I have been enjoying the forum and website a lot, and I think with lots of modification, this project will work quite well for my future project. I have to say thank you to all those that helped incorporate signing into the messages, thats a critical feature and one that drove me to this solution.

My projects will all involve long distance communications (through forests almost) so range is important (and unfortunately, repeating nodes). So shielding the RF module was a concern I had.

I have just published a quick 3d model for an nRF24L01 module cover with some information on how it is used and built on Thingiverse. Rather than take space here I'll just include the link..
nRF24L01 Cover

I hope this helps some of you.. I thought by using a standard cover I could ensure good shielding, made it look good, and make it easier to ensure its completely covered. I have also made all my models use a license that allows you to print/order them online, although I am completely happy to let MySensors sell them of course if they find it valuable - and honestly they are so small and quick, you might be able to find lots of people that could print out a ton of them in one run for next to nothing..

One note - I did not state this on Thingiverse... just on this forum: Yes, I considered printing with metal bearing or conductive filament for additional shielding, but - using a non conductive plastic and covering it with foil makes more sense to me in terms of total cost and ease of creation. Plus there are no issues with shorting pins on the board.

Enjoy - thanks for everyone's contributions, hope this helps out some of ya'll.

I see the latest revision (2.1.0) has MY_RAM_ROUTING_TABLE_FEATURE or Ram-based Routing tables. Along with that, is an option to save the table into EEPROM every so often.

My application is probably going to top out at 32 nodes, but the distance could be up to 500 ft/150 m apart, and as they are battery powered, it is entirely possible they could run out of power. So I would want to rebuild the routing table on some of the nodes sometimes.. and simply power cycling a node to force a routing table rebuild would be fine.

My understanding (from reading the forum) is that flags don't rebuild routing if they lose connectivity (but I dont know if thats the case after a power cycle). If whats stored in eeprom isnt useful... will it be rebuilt at restart? If I use the RAM based table an set the EEPROM interval to something huge, will it effectively rebuild it on restart?

And of course, assuming the ram based table is an option.. how much RAM are we talking about? (given the field layout, ~32 nodes, probably not more than 6 child nodes per repeating node...) Or maybe someone can give me an idea of the math and how its stored in RAM/EEPROM..

Orcan someone suggest an entirely different solution? Like if there is a way to force a rebuild on parent link loss (I understand I would want to limit rebuilds, to not overuse EEPROM).

Thanks for any help. And also thanks for the work on the recent update. So far, its dropped right into both my GW and nodes and not caused a bit of problem!

PS - I may even have a 'roving' node which might quickly need to switch from one parent to another, so storing the routing table only in ram and being able to rebuild it quickly is a big requirement there...

I see the latest revision (2.1.0) has MY_RAM_ROUTING_TABLE_FEATURE or Ram-based Routing tables. Along with that, is an option to save the table into EEPROM every so often.

My application is probably going to top out at 32 nodes, but the distance could be up to 500 ft/150 m apart, and as they are battery powered, it is entirely possible they could run out of power. So I would want to rebuild the routing table on some of the nodes sometimes.. and simply power cycling a node to force a routing table rebuild would be fine.

My understanding (from reading the forum) is that flags don't rebuild routing if they lose connectivity (but I dont know if thats the case after a power cycle). If whats stored in eeprom isnt useful... will it be rebuilt at restart? If I use the RAM based table an set the EEPROM interval to something huge, will it effectively rebuild it on restart?

And of course, assuming the ram based table is an option.. how much RAM are we talking about? (given the field layout, ~32 nodes, probably not more than 6 child nodes per repeating node...) Or maybe someone can give me an idea of the math and how its stored in RAM/EEPROM..

Orcan someone suggest an entirely different solution? Like if there is a way to force a rebuild on parent link loss (I understand I would want to limit rebuilds, to not overuse EEPROM).

Thanks for any help. And also thanks for the work on the recent update. So far, its dropped right into both my GW and nodes and not caused a bit of problem!

PS - I may even have a 'roving' node which might quickly need to switch from one parent to another, so storing the routing table only in ram and being able to rebuild it quickly is a big requirement there...

3D printed circuit boards are still kind of a novelty and have issues.. honestly at the prices for boards now days, especially if you are doing quantity, you cant beat traditional process. But that is true of about anything you intend to print. At some quantity, the price/part for traditional process always beats 3D printed parts.

I purchased a one-up as my first printer for about that price. This one has a steel frame (that's a pretty major and important upgrade!), 20mm bigger build area, and somewhat higher temperature design. Plus filament holder and a really nice LCD and a heated bed. But it is not a direct drive extruder.

If the arm tends to sag, you just adjust the build plate accordingly (yes, that means your single line filament layers 'might' have a 1degree slant to them. It wont matter in reality). And as far as printing flexible filament, its a bowden (tube with remote feed) style head, it appears, so flexible can be really difficult in general to print with.

If you can get it at $200 then i'd say yeah, do it, as a first printer. If you're handy with tools and such, and you find an online group or people making upgrade parts (check Thingiverse for the printer name for design parts), then chances are you'll be able to fix anything it breaks during normal use.

And all printers wear down, get sloppy, etc. Keep em clean and lubed. If possible, use a build plate you can un-clip from the base plate - I found I never have to re-level if I don't put stress on the build plate (from trying to remove prints mostly).

As far as upgrades.. well honestly, everyone you find more or less says Simplify3D as your slicer is worth the price. And after using it on my system, I'd have to completely agree. But by all means, try it with the open source slicers first for a few months to get familiar with the thing (cause you'll end up having to tweak it and settings, and you will learn what all the adjustments really do, if you use a less polished slicer).

FYI - I use a CTC (replicator clone, dual head) printer I got for $500 on ebay. Its been a real workhorse, and aside from a wire harness wearing out from constant motion, its still going strong.. it is made of wood, so there is some flex, and the CTC warranty support.. well.. there just isn't any.

Oh yeah, that 30 day warranty - its not near long enough. But unless you spend over $1000, don't expect much in the way of support from any company.. from what I can tell. Its just the nature of the business.

I have been enjoying the forum and website a lot, and I think with lots of modification, this project will work quite well for my future project. I have to say thank you to all those that helped incorporate signing into the messages, thats a critical feature and one that drove me to this solution.

My projects will all involve long distance communications (through forests almost) so range is important (and unfortunately, repeating nodes). So shielding the RF module was a concern I had.

I have just published a quick 3d model for an nRF24L01 module cover with some information on how it is used and built on Thingiverse. Rather than take space here I'll just include the link..
nRF24L01 Cover

I hope this helps some of you.. I thought by using a standard cover I could ensure good shielding, made it look good, and make it easier to ensure its completely covered. I have also made all my models use a license that allows you to print/order them online, although I am completely happy to let MySensors sell them of course if they find it valuable - and honestly they are so small and quick, you might be able to find lots of people that could print out a ton of them in one run for next to nothing..

One note - I did not state this on Thingiverse... just on this forum: Yes, I considered printing with metal bearing or conductive filament for additional shielding, but - using a non conductive plastic and covering it with foil makes more sense to me in terms of total cost and ease of creation. Plus there are no issues with shorting pins on the board.

Enjoy - thanks for everyone's contributions, hope this helps out some of ya'll.