Continuing the discussion from LoRa APRS Tracker (Part 7) - #102 by M0JKS.
Previous discussions:
That’s the same process I’ve been doing, and unfortunately it still re-boots on times at the start 
thanks for the info though @M0JKS
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I did managed to get one in a constant reboot cycle, by building and uploading for the wrong board type (Lilygo instead of Heltec V3). If this happens you need to perform a factory bootloader reset. Here’s the procedure:
Give that a try, and then try again.
Dave
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I’m pretty sure this is a different problem. I suspect it is caused by a momentary Voltage drop on boot causing the power management chip to cut off the supply.
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Was it this line that you changed?
“bluetoothType”: 1,
If you change the 0 back to 1 and re-upload does it still work?
Did you include the comma on the end of the line?
If you choose “upload and monitor” and leave the board connected you’ll have a console which might give some debugging messages which will help pin down where it’s going wrong.
It could be a power problem like Richard suggests, so leaving it plugged in while booting up will rule this out.
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Instead of using those really inefficient Chinese SMPS modules based on the XL-series or LM2596 devices, have people not considered using a Consonance CN3791 solar MPPT Li-on battery charger or similar module?
They are pseudo-MPPT for better optimisation with solar panels. And then run the Tracker directly through the small power connector?
You can get these modules on Amazon for around ÂŁ5 and they work great. They support up to 4A charge current. They also do ICs for higher battery voltages, but given most modules use a linear regulator to 3.3V, keeping the battery low is probably an advantage.
Just my two pence.
George, M1GEO.
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Heltecs (almost all new boards) use ESP32S3 and they only provide BLE bluetooth
so you can use “bluetoothType” 0 and 2 (0 for iPhone Apple, 2 for Android BLE apps , sadly APRSDroid still not available with BLE)
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It’s been a good week for the 70cm LoRa network.
- G4IPB has established an igate at Middleton in Teesdale (G/NP).
- M0JKS has replaced his Peak District Digi
- M0MZB’s igate has reappeared (West Cumbria G/LD)
- G3WGV has been up Great Dun Fell to do a site site survey (G/LD, G/NP)
- I have surveyed a potential site for an igate south of Buxton (G/SP)
- Three more people were sent trackers.
And as I write I can see a few people using their LoRa trackers as they travel for the holiday weekend. All good.
My next batch of trackers will be available in a couple of weeks. Remember that these “trackers” can do a lot more than just tracking: self-spotting for SOTA and more! DM me if you want one of the next batch. UK activators only.
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Hello Guys,
Beta test
I build the Low Power DigiPeater and tested it out. It is still running.
The goal was to build it with less parts and less costs as possible.
Some details:
-Controller Lilygo TTGO V2.1 / Heltec Wireless Stick / Heltec CT62 → around 20€
-Solar Panel (2.5W 5-6V) → 2-10€
-TP4056 → 0,1€
-1x 18650 3000mAh → recycled
-Antenna → diy build or 1€ on Ali
-Case → 2-10€
Total costs around 25-40€
Thx to Ricardo @CA2RXU we could managed to receive data without loosing a single package and still saving a lot of power.
I made a test with an Lilygo TTGO V2.1. The 18650 cell was still over 3.6V after 5 days of running the DigiPeater without a solar panel (it repeated every 5 minutes for 5 days).
If you consider to build one with an Heltec device the sleeping consumption is half of the Lilygo’s. So maybe you can use also a smaller solar panel. Depends how much activity is in your area.
A quick scematic. (don’t judge me)
Feel free to ask if u wanna know any details 
73
Julian
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My digipeater was also placed atop cold fell in West Cumbria, but for some reason failed. I retrieved it this evening and will have it back in place shortly.
I plan a second digipeater a bit further north, and am tempted to place one atop Black Combe.
I am enjoying fiddling with improving them, which explains the frequent down time.
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Thanks Richard, Just received mine today as Royal Mail couldn’t deliver on Friday… Too late for our Moel Famau activation this morning, but we’ll be on Gun tomorrow, so hope to get picked up/tracked by somebody.
Do you offer iGates for sale…? That’ll be my next project, as there don’t seem to be any LoRa iGates near to Halewood/Liverpool, so sticking the tracker on top of my mast this afternoon hasn’t resulted in it being received by anyone (as far as I can tell anyway).
Thanks again & 73, Simon
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That’s very odd. There are loads of igates that cover Liverpool.
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Chatting with John G3WGV he asked about recommendations for igates and digis. I have written a note on the subject. It’s just suggestions based on common usage so don’t feel that I am telling you what to do. Also feel free to edit any mistakes on the wiki page.
https://sotaloraaprs.miraheze.org/wiki/Tips_for_setting_up_igates_and_digis
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Boot cycling
My tracker got into a boot cycling loop today. It was pretty hard to get it out of it. In the end leaving it switched on and connected to USB sorted it out (after a while). I tried various other things, none of which worked. Very odd. Build 2024.07.02…
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Having similar problems with the recent August build on two digipeaters, they seem to occasionally enter a boot loop which is difficulty to get out of. Cycling the power from the battery connection doesn’t always fix it.
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Starting to think its an RFI issue
-Only occurs if digipeater is set to Tx
-Occurs at the Tx part of the boot cycle, when the unit sends a beacon
-There is no power supply issue that I can see, voltage remain stable at input to heltec.
-if I disconnect the antenna it stops happening
I’m thinking it is most prone if the battery wires to the heltec run adjacent to the antenna wire, but not sure.
Started to suspect RFI when the voltage readings on the power supply went up during Tx.!
Update a few minutes later:
Tested with a dummy load and the problem disappeared. When an antenna is reconnected the problem returns. Have repeated swapping dummy load and antenna several time and I can repeat the problem with the antenna connected, but never appears with dummy load.
Antenna and battery wire are faily well separated (see below).
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loRa tracker and Android.
My pre-configured CWI tracker arrived several days ago, on switch on all appears to be ok as a stand-alone device.
I cannot “see” the unit on my Samsung A54 when enabling Bluetooth and attempting to pair.
The tracker does not appear in the list on the phone.
I also have the BLE scanner app, which also cannot see the tracker.
Digging deeper and looking at the tracker settings, Bluetooth appeared to be set to off (BT Android off).
On the tracker I have set this manually to on, but with the same end result – not showing on the Bluetooth list.
If the tracker is powered down and re started, under settings, Bluetooth has reverted to off (BT Android off).
Not sure if this is a time out function to save power, firmware over ride, or some other issue.
The A54 successfully connects to a number of Heltec V3 Meshtastic nodes that I have, but not the Heltec tracker board fitted in the CWI unit.
Has anybody successfully connected to and used the tracker for APRS messaging with the A54 Samsung and Heltec tracker board?
Any pointers before I revert to re set and attempt to re flash the device please?
Thanks
Tim
G4YTD
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Interesting theory. I hadn’t thought of there being a potential RFI problem. Keep us informed - especially if you discover a fix!
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is your board esp32s3 based (as they only have BLE, and BLE only gets paired inside apps)
Aprsdroid has no soon to be updated version to work with BLE
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Hi Tim,
Nothing to add to the fix, only to say that my CWI supplied device is the same - I can’t see any BT transmission from it on my Android (Samsung) phone. I have another issue to sort first, but once that is dealt with, I’ll spend some time on the BT problem. I have a handful of Android phones here, which I can use to test.
Do you enable BT via the buttons on the device? If so, could you explain how?
The device doesn’t appear when I connect it via USB to my laptop, so I assume I need to do something else with it (I’ve not had chance to read about this yet - been busy with work this week).
Richard shared this link with me, which may assist (I haven’t looked yet): APRS messaging on Android - Setting up and using LoRa APRS for SOTA
Also, looking at the board it appears to have a WiFi connection. Does this allow any functionality that we can use for spotting, or is it more for the device to connect to the internet itself?
I’m mainly interested in the spotting capability, especially in Wales where phone signals can sometimes be duff. The tracking will be useful too, but I like the idea of being able to spot myself off-grid effectively (off phone grid anyway).
Thanks & 73, Simon
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