The WORKBENCH part 5

Yes, you’ll see in my post the PCB I used, the wiring diagram and all the details for the source code I used …

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How did your Z2W gateway work out @Jeff-UK ?

I have a RPi Zero W gateway using @Charles interface PCB/RAK831 and code from his repo and it is super robust. I also have a RPi Zero2 W whch uses Balena ‘Basic Station’ and a RAK831 radio also. There were a couple of bugs in this that prevented the software from generating TTN credentials from MAC address on boot but Balena (Marc) were pretty dynamic in fixing this, works an absolute charm now and is super easy to support with the default tunnel etc in Balena.

What is the spec of your low power gateway? I should test both of mine for power shouldn’t I? Neither are deployed in ‘working’ scenarios but would appear suitable.

G

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Such is the state of the Unobtainium Vortex and it’s capture of any reasonable priced MCU in its evil grasp, Adafruit have started a new YouTube feature:

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Life in the old 8-bit work horses yet! (Pair with a COTS LoRaWAN module so you don’t have to play SW eng and wrangle a critical s/w stack…… simples :slight_smile: )

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MVIO on the AVR-DD parts is useful - but what would be more useful would be for them to make more of the recent parts that are completely Unobtainium - like the megaAVR 0-series. Plus some of the venerable but super useful SAMD21.

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Wireless update to RPi Pico….and Eben claims not made from Unobtainium so need to think of some use cases…. :wink: Could be a nice update for a PAX counter type device?

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Maybe, but it’s WiFi, not LoRa …

Usual pax counters sniff for peoples BT &/or WiFi radios as a proxy for # of bodies - an indicator vs actual count. Then send count data over LoRa :slight_smile: For privacy its not usually considered good to capture the MAC’s for long term storage centrally so some level of edge processing can be a good thing - repeat visitor detection, data extraction, duration/location ‘dwell’ time evaluation etc. good for monitoring people & traffic flows, congestion analysis, popularity eval, etc.

Another interesting snippet given choice of WiFi solution (CYW43439 from Infineon):

CYW43439 supports both Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low-Energy – we have not enabled Bluetooth on Pico W at launch, but may do so in the future.

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Another family release for lovers of STM/ARM M0+ mcu’s…… a bit memory constrained but useful for those of us who also run with LoRaWAN modules to offload the LoRaWAN stack?

There is also new M4 based offering with up to 512k Flash….and a decent chunk of RAM

Perhaps usable for more compute intense edge sensors & devices….ML anyone (EdgeImpulse?) with more power available.

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Cross-post from Library Basement 12:

Semtech have formally launched the LR1121 MultiBand LoRa Transceiver :slight_smile:

semtech.com

Semtech Expands LoRa® Portfolio with New Transceiver Featuring Long…

New Developer Platforms from Murata and Johanson Technology enable smaller form factor, lower development cost and risk and a faster time-to-market

Key features - as a multiband device a single sku can potenially cover sub-Ghz ISM, 2,4Ghz global ISM and, for the 1st time Satellite S-Band (@2.1Ghz). Several SIP/module manufacturers have product launching or in pipeline for early production.

Product overview (in link to datasheet) here:-

semtech.com

LR1121

LR1121 is Semtech’s 3rd generation ultra-low power transceiver providing multi band LoRa and LR-FHSS communication over sub-GHz, 2.4GHz, and satellite S-Band.

Packaged in hardware/hobbyist-hacker friendly 32QFN :slight_smile:

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Bit of database updating, spotted some older devices chugging away:

Fifth column is f_cnt! Who’s the “Low Power” daddy!

I’ve a TTI GNSE in the greenhouse on 180,331 uplinks, so @cndrxn is in the Low Power club too!

For the paranoid & eagle eyed, the B3 device is an nRF module on 2.4GHz so it is more than OK for it to transmit at -18dBm for 520us - but you can’t comment as that would be off-topic for the forum :wink:

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The german company ELV is supplying a modular Lora sensor /hardware concept, from which you can build a cheap and reliable TTN tracker. But be aware, that the hardware is only available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and their website cannot be switched to English language
There are 2 possibilities :
1 the base module (https://de.elv.com/elv-lw-base-experimentierplattform-fuer-lorawan-elv-bm-trx1-156514) together with the GPS mdoule (https://de.elv.com/elv-track-gps-tracker-applikationsmodul-elv-am-gps-157158)
You can combine the base mdoule with some other modules for a lot of possible sensor combinations
2 a already complete stand-alone module (https://de.elv.com/elv-bausatz-lorawan-gps-tracker-elv-lw-gps1-157519)

All needed software can be downloaded from their website - its really an easy , beginner friendly plug & play concept and i did try out by myself the version 1 . Runs perfectly in my car together with the TTN mapper app on an Android phone…this piece of hardware is IMO a real bargain

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Very welcome update to RPi Pico W - finally we have option for Bluetooth/BTLE to add to the connectivity arsenal :slight_smile:

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They also send to another countries. Via e-mail (my query):

But not in mine :frowning:

Raspberry Pi 5: For anyone who missed the announcement late last week and who’s looking for more grunt for their projects (souped up LW gateways/LNS/servers anyone, though IMHO, the 3 was already more than enough from compute and pwr consumption pov for gateways let alone a 4 or now a 5.) Details interesting all the same….here one review

Available for pre order from usual outlets with shipments expected late October….

If you’re just running a packet forwarder a model two or even a zero is sufficient. Apparently the 5 requires active cooling when loaded so not my choice for any gateway as I don’t want moving parts and ventilation holes, just more stuff that causes issues and can break.

I’d anticipate that it could make a really good fist of running TTS on the 4Gb with USB 3 SSD and the 8Gb + PCIe SSD could be awesome.

Would be nice to unpick TTS from the Docker wrapper for that to make the most of the Pi - perhaps with a paid for license for Pi only installs …

Like yours :+1: :slight_smile:

Yep, was sat within LOS of 4 such Pi0W based GW’s when posting the release note.

Amazing how tech moves on - never ceases to impress. The original Semtech/iMST IOT Starter Kit/Ref design (SX1301) from approx 1H15 (before TTN!) used a 2B+ - to handle Conc card/GW functionality, provide web/management interface, run a reference LNS, simple application server etc. with Web page UI for users (decoding e.g. LoRaMOTE data, showing plots - temp pressure, Vbatt, even a Google Maps gps location/trace appplication (until 1st the Google Maps API stopped working - did someone forget to pay the fees?! :rofl: - then whole device retired/obscolete). Many community and client networks and GW installs got started from those simple beginnings :tada:
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Anyone interested in Pi4/Pi5 benchmark/feature comparisons may be interested in this posted on Core Electronics (Australia) site

Almost finished my own TTN Mapper! A number of case revisions and a whole new LoRaWAN stack (RadioLib) later, I could actually start mapping yesterday! Cycling around town, taking the train to university… all working well!
Inspired by the Adeunis FTD but that thing is way too expensive for personal use and I thought I could do better :slight_smile:
Also designing an adapter so I can click it on my bicycle for even easier mapping…

See this link for some great mapping results!




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