I built two mesh radios
After getting my own mesh radio, I ordered two kits to build small base stations of my own. If you are making a radio that runs off wall power, they require no soldering; if you are making a radio with a battery, there are some dumb things you can do to make a mesh radio without actually paying for a housing, a battery, and a solar panel. This requires only a tiny bit of soldering.
Specifically, you can follow this guide to put a mesh radio inside a ten dollar Lowes' Home Improvement solar light. Which I did!!
I put my second kit inside a plastic food container that is too small for me to use most of the time.
I'll probably write more about this later. But I'm gonna install these in some places and see how they do first. (And see whether the solar one stays turned on!!)