I have been an amateur radio operator for quite a long time and am starting to look into meshtastic and the Lilygo T-Deck. However, their site asks me which version I would want. The 915 megahertz, the 860 megahertz, or the 433 megahertz. As an amateur radio person, the 433 MHz would be the lowest frequency and therefore should be the longest range, but is that the most popular model? Would I be missing out on nodes if I were to use 433 MHz instead of 860 or 915?
If I’m not mistaken licensed operators have to run at less power on meshtastic. I’ll see if I can find where/why and update.I was wrong:
"What is the benefit of using a ham license with Meshtastic? If you use your ham radio license with Meshtastic, consider both the privileges and restrictions:
Privileges Increased Transmit Power Up to 10W transmit power in the United States! 47 CFR 97.313(j) Higher Gain Antennas Restrictions Plain-Text Only On amateur radio bands, encryption is illegal. FCC Part 97.113.A.4 Lack of Privacy As a ham operator, it is a requirement that you identify yourself by your call sign periodically when transmitting. Your call sign will be publicly transmitted at least once every 10 minutes at minimum. FCC Part 97.119.A"
From https://meshtastic.org/docs/faq/#amateur-radio-ham
Unless I am incorrect in my understanding of the regulations, anybody should be able to use the 433 MHz transmitter as long as the transmit power is less than 0.1 watts from part 95 of the FCC code.