Repeater Setup Guide

Set up and tune a repeater node for the Denver mesh network

Getting Started TX/RX Delay Profiles Technical Reference

Getting Your Repeater Running

Follow these steps to get a basic repeater node online.

1.Flash with Repeater firmware from the web flasher
2.Place at high elevation with good line of sight
3.Use a quality external antenna for better range
4.Ensure stable power supply (wall adapter or solar preferred)
5.Configure via USB using the web config tool

⚠️

Clock Sync Required

Repeaters default to an old date on reboot. You must sync the clock after every power cycle by connecting with the companion app or web config tool. Without a correct clock, timestamps on relayed messages will be wrong.

Repeater Configuration Profiles

Higher elevation nodes wait longer before retransmitting, letting local nodes handle nearby traffic first. The network self-organizes without manual routing.

Choose the profile that best matches your repeater's location and elevation.

Profile	Elevation	Neighbors	Example Locations	When to Use
HILLTOP	Highest	20+	Lookout Mtn, Flagstaff Summit, Green Mtn	Peak or tower with clear line of sight across the metro. Backbone infrastructure.
FOOTHILLS	Mid	10-20	Morrison ridgeline, Golden, Red Rocks area	Bridges hilltop nodes to suburban coverage.
SUBURBAN	Average	5-10	Denver/Aurora/Lakewood rooftop	Typical rooftop install serving your neighborhood.
LOCAL	Low	1-3	Indoor, ground-level, low roof	Only sees a few neighbors. Serves immediate area.
MOBILE	Variable	Variable	Vehicle, hiking, bike	Moving through the mesh. Always defers to fixed infrastructure.

HILLTOPHighest elevation

Peak or tower with clear line of sight across the metro. Backbone infrastructure.

Examples: Lookout Mtn, Flagstaff Summit, Green Mtn

Typical neighbors: 20+

CLI Commands

set txdelay 2
set direct.txdelay 2
set rxdelay 3

FOOTHILLSMid elevation

Bridges hilltop nodes to suburban coverage.

Examples: Morrison ridgeline, Golden, Red Rocks area

Typical neighbors: 10-20

CLI Commands

set txdelay 1.5
set direct.txdelay 1
set rxdelay 3

SUBURBANAverage elevation

Typical rooftop install serving your neighborhood.

Examples: Denver/Aurora/Lakewood rooftop

Typical neighbors: 5-10

CLI Commands

set txdelay 0.8
set direct.txdelay 0.4
set rxdelay 3

LOCALLow elevation

Only sees a few neighbors. Serves immediate area.

Examples: Indoor, ground-level, low roof

Typical neighbors: 1-3

CLI Commands

set txdelay 0.3
set direct.txdelay 0.1
set rxdelay 3

MOBILEVariable elevation

Moving through the mesh. Always defers to fixed infrastructure.

Examples: Vehicle, hiking, bike

Typical neighbors: Variable

CLI Commands

set txdelay 3
set direct.txdelay 2.5
set rxdelay 3

Common Settings (All Denver Repeaters)

Apply these settings regardless of your repeater's profile.

CLI Commands

set advert.interval 240
set flood.advert.interval 24
set agc.reset.interval 500
set guest.password

Setting	Value	What it does
advert.interval	240	Local advert every 4 hours (neighbors only)
flood.advert.interval	24	Network-wide advert every 24 hours
agc.reset.interval	500	Reset radio AGC every ~8 min to prevent deafness from RF interference
guest.password	(blank)	Lets community members query repeater status

Understanding the Settings

Technical reference for TX/RX delay configuration.

txdelay / direct.txdelay

•Controls how long a repeater waits before retransmitting a received packet.
•Formula: unit = estimated_airtime x txdelay, then delay = random(0..5) x unit
•Higher values create a wider random window, meaning more deference to other nodes that may retransmit first.
•direct.txdelay is the same mechanism but for routed point-to-point messages (usually set lower because direct messages benefit from faster delivery).

rxdelay — SNR-Based Path Selection

•Only affects flood packets — direct (point-to-point) packets are always processed immediately. Delays processing of floods based on signal quality (SNR).
•Strong signal = processed immediately. Weak signal = delayed and likely dropped as a duplicate.
•Effect: the mesh naturally prefers the strongest, cleanest paths without any manual routing configuration.
•All Denver repeaters use rxdelay 3.

agc.reset.interval — Radio Deafness Prevention

•Periodically resets the LoRa radio's Automatic Gain Control (AGC) to prevent "deafness" caused by strong out-of-band RF interference.
•Without this, the SX1262 AGC can lock up, clamping the noise floor at -120 dBm and making the repeater unable to hear weaker signals until rebooted.
•AGC is also reset automatically after every transmission — this setting only matters during long idle/receive periods.
•Especially important for hilltop repeaters near broadcast towers or cell sites. Denver repeaters use agc.reset.interval 500 (~8 minutes).
•Values are stored in 4-second increments (e.g., 60 is rounded to 60). Range: 4–1020 seconds. Set to 0 to disable.

Quick Reference

Setting	Default	Range	Controls	Rule of Thumb
txdelay	0.5	0-3.0	Wait before retransmitting floods	Higher = defer to other nodes
direct.txdelay	0.2	0-3.0	Wait before retransmitting direct packets	Usually lower than txdelay
rxdelay	0	0-20.0	SNR-based flood processing priority (direct packets unaffected)	Higher = prefer strongest signal
agc.reset.interval	0	0-1020	Periodic AGC reset to prevent radio deafness (seconds)	Non-zero = auto-recover from RF interference

Setting Owner Info

Help the community identify and maintain repeaters by setting owner information.

Consider including the following details in your repeater's owner info:

•Callsign or handle — your ham callsign or Discord username
•Antenna specs — type, gain, height above ground
•Power source — mains, solar, battery backup
•Install type — rooftop, tower, indoor, portable

Example

set owner KE0ABC / 6dBi omni @30ft / Solar+Batt / Rooftop

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