I ran into Meshtastic and started playing with it. Not quite ham radio, but it is radio technology, affordable and easier to share with friends. So far I have only a single Rak Wireless device in my kitchen. Very compromised setup for 915Mhz, but surprisingly I pick up a number of nodes through repeaters on the Santa Cruz Mountains ridge. The plan is to setup a solar node above the roof line and get more direct coverage and range. I’m interested in emcomm aspects of Meshtastic and exploration of it as APRS replacement.

I ended up building a 25ft pole mounted and solar powered repeater Meshtastic node.