I was recently given a Heltec LoRa 32 (V3) by a co-worker to gain some experience with Meshtastic so we
could support them. It reminds me a bit of a wireless Arduino, it runs on an ESP-32 and is on a small board
much like an ESP normally is, with lots of exposed I/O pins. There's a 2.4GHz stub on the board for access to
bluetooth and wifi, and this board adds a U.FL (2mm) MFH1 antenna connector with a small wired antenna for
the meshtastic networking. (902-928 MHz in the USA)
With all the available I/O pins it should be possible to rig this up to sensors that can be read remotely, or
to driver pins to remotely control attached hardware. For example, a door sensor to transmit a message when a
door gets opened, or send a message to the radio to turn on/off a security light.
I have sine purchased four more of these (along with the basic little plastic cases) since so much was on sale
for 11/11 this year. Ali Express was really on fire this year for 11/11 day.
So of the five I have, this is how I have put them to use:
- Hawkeye Mesh Base (HwkB) - work base
- N0ZYC Attic (V1AT) - home base
- N0ZYC Guinea Pig (V1GP) - test radio
- HeltecV3 #4 (V1H4) - work radio
- HeltecV3 #5 (V1H5) - home radio
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