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You may remember the company – they released a Raspberry Pi Pico Advanced Kit (with 32 sensor modules), which was designed for people who already have some electronics knowledge and programming skill but want to learn or explore the Raspberry Pi’s capabilities.
LoRaWAN module
This time its the LR1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module SPI US915 SX1302, to give it its full name. It supports 8 channels.
Features include an integrated GPS module and RTC, for precise timing and a built-in cooling fan module for temperature management
The module is available in SPI and USB versions, covering the US915 and EU868 frequency bands, for a choice of LoRaWAN frequency solutions, including EU868 and US915.
Note that this is the Gateway module itself, and it doesn’t include a LoRaWan Pi Hat (Hardware Attached on Top), as pictured right. You can buy that, for connecting to the Raspberry Pi, as an option.
Ecrow writes:
“This LR1302 module is a new generation LoRaWAN® gateway module. It adopts a mini-PCIe form factor design and features low power consumption and high performance. Based on Semtech Network’s SX1302 LoRaWAN baseband chip, the LR1302 gateway module provides gateway products with potential capacity for long-distance wireless transmission. Compared to the previous SX1301 and SX1308 LoRa chips, the SX1302 chip has higher sensitivity, lower power consumption and lower operating temperature. It supports 8-channel data transmission, improves communication efficiency and capacity, and supports the connection and data transmission of more devices.”
“It reserves two antenna interfaces, one for transmitting and receiving LoRa signals and one U.FL (IPEX) interface for independent transmission. It also has a metal shield to protect against external interference and provide a reliable communications environment.”
It’s priced at $23.90, with a 915Mhz Pi Hat costing an additional $16.90. Read more here.
Node board
Elecrow also highlights its RA-08H LoRaWan Node Board – using an RP2040 chip – which can work with the LoraWAN gateway, maybe as part of your IoT setup.
It writes:
“This Lora module uses RP2040 as the main controller and RA-08H module provides LoRa transmission and reception functions. It supports LoRa point-to-point transparent transmission and LoRaWAN network. When combined with four types of Crowtail sensor modules (Ax2/Dx2/IICx1/UARTx1), it can quickly build a Lora node. Additionally, we provide two firmware versions for 868/915MHZ to meet different usage needs.”
“To facilitate outdoor use, this module has a built-in lithium battery charging and discharging circuit, and an interface that supports solar panel charging, making it easy to set up and use the node outdoors.”
It has six interfaces for commonly used sensors – covering temperature and humidity, air quality, and light levels – and there are 868Mhz and 915Mhz versions.
A suggested network topology for the kit is shown below.
You can read more about the LoRaWAN node here.
