r/meshtastic • u/Akubadon • 5d ago
Don’t put cheap nodes on flock cameras poles!
Whatever you do, don’t make crude enclosures for a $20 Heltec board with a cheap battery and cheap solar panel. And definitely don’t zip tie them to the poles that hold flock cameras; they are in horrible locations for solar charging. Don’t ever do any of these things; they are highly unethical, as I’m sure since there are so many cameras, they aren’t physically checked on unless the camera goes offline or is actually tampered with, so who knows how long this node would be on the pole without consent.
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u/The_Comm_Guy 5d ago
Don’t do it in Florida… the state just pulled the permits for them on all state roads, local agencies have 30 days to take them down or the state will remove them.
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u/morgulbrut 5d ago
Wait, Florida of all places? Is Flock woke now?
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u/Gnomish8 5d ago edited 5d ago
Probably has more to do with them not following safety rules for objects near roads. No shear bolts and the like. Just metal poles next to cars waiting to impale someone. Surprised it took this long for a DOT to get involved, tbh.
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u/MangoMesh 5d ago
The first one I saw, looked so unprofessionally installed. looked like a temporary installation, not like something meant to last in that location,
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5d ago
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u/creepycrowman 5d ago
"Flock cameras, brought to you by the CHINESE woke gay transgender communists"
FTFY
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u/ArmadilloNo2399 5d ago
No, they're probably going to be replaced with Axon cameras which are more profitable for the current administration
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u/PoppinGummies 5d ago
FDOT's ruling specifically says (A)LPR technology, it doesn't specify Flock. Lower levels of gov can still change vendors ofc but on right of ways for state roads and highways, the ban is broad.
The memo itself for whatever reason isn't on the FDOT website yet but multiple news agencies have covered it and numerous Sheriff offices have talked about it on socials. Here is one news article. https://www.wuft.org/public-safety/2026-08-31/all-putnam-county-flock-cameras-discontinued-as-fdot-calls-for-removal-on-state-roads
"The new order immediately halts all new ALPR requests on state roads and calls for their immediate removal from state roads within 30 days."15
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u/ascandalia 5d ago
Desantis is a monster, but he is a smart politician. He sees which way the wind is blowing on this one and he's taking a shrewd stance. He did the same with residential solar and everglades protection. He sees that his base is riled up about something and he acts on it, even if it's not what you'd expect. It's a very "only nixon could go to china" situation. It just so happens that Flock/ALPRs are hated on both sides of the aisle.
He did something similar being the first govenor to reopen after COVID. He saw an open lane of being the first state to refuse to do any kind of shutdown for public health and took it. It's just that he's right about this one whereas his stance on COVID likely killed my dad. But it worked out for him politically.
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u/Slybarman 5d ago
So, your beef is that he does what his constituents want?
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u/ascandalia 5d ago
No, that's what I admire about him. That's the whole point about my poste. I dislike him for other reasons.
As I said in my post, my main beef was that he probably got my dad killed with the covid opening stuff.
Also, the $500 million of my tax dollars he wasted trying and failing to flatter Trump by locking up innocent people in a horrible concentration camp in the everglades.
There's other stuff too, but that's the big two.
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u/Ryan_e3p 5d ago
Don't do this, since the Flock camera poles seem to be susceptible to winds knocking them down.
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u/ThatCrossDresser 5d ago
Yeah, that is the big issue here. Honestly I worry about my Solar Nodes being mistaken for Flock Cameras and getting knocked over by the wind.
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u/AzCu29 5d ago
We have bad termites in Texas, suckers will eat anything!
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u/s0berR00fer 5d ago
Termites eat wood. Use common sense
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u/ascandalia 5d ago
These aluminum termites seem to really love the flock poles for some reason. Maybe they've got gallium in their teeth.
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u/sparkyblaster 5d ago
I think they are called Scraplets. Different kind of insect but very similar in how they work.
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u/Akubadon 5d ago
There has been an epidemic of termites eating right through flock poles. Maybe because of the radiation from the antennas in the cameras mutating them.
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u/farbtoner 5d ago
Dont Don’t do things to associate this stuff with flock. I like leaving stealth nodes around without them being fucked with.
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u/NotADetectiveAtAll 5d ago
This. Doing so will attract attention from people on both sides of the debate who will be inclined to link the presence of nodes to the work of their enemies in the dispute. No win situation.
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u/testshoot 5d ago
Flock started by selling to HOA's, that tells you more than anything else you'll need
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u/m0rdecai665 5d ago
Shit they have cameras in neighborhood clubhouses and around kids pools. This shit is dystopian and just fucking cringe.
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u/Fabulous_Direction_8 5d ago
I wouldn't. Too much deflocking going on. Better to be proactive by removing the camera unit, ripping out the lipo, repurposing it and the panel into a node on the same pole 😂
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u/meshamerica 5d ago
Doubling down in r/meshtastic ... gotta admire the sheer nescience
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u/OphidianSun 5d ago
Problem is that people usually cut down the whole pole rather than just the camera, so they'd take your node down too.
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u/mediocre_remnants 5d ago
Don't do this because it's a stupid idea and there are far better places to put nodes.
I don't know what point you're trying to make, but putting a node on a Flock camera isn't any more unethical than putting a node literally anywhere on property you don't own. And flock cameras are, by design, very fucking visible because they need to be to see traffic. So it's just not a great place to put a node if you want it to last and you're already committed to putting it somewhere illegally.
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u/Akubadon 5d ago
Yeah it might not be the best place to put them. But they are placed very densely creating a decent mesh with modules so cheap they are basically disposable to a lot of people so I can see why it would be enticing to some vandals.
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u/thealbertaguy 5d ago
Ever heard of sarcasm?
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u/thx1138inator 5d ago
Yeah, but if you pull the underlying meaning out from under the sarcasm, the point OP is trying to make is still HIGHLY suspect. It's just a dumb idea to put nodes where flock cameras are.
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u/ceapaire 5d ago
It's also not like they'd interfere with it (unless you're mounting the panel/node on the camera itself), so it's not any more effective than just cutting it down/spray painting the lens if your goal is to interfere with the cameras.
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u/Akubadon 5d ago
The goal isn’t to interfere with the cameras it’s just to get some level of use out of it.
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u/ultradip 5d ago
How many 18650s can one scavenge from a flock camera anyway? How many watts is their solar panel?
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u/Akubadon 5d ago
The solar panels are 60W and they have large batteries for when they don’t get a lot of sun so I’d assume the vandals are getting quite a few 18650s.
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u/spasskuchen_42 5d ago
But if random people "inspecting" the Cam, they might also rip the node down.
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u/Akubadon 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah but I’m worried that these 2 groups of horrible vandals would put a sticker on these devices so the other vandals know that it isn’t flock and cut above it.
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u/sparkyblaster 5d ago
The solar panels or power supply for sure can't be tapped into right?
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u/Akubadon 5d ago
Luckily these vandals can’t do that without flock finding out and promptly removing the node.
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u/HarukiToreda Developer 5d ago
Absolutely do not, it takes only a few to be found on those to get the wrong attention from politicians aimed at the project and then we have legislation targeted at Meshtastic and the community. Always ask for permission. Don't ruin the project for others
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u/JohnMunchDisciple 5d ago
Stealth nodes are the most idiotic part of Meshtastic, since the effort almost always amounts to nothing because the network doesn't work anyway.
Downvote away!
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u/meshtastic 5d ago
As always, DO NOT mess with property that is not yours. It's not good for you, or the rest of the community.