After many years of promoting & working with the technology during the summer I had the opportunity to take LoRa ‘On Tour’ specifically looking at the potential for LoRa/LoRaWAN coverage in Tuscany, Italy, with a focus on the area around the Arno River basin around Empoli and Montelupo Fiorentino (well known for its history in ceramics & terracotta). The main base of operations was in the hills due south of Montelupo approx. 25miles west of Florence.
The purpose of this (apologies for extended!) post is to share (within limits of confidentiality) some of the results we found during the tests & trials as originally promised to @lfcerf , @zerynth (https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/u/zerynth) et al. I know there is a LoRa TTN Conference on Tour session coming up in a few weeks in Pisa (11/10 – link below) so figured now would be timely to seed further discussion of the potential for LoRaWAN/TTN coverage in Northern Tuscany.
Though there were 3 ‘communities’ in the region when I visited they have variable impact & activity and there were as yet few LoRaWAN GW’s available in the region – 1 each in Florence & Livorno (no longer active?) & 1 or 2 active at any time in/around Pisa whilst I was there. So I brought my own (self-contained with built in NS & AS in case of poor internet connectivity/backhaul) 
Intent was to evaluate coverage supporting use of LoRaWAN from slightly elevated positions in the North Tuscan hills looking at opportunities for Precision/Agri-biz – particularly in viticulture and olive growing, road & traffic monitoring – primary target was the SGC FI-LV-PI Autostrada running approx. east-west from Firenze forking near the coast to Livorno & Pisa, along with local and municipal roads (pollution monitoring in this beautiful part of the world?). Semi-urban coverage – in & around the local towns and villages and local tourist hot-spots and for potential Pax and Civic uses in the surrounding villages, communities and towns. The Arno and its tributaries have several locations where there is good potential for water flow and flood monitoring – the area is known for heavy sudden downfalls of rain – and associated fast run-off – often accompanied by some spectacular thunder & lighting shows especially in the summer months (we were treated to a couple – along with a great view of the Blood Moon – whilst there).
It was becoming increasingly clear that Italy’s investment in infrastructure had slowed in recent years and so one of our first efforts was a quick check to see how coverage would look along the adjacent stretch of the Autostrada – looking for how pollution & traffic flows could be monitored, potential for signalling, lighting and signage fault detection & monitoring, bridge and viaduct stress monitoring – this is a key arterial road in the area and whilst bridges are not necessarily high they are frequent given the terrain and roads/streams/rivers in the area and take quite a hammering from the HGV’s and are in poor condition in places – exacerbating vibration induced stresses & strains. Note also: I believe the road is owned by the same organization that runs the highway with the high-level viaduct bridge that collapsed, with tragic consequences, in Genoa! Scarily we had traveled over that bridge on our route in to Tuscany……and again on our way out……one week later almost to the hour the bridge came down 
Some of the data/plots captured:
An example drive along the SGC FI-LI-PI, achieving ~8.3km to the Empoli West junction
Beyond checking road coverage we also looked to many of the towns & villages in the area including some of the more touristic locations. Monitoring reach a little further out to around San Miniato showed we could get consistent links to the roads into the town from the north and on the north & east escarpments - reaching approx. 13 ¾ km
Random checks around the Arno/Empoli basic out to Cerreto Guidi:
In the hills around Artimino (where we were looking at waste bin fill level monitoring, PAX/visitor counting and fridge/freezer/food cold chain solutions, and along one of the key ‘Wine/Olive Route’ scenic runs on the north bank for agricultural monitoring, down the Via Castra towards Limite sull’Arno
Having started the ball rolling its over to the local Tuscano TTN communities to develop & expand!
….Good luck with the Pisa TTN event:-
Tickets here:- https://www.zerynth.com/the-things-conference-italy-2018/
40% discount available with code “ZERYNTH” until Friday 5th (?)
especially on the longer biz trips…still keeps me out of mischief…
…Cambridge the heart of Silicon Fen, Tyne Valley west of Newcastle…birthplace of George Stevenson the initiator of rail travel, and the northern reaches of the Roman Empire, Kielder Water…the largest man-made body of water in N.Europe (W.Europe?) & the wild Northumberland coast… Cognac & Champagne areas of France, West Hamburg, Cloppenburg & Lüneburger Heide - beautiful heath-land in the heart of N.Germany, The Black Forest & Rhein Valley S.West Germany, Vix, Damvix and the ‘Venice Verte’ of western France, urban regeneration in Manchester, Cumbria & the Lake District, the mid & upper Thames Valley… dozens of other locations & regions in UK & W.Europe, and far too many motorways en route!