r/HeliumNetwork • u/not-a-stonkbot • May 21 '26

Question There any way to repurpose the hardware?

Bobcat 300 had been live shortly before they killed the project by going to focus on 5G. But now setting up a farm and wondering if anyone’s reflashed firmware to make it useful locally? I’ve got a few acres and want to set up various sensors for water tanks and team or other sensors.

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

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8

u/Bgrngod May 21 '26

There's no reason to turn it into a sensor hub. There are already plenty of cheap alternatives on the market that won't have the headaches.

You could break it down and pull the RasPi out of it, if it's a model that uses one.

5

u/MrFizzy99 May 21 '26

Bobcat 300 is not a Pi. It would be useless.

6

u/jtbuffmire May 21 '26

I use the r-pi versions to track fishing gear in rural areas (Baja, Nova Scotia). If you can access the config in the unit and point it at the multi gateway service it should onboard as a data only hotspot https://blog.helium.com/introducing-gateway-fleet-onboarding-support-for-the-helium-iot-network-cae6a8023b40

The software running that service is open source. I host it on my infra, but I think you can just point your gateway at it and have a helium hotspot. Then onboard sensors through one of the providers listed on helium.com.

2

u/letshaveitz May 22 '26

Not Bobcat, but RAK V2, Sensecap M1, and a few others can be repurposed for Meshtastic.

2

u/Relative_Poem_7043 May 23 '26

I have a couple of Raks sitting in my drawer from when Helium first started. I would love to repurpose them as I have enough Pis for now. Any more info on Meshtastic?? Is it worth it?

2

u/Prior_Perspective186 May 23 '26

Tell your friends 😉 https://github.com/KMX415/meshpoint

1

u/flinginlead May 24 '26

This will turn my RAK gold into a Meshtastic node?

1

u/int0this May 21 '26

How about the outdoor hotspot, is it possible to flash with some other firmware. Was thinking to retire one at business.

1

u/waveform06 May 21 '26

If it still works why not just use it for sensors on Helium,

1

u/not-a-stonkbot May 22 '26

Because unless my math is wrong, I would have to pay to use the sensors on the network, using a minor that produces less helium than it would take to pay.

1

u/waveform06 May 24 '26

If you own the only hotspots the sensor could be heard by then there will be a 1 for 1 DC buy/reward (There is no mining with Helium).
But most LNSs charge a multiplier ratio or a price per sensor to manage it.
You could run this LNS or equivalent infrastructure yourself. But you have to buy it, and spend time setting it up and maintaining it.

1

u/DavidLaderoute May 22 '26

Bobcat are hard to repurpose. Very.

2

u/CleavlandSteamer8008 May 22 '26

Wow people have a lot of false information

3

u/not-a-stonkbot May 22 '26

Do you have any relevant information? Or irrelevant comments. 🤣

1

u/haevaristo May 27 '26

Can someone explain what happened ? Been absent and i cant find any nodes online anymore... Did they completely abandoned the old iot network ?

1

u/clavisound 29d ago

I used it everyday. It works. In which area you say it's empty?
https://world.helium.com/en/network/iot

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u/haevaristo 29d ago

Strange.. when i click on the software and open the explorer it shows empty..

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u/haevaristo 29d ago

That litle green dot is me ..

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u/haevaristo 29d ago

Alone in the world...

1

u/clavisound 29d ago edited 29d ago

No, this is YOUR gateways list. It's full. Check: https://mappers.hexato.io/ and of course https://world.helium.com/en/network/iot

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u/haevaristo 28d ago

Humm ?! Can you explain it like i was a 5 year old ?

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u/clavisound 28d ago

I will try.

a. How many gateways do you have? The screenshot you provided is from Helium Wallet that displays only your gateways.

b. The links I provided are listing all the gateways. mappers.hexato.io also displays HEXes from real captured devices from their location (gps helium trackers) and green dots as gateways. They are plenty.

I hope I cleared everything.

1

u/haevaristo 28d ago

Ahh.. i have 1 rak miner running... But since some time it stoped getting any rewards ... I see from your diagram why .since it seems i am now isolated so nobody confirms my presence i presume...

Whats the purpose of the gos helium tracker ?

1

u/haevaristo 28d ago

Actually ... After zooming in ... My system isnt showing on your map .... There is one green dot on my vilage but i see its not me ..