Laird: Sentrius RG1XX

I just put together a Laird RG191 in an outdoor enclosure with mostly everything to get the job done. Of course the antenna cable and ethernet cable lengths are customized for the site! Including links for easy purchase from US based vendors… none of these are affiliate links btw…

I welcome any comments!

Not included in the list: board standoffs… mounting pole…

Make Model Desc Cost Tax Shippping Link
Laird RG191 Gateway 915 MHz 250.00 15.00 8.99 https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=laird%20rg191
Polycase ML-70F15 Enclosure 43.56 2.61 14 https://www.polycase.com/ml-70f-15
Polycase ML-70k Mounting Plate 13.37 0.80 0 https://www.polycase.com/ml-70k
Anvision AV-PS12 POE Splitter 12v 6.75 0.41 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K4R6FQG
Anvision XA-PSE4805-4 POE 1A Power 13.99 0.84 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071QZL54F
Altelix AX400- 50ft 400 Low Loss 50 ft 49.99 3.00 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071NMVSMD
DHT RP-SMA-N Bulkhead Pigtail 6.50 0.39 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COXHLEY
Altelix Radome Ant. 900 MHz Antenna 37.99 2.28 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DHVXRRN
Proxicast Lightnint Lightin Arrestor 24.95 1.50 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IFV7QXY
Qooltek ST-NET Lightin Arrestor 13.98 0.84 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UYXRDU
Shinekee 200ft Ethernet Cable 69.59 4.18 0 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTJK3ZN
Heyco M3234GBJ Cord Grip 3.23 0.19 10 Mouser
Total 533.90 32.04 22.99
Grand Total 588.93

20190130_081134

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Back to my original question… what wattage panels are you using? I know all the factors involved. Just asking what worked for you. Thanks!

1 x 25w worked fine for peak summer 24/7 but knew not viable for days drawing in so added 2nd panel in parallel vs changing up. Deep winter on unsupervised site with snow & leaf load not enough. 2x battery capacity with 50w seems ok given visible horizon not clear & minor obstructions at some times of day with low sun. Should mount panel higher to avoid issue at that site but host felt too obtrusive. Have other configs in prep which I will do report back on over next 4 seasons.

See also earlier post wrt typical 24hr consumption…note this will vary by backhaul method (wifi/enet) & volume of traffic + mix of upload/download packets

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Thanks that’s not bad!

Here’s the right part for the cable gland https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Heyco/M3234GBH

I checked and my laird gateway draws 3 to 5 watts. So about 250mA continuously. I could get away with 50 watts of solar in the summer but need about 100 watts to make it year round.

Like @Jeff-UK, I found that the RG-191 works with 5V supply. That gives you the option to work with lower solar power.

Indeed - I often run from 5V USB power banks (2A enabled output safest to allow for inrush and Tx bursts) for pop-up gateways at test sites or temp/test deployments, whilst surveying etc. Safest if running at higher end of USB 5V spec also, and also need to be wary of the one ‘gotcha’ which is that when applying such low voltages the dV/dT of the supply ramp needs to be high enough to avoid being trapped by the devices brown-out protection circuitry, otherwise the device powers up in a basic fashion but without effective reset and initialisation, esp of the LoRa side. I find switching the supply in via a relay, or if the USB power bank has a manual ‘on’ switch (even if electronic) use that and you should be fine. Once supply is above approx 7/7.5v it doesn’t seem to be an issue (haven’t had time/run enough tests to determine precise cut off level for brown-out circumvention). Ironically if you put a decent sized capacitor in the supply line to help filter noise and provide some buffer for RF Tx bursts this can make matter worse by effectively slowing the ramp of the supply line…spent weeks last summer trying to trouble shoot that one with 1st Solar tests…Dhoh! :wink:

Firewall considerations:
Open 1900-1904 when using ttn packet forwarder

From Laird:
"If you are using the TTN gRPC forwarder you should allow 1900-1904 TCP to the server that you are using, TTI/TTN.

No port forwards to the device should be necessary as it establishes outbound connections."

I’m running 2x365W panels and 600Ah of batteries at 24V on that site, but that’s because we are a Wireless ISP and the LoRa is just a hobby on the side for monitoring our sites.
The Laird itself draws about 5 watts, plus extra for however it’s connected out to the internet

For a problem I had to reset the gateway to the factory, but now it doesn’t let me access its configuration. I cannot access "rg1xxmyethernetMAC.local.

If trying MAC be sure to use Enet vs WiFi MAC and only last 3 Byte Pairs (Last 6 digits), also try to log onto its DHCP aquired IP address directly if it has taken one from the local network? If Reset then perhaps log on using WiFi quick config mode to default WiFi AP of 192.168.1.1? (I often just access using Phone or iPad this way).

Have updated Topic Title as no longer “New”! - A well established workhorse GW, that has undergone several firmware updates, and has been in the market for 2.5 nearly 3 years now :slight_smile: (I use several as do a number of clients and associates and fellow community contributors)

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I use de only last 3 byte pairs of the ethernet mac and still not giving me access.

Can you try over WiFi as above?

Do you have admin access to network to check if it is perhaps picking up a DHCP assigned IP address?

Also try power off and retry factory reset as may have fallen into intermediate state?!

NOTE: DO NOT JUST DELETE FROM TTN CONSOLE AT ANY POINT AS YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RE-REGISTER GW ID :wink: :scream:

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Solved, thank you every much

What was issue/solution for others reading later?:wink:

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Conection with wifi

Hi Guys, hope everything is ok and well.

I have been trying to get this unit online on the TTN console for almost 3 days without any luck.

I am using version Laird Linux gatwick-laird-93.9.6.30.

I tried using the preset and on the unit dashboard it showed connected but on the TTN console did not change even after several power cycles.

I tried to configure as a basic station but that didn’t do the trick.

I thought it could have been a old firmware but I updated the to last one and I am still without luck.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

How configured, which region/cluster? Which Server settings? What is GW ID? GW EUI? Freq plan?, Console settings… details details - we need info as crystal balls typically a bit misty this time of year :wink: ! Is there an active device nearby sending data? What does TTN GW Console show?

Which one? Be sure targeting V3 not old revs using V2 etc.