LoRa

I have an older page entitled LPWAN and I should merge content from there and delete out of date parts.

LoRA is the PHY layer. It's the RF part or the part that would be on a wire if there was one.

Currently I am interested in using Meshtastic, which would be the protocol on top of the PHY layer.

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.

Hardware

I have a SenseCap D1 Indicator but cheaped out and bought one without the LoRa chip. Drat.

I have two of the kits that Seeed is selling now with a Xiao ESP32, a LoRa radio on 915 MHz with SX1262 chip and antennas for 900 and WiFi. $9.90 today.

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

QST Magazine, refer to

May 2023 TinyGS - "An Application Of LoRa Technology"

June 2023 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 "APRS With A LoRa TTGO module"