And if anyone is doing any of the southern SP peaks, I can set up an additional LoRa IGate in Bolton (G6GVI-10) on request.
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Before I break out the soldering iron can anyone confirm the pins I need to solder the display to on the T-Beam AXP2101? Mine came without the screen attached but does have the pins in the package but not attached.
Looking online, it appears to be pins on the main board are:
3v3
GND
22
21
Cheers
John
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These things are popping up everywhere. Currently sat in Cooper Park, Elgin. @M0VAZ John will know why I’m here.
velcro around the back and over the top. Home made signal stick flexi wire antenna
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Morning Fraser. I suspect its motorsport related - speyside stages. Have a good event.
cheers john
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Nah, he’s sailing a model boat in the pond there 
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Dont! Wouldn’t be the first time a rally car went for a swim. Thats why I have an extra, extra long rope I can throw the crew. Don’t want wet feet this early in the day.
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Yay its alive! Well the screen powers on which is nice.
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Righty. Tracker built using version 1.2 of this board Amazon.co.uk
Compiled (after selecting the correct board in VSC) and now boots up, shows OE5BPA and then boots to display correct time and date - as rx’d from the GPS data.
Board looks to keep rebooting?
See Youtube video here (apologies for the scroll dislay, it does not happen on the LoRa device)
https://youtu.be/XpLK0Rtw02Y?feature=shared
I did try GitHub - richonguzman/LoRa_APRS_Tracker: LoRa APRS Tracker with Tx and Rx capabilities, Messages, Wx, Winlink and more... but the board was not supported (unless its known by another name)
I ended up using
Cheers
John
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Hi John,
I use Pete’s repos for the Lilygo TT-beam tracker :
and Richard’s repos for the Heltec WiFi Lora V3 board and the Lilygo TTGo.
Before you compiled, did you edit the json file in the “data” directory to include.your callsign etc.
Once you have compiled you have to “upload” the resultant binary to the ESP32. There is a button to the right of the tick button you pressed to compile to do this. Once that’s done, you need to click on the Android icon (side bar) and then select the correct board.
I’m down in G/SW at the moment so don’t have the IDE in front of me to give you exact instructions. I will when .back home on Wednesday
Dave
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I vaguely recall (from last September) that there were two upload processes required - one for the firmware and then a second for the “filesystem image”. Have a look at this guide
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Hi Dave
Thanks for the link to the repo - I have used the same one.
I have edited the JSON file and then uploaded/compiled which compiled OK with no errors (which I took as a good sign, unlike previous attempts with the wrong board/repo
Cheers
John
1 Like
Thanks Ross. I didn’t use the left hand upload file system option, I used the swoosh/tick on the bottom tool bar to upload and then use the compile option.
The rebooting of the LoRa board, I think was caused by running off a power bank (but I did get the red flashing LED for GPS?)
Now I am running off a main USB the board seems stable but no flashing red LED and the display shows ‘Sats 0’
Maybe this is just a coincidence ?
Currently the LoRa board is sitting on my window ledge, leaning against the window - lets see if I get a GPS fix?
Cheers
John
1 Like
I have to put mine outside on the shed roof for 10-15 mins to ensure it gets a fix before I set off. But one day it was blown off by a gust of wind and fell 2m onto the concrete paving - still works though!
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I did manage to get 2 sats yesterday sat in the same place - fingers crossed. But if not, then I might have to take it outside.
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LoRa is now outside with a clearview of the sky.
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Red LED flashing and no sats. LoRa now back to rebooting. I think I need to recompile the code
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The small GPS-Antenna is a joke. Sometimes my board needed an hour or more to get a fix. I changed the GPS antenna on my LoRa tracker to a bigger one and now it is working fine, getting a fix within 30-60 seconds.
I took my little tracker on a hike today (no SOTA!) and it worked fine. My iGate helped (of course):
73 Martin
OE5REO
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What GPS device do you use as a replacement?
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I am only talking about the GPS antenna … you can easily change the antenna on the LoRa T-Beam. See the photo:
GPS-Antennas in all different sizes can be bought for a couple of euros on amazon, aliexpress, ebay, … e.g.: Amazon.co.uk
73 Martin
OE5REO
3 Likes
Hi Martin
Can you share the design for you Lilygo TT-BEAM tracker case ? I have a Bambu Labs X1-Printer (which comes highly recommended) arriving today; and I need a design to test on it…
Dave