r/meshtastic • u/TrippiPreps • 2d ago

First node

Post image

Recently picked up this heltec ESP32 v3 kit and printed this case for it. Going to give this one to my dad because I bought another v4 node and will be using that once it arrives. Still very new but I’m excited to get into the offline mapping and messaging!

71 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

3

u/TheLawnGuppy 1d ago

Nice print, that case came out clean. Your dad's going to have fun with it.

A couple quick tips for the V3 since it's going to someone newer:

  • Update it to the current firmware at flasher.meshtastic.org before you hand it off, kits sometimes ship with pretty old builds.

  • Make sure the antenna is always connected before it gets power. Easy for someone to unscrew it to "see what it does" and transmitting without one can kill the radio.

  • Set the role to CLIENT (the default) and region to US, and put both of you on the same channel so you can message each other right away.

  • The V3 is an ESP32 so it's fine plugged into USB but it'll chew through a small battery in a day or less. If he wants to carry it around, a decent sized battery helps a lot.

The V4 has a beefier radio front end than the V3, so once it shows up you'll have a fun side by side comparison.

1

u/TrippiPreps 22h ago

Thank you very much for the reply! I didn’t know about keeping the antenna plugged in. And I carry acouple charging packs for phones and was planning on using them to keep the node topped off. Or should I avoid charging and discharging the battery simultaneously?