Help keep the network on the air
Comchan runs on volunteered time and hardware people bought themselves. Donations cover the parts of a Central Texas mesh that do cost money, keeping existing nodes alive, and putting up new ones where the map is thin.
What donations pay for
Maintaining equipment
Repeaters live outdoors and wear out. Batteries lose capacity, solar panels get shaded or cracked, enclosures leak, antennas and coax degrade in the sun. Keeping what is already up there working is the least glamorous cost and the one that never stops.
Expanding coverage
Filling a gap means a new node: a board, an antenna, a mount, and the power to keep it alive. The sites that would help the network most are rarely the ones where somebody happens to already live.
Ways to help that cost nothing
Money is genuinely useful, but it is not the bottleneck. If you would rather contribute another way, these are worth more to the network than a donation.
Run a node
The cheapest way to improve coverage is another radio on the air. If you can only do one thing, do this one.
Read more→Host a repeater
Height is the scarce resource, not money. A roof, a hill, or a tall building does more than a donation can buy.
Read more→Help someone start
Most people give up at the same three obstacles. Getting one person past them costs nothing and compounds.
Read more→Donate through Venmo
Any amount helps, and there is no recurring commitment. Every dollar goes into equipment and coverage.
@ComchanNet
Comchan is a volunteer group, not a registered charity, donations are a contribution to the network, not a tax-deductible gift.