Have you hacked my file server??
But still largely Unobtainium - the challenge I have is not investing in a 100 or so of all the bits I could buy as they become available before I’ve got a design. Perhaps the first step is to get a group buy scheme of all the things we’d like to have on hand.
Not on my workbench - the Microchip LDO I’ve designed in to a pile of boards and just run out of - or the 8 pin PIC we use in our security timer products. Two and a half hours of finding alternatives …
No, I’ve deployed a couple of these combinations with a concentrator card == gateway.
Currently waiting for more CM4 with eMMC. Initial delivery when ordered last year was march, by now pushed back to mid august. Seeed had some in stock but those were top end model when the simplest is sufficient and I refuse to pay triple.
Hi everyone!
I just constructed a small holder for the Browan TABS sensors, so you do not have to glue them somewhere. Now its easier to replace the battery for example or move them around. Its a OpenSCAD file so you can adjust a number of things, like want to use glue/screw/magnets to hold it to the wall/surface, need a bit of height adjustment for the door/window sensor to get good connection to the magnet? Its just customizeable. You can find the files here:
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/134670-browan-tabs-lorawan-sensor-holder
And a picture from a installation with height adjustment:
Have fun with it, its under CC-BY-SA
After a long wait finally received Raspi 0W Mk2 - just in time for another low power GW build as update to previous 0W MK1 ‘Owls’… so approriate that its…
Looks very interesting, especially given the ongoing shortage in chips of all kinds.
Have you published anything from this project? I tried to find something (Gerber files, source code) but didn’t find anything.
Yes, you’ll see in my post the PCB I used, the wiring diagram and all the details for the source code I used …
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
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:
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 
)
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.
Wireless update to RPi Pico….and Eben claims not made from Unobtainium so need to think of some use cases…. 
Could be a nice update for a PAX counter type device?
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 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.”
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.
Cross-post from Library Basement 12:
Semtech have formally launched the LR1121 MultiBand LoRa Transceiver
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:-
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
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
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
Very welcome update to RPi Pico W - finally we have option for Bluetooth/BTLE to add to the connectivity arsenal
