Test3 — Modified frequency, SF, and CR (Sep 21 - 22, 48 hours)

Mon Sep 21, 5:00 PM → Wed Sep 23, 5:00 PM Pacific (48 hours)

Next step towards more bandwidth, fewer retransmissions, faster propagation. Building on Test1 and Test2, Test3 changes frequency, spreading factor, and coding rate together to see how they trade off in the field. The current proposed settings are 911.340 MHz, 500 kHz BW, SF8, CR7 — provisional, to be updated after Test2 completes. The exact start/stop schedule, radio settings, and step commands are encoded in the scheduler link and shown in the embedded schedule below.

We'll step these settings in a coordinated fashion, running bridges to keep the mesh usable throughout, and we'll attempt to limit impact to the mesh as we go. The aim is to optimize penetration and error handling while balancing our speed and bandwidth goals and the supporting calculations. We've already been doing limited testing between non-critical repeaters; now we need to observe the real-world impact on our own unique mesh. Coordination happens in the backhaul-testing Discord channel.

Test schedule

The live preset-test schedule is embedded below. If it doesn't load, open it directly: Test3 preset schedule (mikecarper.github.io).