I have a new compact repeater design which is quite an all-round winner: good for permanent installation, or 'grab n go' ones you can throw in a bag and put up for ad-hoc areas.
Shopping List
Heltec StickLite V3 - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DdfdaWr
6V MPPT solar charger - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDIdF1v
2000mAH 1S lipo battery - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCgNNQ7 (the 2.0 connector, not the 2.0F reverse polarity)
5.5-6.0V solar panel - https://www.seeedstudio.com/1W-Solar-Panel-80X100.html
915Mhz antenna (IPEX-1 connector) - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003718305155.html
Any weather-proof enclosure does the job, but you can opt to use the 3D-printable one I have designed: Download from the Store/Extras
And, finally, the engine that drives it: Download the firmware from the Store/Extras
Starting Off
You should have the components below to start:
This is a pretty simple build, really, and only involves minimal soldering. The MPPT charge controller makes it almost plug-n-play :-)
Flash the firmware
The USB port will be difficult to access once the StickLite is installed, so do this first. See this post about flashing ESP32 devices with firmware .bin files.
Print the case
Print the 'CR-Bot' part first, as this is the one you will be installing most things into, and can have the other parts printing while you do the initial steps.
Installing the electronics
Feed the antenna's u.fl/IPEX connector thru the whole on the side of the 'CR-Bot' part, then click the connector onto the StickLite's LoRa antenna connector (the closer to the USB end, the other connector is for external WiFi antenna). Then use double-sided tape to mount the StickLite (see pic below). The MPPT controller will have labels on the various connectors: two SOLAR at one end, and BATTery/LOAD at the other. The BATT/LOAD end is on the left in pic. This goes to the StickLite's power/battery connector:
Double check that all of your red wires go to the '+' (positive) sides of each connector, otherwise bad things happen :-(
Feed the SOLAR +/- wires through the two holes at the top of the 'CR-bot' part. (snip the PH2.0 connector off one of the ends). These will be then be soldered to the solar panel's +/- terminals:
Use hot glue or silicone sealant to affix the panel into the 'CC-frame' part.
The LiPo battery is plugged into the BATT connector of the MPPT controller. For this build, this is my on/off mechanism, but you can opt to put in a switch here is you prefer. Weather-proofing the switch is difficult, so I just opt to plug/unplug.
Place the TPU 'CR-ring' weather seal into the trough that is around the rim of the 'CR-bot' part. The two case parts (CR-bot and CR-top) will be screwed together with 16mm long m2 bolts/screws, and tightened to form a seal.
The 'CC-BrL' and 'CC-BrR' are the left and right brackets that hold the solar panel frame to the case. The 'CC-mbr' part is for attaching to the back of the case (use two ~6mm m3 bolts), and is for mounting the repeater to a pole/tree with cable ties. The 'AntHolder' piece is for mounting the T-antenna. Two cable ties used at one end, thru the 4 larger holes, to attach the centre-part of the 'T', then some double-sided tape to position onto the case:
Finishing Up
Use some silicone sealant to fill in the holes at the top which go to the solar panel. Do the same for the hole the antenna goes through. And, that should be it. Almost ready to take it out into the wild!
Configuration
I will link to another post later, about the setup via the Ripple Commander app. This is fairly straight-forward, and now only involves an initial 'pairing' process which is done over the LoRa radios. When the repeater is powered up, and doesn't have any config, it will be repeatedly sending a 'pairing request' message to the 'home' node (ID: 1), and waiting for a reply. If you're not ready for this step yet, power down your repeater as it will be just endlessly transmitting (albeit, it does choose a very low power setting when it does this).
OK, that's it for now. Hopefully you find this useful. This repeater is the 'standard' one I will be going with from now on, and the primary hardware I will be supporting (even though, there are a number of other hardware components the firmware can currently run on).
regards,
Scott Powell.