A repeater extends the Austrian mesh: it receives packets and forwards them, so longer radio paths can be bridged. This guide walks through setting up your own repeater.
1 — Pick hardware
Stationary repeaters benefit from boards with low power draw and good RF performance: Heltec LoRa V3, RAK4631, or RAK19007 + RAK4630. An external antenna (at least 3 dBi whip, or Yagi for point-to-point) is mandatory — without one a repeater hardly outperforms a companion. See the hardware overview for details.
2 — Flash the firmware
Fastest path is our WiFi flasher or the official flasher. Pick the repeater firmware (not companion). Connect the board via USB to a Chrome or Edge browser when flashing.
3 — Configuration
After flashing, the repeater is reachable over BLE or serial. Minimum settings:
- Region/frequency: EU868 (869.525 MHz) — other values are not legal in Austria
- TX power: max 14 dBm (25 mW ERP), duty cycle max 1 %
- ADV name: recognisable, e.g.
RPT-Vienna-Kahlenberg - Spreading factor: SF11 (default in the AT network)
4 — Choose a site
Site choice drives 90 % of the range. Rules of thumb:
- As high as possible (attic, hill, mountain) with line-of-sight in several directions
- Mount the antenna vertically, do not bury it in metal
- Keep at least 50 cm clearance from large metal surfaces (roof, HVAC)
- For Yagis: aim at gaps in the network — the live map shows where nodes are missing
5 — Power
Three setups have proven useful:
- Mains: simple, but offline during power cuts — perfect for testing
- Battery + solar: a 6 W solar panel with a 5–10 Ah LiFePO4 battery powers a repeater year-round (~30–60 mA continuous RX)
- USB power bank with solar: tinker setup, less reliable in winter
6 — Join the network
Once deployed, your repeater sends adverts automatically and shows up on the live map within minutes. Hop into the Telegram chat — other operators are happy to help with antenna choice, site coordination and diagnostics.