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I'm intrigued. Anyone want to suggest an economical development board or transceiver?

by jws 11y ago

olympus 11y ago
Like the author mentioned, these are new-ish/emerging standards and there isn't a de-facto board like Arduino just yet. Therefore it's kind of hard to recommend a board that I know has a ton of documentation and a big community. However, if you are the adventurous type and don't mind working with unpolished libraries and figuring things out from function descriptions, there are tons of smaller people putting out boards on Tindie: https://www.tindie.com/ https://www.tindie.com/ Tindie has a few LoRa boards, some with built in antennas and some without: https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech-lora-sx1276-sx1278-data-radio-modem-drf1278dm/?pt=full_prod_search https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech... But bottom line is that this tech isn't (yet) popular enough to try without getting a little dirty. If you can afford a bigger battery, try 900 MHz Xbee transmitters for an easy to interface serial with long range.
dconrad 11y ago
For LoRa, check out Multitech, LinkLabs, and Libelium. Semtech has a development board, too, though it would need to be paired with a microcontroller. Warning that most of this stuff is not for the faint of heart -- you need to be ready to dive into datasheets, bring up radio drivers, etc. For Sigfox, if you're not in an area with a Sigfox network, there's not much you can do. But TI has some killer FSK dev boards. http://www.ti.com/tool/smartrftrxebk http://www.ti.com/tool/smartrftrxebk and http://www.ti.com/tool/cc1101cc1190emk915 http://www.ti.com/tool/cc1101cc1190emk915 Ingenu has radio modules and dev boards, but I don't think they're set up to sell single-unit quantity. If you're in San Francisco, we're making a going to be distributing dev boards that will work out of the box and come with a bunch of sensors. Just sign up on our website: www.beepnetworks.com
- kazazes 11y ago
  If you haven't lost your faith in Kickstarter yet, this project has $180k committed. A €40 pledge will get you a LoRa board and €200 for a LoRa gateway and what is essentially a demo dongle. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/419277966/the-things-network https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/419277966/the-things-ne... Edit: fat thumbs, on mobile.
  - dconrad 11y ago
    I love those guys go support them! But you will have to wait a while for their hardware.
ju-st 11y ago
Here is a nice writeup about the whole topic and some board recommendations. http://www.instructables.com/id/Introducing-LoRa-/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Introducing-LoRa-/ SX1278 is the string you want to search for on Aliexpress/Alibaba
bertm 11y ago
Try out Low Power Labs Monteino with the HopeRF, RFM95 LoRa module. The radio library is lacking but you can get up and running quickly. https://lowpowerlab.com https://lowpowerlab.com If you want something a little more enterprisy and turn-key, try the new guys (I work for them). The Patch module has both a BLE and LoRa radio. https://www.filament.com https://www.filament.com
ak1394 11y ago
This is quite simple board to use, it provides UART interface to the LoRA module and can be used with microcontroller or USB com port interface: https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech-lora-sx1276-sx1278-data-radio-modem-drf1278dm/ https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech...
jasonjs 11y ago
I played around with these about a year ago: Arduino-compatible development boards with the radios, for 22 USD. http://www.anarduino.com/miniwireless/ http://www.anarduino.com/miniwireless/

I'm intrigued. Anyone want to suggest an economical development board or transceiver?

by jws 11y ago

I'm intrigued. Anyone want to suggest an economical development board or transceiver?

Like the author mentioned, these are new-ish/emerging standards and there isn't a de-facto board like Arduino just yet. Therefore it's kind of hard to recommend a board that I know has a ton of documentation and a big community. However, if you are the adventurous type and don't mind working with unpolished libraries and figuring things out from function descriptions, there are tons of smaller people putting out boards on Tindie: https://www.tindie.com/ https://www.tindie.com/ Tindie has a few LoRa boards, some with built in antennas and some without: https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech-lora-sx1276-sx1278-data-radio-modem-drf1278dm/?pt=full_prod_search https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech... But bottom line is that this tech isn't (yet) popular enough to try without getting a little dirty. If you can afford a bigger battery, try 900 MHz Xbee transmitters for an easy to interface serial with long range.

dconrad 11y ago

For LoRa, check out Multitech, LinkLabs, and Libelium. Semtech has a development board, too, though it would need to be paired with a microcontroller. Warning that most of this stuff is not for the faint of heart -- you need to be ready to dive into datasheets, bring up radio drivers, etc. For Sigfox, if you're not in an area with a Sigfox network, there's not much you can do. But TI has some killer FSK dev boards. http://www.ti.com/tool/smartrftrxebk http://www.ti.com/tool/smartrftrxebk and http://www.ti.com/tool/cc1101cc1190emk915 http://www.ti.com/tool/cc1101cc1190emk915 Ingenu has radio modules and dev boards, but I don't think they're set up to sell single-unit quantity. If you're in San Francisco, we're making a going to be distributing dev boards that will work out of the box and come with a bunch of sensors. Just sign up on our website: www.beepnetworks.com

kazazes 11y ago
If you haven't lost your faith in Kickstarter yet, this project has $180k committed. A €40 pledge will get you a LoRa board and €200 for a LoRa gateway and what is essentially a demo dongle. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/419277966/the-things-network https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/419277966/the-things-ne... Edit: fat thumbs, on mobile.
- dconrad 11y ago
  I love those guys go support them! But you will have to wait a while for their hardware.

ju-st 11y ago

Here is a nice writeup about the whole topic and some board recommendations. http://www.instructables.com/id/Introducing-LoRa-/ http://www.instructables.com/id/Introducing-LoRa-/ SX1278 is the string you want to search for on Aliexpress/Alibaba

bertm 11y ago

Try out Low Power Labs Monteino with the HopeRF, RFM95 LoRa module. The radio library is lacking but you can get up and running quickly. https://lowpowerlab.com https://lowpowerlab.com If you want something a little more enterprisy and turn-key, try the new guys (I work for them). The Patch module has both a BLE and LoRa radio. https://www.filament.com https://www.filament.com

ak1394 11y ago

This is quite simple board to use, it provides UART interface to the LoRA module and can be used with microcontroller or USB com port interface: https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech-lora-sx1276-sx1278-data-radio-modem-drf1278dm/ https://www.tindie.com/products/DORJI_COM/long-range-semtech...

jasonjs 11y ago

I played around with these about a year ago: Arduino-compatible development boards with the radios, for 22 USD. http://www.anarduino.com/miniwireless/ http://www.anarduino.com/miniwireless/