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Plan a repeater

A repeater is more than a radio board. Plan its power, antenna, enclosure, mount, and a way to reach it if something goes wrong.

Check the complete system. Product revisions and firmware support change. Confirm the exact radio, power system, antenna path, enclosure, mount, and recovery method before buying or building.

Choose an approach

Packaged outdoor system

Reduces fabrication, but batteries, antenna cables, mounting hardware, or the radio may still be separate.

Check: exact contents, radio band, firmware target, connector path, weather rating, and USB access.

Review an example

Custom build

Lets you choose each part, but you become responsible for electrical compatibility, weather sealing, mounting, and service access.

Check: manufacturer limits, polarity, protection, wiring, thermal conditions, and safe recovery.

See community build guides

Start with the network need, not transmit power

Site, height, antenna system, feed-line loss, local noise, neighbouring regions, power budget, and maintenance access all affect a repeater. Coordinate with the local community before selecting a high-power or long-reach path.

Outdoor system to compare

The SenseCAP Solar Node P1 is one packaged enclosure to evaluate. It is not a complete recommendation: confirm every selected option and accessory against current manufacturer documentation.

System item What to verify Source
SenseCAP Solar Node P1 Exact Canadian-band model, supported board and repeater target, enclosure rating, included power parts, mount, and USB access RobotShop Canada
Battery system Chemistry, protection, capacity, temperature range, charger compatibility, and installation instructions Product manufacturer documentation
Antenna and cable 902–928 MHz band, factory connector, cable loss, connector gender and polarity, mount, and weather sealing Seeed LoRa antenna guide

SMA and RP-SMA are not interchangeable

Confirm the factory connector, gender, polarity, cable length and loss, antenna connector, and weather seal as one complete path. Do not order by connector appearance alone.

Community build guides

300 mW solar repeater

A draft RAK-based build with a parts list, assembly stages, bench checks, and maintenance notes.

Review the 300 mW build

Experimental 1 W solar repeater

An unverified high-power design for a measured network need. It requires electrical, RF, and site review before anyone buys parts or starts work.

Review the experimental 1 W build

These guides are community references, not verified bills of materials or a substitute for current manufacturer documentation and qualified review.

Before building or buying

  • The exact radio board appears in the current official MeshCore flasher for the repeater role.
  • The radio and antenna are for the Canadian 902–928 MHz band.
  • The full power chain follows manufacturer limits and uses documented protection.
  • The antenna is attached before the radio can transmit.
  • Property permission, structural review, weather loads, cable routing, and electrical hazards are addressed.
  • The repeater can be recovered by USB after installation.
  • The local region and settings are confirmed in the repeater configurator.
  • A bench test and maintenance plan are ready before installation.

Test it on the bench first

A completed repeater should remain on the bench until it survives a reboot, retains its settings, sends an advert received by a nearby companion, passes a local routing test, and can still be recovered over USB. Then use the mounting safety checklist.

Continue setup