Meshtastic Weather Resistant 18650 powered Pipe clamp or tree mount Wisblock Mini box with solar

I wanted a small weatherproof box for the Meshtastic RAK Wisblock Mini. I was looking for solar panel charging and 18650 protected cells. My application was for either pipe mounting or tree / telephone pole mounting. I want to use these as relay nodes, so they are barebones. This is the compact design I came up with.

See Pipe, Tree, and Pole mounts for 5V USB-C Solar Panel by Simple3D | Download free STL model | Printables.com for the solar panel mount

Depending where you live, you might want to print the part in either white or light gray to reduce the heat build up.

Assembly:

1. Remove support if you used it
2. Insert three M2 inserts to hold the Wisblock Mini board
3. If you are using the clamp version, insert four M6 inserts that hold clamp
4. Wire the four 18650 holders. 
   • Place red wires at top end and the black at the other. 
   • Run the black wires up the “channel” in the side. 
   • Trim the red and black wires about 70mm above the top. 
   • Trim Battery connector wires to about 60mm
   • Verify the polarity of the JST connector. Many of the wires you get on-line are reversed!
   • Solder the wires and cover connection with wire shrink tubing
   • Insert one to four 18650 batteries.
5. Insert the battery holders into the radio box base
6. Mount the Wisblock Mini board to the radio box base with three M2 screws
7. Attach the Bluetooth and LoRa Antennas to the Wisblock Mini board. The white RAK label tells you which is which.
8. Slide the Bluetooth Antenna down the slit to the bottom of the radio box cover
9. Mount the whip antenna.  
   • Feed the connector from the inside. 
   • The connector nut should fit tightly in the box cover. 
   • Insert the TPU grommet over the connector and then thread on the antenna tightly
10. With the antenna towards you, carefully place the back of the cover over the base box. Make sure that antenna cable does not pull off.
11. Carefully install the power plug with the positive towards the inside of the board
12. You should see some LED lights flash on/off
13. If you are installing solar panel, 
    • place the USB type C adapter on the end of the solar cable. 
    • Install the TPU cable plug grommet around the cable.
    • Slide the USB plug thru the plug hole in the radio base
    • Carefully slide the USB cable into the USB socket on the Wisblock Mini board
    • Push TPU grommet into box until it is flush/tight
14. Slowly slide the cover over the rest of the radio box base. It is an extremely tight friction fit. If you have problems, check the outside edges of the radio box base. You might need to run a file along the edges. Put the back on first. All the way down. Then pivot top towards front.

Things I used:

• RAK Wisblock Mini ( https://amzn.to/4kex1FU )
• RAK wireless battery connectors ( https://amzn.to/4i6aHN0 )
• 915MHz LoRa 10dBi Whip Antenna ( https://amzn.to/4bjx8fn )
• 18650 Battery Holder ( https://amzn.to/4i6CmO0 )
• 3500mah 18650 protected cells ( Protected 3500mAh 10A 18650 Button Top Battery (Panasonic/Sanyo NCR186 – Liion Wholesale Batteries )
• 5V 5W USB-C Solar Panel ( https://amzn.to/3D106UK )
• Black TPU filament ( https://amzn.to/3EWyNeK )
• Black PETG filament ( https://amzn.to/3D106UK )
• Brass M2 knurled inserts ( https://amzn.to/4hJRCAB )
• Brass M6 knurled inserts ( https://amzn.to/3D3vhid )
• M2 hex button head bolts ( https://amzn.to/40KQG7A )
• 1" Nylon Tie-down Straps ( https://amzn.to/4gSp86o )
• Heat Insert Press ( https://amzn.to/42PGn4O )

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