this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2025
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Meshtastic

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Newbie question - I would like to try Meshtastic (lemmy.zip)
submitted 3 days ago by fparri@lemmy.zip to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz
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Do you have any recommendations for a cheap Meshtastic-compatible board? I don’t need GPS or a battery, since I’ll power it with a solar panel or a power bank. Having a case isn’t important; what really matters is avoiding any soldering.

I’m basically looking for a low-cost board with an integrated LoRa antenna. The goal is just to experiment, connecting it via Bluetooth to a PC or smartphone.

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[–] SrMono@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

The go to answer, unless I misunderstood your requirements, is always a heltec or a rak wisblock.

https://heltec.org/product-category/lora/meshtastic/

https://store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-meshtastic-starter-kit?variant=43884034621638

[–] sobchak@programming.dev 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah, I have a node that's just a RAK Wisblock kit just hooked up to a USB power adapter and taped together. Works great. Looks like the ESP based boards are a bit cheaper, and should be fine if you don't need to run off battery (they use considerably more current).