The sample sketches are posted in the RFM69 library (RangeTest_Gateway & RangeTest_Transmitter). Every few transmissions the RFGateway sends a packet to the node and waits for an ACK back (same as the normal transmissions but backwards). The transmitter sends a packet and waits for an ACK back from the RFGateway, that way we have 2-way communication for each transmission. To run the test I placed the small transmitting node (MotionMote) in a fixed position and walked away around the property and inside the building in the areas of interest with the RFGateway which displays the captured packets on the OLED.

Also for this evaluation I just used a LiPo battery plugged into the power header, only connected when USB is not plugged in.Īny compatible transceivers can be tested, but for this application RFM69HCW was used as I prefer it for all my RFM69 based applications. It has a small header convenient for an I2C OLED. The RFGateway’s SAMD51 processor clocks at 120mhz, plenty fast for handling packets from a very large RF network, while doing floating point and other memory operations. The video shows how I soldered a helical to an SMA male connector to mate it to the RFGateway’s SMA-female connector. It plugs straight into a Pi’s USB port and I would normally use an SMA dipole antenna at the gateway end of such an RF network. RFGateway is my go to board for setting up a RaspberryPi as an RF gateway. These batteries are great for temperature extremes, yielding a stable and deterministic discharge curve, and they can last for many years on an ultra low power node such as the MotionMote.

I assembled a MotionMote – which runs on a CR123A 3V lithium, sipping ~2uA. I did not know what to expect – would all the concrete and rebar act as a faraday cage and totally block signal from an outside sensor to an inside gateway? Or would performance just be poor? Of course in practice we follow some basic RF principles to ensure our small antennas are oriented decently and signal not degraded by incorrectly crammed or wound inside enclosures.Īt this location we had an unusual multi level heavily reinforced concrete building. It also works great in typical industrial buildings (usually metal) with lots of equipment and obstacles. I know it does great in medium/large residential homes with many walls and gateway in a corner of a concrete basement, while nodes are transmitting from inside and outside the building 100-200ft away. In the past I ran range and performance tests of RFM69 radios in various types of applications to gauge how it might perform.

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