Meshtastic range test with DIY sleeve dipole antenna v2 - 145 kilometers

Excellent performance of the DIY sleeve dipole antenna version2 for Meshtastic operations at 868/869MHz has been confirmed during a range test.

A direct link between two Meshtastic nodes in a distance of 145 kilometers was established and confirmed by a trace route request.

One node placed at a location with 456m MSL and the second node at Nebelhorn mountain at 2248m MSL. Both nodes had a direct line of sight connection.

Hardware and Settings #

• 2x Liligo T-Echo, modified for direct SMA antenna connection (no pigtails)
• DIY sleeve dipole antenna v2 on the 0CB7 Meshtastic node at Nebelhorn mountain
• TE Connectivity S8060B antenna at 31ED Donauwoerth node
• Default Meshtastic EU_868 settings with Long_Fast preset

Link Budget Calculation #

Free space path loss

$FSPL=20log10(d)+20log10(f)+20log10(\frac{4\pi}{c})$

• $FSPL$ = Free space path loss [dB]
• $d$ = Distance between the antennas [kilometers] = 145 km
• $f$ = Frequency [Hz] = 869 MHz
• $c$ = Speed of light in vacuum [meters per second] = 299792.458 m/s

$20log10(145)+20log10(869000000)+20log10(\frac{4\pi}{299792.458})=134.5dB$

Link budget

$P_{RX} = P_{TX}+G_{TX}-L_{TX}-L_{FSPL}-L_{M}+G_{RX}-L_{RX}$

• $P_{RX}$ = Received power [dBm]
• $P_{TX}$ = Transmitter power output [dBm] = 22 dBm
• $G_{TX}$ = Transmitter antenna gain [dBi] = 2 dBi
• $L_{TX}$ = Transmitter loss (cables, connectors etc.) [dB] = 0.1 dB
• $L_{FSPL}$ = Free space path loss [dB] = 134 dB
• $L_{M}$ = Misc losses [dBm] = 0 dB
• $G_{RX}$ = Receiver antenna gain [dBi] = 2 dBi
• $L_{RX}$ = Receiver loss (cables, connectors etc.) [dB] = 0.1 dB

$22+2-0.1-134-0+2-0.1 = -108.2dBm$

The RSSI from Meshtastic node is indicated at -105 dBm which is close and even better than the calculated link budget.

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