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Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2023
I am experimenting using LoRa for sending and receiving IoT data between the greenhouse and the home server since WiFi and BT signals do not reach that far and are subject to interference. I got the Lubeby Smart RF Transceiver. The Transceivers are small and will need headers soldered onto the boards before I can plug them into the micro-controller boards which will generate or consume the data. I will post updates as the experiments progress.
BobK
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2023
Lubeby Smart RF Transceiver 915MHz SX1276For my application I want to use the SX1276 modules with Arduino Uno's. Unfortunately, the 3.3 Volt SX1276 modules don’t have built-in level converters to handle the Uno’s 5V signal levels. Several web examples show the modules directly connected to the Uno, but its higher voltages can decrease the module’s lifespan and reliability.I connected the modules using four-port bidirectional level shifters from my junk box. These are cheap and easy to use and protect the SX1276 from 5V Arduino signals. I put on my smallest soldering iron tip and used 26 Ga wire. In hindsight, I’d recommend using 28 or even 30 gauge wire.I connected the SX1276 Vcc to Arduino 3.3V, and SX1276 module’s SCK, MISO, MOSI, NSS to the low voltage side of the level shifter, and the high voltage side of the shifter to Arduino pins 13, 12, 11, and 10. I did not connect the SX1276 Reset pin since I was out of ports on my level shifter. So far things are working OK without needing Reset (knocking on wood). The pictures show the breadboard implementation.I used a 3.2-inch length of wire for the antenna, which is ¼ wavelength at 915 MHz. I used another 3.2-inch piece of wire for the RF GND connection (different from the dc ground pin).I first tried the Arduino Lora library by Sandeep Mistry. His provided example programs LoRaReceiver and LoRaSender worked fine. However, I couldn’t find very good documentation for this library, so I switched to the LoRaRf library by Chandra Sentosa. The documentation for this library is excellent, and the example programs are comprehensive. Also, this library gives much more low-level control over communication parameters. There are other promising libraries out there, but I haven’t tried them.Initially, my transmitter and receiver were positioned a couple feet apart on my workbench, and, of course, communication was flawless. Then I connected a 9V AA battery pack to the transmitter Arduino and wandered outside about 200 ft down the street. The indoors receiver Serial Monitor (see example output in the picture) showed that the packets were received successfully throughout my wanderings. Theoretically, the range is much better than 200 ft, but this is enough for my applications.So, assuming your application doesn’t require high bit rates I do recommend these modules. I encountered no problems getting them to work (not counting multiple soldering errors, but that’s on me).Edit: The LoRaRF library documentation isn't as good as I first thought. A lot of the links don't go anywhere. It's Ok, but not great.
DC
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2023
These are nice, if bare-bones. They come with no instructions, data-sheet, or other documentation - Google found what appears to be the datasheet entitled "NiceRF", and "Lora1276". As far as I can tell, these are excellent quality, but here's the rub: there is no SMA connector on-board, only plated through-holes for the antenna and ground. I buy wireless "modules" like this because, while I consider myself knowledgable about electronics (for an amateur/hobbyist), I do *not* have much in the way of skills or knowledge when it comes to RF - I'm happy to let someone else handle that stuff. In hindsight, I should have spent a little more for modules with the SMA connector on-board. That is in no way a critique of the quality of these - just whether they're the right ones for me. The price sure is nice, though - nice enough to tempt me out of my comfort zone, so to speak.
Brian
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2023
I got these to try since my current transceivers magically stopped working. LoRa seems to be more promising and dependable.The units are packaged in an anti-static bag and a decent soldering skill is needed to use them.I am looking forward to using these.
ClB
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2023
This is a pair of radios, so you can be sure they will communicate. The libraries are easy to find on Platformio and use with an ESP32 (probably with a Pi too, but I didn't try). You will need some soldering skills to make these work; they're just raw boards with the module with no antenna or headers, and the headers are smaller than 0.1" centers. This makes them a little more challenging to solder by hand. But they work well over large distances, like your yard. If perfectly tuned, they should work across a couple of kilometers, but I'm using them in my yard for a water meter. One star off for difficulty soldering due to tight spacing and they are not the best value for Lora modules.
Dave
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2023
Everything is a trade off, and these SX1276 LoRa modules are no different. They trade speed for distance. The lower your speed, the more distance you can get. Check out the datasheet on the SX1276 module, because it's really cool. It supports several different modulations, and is very configurable. The only downside is the cost, as these are quite a bit more expensive than a simple bluetooth module. There are no pins soldered on, so it's not the type of device you just plugin and go. There are plenty of libraries available for multiple platforms, so using this SX1276 LoRa module is pretty straight forward.
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