Before I took down the repeater that WAS on my tower for the past several weeks I ran the same ping/pong test. A RAK4631 putting out 22dbm into an 8dbi antenna gave me 10db at the oswego repeater.

So with teh RAK 4631 and a 8db antenna i got 2db better margin on transmit and loads better margin on receive as compared to heltec T096.

Avoid heltec t096.

EDIT: I have found that the FEM (front end module) on the Heltec T096 is finicky. It seems to either cause increased RX noise or outright mutes the receiver. You can issue the command SET RADIO.FEM.RXGAIN OFF to disable it.

Actually the heltec with the FEM disabled seems to have a 4db receiver adavantage over the RAK 4631.

I'm going to try this post again... I sent a ping out from Sumter Hosp (1)-> Oswego(2)->StCharles(3)->Oswego(4)->Sumter Hosp(5).

Note that Oswego and St Charles report hearing each other equally well (-0.5db vs 0.2db). Sumter Hosp and Oswego did not hear each other the same by a WIDE margin (8.5db vs -7.5db).

All stations have the same antenna, a 5db antenna.

Sumter Hosp has a Heltech T096 1w transmitter so it is "booming" in to Oswego but struggles by a margin of 15db to hear Oswego. The other repeaters here are using Xaio Seed Studio radios.

In a separate test, I sent a packet from Sumter Hosp to St Charles directly and it heard +7.5db but I could not hear it's answer because the Heltec T096 at Sumter Hosp is stone deaf.

POV: Your kids' school has been diversified.✨

Just home school them.

Piggy play pen. Suspended a hose over the middle of their pen to make a mud out for them to root in. Also had to redesign the 55 gallon pig feeder. We also mixed half and half cracked corn and all feed sweet mix.

Anyone wanting the build a mesh repeater, heres a guide. This uses a solar patio light that Lowes no loger sells but as it turns out , I got about a dozen of these in the basement in a box. https://phillymesh.net/2026/07/10/harbor-breeze-node-updated/

Here's a little adapter do hickey that will connect that solar light above to any 3/4" 19mm) pvc T or conduit box. I think I'm going to build repeaters inside a PVC 3/4" conduit Tee body.

The slick part about these solar patio lights is the solar panel and charge controller are built into the solar panel housing. This means that you have more room in the conduit Tee for the radio gear.

Here's a mesh node build entirely in a conduit body. 3 small solar panels mounted directly to the conduit body. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFknqGFajE

My wife just found a suggestion... make a small platform or box on top of a fence post and seed it with shiny things like coins or washers, dry peanuts and some cracked corn to attract crows... who will protect my chickens.

The mesh is picking up over here... we have three new repeaters in the area.

Just looking back on a system we commissioned in late December 2025. He's used 78kwh (about $10) of electric from the grid since December. That was mostly due to him not running his batteries down below 20% in February. He'll be adding one more 16kwh battery this fall and I think he'll be 100% off grid. Once he gets to next March, he can decide it having the grid as an emergency power source is worth $36 a month.

Adding this... his power company charges him an extra dollar to send a bill in the mail and his minimum bill is $36 a month. So his bill got lost in the mail one month and the next bill showed a late fee and a back balance. So in addition to paying for a meter he's not using, he got a penalty because the bill was lost in the mail.

3/4” conduit tee with a solar panel from a patio light and a rak4631 module. There is a battery in the solar panel housing. That’s how small these mesh repeaters can be.