Hardware recommendations

If you want to use or contribute to the mesh you will need suitable hardware, this just needs to be capable of operating on LoRa frequencies (868MHz) and is listed on the MeshCore web flasher, there are many to choose from and they can all run off batteries

Devices for using the mesh

These devices I would recommend for using the mesh

• Heltec LoRa V3, these are plentiful on Amazon, some come with a case, some do not, all can run off batteries, these are ideal for beginners but be aware the antennas supplied may not be great, replacing the antenna with a better one may help you
• Heltec T114, these are more power efficient than the LoRa V3 and have options for GPS, battery and solar charging, this means they could also serve as a repeater if you so wish but there is a better recommendation that I'll come to below, these can also be found on Amazon
• Lilygo T-Deck Plus, this device looks much like an old-school BlackBerry phone, but doesn't carry voice, this device is completely stand alone, order the version that comes with Lilygo firmware as it is actually cheaper and it would be a waste of money to pay extra for a firmware for another mesh system you're not going to use and would be erasing anyway, these are on AliExpress and Amazon as well as direct from Lilygo
• Seeed Studio SenseCAP card tracker T1000-E, this is a device that hangs on a lanyard or can slip in a pocket, it is also very water resilient so great for those that spend much time outdoors, it will more than likely come supplied with another mesh system's firmware but this is can be changed over to MeshCore easily using the supplied USB cable, available from The Pi Hut in the UK for fast delivery, I'll provide instructions when I obtain one of these on how to move this over to MeshCore

Devices for contributing to the mesh (repeaters)

These devices I would recommend if you wish to build a repeater to contribute to the mesh and help it expand, like the devices above they all run off batteries that can be recharged either by USB or solar

• RAKWireless WisBlock series (consisting of a RAK19003 or RAK19007 baseboard and a RAK4631 core module) These are very popular for repeater use as they have a very low power consumption and can take a solar panel directly onto the board, the module has connectors for both the BLE and LoRa side so you can use your choice of antenna on both, though BLE will only ever be used if you want to do an over the air update, these are available in the UK from MPowered247.com, choose the "Meshtastic Starter Kit", as this contains everything you need to get started, you just have to flash the board with the MeshCore firmware
• Raspberry Pi Pico and Waveshare Pico-LoRa-868M module, these should be both available from The Pi Hut in the UK, be sure to get the 868MHz (HF) module and the Raspberry Pi Pico should have header pins fitted to it, these boards come with a small antenna and a pigtail to connect it to the board as well as a 600mAh battery, the battery should really be replaced with a larger one for any decent runtime

Antennas

These antennas I would recommend if you need something beyond stock or just to improve what you have, if you need coaxial cable Paradar do have this in various lengths

• Paradar antennas make a selection of outdoor antennas for 868MHz as well as an indoor use one that would improve the transmission and reception from your companion greatly, the outdoor antennas are all ideal for repeater use, choose an omni-directional antenna to cover your area, if you need to link to a repeater that's just out of reach choose a Yagi, these are also available on Amazon
• McGill Microwave also sell a selection of antennas for outdoor use for 868MHz, mainly omni-directional and some directional, be aware that they also sell 915MHz antennas so double check you have chosen one of the 868MHz antennas before placing your order
• These antennas from Amazon in my tests have worked well on companion devices with an SMA socket

Enclosures

Many of the devices don't come with an enclosure, a supplier of these is zerofox3D, they have cases suited to most hardware and their Hermes enclosure is suited to building repeaters from the RAKWireless Wisblock hardware and a suitable solar panel (search Amazon for the EZVIZ solar panels, they have a USB connector on them but you need to chop this off first as zerofox3D will also supply a wiring kit that uses two crimps to connect the panel to the wiring that feeds the RAK19003/7 board).  Note that zerofox3D do 3D print the cases to order so there will be a small wait but they'll get it shipped out within 7 days of your order.

Batteries

I cannot give any recommendations on batteries as these depend on the device you have plus what enclosure it is fitted to, however make sure that batteries are at least 2000mAh, as in the case of the battery fitted to my daily carry Heltec Wireless Tracker, you can find batteries on Amazon and elsewhere, if you're not sure you can ask for advice on the official MeshCore Discord channel which is linked to in the MeshCore app (you don't need to have a device connected to get to the link), if you're not confident handling the batteries ask around if you know someone who is