I’m still fighting with Amazon to get my first pair of devices delivered, I went with heltec v3s to get started.
But looking at the meshmap.net, it’s very very sparse around me. How likely is it that the are nodes that aren’t on the map?
Hopefully I can check it out myself soon!
I think you probably have much more radio experience and knowledge than I have, then. I just bought a highly rated 915mhz antenna on amazon with an SMA adapter, it looks like and is the same size as what you’d screw into a wifi router or wifi adapter, with a 90 degree bending joint, but obviously for 915mhz band instead of 2.4ghz/5ghz wifi. I have heard that bending the 90 degree joint on these antennas will reduce performance, so I keep it straight while transmitting and it fits better with the device in my pocket while bent. I have a custom case that fits a heltec v3, a 3000mah battery, and mounts the antenna SMA adapter to the case (case also found on amazon)
Honestly the Amazon antenna will probably do perfectly fine, I might go that way for simplicity sake… maybe I’ll build an antenna too and do some a/b comparisons.
The 90 degree angle doesn’t hurt performance inherently, it only hurts it because it puts the antenna right next to the body of the radio, blocking some of the signal, and detuning the antenna slightly as well. So you’re still better off putting it vertical 👍
Also in case you didn’t know, those antennas are vertically polarized. That means when the tip is pointing up to the sky, the signal is coming out the sides going off towards the horizon. That’s the best way to get a signal out/in. Holding it sideways will create null points from the tip and base of the antenna, and also send half your signal into space and the other half in the ground 😁