Installing a Nelos Repeater on a Mountainside: Notes From the First Deployment

Starting at around 6 AM

We set out at around 6 AM. The original plan was to keep climbing higher up the mountain to find a repeater site with a clearer view down toward the town below.

About halfway up, it started to rain lightly. Instead of continuing higher as planned, we decided to stop and look for a workable installation spot right where we were.

Choosing a spot facing the town

We picked a spot with a relatively open view, roughly straight toward the town below. It sits about 500 m higher than the town. It wasn't the highest point we'd been aiming for when we set out, but it was the most practical choice given the conditions at the time.

Mounting the repeater in a tree

The repeater used for this deployment is a SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro, paired with a 9 dBi fiberglass antenna.

Attaching the 9 dBi fiberglass antenna to the repeater before carrying it up to the deployment site.

We picked a spot where the trunk splits into three branches as the mounting point. The repeater was mounted close against the trunk because it was simple, easy to do, kept the install compact, and the antenna still had a fairly clear line toward the town from there. The antenna sits vertical along the trunk, pointing up.

This isn't an optimized antenna placement for this terrain. It was simply the practical call we made given the ground and weather that morning.

Carrying the repeater up the tree and securing it in place.

Testing communication in the field

We tested communication from two locations. One test point was in town, about 4.2 km from the repeater. The other was about 3 km from town, with a relatively clear line of sight back toward the repeater.

Communication between the two test points through this repeater worked. Observed SNR was in the 3-5 dB range.

Those two numbers describe two different test locations, not a combined 7.2 km link. We're also not treating 4.2 km as a maximum range - it's simply the actual distance in this test.

20 messages

In this test, 20 messages were sent, and all 20 were confirmed delivered. Confirmation typically appeared after about 2 seconds.

This is just a small field sample, not a long-term reliability measurement.

Leaving the repeater on the mountain

The repeater was left in place instead of being taken down after the test. We expect it to stay there for the next few weeks, and we'll keep watching how it performs over time - including things a single morning test can't show.

What we're taking from the first deployment

This result doesn't say anything yet about long-term durability or weather resistance - those questions need more time to observe.

What we can say at this point is that the practical decision-making - stopping at the right time, choosing a workable spot instead of pushing for higher ground - still produced a working connection. At least in this attempt, not reaching the higher point we'd originally planned didn't stop us from getting a working connection. In this specific test, the line of sight and terrain happened to be favorable. It's an early enough result that we plan to keep watching this site going forward.