<p>Continuing <ahref="https://brainsteam.co.uk/notes/2024/11/09/1731166601/">today's amateur electrical repair theme</a> with some meshtastic fiddling.</p>
Firstly, I finally got around to installing an external antennae on my T-Deck plus. I followed<ahref="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llg40EWJ_R8">Ray J's video tutorial </a>on disassembling and reassembling the device and it all went pretty smoothly. The most fiddly part was probably aligning the power and reset switches with their plastic overlays.
<figcaption>My updated T-Deck with a stubby aerial installed.</figcaption>
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<p>I think one of the coolest things about this upgrade is the fact that you're not just installing a single new aerial but an SMA socket which means you can swap out the antennae for even more sensitive/larger ones later without having to open the device back up again.</p>
<p>I also flashed the latest GUI firmware onto the device. This firmware is still in very early development so it's a little bit tricky to get working. I've written up s<ahref="https://notes.jamesravey.me/LilyGo-T-Deck-Plus#flashing-gui-firmware">ome notes on how the process currently works</a> in my digital garden.</p>
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Earlier today I also installed a heltec node in my loft and cable tied the antennae to one of the rafters in my roof. That's improved my range and connection stability but not a huge amount. I've also bought <ahref="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CN34Y4B4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">yet another longer antenna</a> to see if that helps.
