LILYGO T-Echo Meshtastic 915MHz LoRa Development Board

Super cool mesh radios! Not the smallest but work well and the screens are crisp. Would but again

meshtasic firmware works, what am i to say?

Full disclosure: two weeks ago I didn't know what Meshtastic was and had never even heard of LoRa. That being said, I'm having an absolute blast learning how to use these things, and I'm increasingly impressed by everything they can do. There are tons of resources online to help you get started, which is good because there's essentially no documentation included. I literally had to ask Google how to turn the thing on and off. Once you install the Meshtastic app, discover the mysteries of the power button, and figure out the basics, though, it's reasonably intuitive. Battery life has been impressive. I'm getting around 22 hours with moderate use, which is plenty for what I'm doing with them. Texting through Meshtastic is easy, and location sharing adds another whole level of usefulness. ATAK integration is also possible, although that's considerably farther down the rabbit hole and comes with a bit of a learning curve. Range is going to depend heavily on your antenna, terrain, settings, and where the units are located, so I'm not going to throw out some ridiculous mileage claim based on limited testing. The biggest problem I've had with these is that the more I learn about what Meshtastic and LoRa can do, the more of them I want to buy. Two weeks ago I didn't know any of this existed. Now I'm looking at antennas, solar-powered relay nodes, and wondering where else I could put one. Be warned: apparently they're contagious.

This unit failed after 5 days in service. It has a puny 800mhr battery which does not give good run time. The supplied antenna is junk as reported on Meshtastic forums. You are better off with a Trekker 5 if you want a unit ready to go right out of the box.

Caution. For one unit which had a unique serial number, it worked fine and to spec. The other has a serial number, which I could not find how to change, that clashed with another unit out in the world. This made it completely useless for its intended use. As there is no way to know if the serial number is unique you may run into problems. I was using it as a OGN rx/tx unit in a sailplane.

I got this because I’m interested in the mesh tastic idea and I wanted to try something out without having to build my own board and solder and everything else. I have the mesh tastic app on my phone. I somehow found this node. I tried sending messages to it, but I couldn’t seem to figure out how to read them. I have a lot more YouTube videos to watch and tutorials to learn about this more. I work with a physician who is into this type of technology and I told him about it and he is going to build his own board and we’re going to try to communicate.

Needs an antenna upgrade but other than that this is the best meshtastic device I've seen or used. I like that it is an all in one, turn key set up and you can operate it effectively right out of the box. No assembly required.

I am a Ham (Extra Class), have an MSCS, worked in high tech, and LOVE this little device! If you enjoy cool new technology, then YOU will love it too - no matter what level you are at. Opened the box and found NO manual, but, on the small, high-contrast, 1.54" persistent black on white screen was "meshtastic.org". I visited the site and found a whole new world out there with amazing people and hardware that I previously did not know about. You should _not_ expect to just charge it up and start calling friends thousands of miles away, but you _can_ expect to have great fun while learning about "mesh" 2024 style. On YouTube, there are >= 2 excellent videos, created by some of my favorite Ham Radio YouTubers, devoted to emerging mesh technology and this _specific_ device. My rating of 5 Stars is because it is a powerful and relatively inexpensive way to dive into an amazing, state-of-the-art technology. BTW: One does NOT need to hold a Ham Radio license, or be an MSEE to work with mesh, BUT, if you are a Ham, you will have even more fun, and might remember APRS. I look forward to have fun working through this with a 16 year old friend who will have a great time - perhaps setting up a system for covertly messaging friends at school, or collecting qand disseminating weather data, or designing a neighborhood security system or... Enjoy!

Nice form factor and good rx/tx. I really dislike the buttons though. They are too easy to press by mistake or in a backpack/pocket. The buttons should be recessed and not protrude outside the case side.

Integrates with phone well, great addition to personal network.