The antenna should be more sensitive than the stock antenna. The larger battery plays better with mobile use. The T-Deck keyboard is annoyingly picky about keypresses. None of this is a surprise. I have two of the Rangers and two T-Decks, of which the Ranger gets more use. Frankly, the Ranger gets use. As you get further into the Meshtastic universe, (well, planet) there are things that either become necessary or lose distinction with their use.
SpecFive is spending dev money on an improved software interface and utility for the tiny, little, but not-forgotten public-use spectrum that our elected government deigns to proffer us or take away, in exchange for our gratitude for a gnat's butt of a spectrum slice where we can actually use encryption and privacy, unlike HAM radio. /Dripping sarcasm of gov oversight of their slaves, off/ Software isn't cheap, and neither is design and printing of a case in a commercial and human resource setting. The cheap $70 T-Deck Plus is cheap because they can throw bodies at the product, while NONE of those workers could afford our cost-of-living. I don't begrudge the higher cost of the Ranger, but we must start somewhere. If you desire improvements, then speak up about recommended additions to the platform, or just updates to the Ranger. I'll start:
1. a water-resistant case
2. switch to disable battery use when plugged in at-home
3. a couple integrated sensors, like accelerometers or CO2 (those sensors ALSO come mostly from China or Taiwan, btw, which while cheap might not be here for much longer) And may incur a larger company import costs and restrictions
4. updates to the interface like sending your (encrypted) position to others on your channel
I could add a few more, but I get to start the list...
--Joe.
The real issue is that we need local manufacturing, on which the US is dismally short. So pony up and start fixing these oneself, or pay the additonal cost for someone to host the infrastructure to get it done for others. The costs are being burdened by the Chinese people, not the PPC. And, their economy isn't healthy, either. Times are changing, so it needs to be done in the market, not reliant upon islands (literally) of design, development and manufacturing that are not in your community of interest.
