This is what I ordered from the RAKwireless store:
https://store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-meshtastic-starter-kit (pick the correct frequency for your region)
https://store.rakwireless.com/products/rak1921-oled-display-panel
https://store.rakwireless.com/products/ipex-to-sma-connector

RAKwireless also has GPS modules if you want GPS.

I bought these parts locally:
- LoRa antenna with RP-SMA connector
- 3.7V LiPo battery with JST-PH connector

3D printed case:
I used this one: https://www.printables.com/model/286657-rak19007rak5005-case-for-meshtastic
The Printables page for the 3D printed case has several options for different styles of batteries as well as instructions for assembling. 

 This looks ridiculously fun to learn. 

Question, Phil - does the Rakwireless “kit” include everything you’d need, other than the case? 

There are a number of additional options on the kit product page, but not sure if it’s the same antenna or right battery. Would you advise simply ordering each item you mention in the note I’m replying directly to? 

 The kit comes with the board with the LoRa module (pre-installed with Meshtastic) plus two small antennas, one for Bluetooth and the other for LoRa.

In addition to the items I mentioned in that note, this is the antennna that RAK sells - pick the correct frequency for your region:
https://store.rakwireless.com/products/blade-antenna
(I only bought the antenna elsewhere because I forgot to add it to my order).

You can also add the GPS module if you want to transmit location and some of the sensor modules that RAK sells are also supposed to work with Meshtastic although I haven’t tried this yet.

A couple of other things to mention are that a small amounting of soldering is needed with the RAK system to attach the OLED display and also they don’t include WiFi.

If you want something that is ready to go and also includes WiFi then the LILYGO TTGO T-Beam is another option:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001178678568.html 

 Thank you for all this! Gonna make a project of it this summer 🤙 

 Yo! Going through my nostr bookmarks and found this reminder/note-to-self 😁

Gonna order parts this weekend; do you happen to know if they ship to a PO Box or something like those amazon lockers? 

Packages get stolen around my apartment periodically (which sucks) so I could ship it to my in-laws’ house but it’ll be a while before I’m there again.

Getting stoked to learn more here. It’s so gratifying and cathartic to build stuff that works 🔥🫂🤙🫡 

 It’s a good time to order from the RAKwireless store at the moment as they have 20% off of a lot of things or 25% for 3 or more of their Meshtastic starter kits. I just ordered some more myself last night!

I’m not sure about the shipping unfortunately. Their shipping policy doesn’t seem to say anything about shipping to a PO Box. I’ve always had shipping to my home address. They use DHL for shipping to me in Australia although I’m not sure if that is the same for other parts of the world. 

 Wahoo! Gotta love an unexpected discount. I may just need to stack a few extra sats with the cash I end up saving!

Thanks for the fast reply as well - I may send you an overview of what I end up ordering, just to make sure I don’t miss anything, if that’s alright 😁 

 One question, looking at the frequency options on the blade antenna. USA is 915, and the antennae seem to have ranges if I’m reading it correctly.

I’m assuming 902-928 mhz would do the trick? https://image.nostr.build/6a7a5bf96dcfb5153c8c36c99eb8d81e2ca5d6f60b5da988a8d59ddb47e499cf.jpg  

 Yes, thats the US band 

 Thanks! 

 Is there a reason to get (or not get) the included OLED screens that the starter kit comes with? I see in your example links that you sent that you are choosing an alternative screen… how come? 

 Actually come to think of it, there’s a massive of variety of starter kits.

Are there any I here should be on the look-out for (or avoid)? https://image.nostr.build/4fa84acba161930bae3ad23493e295b8a2610a696560c12dc30d3a609c103da0.jpg  

 It really just depends on which modules you want and if you want to be able to add extra sensors. The actual LoRa module is the same on all of them (make sure you order the correct frequency for the location you are in though). The RAK19007 is the baseboard in that picture, the RAK19003 is a smaller board but doesn’t have as much space to add extra sensors etc. If you want a screen then make sure you order one with the OLED display. 

 Thanks man. I’m looking at this one (with screen) although I also saw you had listed one without the screen, then purchased a separate screen. 

If I start with a prebuilt one from LilyGo, and then build a second one from parts via rakwireless, would you advise getting the kit with screen attached, or the lower one in this photo and then attach the screen myself? Does it matter? Or is it choose-your-own-adventure? Lol 

 The first one I built was simpler using a LILYGO TTGO T-Beam:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001178678568.html (pick the correct frequency)

This module is complete and just needs a 18650 battery. I used this case for it:
 
https://www.printables.com/model/127253-t-beam-v1x-case-for-meshtastic 

 Haha I did some work looking after the network for an Aboriginal organisation in Alice Springs a few years ago. I remember the bad satellite services and slow ADSL that dropped when it rained..

The Meshtastic gear is very cheap, less than $100 per device. It is slow so limited in what you can do with it but I think it could be great for messaging in the case that mobile and fixed Internet services are unavailable. Assuming there are enough nodes to build a mesh.. Range is dependant on the devices and antennas etc used. I found some other nodes from my office in the CBD and exchanged a few messages there but nothing near home to properly test the range yet.. Now that I have 2 devices I will be able to test. 

 Very interesting. 

VicPol had all the signals from protestors during Covid, I remember David Limbrick tweeting about it because VicGov got their hands on the data. And China had Apple ban airdrop because Hong Kong protestors were using it to communicate.

Imagine a few of these in a crowd with people on some little nostr network.. No more pulling the plug on the internet, no more strongarming King Cantillionaire or any other platform owners to censor, Govs are going to have to start using fully blown military tactics and equipment to stop people who would oppose them and that doesn’t look good.

Would be really cool as just a neighbourhood network but potential is very powerful! 

 There is a Meshtatic to Nostr bridge that I want to look at which I think would be useful for the application of communicating information out of a crowd etc. I do wonder though if it would be fairly easy to jam the signal with interference in a small area as it is a very specific frequency.

I agree it is cool just as a neighbourhood or even city wide network if you can get enough users to build a mesh.. 

 I only know the very basics of EW, but LoRa is certainly harder to jam than any other civilian RF technology. Spread spectrum AND forward error correction! 

 What do they use in military? I read that Russia has been doing a lot of experimenting in signals because of drones so really have no clue what is feasible today 

 Its been more than a decade since I got out, and I was only really trained in how to recognise hostile EW and take countermeasures. Mostly just switch frequencies. I know the good stuff is all spread-spectrum chirps picked up by satellite, but unless you're in DSD they don't tell you much more than how to use it.

Basically the military uses LoRa-but-better, and with a bird in the loop for unlimited range. How much better is anyone's guess.

I've heard Russia way outstrips us in EW technology, but IDK any details. 

 There are a few nodes I’ve found around the CBD here in Adelaide so there seems to be a bit of a community here too but it doesn’t reach as far as my house yet.. 

 Meshtastic is a wireless off-grid mesh communication network which doesn’t require cellular or Internet connectivity to operate. It can run over relatively long distances (depending on the device and antenna) and is power efficient so can run off of batteries or solar power. It is mostly text based messaging although can also transmit other types of sensor data etc and there are projects to bridge it to Nostr.
The Meshtastic site has lot more information: https://meshtastic.org/docs/introduction/ 

 It looks like this might be an option for sending small files over Meshtastic:
https://github.com/landandair/Meshtastic_File_Transfer 

 Thanks. 

 This is the one I used: https://www.printables.com/model/286657-rak19007rak5005-case-for-meshtastic 

 Meshtastic is an off-grid, decentralised wireless mesh communication network so isn’t specific for Bitcoin but there are people looking at using it for sending Bitcoin transactions.
The Meshtastic website has a pretty good introduction: https://meshtastic.org/docs/introduction/ 

 Meshtastic is an off-grid wireless mesh communications network so it doesn’t rely on Internet or cellular connectivity. It is primarily used for text based messaging at the moment but people are looking at how Bitcoin transactions can be transmitted over it so it could be used as you suggest for sending transactions where there is no Internet or in situations where the Internet is down.

It is very slow compared to the Internet and other forms of networking so I don’t know that it could ever make up a large portion of the Bitcoin network but there are definitely possibilities to use it in some way. 

 you need blockchain access to make a transaction but in principle it's correct, yes 

 I did a quick range test today with a 3dBi antenna on one device sitting on a desk at home and the small antenna that came with the other device. I got about 600m but that is with no line of sight and houses etc in the way.

With good line of sight and depending on the antennas used, people report being able to get many kilometres of range. I need to do some further tests with mine. 

 Yeah cool. I don't know what I'd use it for but I like the idea of mesh networks, so I'm thinking about getting one of the devices you've been testing. If I do I'm happy to be part of the testing in some way.  

 I haven’t really figured out what I am going to use it for either! I think there are a lot of applications but for the moment I’ve just bought a few of the different devices to experiment with and learn. 

 I printed that one myself. This is the model I used:
https://www.printables.com/model/286657-rak19007rak5005-case-for-meshtastic
They have a couple of options for purchasing one ready printed if you don’t have access to a 3d printer. 

 Ohh! I wondered because when I was checking your links in the thread, I found the schematic but not the actual checkout. That ‘splains it 😂

Thanks brother!