Testing the range of the LoRa Infrared Transmitter Kit

The LoRa Infrared Tranmitter is a long range infrared remote control kit that allows remote control where no Internet connection is available. It provides connectivity to the Things Network. The LoRa Infrared Transmitter uses  Arduino shield that provides LoRaWAN connectivity and the Irdroino Shield that provides Infrared Transmission interface. The kit is based on Arduino UNO board, which can be powered via USB or via 2.1mm standard DC jack.

This weekend we are testing the range of the Kit, in dense urban conditions in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where there are several Things Network Gateways available.

LoRa Infrared Transmitter connected to 9dBi gain antenna

Client node specification:

– Based on Arduino UNO

– Powered by USB

– Dragino v1.4 LoRa shield with SX1276 transceiver boosted @ 20dBm output power

– 868MHz 9dBi gain omni directional antenna

– antenna height 4 meters above the ground

LoRa Infrared Transmitter 9dBi gain antenna

Gateway:

– RAK831 based

– 5dBi omni directional antenna

The Client node (the LoRa Infrared Transmitter) is loaded with a version of the LMIC library for Arduino and the OTAA (over the air activation method is used.)

By using the things network console we were able to monitor the device / gateway communication and transmit and receive messages from the device to the Things Network console and from the things network console to the device successfully(UPLINK and DOWNLINK messages).

Now the cool part / measured range distance.

There were five active gateways to The Things Network in Plovdiv. The node managed to connect to the Gateway at the Plovdiv university Paisii Hilendarski, the covered distance between the client node and the gateway was 2,2KM with no direct line of sight. The signal passing through a dense urban city center area. That is amazing!

LoRa-Infrared-node-signal-path

Below are some screenshots for the measured signal levels RSSI and SNR and  AirTime measured at the Gateway

Signal data

signal data

Resources:

LoRa Infrared Transmitter Project source code (GitHub)

The Things Network Plovdiv Community

Purchase LoRa Infrared Transmitter Kit