Building an outdoor enclosure for your Helium Hotspot

Preamble

One of my favourite things about The People’s Network is it’s ability to connect others from around the world. I’m not talking just talking about the challenge beacons, though they have taught me the names of some countries that I didn’t even know existed!No, I’m talking about the buzzword that surrounds Helium. The hash-tag that’s most befitting. The community.. If it weren’t for people tuning into the #HeliumHacksHappyHour and the likes of @BFGNeil and @RobPutt796, pushing the community forward, by sharing their creations out in the open, the way #ThePeoplesNetwork was intended. Then I feel the network would be on a much slower growth curve than the one we’re already seeing.

You’ve seen my last deployment and how I’ve connected hotspots to antenna’s using poles, floor lifters, dodgy cables and PoE splitters.. Since writing that post the SenseCAP team were kind enough to send me one of their M2 Data-Only hotspots with the promise that I handle this one with a bit more care 😅 This device is going to be deployed in an upcoming project, which I’ll be posting about on Hackster as our plans progress..

I’m currently awaiting delivery of my Helium Mapper, however I’ve checked on Explorer and Cargo and it looks like we’ll have sufficient coverage on the Helium Network in the location where we're planning to install.

We’ll do our bit and add our M2 hotspot to this location, but before we do that, we need to ensure that it’s acclimatised to the different hemisphere from which it was manufactured and work on turning this indoor hotspot into an outdoor hotspot!

Since I started writing this blog, SenseCAP have released their own weatherproof enclosure and I'm planning to use this for my next SenseCAP M1 Hotspot deployment 🤓

For your benefit, I’ve included a kit-list, along with some required tools which you’ll need to procure before we plug anything in.

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Tools required:

• DrillMake sure it’s charged. Don’t make the same mistakes I did…
• Stepped Drill BitsFor cutting holes.. 0 - 20mm
• ClampsFor holding your enclosure whilst you drill
• RulerThe ruler is needed to measure, a piece of paper and a pen will work as an alternative

Parts required:

• AntennaFor this deployment we’ll be using a Bingu 3dBi antenna with an N-Type (Female) connector.
• Antenna Pigtail CableThe SenseCAP M2 requires one end of the connector be RP-SMA (Male). Your requirements may vary, depending on your hardware. Do your own research before ordering anything.
• IP68 GrommetIf your device supports POE then you’ll only need one of these. For every additional cable, make sure you’re using a separate opening. It’s also worth noting that unless you’re comfortable crimping your own network cable, you will want to use a grommet that has a built-in ethernet port.
• Outdoor CAT5/CAT6 network cableFor powering our device. The length and quantity will vary depending on your location and grommet type.
• Sugru / Epoxy PuttyFor weatherproofing.
• Self-Amalgamating tapeElectrical Insulation & weatherproofing
• Mounting ScrewsSo the hotspot doesn’t rattle around in the box
• Outdoor Junction BoxRated IP66 or above

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The Build

Before we start cutting any holes or leaving any permanent scars we first want to ensure that the parts we’re using fit together the way we expect them to. Take a minute to plot out where your cables will run and ensure you’re leaving enough room for errors!

Remember, measure twice.. Cut once.

With our mounting brackets in place we can now check our placement and make adjustments where necessary. Once we’re happy with the placement we can then move on to creating openings that will be used to attach our power and antenna.

With the hotspot attached securely, proceed to mark out on your enclosure where your openings are going to be; considering at all times where water may ingress from.

With our locations marked we can now make our cuts, taking our time and testing fitments with each step of the drill-bit. Your fitments should be tight, or snug and you will also want to ensure the waterproof grommets are placed on the correct side of your enclosure (this process is like plugging in a USB cable, it usually happens on the third try 🤦‍♂️)

You will see in the picture above that following the fitment of our pigtail we’ve tested the antenna’s connection and ensured that all of our contact points are flush with the junction box.

The pigtail connector needs some extra waterproofing and electrical insulation to prevent corrosion and other bits of interference, travelling through the air. We’ll do that next.

For the cable running to our internet connection we’ve used a IP68 grommet.

If you’re using this type of grommet you will need to crimp your own network cable. If you haven’t done this before, I’d encourage you to look at purchasing an RJ45 grommet instead.

So long as you haven’t been too heavy handed you should now have what was once a waterproof box, that is now a box with waterproof attachments and electrically conductive parts exposed.. We need to fix that and my go-to for these purposes is Sugru. It’s a waterproof putty that I’ll use around the holes created. Once it’s dried, we’ll insulate our connections using some amalgamating tape.

With our outdoor enclosure now fit for the outdoors again, we can proceed to our final test fitments. We still need to power this device and as mentioned earlier, one of the benefits of the SenseCAP M2 is it’s PoE abilities. Unlike its predecessor we can connect it using only a PoE injected cable. For this, I'm going to use the SenseCAP PoE Splitter (12v).

I’ve been using the hotspot to test some of the IoT devices I’ve been busy procuring and over the coming months this device is going to be put through the ringer as more and more devices come online.Helium is the fastest growing network currently in operation. I’ve mentioned before how the community that supports it is the largest factor in making this possible. I hope this guide serves a similar purpose and allows you to cost-effectively move your miner into a more ideal location!

See you next time!