MeshCore Raspberry Pi 1W Repeater

This document outlines the bill of materials (BOM) and setup for a MeshCore repeater using a Raspberry Pi and a MeshADV board or similar SX1262 radio. Tested with MeshADV and PiMesh-1W

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📋 Bill of Materials

Item	Qty	Price (USD)	Link	Notes
Antenna	1	$30	Amazon	5.8 dBi antenna. Any antenna with an N-Type male connector will work.
U.FL to N-Type Female	1	$9	Amazon	Connects the MeshADV to the antenna.
ATGM336H GPS+BDS	1	$20	Amazon	Optional, if you want to build an NTP server as well.
MeshAdv Pi Hat v1.1	1	$?	Etsy	Currently sold out at the time of writing. PCB is available on GitHub to order through JLCPCB.
PiMesh-1W	1	$65-$105	MeshSmith	Replacement to MeshADV. Made by a local CT Dev.
Raspberry Pi 4B – 2GB	1	$45	PiShop	2GB is more than enough for MeshCore and leaves resources for other services.
32GB MicroSD Card	1	$14	Amazon	Max Endurance MicroSD recommended for long runtime.
WaveShare PoE Hat	1	$25	Amazon	Optional PoE hat with GPIO passthrough. Note: the fan on these models tends to fail — alternative hats recommended for long-term builds.
USB-C PoE Splitter	1	$15	Amazon	Optional PoE splitter instead of a PoE hat.
Brass Spacer/Standoffs + Nuts + Screws	1	$10	Amazon	Standoffs and spacers.
Outdoor-rated project box	1	N/A	N/A	A box large enough to fit the Pi and two GPIO hats installed.

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🛠️ Explanation

The main use case of this node is for building a static home base or remote deployment where you have internet access via Ethernet to the Pi. This allows you to update the node remotely without needing USB, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

This document assumes the user has fundamental knowledge of using a Linux OS.

This document includes instructions for adding the GPS module, but does not provide guidance on building a stratum-1 NTP server.

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⚡ Hardware Build Instructions

NOTE: NEVER POWER ON THE MESHADV WITHOUT AN ANTENNA CONNECTED!
Doing so can (and likely will) burn out the SX1262 radio.

We will be using the WaveShare PoE hat in this build. You can also use a USB-C PoE splitter instead.

• OPTIONAL: Solder the GPS module to the MeshADV board. The recommended module is the ATGM336H listed in the BOM.
  

• Once soldered, jumper the 3.3v and J3 pins on the board to power the GPS module.
  

• Be careful that the GPS antenna does not short against the backup battery soldered onto the GPS module.
  

• Install the PoE hat and MeshADV, starting with the PoE hat and then stacking the MeshADV on top.
  

• Connect the desired antenna.

• Power up the Pi by plugging in an Ethernet cable with PoE. You can use a PoE injector or a PoE-capable network switch.

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🚀 Software Build Instructions

• Image the MicroSD card using Raspberry Pi Imager with Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit). Configure custom settings such as hostname, location, and user login. (Enable Wi-Fi if needed.)

• Insert the MicroSD card into the Pi and power it up.

• Once the Pi boots, locate it on your network and SSH into it using the credentials you set.

• Update the Pi:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

• Install dependencies:

sudo apt install git bc -y

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Next, we need to enable: SPI, I²C, and UART.

We need to edit the /boot/firmware/config.txt file:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

Add the following to the bottom of the file:

# Enable SPI
dtparam=spi=on
dtoverlay=spi0-0cs

# Enable I2C
dtparam=i2c_arm=on

# Enable UART (For all Pi versions except Pi 5)
enable_uart=1

Note: If doing this on a Pi 5, use this entry for UART instead:

dtoverlay=uart0

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Clone the pyMC_Repeater repository:

git clone https://github.com/rightup/pyMC_Repeater.git
cd pyMC_Repeater

Install the repeater software:

sudo bash manage.sh

• In the script menu, select Install.
• After installation, it will ask you to configure the radio settings.

=== pyMC Repeater Radio Configuration ===

=== Step 0: Set Repeater Name ===

Enter repeater name [mesh-repeater-01] (press Enter to keep):

Enter the name you prefer and press Enter.

=== Step 1: Select Hardware ===

  1) Waveshare LoRa HAT (waveshare)
  2) uConsole LoRa Module (uconsole)
  3) PiMesh-1W (USA) (pimesh-1w-usa)
  4) PiMesh-1W (UK) (pimesh-1w-uk)
  5) MeshAdv Mini (meshadv-mini)
  6) MeshAdv (meshadv)

Select hardware (1-6):

Select Option 6 or Option 3 depending on which board you have.

=== Step 2: Select Radio Settings ===

Fetching radio settings from API...
Available Radio Settings:

Select 13:
13) USA/Canada (Recommended) ----> 910.525MHz / SF7 / BW62.5 / CR5

• Let the install finish.

After the install is finished, open a new browser tab and go to:
http://<your-pis-ip-address>:8000
You should now see the pyMC Repeater web interface!

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⚙️ pyMC Repeater Configuration

To change the configuration of the repeater, edit the config.yaml file.

Using nano, edit the file located at:

sudo nano /etc/pymc_repeater/config.yaml

Inside this file, you can configure:

• Location
• Public and private key (useful when replacing an existing node)
• Advert timing interval

After making changes, restart the service. This can be done using the manage.sh script or via systemctl:

sudo systemctl restart pymc-repeater.service