Written by One of the most important parts of metastatic success is thorough coverage of the area. The goal should be to have nodes close enough to talk to each other and the personal nodes users would carry without excessive overlap that wastes time and money on extra nodes.
Best practices
*This is a work in progress and is just a general concept not rigid rules or opinions.
In a perfect world of flat land and no obstacles we could place nodes probably 5 miles apart in a grid pattern and be set. Of course the world isn’t perfect and things like terrain, curvature, buildings, trees, interference, and even solar activity can play a part. So advise given here will vary depending on all these factors (and more). If you have better recommendations please let me know.
General recommendations:
- Place nodes as high as possible
- Place them outdoors whenever possible
- use solar or permanent power
- Use the largest lipo battery you can fit is best. 3000-10,000mah for example
- Consider node power needs. nrf52 based nodes use much less than esp32 based ones
- To begin with we should probably place nodes 2-3 miles apart depending on height and obstacles
- Test node placement after deployment in as many locations between two nodes as possible and evaluate for the need for a node in between.
- Consider power output. A heltec v4 will have over 3 times the transmit power of a v3 for example at the cost of power requirements. high power nodes are best for permanent power not solar