I think I have a decent setup (heltec v3, 3000mah battery, aftermarket antenna) yet I struggle to make contact with anyone. I’m a little confused as I do receive messages on the general the Long-Fast channel but my messages never seem to send or be acknowledged. Am I doing something wrong or is this just the nature if radio comms?
I have a similar issue here. When our local router went down and then came back up, it was not as good at hearing as it used to be. So while I used to be able to get messages out reliably, I can no longer. So what I’m doing instead is I’m getting a treetop solar node and putting it up in my front yard.
I can hear just fine, but my transmissions only occasionally get acknowledged due to the more deaf router.
Radio is pretty fickle, have you tried different locations? The higher the better, different materials block signal, antennas can always be better. It’s a real rabbit hole but i recommend it. Have you connected to MQTT, you should be able to find a local server and get an idea of who’s around you.
An area’s mesh network is a collaborative effort. You need to get together with others people and put some thought into your mesh. One more strategically placed node could help several people connect, who can come together to pool money and expertise to make the build less of a burden on everyone.
