Now this thing is pretty cool
Bottom line up front. This thing is pretty cool. A well built, well thought out design for a ready to go Meshtastic node. Very compact, easy to carry node that would be ideal for a short outing when you'd like to have Meshtastic with you.
Links!
The give and take
It kind of goes without saying. With the compact size comes some limitations. Small battery and small internal antenna. So you have a limited range and runtime. But, that's the price you pay for something so small and easy to carry with you.
The one thing I wish it had
Is a hard switch for turing the node on or off so you can truly conserve the battery. Yes, that goes against the logic of a mesh network. If a node is showdown, the mesh has been weakened, right?
While that is true, but keep in mind. Many of us who are into Meshtastic do not have a single node. Most of the time this node would be somewhere in my home. My home that has a Meshtasic repeater on the roof and a node running 24/7 inside. Having three node within feet of each other does not benefit the mesh.
This node's future
While I really like this node, I'm not sure if I will be keeping this one in my Meshtastic tool kit. Please don't get me wrong. I really like this one. I just doesn't fill a specific need for me that isn't filled by something I already have.
This will most likely be gifted to someone near me to introduce them to Meshtastic and expand my local mesh that I am working on improving.