[TOHLORA] LoRa chip for Meshtastic/Meshcore/Reticulum - Discussion

The Other Half
1

I’m willing to investigate the option to produce a LoRa TOH for the 2026 Jolla but would like to discuss this first before designing the hardware.

Notably, I have seen this: COTS-LoRa 3D-printed TOH shell - #32 by BH

But I think it is worthwile to put a chip on a PCB and connect via pogo-pins and have an internal antenna for sleek design.

Here is my idea:

  • slim back case that basically integrates well with the camera bumper, from eye-balling it I think this should be enough.
  • custom PCB with pogo pins and some SX12xx LoRa chip wired directly to the Jolla
  • internal antenna should be good enough for most use cases (if you need higher +dBi this module is probably nothing for you anyways)
  • Meshcore firmware that runs natively on the Jolla as proof of concept (disclosure: I maintain meshcore-linux currently)

What do you think?

27 Likes
2

Hi! I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t know about meshcore before and didn’t immediately know what to use it for :sweat_smile: Checked and it looks quite cool! But I don’t yet know who I would use it with :thinking: But what I quickly tried to learn about the project, I think that TOH would bring value to the project as everyone basically carries their phones 247. So as a summary, I think very cool project, but I don’t know if I would use it personally as I don’t know if I would get any benefits out of it. But egg/chicken dilemma, we need people to use it to have benefits. If price isn’t too high, I might buy it anyway for support purpose, but no guarantee there :slight_smile:

3

Sounds great, I definitely would get one.

1 Like
4

I like meshcore a lot and prefer a stand alone most of the time. But a smart little extra companion would be great. Since I don’t want to use my phone for serious business an internal aerial will be just fine.

Ah: I forgot about Meshuga Core. Works for me. But… I am a stand alone guy (T-Deck+ Wadamesh).

5

I would be a fan of this. Can make it work with Indra.

6

Sounds like an interesting idea! Would it be possible to also support Meshtastic?

1 Like
7

Just saw this: https://www.seeedstudio.com/Wio-Tracker-L2-Pro-for-Meshtastic-p-0000.html

8

i think an open source system like meshtastic is really great to use TOH for. In the past we used to have amateur radio (HAM) that has proven very valuable at times of disasters like the 1953 flood in the Netherlands. NOw that is really on the decline. Mashtastic may replace its role. I am an electronic designer and would like to get involved in such project.

3 Likes