55-65$.
It also doesn't include any of the things you need to make it actually work...
It does actually, You can see the parts list at the top of the blog.
The total from the parts list is $28.24. That's without taxes or shipping. There's also items on the list missing pricing entirely. That also doesn't include the cost of selling your identity to the CCP, considering last time I tried to place an order on Ali, they wouldn't send it without government ID.
It also doesn't include a battery, which you're going to need an excessively-sized one, considering how relatively-inefficient ESP is.
It doesn't include your time assembling all this stuff either.
It doesn't even include a case for your janky setup.
from the part list, you only need Lora and esp. that can get you up and running as for assembly it takes only 10 mins max. But again there is a market for ready products and market for DIY. I had some esp32 with Lora from other projects and used it, you might not have it. But the heltec is also a good cheap starting point. As for the ID well, actually most of the time your government asks for ID number to tax you if needed. But you are free to order from Amazon as well. You can find amazon links on the website if you wish, I won't be sharing them here not to make anyone angry
54$ while an esp32 is like 5 bucks
LOL you need more than an ESP32
The rest is less than 15$ but you do have to order it off AliExpress. It's more time as well so if you take it into account, I guess it comes out similar.
I would add that anybody with the know-how to build this probably already has an esp32 on hand so really only the cost of the other components should be calculated. But that cuts both ways since your example is a lot more beginner friendly and comes in a neat package with more features.
The rest of what? You gonna make your own PCB? LORA radio? Battery? Display? Buttons? Antenna?
There's a parts list to the project, it uses modules mostly it seems.
That being said, a PCB isn't very costly when ordered from China. All the parts you mentioned aren't expensive if it's to go on a PCB, a lora chip is like 3 bucks for a good one if I remember well. A lot more skill involved though and not really what I meant in any case.