Heltec V3 Range Testing Question

Support
1

Hi Guys,

I’ve just setup my first pair of meshtastic devices and I’ve been testing in my local area. One node is at home and I have managed to get around 190m range before messages fail to get through.

My house node is on the first floor of the house at the window. I plan to get this on the roof with a better antenna, but I’m currently using the stock antenna, so I wasn’t expecting much range.

So my question is will some of the cheap Lora antenna on eBay improve my range?

2

Matt,

I’m new here, and I was wondering the same thing. I’ve got the Heltec V3 devices and I was very surprised at how poor the range was. I could not pick up another station.

I ordered an antenna from the PiHut with an U.FL connector (here in the UK, I don’t know where you are) and as a result I picked up another station, and we have been sending a few messages to each other.

I believe that the included antennas of the Heltec V3 are a compromise, so it is worth getting ones more optimised for the LORA band that your radios are on. We are on 868/869MHz here.

Have fun! Good luck,
Trystan

3

Most other antennas work better than the bundle antenna coming with the Heltec. I’ve made very good experience with this one:

https://amzn.eu/d/hK0A5IK (Eightwood 868 MHz)

It’s quite huge. But after all it’s really worth to skip the Heltec antenna right away from the beginning. Also I’ve experienced some improvement with changing the antenna cable also.

4

This is the one I got. I tested it on my antenna analyzer, and it’s tuned to 869Mhz:

5

I am a HAM with good test equipment so I check all my antennas. The one that is included is very poor but it fits in the case. My opinion is, it can work to couple with the cell phone in your pocket to reach another unit with a better antenna (like in your car or at your house while you are home). Longer range requires a better antenna as suggested by the other replies. Best wishes, Doug N8VY

6

You could probably build a better antenna from a SMA connector and a bit of wire vs. the bundled antenna. Your main goal is to establish “line of sight” this will really boost your range.