Harbor Breeze Meshtastic Hack

Description

The Harbor Breeze Solar LED light can be purchased for about $15 and includes a capable solar panel, lithium ion cell and charge controller in a waterproof enclosure. The RAK baseboards fit perfectly inside the solar compartment. Below are the steps for completing this hack for a completely weatherproof solar powered Meshtastic node.

Skills needed : Some soldering is required as well as drilling a hole in the plastic case.

Items needed : An ipex to sma pigtail is needed in order to have an external antenna. A JST-PHR-2 connector is required if you want a plug-in type battery connection. Soldered connection will also work though. Sealing glue (silicone or marine sealant)

Details

Instructions :

Step 1. Unscrew 4 small screws to open the solar compartment.

Step 2. Solder your battery JST-PHR-2 connector or power wires to the + and - terminals of the battery. If you don't have the proper connector you can solder directly to the pins on the back of the JST connector, just make sure you get the polarity correct. You can utilize the power button to turn on and off the Rak unit by connecting the negative Rak wire to the location indicated in the extra photo added in attachments instead of directly to the battery negative terminal. Cutting the wires and sealing the hold with glue is recommended as the LED will drain the battery over night.

Step 3. If using the pole mount 3d print you don't need to drill a hole as you can use the hold already in the case meant for the LED. If not, drill the hole for your sma pigtail. A perfectly vertical antenna via 90 degree bend will not allow for a very flat solar panel so choose wisely or use an externally mounted antenna. You can skip this step if you want to use an internal antenna that fits.

Step 4. Install the sma pigtail. Seal with silicone or marine sealant.

Step 5. Install the RAK module in the free space. You can lightly tack glue this in place if you want to.

Step 6. Connect the antenna and battery and close up the back.

The light housing can be removed if not needed.

The light housing is not as waterproof as the solar enclosure so be careful if putting electronics inside of it.

Attach to a stick and put it high up.

The light will still turn on at night for a very stealthy node. To turn off the light there is a button on the back.

Here is a Lowes.com link to the solar light : https://www.lowes.com/pd/60LM-Solar-Spot-Light/1002689960

Here is a link to a European dealer : https://www.hornbach.nl/p/led-solar-buitenlamp-op-spies-35-cm-zwart/10327077

Here is a link to the Meshtastic Starter kit : https://store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-meshtastic-starter-kit

Here is an amazon link to the sma and antennas https://www.amazon.com/915MHz-LoRa-Antenna-Indoor-Cable/dp/B0CTXL61LY/

Here is the link for the pole mount telescope antenna 3d print : https://cad.onshape.com/documents/71b55f121e75b59cc458d217/w/5cb3688ce11b624981d412e3/e/fd68181190950d769c16a475

Files

Screenshot 2024-06-09 at 12.27.51 AM.png

Option power button add in. Connect the negative power wire to the location shown and the built in switch will turn on and off the Rak unit.

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 2.61 MB - 06/09/2024 at 10:28

Preview

Harbor Pole telescope.stl

Pole mount for a solo panel type installation. Since the led enclosure is not needed you can get rid of it and use the mounting tabs to mount to a pole with an SMA slot. With this print you do not need to drill a new hole for the antenna wire. https://cad.onshape.com/documents/71b55f121e75b59cc458d217/w/5cb3688ce11b624981d412e3/e/fd68181190950d769c16a475

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 170.30 kB - 06/09/2024 at 10:20

Download

Screenshot 2024-01-21 at 1.44.22 PM.png

Graphed battery data. Camel head lines are included 1500mah battery. Green is 2800mah molicel

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 169.13 kB - 01/21/2024 at 23:47

Preview

Discussions

David G wrote 03/19/2024 at 17:50

Awesome stuff. I am interested in the connection that would allow use of the button to turn off or power-cycle the Rak unit but the extra photo seems to be showing MQTT configuration options instead of where to solder the negative wire.

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Tavis wrote 06/09/2024 at 10:29

Sorry about that. Fixed the image.

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benbarnard wrote 03/18/2024 at 02:05

Forgive me if there's just not a picture showing this, but why didn't you connect the solar to the solar plug on the Wisblock? Surely that would be more efficient than the circuit in there for the lamp.

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Tavis wrote 06/09/2024 at 10:29

I went with the simplest option.

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Gary Schuetze wrote 03/11/2024 at 01:46

Thanks for the updated link!

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DWizzy wrote 03/07/2024 at 16:04

I believe the exact same lamp can be had in some European countries for €10 including tax..
https://www.hornbach.nl/p/led-solar-buitenlamp-op-spies-35-cm-zwart/10327077/
https://www.hornbach.cz/p/led-zapichovaci-solarni-osvetleni-ip44-1w-50lm-6500k-cerne/10327077/

Though I might try a solar light with a motion sensor for even more hacky functionality :)

Thanks for sharing! How did you log the voltage?

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Tavis wrote 03/07/2024 at 21:48

Thanks for the find. I've added the link to the article. The voltage log graph is done by having a node on the network connected to MQTT and then running a python client to forward the data packets to Adafruit IO feeds. AIO creates the pretty graph.

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Gary Schuetze wrote 02/28/2024 at 16:44

I just found this Project, and would like to build it, but the link to the sma and antennas doesn't work. Is there another link?

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Tavis wrote 03/07/2024 at 21:48

I've updated the article with a new link.

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Rustycoon wrote 02/08/2024 at 16:03

brilliant

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Harbor Breeze Meshtastic Hack

Description

Details