As mentioned in the first part, repeaters are used to extend the range of companions. With radios, the range roughly depends on three factors:

• The antenna characteristics of both radios, their heights above the ground, and the line of sight between them.
• The transmitting power of both radios.
• The frequency used.

Let's highlight here that it doesn't make sense to talk about the range of one radio. For example, I might be able to reach Bob at a maximum distance of 1 km, while reaching Alice 2 km away. That's because Alice might have a better antenna or be higher up than Bob. If one person improves their antenna, height, or line of sight, it helps everyone communicating with them.

That's not so with power. If Bob increases his power, everyone will hear him better, but that won't help him hear anyone else better. It's like if two people on opposite sides of a football field tried to talk to each other: one with a megaphone, and one without.

As a rule of thumb, everyone should use roughly the same power, and focus on improving their antenna, line of sight, and height.

With that in mind, to be effective, a repeater should have a good antenna, be as high as possible, and have a clear line of sight to other repeaters and companions.

• A repeater like the SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro can be purchased from Seeed Studio or RobotShop
• The antenna can be upgraded with one like:
  • ALFA Network AOA-915-5ACM 5 dBi
  • 5.8dBi Meshtastic Lora 915MHz Fiberglass Antenna
  • RAKwireless 8dBi Fiberglass
  • One of these from AliExpress.
• Use the shortest cable possible, like:
  • Bingfu SMA Male to N Female Bulkhead Mount RG58 Coaxial Cable 1 ft
  • Superbat N Type Female to SMA Male RG316 Coaxial Cable 15cm

This step is required to be able to perform future updates over-the-air (OTA) via Bluetooth. It is not required for (or compatible with) ESP32 devices like the Heltec V or T beam.

If you already have MeshCore installed (but not the bootloader), download your current settings:

• Go to https://config.meshcore.io/
• Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable.
• Click on “Connect”
• Click on “Export”
• Click on “Disconnect”
• Locate the “.json” file (probably in your Downloads folder).

Download the bootloader:

• Go to https://meshcore.io/flasher
• Select your device
• Select “Repeater” (or “Room Server”)
• Click on “Download”
• Select the “*bootloader-x.x.x-OTAFIXx.x.uf2” file
• Locate the “.uf2” file (probably in your Downloads folder).

Copy the bootloader over to your device:

• Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable.
• Double-click on the reset button.
• Open the drive that just mounted on your computer
• Copy the “.uf2” file to the drive.
• The drive may close on its own right away. This is normal.

Flash the MeshCore Firmware:

• Go to https://meshcore.io/flasher
• Select your device
• Select “Repeater” (or “Room Server”)
• Select “Enter DFU Mode”
• Select “Erase Flash”
• Select “Flash”

Re-upload your settings:

• Select “Configure via USB” from the previous page, or navigate to https://config.meshcore.io/
• Select “Connect”
• Select “Import”
• Select your “.json” file
• Scroll down to the “Access” section and retype your “New Admin password” (it doesn't remember it)
• Scroll down and select “Save settings”
• Select “Disconnect”

Set up the Over-the-Air (OTA) update app (first time only):

• Download the “nRF Device Firmware Update” app by “Nordic Semiconductor ASA” (Android, Apple)
• Open the “DFU” app
• In the settings, check “Packet receipt notification”

Perform an OTA update:

• Using your phone's browser, navigate to https://meshcore.io/flasher
  • Select your device
  • Select “Repeater” (or “Room Server”)
  • Select “Download”
  • Select the firmware “zip” file (not the bootloader file)
• Using the MeshCore app, log in to your repeater (or room server) using the admin password.
  • For Room Servers: go to “Remote Management”
  • Go to the “Command Line”
  • Type “start ota”; you should get a message that says: “OK - mac: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx”
• Open the “DFU” app
  • Under “File”, click “Select” to choose the firmware “.zip” file
  • Under “Device”, click “Select” and choose the device that has “DFU” in the name. If there are no devices with “DFU” in the name, select the device with “OTA” in the name.
  • Under “Progress”, click “Start”
  • If you selected a device with “OTA” in the name, the process will fail at “DFU initialization”. choose “Abort” the process and go back to the previous step, and now you should be able to select a device with “DFU” in the name.

See Scott Baker's article for more information.

• Install sensors.

Here's how to use MeshCore's Antenna Coverage tool to model line-of-sight coverage:

• Navigate to the web version of the MeshCore App
• You don't need to connect to an actual MeshCore device.
• Click on ⋮ in the top right corner and then select “Tools”
• Enter the “Antenna Coverage” tool
• Where it says “0 Coverage Layers”, click on ⋮ and select “Import JSON”
• Import this json file

This document is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 International. The original can be found at https://scarcs/links/meshcore/home