Steps

1. I flashed the Mesh node. If you’d like to make a MeshCore repeater like I did, you can follow this tutorial. Be careful to connect your antenna to the board before plugging it into the computer USB or any other power source, as it may try to send a signal and if it’s not connected to the antenna, it can fry your board!

2. I connected the battery to the board so it would charge with USB for an hour or so before it had to charge through the solar input. More info on how to do that safely on Step 8.

3. I gutted as much of the solar spotlight as I could. I unscrewed the board inside, removed the cables to the solar panel and light AFTER noting the polarity of each (if you cut them with a little of each connected to the board, you can reference how they were connected later), and used pliers to break out the remaining plastic that wasn’t in either of the two major rectangular housings. One is an exterior piece that keeps out water, and the second is what creates a nice seal to the solar panel. Keep both of them! If you’re following along, you should have even disconnected the cable connected to the light. I was initially planning to remove the light part entirely, but it actually provided a nice connector to the PVC pipe.

4. I painted the underside of the solar box (but not the actual solar panel) white to reflect as much of the desert sun as I could. I plan to repaint with a sturdier finish in time, but for now it’s just some glossy acryllic I had laying around.

5. I drilled out the power switch hole a little extra, just enough to mount my antenna through the bottom.

6. I laid out my board and battery in the solar housing so I would know exactly how I would connect them later.

7. I used electrical tape and a pocket knife to scrape open the wires to the solar panel a little wider, then twisted them and the JST ZHR-2 1.5mm pitch cable ends together and electrical taped them. I did this one at a time with a piece of tape on the solar panel cables to avoid any chance of them shorting out. Because the RAK4631 is actually comprised of a RAK4630 and RAK19007 soldered together, I had to check this RAK19007 diagram from the Rokland website to confirm the polarities on the board. Be sure to save this for future use, as the polarity notation was covered up by other wires on my board!

8. I connected the 37.V flat pouch battery to the board. I realised that my battery actually had reversed polarities, so I cut one wire, taped the ends so they wouldn’t short, and then cut the second wire and attached it to the opposite side. After securely taping it with electrical tape, I reattached the leftover sides, so now black was connected to red and vise-versa. You may not need to do this with your battery, but be sure to check to avoid your battery exploding! I also noted the swapped polarity with a Sharpie in case I need to mess with it in the future.

9. I closed up the housing, making sure to keep the wires from getting caught in the plastic.

10. I tested the repeater to make sure there were no issues with it powering from solar and pulling a charge to the battery.

11. I used my self-bonding super tape to cover the gaps in the plastic on my 915 Mhz antenna so rain hopefully won’t get into it. I also used a hot glue gun on the base where the antenna connects to the solar housing to hold the antenna in place while still allowing for ventillation through the hole that once housed the on/off switch. If you do this, be sure to avoid getting too much glue onto the actual antenna, so you can remove it for repairs/readjustment in the future.

12. I used a hose clamp to tighten the solar panel to my PVC pipe. I accidentally over-tightened it, so be careful when you do yours to avoid it snapping or something. I considered using a metal pipe, but I thought there was a small chance it may mess with the LoRa output and I decided to play it safe with the PVC.

13. I went onto my roof, put the hose clamps around my PVC pipe (unclamped for the moment) ziptied the PVC pipe to an air vent pipe (without covering the hole so I can still get fresh air into my house), and then tightened the hose clamps around the air vent and PVC pipe in two spots to hopefully help in the event of a good old-fashioned New Mexico windstorm.

14. I tested the rooftop repeater in its new location. I won’t include the steps where I realized I’d messed up the firmware, had to unplug the solar and battery from the board before unscrewing the locked-in antenna, went back into my house, screwed in another antenna to avoid shorting the board, flashed a firmware deleter, and then re-flashed a new firmware, and then reconnected everything on my rooftop. It was a pain and I don’t want to bore you.

15. Success!! Rooftop repeater that was so easy and wasn’t so frustrating that I considered abanding the project numerous times at all!