00:00If you're a maker who's been curious about LoRa, Meshtastic, or long-range wireless projects,
00:05you're in the right place, because today I'm counting down the top 5 radio and antenna gear
00:09for makers, and trust me, I dug through the listings to find the best deals out there.
00:13These are the modules and kits that actually get used, not just wish-listed, so let's get into it.
00:19Coming in at number 5, we've got the M5 Stack Cap LoRa 1262 for the Cardputer ADV.
00:26This one's a little different because it snaps right onto your cardputer and adds SX-1262 LoRa
00:31coverage from 868 to 923 MHz, plus it even supports GNSS global positioning and an SMA antenna.
00:39At just over $25 and with nearly $4,800 sold at a perfect 5-star rating,
00:44this is the cleanest way to turn a pocket computer into a real long-range communicator.
00:49Next up at number 4 is the Heltec Wi-Fi LoRa 32. You can grab either the V4 or V3,
00:55and honestly, this is the board a ton of people start with. You get an SX-1262 radio paired with
01:01an ESP32 S3, so you've got Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, and LoRa all on one board, with an SMA antenna
01:07connector ready for mesh-tastic, IOTE, or tracker builds. It's about $24 with almost 4,800 units
01:14sold and a 4.9 rating, and for the price, it's one of the most beginner-friendly LoRa dev boards
01:20you can buy. At number 3, we're looking at the Seed Shao ESP32 S3 LoRa kit, and this thing is
01:26tiny,
01:27like, surprisingly tiny. It packs an SX-1262 module with 868 and 915 MHz support, and it's basically
01:36purpose-built as a mesh-tastic starter kit, with low RAW-AN, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth all baked in.
01:42The crazy part is the price, just under $11, over 4,500 sold, 4.8 stars, which makes it the
01:48cheapest way to dip your toes into mesh-tastic without committing to a big build.
01:53Number 2 is the classic SX-1278 LoRa module at 433 MHz, and here's why it still matters.
02:00These are sold in packs from 1 to 10, they're a rock-solid long-range RF transceiver with an
02:05SMA antenna and a simple SPI interface that works beautifully with Arduino and STM32.
02:11They start at just $6.39, with over 4,000 sold and a 4.9 rating, perfect if you're learning
02:17the
02:18fundamentals or building a bunch of cheap sensor nodes. And finally, my number 1 pick, the RAK4631
02:25Mesh-tastic Meshcore Kit. This is the premium option, and it earns it, you get the RAK4631 module
02:31with an SX-1262 radio for 868 and 915 MHz, mounted on the RAK19007 baseboard, and it ships with a
02:40LoRa antenna ready to go. At $45 it's the priciest on this list, but with nearly 4,000 sold and
02:47a 4.9
02:48rating, it's the one experienced makers reach for when they want reliability, expandability,
02:53and a kit that just works. So there you go 5 solid options for whatever your budget and skill level
02:59happen to be. All the links are down in the description below, so go check them out and
03:04grab whatever fits your next project. And if this helped you out, do me a favor,
03:08hit that like button and subscribe for more Maker Deer breakdowns. See you in the next one.
