LoRa APRS Tracker (Part 2)

[M0VAZ]

I am happy to see my iGate working, I have a had a few other reports for contacts via my iGate.

I was considering putting a UHF antenna on the pole I have at the rear of the garden that supports my EFHW and running this down to the LoRa board and put it in the shed. This should give a clearer view and not be obstructed by the house roof as much.

But seeing your setup, I wonder if that style might be better.

Looking at the picture, you have your LoRa mounted the main board and power from the batteries and a charge controller at the bottom - I assume fed via your PV?

[M0JKS]

@2E0JWA

Going to have a chat with Dave, see what he thinks… he mentioned it “on air” today while he was on Manod Mawr activating! if it is, its no bother, the offer is there if needed!

Alan

I’ve sent you a DM Alan

Dave

[M7SDO]

Just jumping on board with LoRa: first try will be a tracker using:

39.62€ 30% OFF|LILYGO® Meshtastic T Beam esp32 Modul Lora Development Board...

And Ricardo Guzman’s repo:

GitHub - richonguzman/LoRa_APRS_Tracker: LoRa APRS Tracker with Tx and Rx...

I’m located in Shropshire, and there are quite a few iGate’s around already so will be interesting to see how it performs. Next step will be to set up an iGate…

Does anyone have any recommendations for a case to put this board in? I found this on eBay which I think was mentioned earlier, but i’m unsure if it will fit:

TTGO T-Beam V1.1 NEO-6M (Meshtastic) Case | eBay

Incidentally, last weekend, Shropshire Raynet used some LoRa trackers for an event we were involved in (a mountain bike race) - we gave them to the sweep team so we had an idea where they were located on the route. We had a few black spots but we were relying on existing iGates provided by others, however, as a first try with this tech it was quite impressive how well it worked.

[G6GVI]

@M7SDO

Does anyone have any recommendations for a case to put this board in?

I just adapted the plastic box in which it was shipped, packed out with foam:

It got that crack on the front when it fell 2m onto a paving slab - but it still works fine!

This is the code with which I programmed mine (last September):
https://github.com/lora-aprs/LoRa_APRS_Tracker

[M7SDO]

Thanks @G6GVI Ross, I think I’ll take a punt on the printed case and if all else fails, use your option!

[M5RJC]

As folks noticed last weekend, I have also joined in with a LoRa iGate at the home QTH and a tracker, both on the LILIGO hardware.

Working well, and today took it on an activation of GW/SW-016, where it achieved a PB 37.4 mile / 60 Km contact to MB7UWH-1 in Cheltenham (run I believe by Matt 2E0MDJ)

I printed this case for the tracker, but haven’t done one for the iGate yet.

SW does seem to be a bit of a blank spot on the map for LoRa …

Cheers
Rick

[M7SDO]

Yes noticed your iGate Rick on the map! And that case looks cool - another option!

[M5RJC]

@M7SDO

And that case looks cool - another option!

It is very nicely engineered, with plenty of options. I especially like the option of a low-profile LiPo for the back instead of the 18650, and the option of the 25mm GPS antenna for the front instead of the tiny one that comes with the board.

Rick

[M0JKS]

Hi All,

I’ve been using the Lilygo T-Beam for over two years now, as a LoRA tracker, and I’ve always been a little unsatisfied with the design of the thing, especially as a tracker that one can slip into a pocket. The size of PCB is clearly designed around a 18650 Li-ion cell. Anyway, as someone who has a reputation for giving hardware a jolly good thrashing when out in the hills (i.e. I’m not that careful), I’ve snapped the antenna on numerous occasions, and I’ve lost count of the number times I’ve had to replace the SMA connector.

I was therefore pleased when Heltec recently brought out the LoRA tracker, same ESP32, SX1262 LoRa chipset and a UC6580 GNSS:

Wireless Tracker

It’s sold on Aliexpress as either the EU868 for Meshtastic or EU433 for very little money, and is now supported by Richard Guzman’s excellent Git Repos:

GitHub - richonguzman/LoRa_APRS_Tracker: LoRa APRS Tracker with Tx and Rx capabilities, Messages, Wx, Winlink and more...

To protect the board I recently found this case being sold on eBay, for £17 including a BL-5C 1020mAH Li-ion battery - which slots neatly into the back of the case.

Wireless Tracker / Heltec V3 Rugged Case, SMA 3/5 dbi Antenna 868 Mhz...

Here are some pictures of the one I recently carried up Cadair Berwyn on the GW/NW SOTA weekend:

The only “soldering” one needs to do, is to attach the other end of JST 1.0mm connector to a small plastic battery thingy that the battery plugs into.

It’s a very neat design and I cannot recommend the combination of the two enough. It is the LoRA tracker I’ve been looking for for a while:

https://aprs.fi/#!z=9&call=a%2FM0JKS-7&timerange=86400&tail=86400

To configure Richard’s git repos to build for this particular board, after cloning the repos, change platformio.ini so the default_envs variable is set to “heltec_wireless_tracker”

[platformio]
default_envs = heltec_wireless_tracker

and then when uploading the configuration (Alien thingy on the left-hand side), select “heltec_wireless_tracker” and then “Upload Filesystem Image”:

Obviously, as with all the other trackers, one needs to edit the file data/tracker_config.json. All I did was change the Callsign to “M0JKS-7” and edit the “lora” section, removing all the other LoRA frequencies except 439.9125MHz (which Richard has kindly added for U.K hams):

Regards

Dave

[M5RJC]

Hi Dave

That’s all useful info - yes the antenna on the Liligo does emerge in the wrong direction !
And I’ve lost count of how many SMA’s I’ve broken or pulled off cables - they just aren’t that robust.

I’ve tried a homebrew right-angled 1/4 wave that runs parallel to the case, and that works fine - just need to add a 3d-printed tube

Cheers
Rick

[M7SDO]

Very interesting Dave! Thanks for posting that info. That looks really neat. I’m going to have a first try with the Lilygo board and if all goes well I think your option could be another thing to mess around with.

[G1JPV]

I have run various igates from home in the past all have been on 144.800? APRS-fi

Are most of the LoRa ones running UHF?

I have had an 868 version for a short while, but never set it up, even though I have the Meshtastic app on my Samsung Phone?

[G6GVI]

@G1JPV

Are most of the LoRa ones running UHF?

Yes Tony, around 439MHz (where there’s more space available for the wider bandwidth LoRa signals). But they still report via APRS.fi.
I’ve been experimenting with a tracker from the local moors and have been really impressed at the ranges achieved (with just 100mW into a quarter-wave). For example, just this month:

[G1JPV]

Thanks for that Ross, will have a read of www and see what’s on YouTube? I take it the 868MHz is not entirely useless ?

[G4TGJ]

@G1JPV

I take it the 868MHz is not entirely useless ?

Is anyone listening on this frequency for APRS? I think the point of 439MHz is that it is in an amateur band but not ISM or SRD and so should have less interference and the possibility of more power. LoRa boards are available for 433MHz and also work at 439MHz.

I am very tempted to have a go at a tracker and igate but I have too many other projects to try first.

[G1JPV]

Thanks Richard, after half an hour of research, no, there are more igates on 439MHz set up by Amateur radio ops, especially where I will be going, so in that case I will have to order a 433 Board to replace my 868 one. its a Meshtastic T-Beam V1.2, 868MHz, with OLED, and is RTG, just connect with Bluetooth and off I would have gone. Just my luck as usual Tony

[G1JPV]

I can order a 433 board, but may not be here by the time I’m doing my Birthday activations , but I can use APRSDroid that has been on my Phones since 2008.

Shame the Board I got was 868,

[G6GVI]

@G1JPV

I can use APRSDroid

Yes indeed Tony, so long as your smartphone is in range of a cellsite, that should show your track on the APRS-IS maps.
(My old Nokia phone doesn’t do any of that fancy stuff!)

[G1JPV]

@G6GVI

(My old Nokia phone doesn’t do any of that fancy stuff!)

Haha, that’s not like you even Elaine has an updated Android

I remember building a tracker from an American website years ago but this LoRa is a big learning curve for me. Fingers crossed I can finally get up and and running?