Ah, interesting. I have USB hardwire kits for my dashcam but they're not on a timer. I've seen the T-Echo, definitely something I'll be purchasing in the future. I'm carrying a T-1000E right now.
You might be surprised at how many nodes are in your area. The vast majority probably aren't broadcasting their position to meshmap. It's usually only routers or permanent clients that people publish there.
I'm doing something similar with outdoor nodes. This enclosure looks good and the top review used it as a meshtastic node.
IP65 ABS Enclosure
Just keep in mind that anything above 3 dBi is going to be directional. A 10 dBi is very directional, so unless it's a fixed antenna and you have very little elevation change between stations I'd go with a 3 or 2.5 dBi omni antenna.
This is about where I am as well. G2 Base station is ordered, and I have some heltec-V3 clients to play around with. A box of T1000-Es to hand out to the kids will be next. We're in a Louisiana river delta so the land here is mostly flat, just trees and some <5 story buildings in a city of ~200,000 people. Hopefully we can get some good range with the mesh and grow pretty quickly. I've only seen two other nodes so far.
High power radios in the hands of people who don't know what they're doing can cause a lot of issues. FRS/GMRS radios under 2 Watts in the U.S. don't need a license. Licensing is a way to make sure people using them know how to do so effectively, and provides for stiffer penalties if someone unlicensed causes issues.
In any laboratory, including ours, we always find the same result: Adolescents just are not as good as adults at cognitive control — except in studies where we say, if you do this trial correctly, we’re going to give you extra points for more money. And, miraculously, adolescents can then do it like adults.
As a teacher I've found this is key to motivation in the classroom. It's an amazing transformation for the 10-15 minute window.
For a good compromise, use Meshtastic. Long-range radio mesh network for texting that phones can use instead of cell networks.