Rak wireless module with battery/solar.
My question is…now what? I’m in Seattle, I can pick up 121 nodes, but there no traffic.
Is everybody using private channels? Or is nobody talking? I don’t see many messages and got one reply to a general CQ I sent out, but no response to the follow up.
I guess I was kind of hoping for what I get over ham radio, occasional chats, evening nets, etc.
Am I running into a technical limitation? Or is that the gist of Meshtastic?
As a follow-up, can I easily see if my router is handling other people’s traffic? I’d like to know if I’m helping.
If you plan on keeping it up for a while, some coax-seal might be ideal on the antenna connector since you are in Seattle. It's some nasty stuff to work with, but it'll save you some maintenance.
A local mesh group where I live hosts meet-ups that they occasionally announce on 220/440, so keep your ears open for that in your area.
(I am in Denver, so I am a little out of your range. Or maybe not? High solar activity does strange things... Once, I keyed about 4-5 repeaters on 2M from my house, so anything is possible.)
Side question... Do you know if that coax-seal is similar/better to 3m splice tape or just standard rubber splice tape?
I have no idea. Using coax-seal is just what I have always used and just have been blindly following what my dad always used since I was a kid.
There are probably better options these days. If it's rubber-like and sticky, it should work fine.