Tutorial: Using COM.LoRaWAN in UIFlow

[sodoku]

@lasniko you could reuse some parts of the tutorial, but the older blue module uses completely different AT-commands.

[Arno]

thank you very much for this very valuable information for a beginner like me.

[holgerw 0]

Great Tutorial,

please go on with it, would like to find an way to upload sensordata to TTN via ABP.
I have only an singleGateWay here and it does not let my join via OTAA.

I am stuck here.

many greetins from danube/austria
holger

[anvalin]

Hello @sodoku. Many thanks for sharing the tutorial! I found it on m5stack.hackster.io and it helped me a lot. Registered two COM.LoRaWAN 868MHz modules sucessfully with TTN and managed to see uplinks (alas with long join latency and lots of retrying uplinks though I am in the very middle of Berlin - it seems coverage still has to improve a lot). I am still struggling with the adaption of the official P2P example. Especially regarding use with a sensor in a setup without use of buttons to initiate data requests. If you'd find the time to extend your tutorial his would be much appreciated.
Also I wonder about the real life range of the modules. I have currently set them to 5V and cannot pull data beyond 20m distance, line of sight. Seems odd ... what are your experiences? Can this be enhanced using 12V? Maybe a faulty antenna connection?
As a side note - all blocks in Flow 1.7.2 are dedicated to the older blue modules - but an implementation for the M031-C is in development, as confirmed by M5Stack support.

[sodoku]

@anvalin I am glad I could help. I haven't done an example with sensors yet, because M5Stack said they would release support to the module in UIFlow which would make my example obsolete. I might still do it if I find the time.

I think the input power doesn't matter since the 12V will be regulated down to 5V anyway. I am also in Berlin. With a simple P2P test and a TTGO board in my window I recieved packages about 400m away. My record though was getting a connection to an outdoor TTN gateway which is over 8km away!
LoRa works best with a line of sight, any buildings inbetween can significantly decrease the signal.

[sodoku]

@holgerw-0 didn't see your question. Did you manage to get it working?

I haven't used ABP so far, but you should be able to use it by setting the ABP settings from TTN:

AT+NwkSKey=kkkk
AT+AppSKey=kkkk
AT+DevAddr=kkkk

and then switching from OTAA to ABP:

AT+OTAA=0

[anvalin]

Hi @sodoku
first COM.X LoraWan blocks became available with UI.Flow 1.7.5. Unfortunately still no support for the european frequency model.

I now run a public TTN gateway myself covering a portion of the Gleisdreieck area filling a blind spot. Hopefully adding an external LoraWan antenna with higher gain will solve my range problem at my nodes location - half a kilometre distance in a dense urban area can really be a show stopper with LoraWan when there's no gateway around ;)

[sodoku]

@anvalin glad you got something working. Your gateway is about 4km away from me. Not sure I will manage to get a connection to you :D

[bob_isat]

Hi @sodoku and thanks for the nice tutorial.

As @LasNiko , I plan to try the same :Using old blue LORAWAN Module (LORA868) to send data to TTN.

Would you have any insights on the commands to use by any chance ?

Blocks exists in UIFLOW 1.8.2 but hard to find documentations related to it

Cheers,

bob_isat

[bob_isat]

@anvalin said in Tutorial: Using COM.LoRaWAN in UIFlow:

Hello @sodoku. Many thanks for sharing the tutorial! I found it on m5stack.hackster.io and it helped me a lot. Registered two COM.LoRaWAN 868MHz modules sucessfully with TTN and managed to see uplinks (alas with long join latency and lots of retrying uplinks though I am in the very middle of Berlin - it seems coverage still has to improve a lot). I am still struggling with the adaption of the official P2P example. Especially regarding use with a sensor in a setup without use of buttons to initiate data requests. If you'd find the time to extend your tutorial his would be much appreciated.
Also I wonder about the real life range of the modules. I have currently set them to 5V and cannot pull data beyond 20m distance, line of sight. Seems odd ... what are your experiences? Can this be enhanced using 12V? Maybe a faulty antenna connection?
As a side note - all blocks in Flow 1.7.2 are dedicated to the older blue modules - but an implementation for the M031-C is in development, as confirmed by M5Stack support.

Damned, i had the same expectation! (the 12V to enhance range)...

[anvalin]

COM.LoRaWAN Module 868MHz V2.0 (ASR6501, product code MS03031-C4) is now listed at retailers. Hopefully this new module will finally see full UIFlow support.

[Donpedrito]

No news for the COM.X 868 Modul in UIFlow. Still not in the UIFlow "Library".
Edit:
@sodoku, the COM.LORAWAN 868 (ASR6501, M031-C) modul has different "AT"-Commands and if i use these commands instead of yours in the description, i could communicate with the modul via Console and USB and can send "payloads" to TTN, but no chance to use some other "programming-blocks" in UIFlow. The AT-Command Introductions are here: