LoRa

I have an older page entitled LPWAN and I should merge content from there and delete out of date parts.

LoRA is the RF part or the part that would be on the wire if there was a wire. OSI layer 1 (physical) and maybe layer 2 (link)

Currently I am interested in using Meshtastic, which would be link 3 and higher? Don't quote me.

Other choices include things like the Helium network and LoRaWAN. Those require routers and direct traffic through the router, so they don't work offline. They are more like conventional IP networking (in my mind anyway.)

Hardware

I have a SenseCap D1 Indicator but back a year ago cheaped out and bought one without the LoRa chip. It was about a $40 price difference because the LoRa one also comes with sensors and things I did not need. In 11/24 I ordered a new one that comes with meshtastic support for $47, so, YAY.

Seeed has kits with a Xiao ESP32, a LoRa radio on 915 MHz with SX1262 chip and antennas for 900 and WiFi. $9.90 today. Not sure why I did not order those.

2024-11-7 I ordered a few more parts today.

• SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E for Meshtastic <-- spendy $40 part but I could not resist, ready to wear tracker with GPS talks to a cellphone on BT has nrf52 processor
• Snap Hook for SenseCAP T1000 Tracker
• SenseCAP T1000 Magnetic USB Type-A to 4Pin Charging Cable - Black, 1000mm
• Wio-SX1262 Wireless Module (Bulk), SX1262 embedded, supports LoRa&LoRaWAN on EU868 & US915
• External Antenna 868-915MHZ-2dBi;SMA-L195mm-Foldable
• Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 Sense - TinyML/TensorFlow Lite- IMU / Microphone - Bluetooth5.0

Band options

You have multiple choices here. The standard US band is 915 MHz, and in EU it's 868 MHz. In the US (and I presume EU) this is an open "ISM" band that anyone can use. Power is limited.

Hams also have the option of a 70CM / 433 band that allows you to use your license and that means up to (I think) 10W power.

For now I am only worrying about the 915 band because it's what most people use.

The important thing is to order the right parts for you. If you get EU rated 868 MHz parts and you live in the US, there won't be anyone listening when you talk! Also it will be illegal.

Antenna

I don't have any dandy 900 antennas yet, I had a big way cool Yagi but I gave it away before I got into ham things. Damn. I used it as a decoration on my house for a couple years so not all is lost.

Power

Power management becomes an issue for IoT sensors on LoRa as they are often in remote locations.

Resources

Since LoRa is 900 MHz AKA 33cm, ham information applies including antennas and amps and such. Stick an amp on your LoRa transceiver and you will need to be a ham and follow the ham rules.

Wikipedia has a nice article on the band, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33-centimeter_band I could be the first in my neighborhood to have a repeater on 900. Possibly the first in Oregon. :-)

https://w6aer.com/getting-started-with-900mhz-ham-band/

ARRL articles, refer to,

May 2023 QST page 46 - "TinyGS - An Application Of LoRa Technology" - 70cm band, they are doing satellite stuff (The GS in TinyGS is "Ground Station") and that requires 70cm radios. https://github.com/G4lile0/TinyGS

June 2023 QST page 76 - "Catching A Bird With A LoRa Mesh Network" This is about building an solar powered autonomous node in a bird house. See design docs at https://github.com/brucemack/WARS-Birdhouse. about ten years ago I randomly gave a bird house with a solar panel to a friend as a housewarming gift. He was in the solar biz, it was just a joke! RIP Jahmez! :-(

July 2023 QEX page 12 - "APRS With A LoRa TTGO module" - Author is in France and opted to use 70 cm band. He's using 2 radios, one is an iGate and the other is the tracker. No mesh networking.

Oct 2021 QST page 51 - "Eclectic Technology - Voice over LoRa" Based on "QMesh". Described in detail at https://github.com/faydr/QMesh

Hackaday This link will give you a list of all articles, https://hackaday.com/blog/?s=meshtastic

Equipment sources

Amplifiers

http://q5signal.com

https://www.downeastmicrowave.com/default.asp