Curious_Canid

I got the Apex trigger. It isn't fancy, but it turned what had been a sharply stepped pull into a smooth one. Between that and the compensator, it now shoots like a full-size 9mm.

I also have a Streamlight TLR-6 mounted on my Hellcat. There are many more powerful lights, but at the ranges I expect to need it, 100 lumens is more than enough. And unlike any of the rail-mouted lights I've seen, it doesn't make the Hellcat any thicker and doesn't add as much weight.

I have the Hellcat RDP with a trigger group upgrade and it is an amazing little handgun.

Absolutely.

We desperately need to change the laws that govern corporations. Our legal system requires them to behave like sociopaths.

I would follow Bernie Sanders into hell, if he said it was necessary. He would be the ideal choice to anchor a new progressive party if he were just a little younger. Not that he couldn't do it now, it's just likely to turn some people off. AOC would be my second choice.

Getting anything resembling a new party off the ground seems nearly impossible under the US system. You may be right that our best option, at least for now, is an informal organization of progressive candidates and supporters.

I think the question is if we can either reach a competitive level of fundraising, which seems unlikely, or find ways to make the money a less overwhelming factor. There have been enough races that money failed to buy to show that it is possible. It just isn't very common. For something like this to work, we will need almost everyone to become an activist.

Keep in mind that range is almost entirely a function of the antenna you use and the location you use it from. All the radios I've seen already operate at the power limits that are allowed for LoRa. I strongly recommend starting with a unit that has an external antenna connector.

In addition to the prebuilt radios from various manufacturers, check out the prebuilt units that are available on Etsy. And it isn't at all hard to put together your own. Most kits don't require any soldering. You just attach the connectors and fit it into a case. There are some great case designs that you can print yourself or you can buy them online.

My personal favorite kit is the Heltec T114. It's easy to add a GPS, it gets great battery life, and it makes upgrading the firmware really simple. I have one in an AlleytCat Pocket case that's about the size of an old-style pager.

It's hard to differentiate between the malicious lying and the incompetence of execution. The results come out the same, either way. It hurts all of us, except for the very wealthy.

The Christian left is quite large and active, but it doesn't attract media attention. Treating everyone like human beings and trying to help those in need isn't nearly as interesting as spewing mindless hatred and engaging in constant hypocrisy. Those who follow "Republican Jesus" make for better entertainment.

I don't think any of the current Meshtastic radios can be used in the usual way via ethernet. Some support WiFi, but not the RAKs that I know about. That leaves USB and Bluetooth.

There is a very neat option that allows you to set up to remotely administer a node via radio. That has saved me a lot of trouble with my repeater. You can't do everything that way that you could with a direct connection, but you can do most of it.

The repeater will automatically forward messages from your personal radio to anyone who is outside your direct range. You don't have to do anything special to make that happen. Likewise, any node, including your repeater and your personal radio, will automatically forward encrypted messages without knowing what's in them. Only the endpoints need to have the encryption keys. Anything in between just forwards the raw data.

I'm glad it was useful to you!

Easiest and least expensive are a little different, so I'll talk briefly about both.

The easiest is to go on Etsy and search for Meshtastic. You will find plenty of people who will build you a ready-to-go unit, both individual radios and solar-powered repeaters. (If you plan to put your repeater somewhere with power you can use any radio as a repeater, just put a good antenna on it.) Pre-built units start at around $60 and can go up into the hundreds, but $60 to $90 will get you a great personal radio.

The least expensive is to order a kit from one of the many companies that sell them. If the kit does not come with a case, check Etsy for cases that match your kit. Most kits do not require soldering, you just have to plug in various cables and connectors, then fit everything into the case. Some actually come fully assembled. This approach generally costs somewhere between half and two-thirds of what a pre-built setup will run. Kits start as low as $10, although most or $20 to $40, and cases are mostly $20 to $35.

One of the harder parts is to figure out which radio kit you want, but there are just two major types. Those built around the ESP32 processor tend to be a little less expensive and offer the option of WiFi, but they have a much shorter battery life. Those built around the nRF52 processor cost a little more, do not offer WiFi, but have nearly 10 times the battery life. WiFi is only used in a few specific cases, usually by repeaters and not personal units, so you may well not need it. Battery life is not usually an issue for personal radios, since nearly all of them will go for a full day between charges, but sometimes you may want more than that. Stand-alone repeaters that run off solar panels are almost all based on the nRF52 because of the battery life.

The most common starter radios are based on the Heltec V3 kit, which is based on the ESP32. It has been around a long time, it is relatively inexpensive, and it can do pretty much everything. The only downside is battery life, which may or may not matter to you. Unless that's a concern, you can't go wrong with a V3. My personal favorite is the T114 kit, also from Heltec, which is based on the nRF52. It is much like the V3, but without WiFi and with much better battery life.

I would wait until you've played with a personal radio before buying a repeater. Every Meshtastic radio acts as a repeater, so you don't necessarily need a dedicated repeated. Find out how many nodes are in your area and what kind of coverage you get. If there aren't many nodes, or distance is limited, you can consider a dedicated repeater.

Basically, a repeater is just a node with a good location that's put in a good location, up as high as possible. Because Meshtastic radios use very little power, it is practical to make completely self-sufficient solar repeater units that never require charging. You can put one of those on your roof, up in a tree, or on top of a nearby hill or mountain, without having to worry about regularly climbing back up there.

I strongly recommend that you go to meshtastic.org and read through the Getting Started documentation. It provides a lot more detail (and less personal opinion). And check out the Meshtastic communities on Lemmy. Have fun!

My wife and I each have a radio, as do several of my friends. They're handy for anything where you may not have cell coverage, like camping. We also use them at protests, to avoid the heavy surveillance that's being done on cell networks. Even if the authorities start looking at Meshtastic, everything except the public channel uses PGP end-to-end encryption, and there is no middleman that has access to the unencrypted data.

We have also put up a repeater node. It's on top of a house at the top of the highest ridge near us. Before it went up we rarely saw more than our own nodes. Now we see several dozen, and sometimes a lot more. And the repeater serves the whole community, not just us. The beauty of a mesh is that everyone contributes to everyone else's coverage.

The mesh in our city is growing rapidly right now. Not only are there a lot of people getting their own nodes, there are a surprising number of people putting up repeaters to help spread the coverage. It's amazing to watch our whole neighborhoods suddenly appear as gaps are filled in.