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i'm pretty new to Meshtastic, but i love the technology and am going to tinker a bit but i need some devices that will allow me to get started and have a meshtastic environment in use for future projects and neighborhood services. much of what is available for long-range communications via 915MHz Lora radios are development boards and components you can use to assemble and build other things, and sometimes those made devices end up on Etsy where it's pretty easy to spot some cool gadgets for the lab. ## communicator something like a blackberry for messaging and using that meshtastic BBS service (omg waaaannt) is made by many people using the Lilygo T-Deck and T-Deck Plus (or is it pro? those are all sold out anyway the regular T-Deck is what people are selling right now. ### components - lilygo T-Deck https://www.lilygo.cc/products/t-deck ### assembled and for sale - Lilygo T-Deck w SMA, 915MHz, antenna, a blackberry-esque form-factor https://www.etsy.com/listing/1716914571/lilygo-t-deck-wsma-complete-with - T-teck Complete with jumbo 8000mAh battery https://www.etsy.com/listing/1740148840/t-deck-complete-with-8000-mah-battery - with a helix GPS antenna and different design https://www.etsy.com/listing/1710513412/lorameshtastic-lilygo-t-deck "Anyhow! This is a standard Lilygo T-Deck (915mhz), they will all be shipped out flashed with the latest stable firmware, keyboard colors are either black or black, i install 7M-NEO GPS modules and now I’m using helix external antennas for the GPS, and I’ve come to be very fond of the antennas pictured (20cm) as their SWR is at 1.36 which is good enough for the girls I go out with." - Spec5 NOMAD is a bit of a dark horse fake-out; a tiny linux computer with a small qwerty thumboard and a lot of CPU - can operate a Lora radio and be flashed i believe a device like this is necessary (or a raspi in my rack i suppose) for that meshtastic BBS system so i want one of these https://www.etsy.com/listing/1773501856/spec5-nomad-lora-radio-linux-arm ## nodes nodes can be little sensors or compact communications devices, some have eink or OLED displays for stats/power/connectivity. the intended use case is a mobile app on your phone you pair the node to your phone or other device, and then you can send messages and telemetry to people. you can have multiple nodes and use them for different contact with different users. at conferences like defcon these are extremely common and considering the nature of meshtastic and it's privacy features i'm surprised i'm not hearing more alarmist coverage about using things like for black markets and contacting your coke dealer or something. lots of variety on the assembled consumer side, here is a short list i haven't used but have in a shopping cart. ### assembled nodes for sale - heltec v3 meshtastic in a durable shell but the cool part about this one is the strong magnet on it. attach to a vehicle and follow it across town https://www.etsy.com/listing/1718195697/heltec-v3-running-meshtastic-by-ukielab - dashy pro is similar with a 3000mAh battery https://www.etsy.com/listing/1716029292/dashy-pro-complete-device-running - another heltec v3 meshtastic variant https://www.etsy.com/listing/1728849681/complete-device-powered-by-meshtastic - another one USD $61 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1703350315/heltec-v3-running-meshtastic-lora - i just ordered one of these heltec v3s in a pager-style form-factor and i'm super psyched with the pricing too https://www.etsy.com/listing/1766587323/complete-heltec-v3-device-running ## infrastructure nodes made for outdoor applications or for handling more traffic for larger mesh environments. - solar 'repeater' for your yard USD $90 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1776350396/micro-meshtastic-solar-node-rak-wisblock?frs=1 *** Anything else that is ready to use and suitable for getting started that you've found? I'd love to see it before I start ordering!

The FCC’s Consumer Complaints page for reporting interference recently added a category for reporting interference to GMRS stations. Previously, there was no way to report issues specific to GMRS, but there was for Broadcast, Amateur, etc. This is a small but important development and may help combat the FCC’s recurring claim that “…we have received no reports of interference...”. This statement has been common in most all Part 95 and GMRS rule-making proceedings over the last few decades to help justify further encroachment of FRS and support other policies that licensed GMRS licensees generally opposed. We are not suggesting the Commission lied about the lack of complaints – they had not provided a way to report, categorize and centrally store them! The Northern California GMRS Users Group (NCGUG) encourages repeater owners and users to report recurring interference problems, such as unlicensed operation on repeater uplink channels, intentional jamming and abuse, and of course interference from FRS (co- or adjacent-channel). We have been reporting recurring interference from maritime operations on our repeater uplinks for some time. While the FCC rarely responds to such complaints, this may go a long way to eventually reducing the rising tide of interference sources that we all have to deal with. Brief instructions on how to use this site follow. ____________________________ https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us Create an account (different from your ULS account) File a complaint Radio Fill in Subject and Description Radio Issues: INTERFERENCE Radio Interference Sub Issue: TO LICENSED TWO_WAY RADIO SERVICES (LAND MOBILE, AVIATION, MARINE) Your Radio Method: PERSONAL RADIO SERVICES (CB, FRS, GMRS) Fill-in the remaining fields marked with “*”. The site provides a selection of “To Unlicensed Service (CB, FRS GMRS)” under Radio Interference Sub Issue. This incorrectly refers the GMRS as an unlicensed service, which it is not. While we have requested a correction, we recommend using the “Licensed….” selection noted above instead. Greg

Several of us in California (bay area and Sacramento) have become inundated with many unlicensed business users on our repeater outputs. Interestingly, most of these users operate the following: TX/RX 462.600 D455 TX/RX 462.725 D252 While our repeaters can cover them in some cases, there are so many bubblepacks that they are reducing our ability to hear simplex/direct mode traffic or more distant repeaters. None of these users have a callsign, and they are operating wideband (we can tell they are wideband due to their 4-5 kHz deviation and resulting volume; narrowband should be lower volume and 2.5 kHz peak deviation). We reached out to several users who all advised they had "RT15" radios. https://tinyurl.com/tmu48vq A customer posted the frequency listing for this "FRS" radio showing the two DCS codes above (actually the inverted codes; D322 Inverted = D455 Non-Inverted, and D462 Inverted = D252 Non-Inverted). So this confirms the user info. But it has a few problems: Defaulted wideband (essentially creating a GMRS radio) Capable of voice encryption Contains a non-FRS channel (462.825) According to the new rules, radios marketed and Type Certified as FRS cannot operate wideband or have encryption, let alone have a Part 90 channel in them. Of course, when asked, the seller replies that the programming cable is available, and I found the software is downloadable for free. Various violations here: §95.591 Sales of FRS combination radios prohibited. (does wideband make this a GMRS radio??) §95.575 FRS modulation limits (exceeded) §95.587 FRS additional requirements. - (a) Transmit frequency capability. FRS transmitter types must not be capable of transmitting on any frequency or channel other than those listed in §95.563 (462.825??) - (e) Effective September 30, 2019, no person shall manufacture or import hand-held portable radio equipment capable of operating under this subpart (FRS) and other licensed or licensed-by-rule services in this chapter (part 15 unlicensed equipment authorizations are permitted if consistent with part 15 rules). The user manual that was submitted for FCC certification shows 2.5 kHz deviation, no scrambling. The current manual now shows 5 kHz deviation and scrambling. Anyone else getting slammed with these things?