More Meshtastic Mischief with the LILYGO T3 S3 V1.3

Continuing on from my previous post about Meshtastic, I started Meshing around (see what I did there?) with the LILYGO T3 S3 V1.3.

NOTE: I received this product for free (minus shipping) from LILYGO in exchange for feedback.

Why this one?

As mentioned in the previous post, I have a T-Deck Plus and I was impressed with the build quality. It was not ideally suited to be a permanent station node though given all of its portable features, so my next node (after a SEED T-1000E) was going to be something I could install conveniently and connect with from the internet somehow. The T3 S3 fit the bill nicely and the current price of about $15 is a good price for what you get.

When I got it, I spent a couple minutes reading the documentation and messing with the ROM that comes on it, which was not Meshtastic. Using the Meshtastic web flasher was very simple and I got it flashed with Meshtastic with no issues on the first try.

Getting into Meshtastic, besides the physical form factor it was very similar to my other nodes when connecting from Android and the web client via Bluetooth. Unlike the T-Deck, this has working HTTP control capabilities.

Where does it fit?

Into a surplus accessory container! It fits pretty well, and I checked the material in multiple places to ensure it was not conductive.

It is connected to a decent antenna in the attic of a 1-story house through a Data Alliance 915MHz band-pass filter.

How did I set it up?

Besides flashing Meshtastic, I used the Home Assistant integration to connect to it. This has a few advantages:

• Most importantly, being integrated into Home Assistant means I can make automations with it. Most simply, I could make automations where it does something based on receiving a message - either directly, in a channel or publicly.
• It has its own web UI which is proxied which limits the number of connections to the device.
• It keeps a history of all of the data, including messages received and optionally data for other nodes.

What's next?

One easy thing to do is connect HA Assist to a channel to use natural language to control it.

Another idea is to connect telemetry and sensors, such as temperature sensors. While it's in the attic (I do plan to move it and mount the antenna in a better, outdoor spot), that would definitely be useful both for the device and for the attic itself.