Meshtastic-GOSHkathmandu

Hardware

This project uses two inexpensive ESP32-S3 boards with a Semtech SX1262 LoRa radio: the Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3 and the Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 + Wio-SX1262 kit. Both are officially supported by Meshtastic. Browse every supported board on the Meshtastic devices page.

The boards

	Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3	Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 + Wio-SX1262 kit
Chip	ESP32-S3 + SX1262	ESP32-S3 (8 MB flash, 8 MB PSRAM) + SX1262
Screen	0.96″ OLED	none
Size	about a matchbox	about a thumbnail (21 × 18 mm core)
Antenna connector	U.FL / IPEX	U.FL / IPEX
Paxcounter capable	yes (ESP32)	yes (ESP32)
Meshtastic docs	Heltec LoRa 32	Wio-SX1262 + XIAO ESP32S3
Maker page	heltec.org	Seeed wiki · shop

Buy the right frequency version

Many LoRa boards come in a low-band (433 / 470–510 MHz) and a high-band (863–928 MHz) version that look almost identical. Nepal’s NP_865 needs the high-band version.

• Heltec V3: on our board the band wasn’t printed on the box. Instead there are two solder pads marked HF and LF near the radio, with a small resistor bridging one of them. Ours had the resistor on HF (high band). Check the listing or the board before you buy.
• Seeed Wio-SX1262: covers 862–930 MHz.

Antennas

• Always attach the antenna before powering on. Transmitting without an antenna can damage the radio.
• Use an antenna made for 868/915 MHz. A 433 MHz antenna is noticeably longer and works badly at 865 MHz.
• The U.FL / IPEX connector is tiny: press it straight down until it clicks. A half-seated connector can cost most of your range.
• Height beats power: a node on a rooftop or a window ledge hears far more than one on a desk.

Power

• Both boards run from USB-C. The Heltec has a JST connector for a single-cell LiPo battery.
• In the control panel, a battery level above 100% means “powered over USB, no battery reading”.

Which firmware?

Flash with the Meshtastic Web Flasher and choose the exact board (for example Heltec V3, not V2). Keep every board on the same firmware version. In this project, a Heltec on a newer firmware than the XIAOs could not hear them at all until it was reflashed (see Troubleshooting). Release notes are on GitHub.

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