Early days development of a LoRa dog tracker

[@James-mv9qx]

So glad the holy youtube algorithm served up this video! I love your style, lots of great info but you explain it in a very easy to understand way. I also love the humour you throw in, got a sub from me!

[@randyguay7115]

Very good . Great video. And yeah 1/2 is really good for a little wire. With a god quality antenna you can expect to easily tripple that. I have thought about trying my luck with doing this for my dogs. What i did do just as an experiment on my big black lab. I strapped a 920 mhz ht radio to his vest . And monitored his activities for a few days. I found him making visits to other dogs in the area that he seems to like. Anyway . Take care and keep at it these things my get even better soon.

[@ThisWorks4Me]

Great video. I've been playing around with LoRa for a few years, but never have got anything up and running. In the U.S. a full wave antenna would be 32.8 cm. You are using a 1/4 antenna. You might get better range with a full wave antenna.

[@DrKnow65]

I remember the *INCREDIBLE* step up from 1200 baud to 2400 baud dialup... no delay while typing :0 and when it hit 9600 baud we could type AND see the guy on the other end typing AT THE SAME TIME! and we had colors to illustrate who was talking it was soooo cool.

[@dork3nergy]

Those were exciting times no doubt. Someone needs to bring back BBSs and FidoNet.

[@noweare1]

I'm trying to do what your doing accept I have two cats that like to stay out at night so I want to track them to find them. I just started this project yesterday. I watched about half your video then stopped because I don't want to be influenced. But I will come back to compare after I either get stuck or come up with a design. I like your style. You know a lot more than your letting on.

[@dork3nergy]

Thanks Joey. The problem with cats (other than the litter box) is the size of the tracker. I have had plans all along to miniaturize the damn thing but still haven't got beyond the planning stage. The smallest tracker I can make is about 7x2.5x2cm and that's with a 800mAh battery. Let me know how you make out.

[@noweare1]

@@dork3nergy Yes, the size is going to be a problem with cats among other things. I was kind of astonished that you could do this level of electronics when I saw your other videos which were not really related. Relative to other things Electronics hobbyists are a very small population compared to other hobbies. You must of been in the field at some point.

[@dork3nergy]

@@noweare1 'Fraid not. I had a 150 in 1 electronics kit from RadioShack when I was a kid. Fun but I'm pretty sure I didn't learn jack shit from it. I just like to tinker. Anyone can do it. You learn what you need to as you go along. ^_^

[@noweare1]

@@dork3nergy lol, that's funny. True.

[@stregatechnologies2204]

Great stuff: keep us posted on your next steps...! Little correction: Asia and Pacific are on LoRaWAN 923MHz, India on 865MHz...

[@dork3nergy]

There is an update. You might want to subscribe in case I actually make something worth while ;)

[@estranhoecurioso9475]

Love it!! Very enjoyable video and good explanations. Thanks for showing the details. Cheers.

[@davidforco7791]

nice lightning rod in the top of your house! :) nice proyect, keep rolling!

[@dork3nergy]

Great for charging up the battery quickly. :D

[@no5x937]

LoRa supports data rates up to 50kbps but at shorter distances. Still longer than Wifi but at lower speeds.

[@LevyCarneiro]

Hello sir, great video and channel! At 6:47 It seems that the TP4056 board provides 4.2v output: how do you provide 3.0 to 3.6v to the pro mini? Thanks!

[@dork3nergy]

You are correct, about the voltage specs for the pro mini however the Atmega328P chip that runs the thing has a range of 2.7V to 5.5V which is why I think it works. Also, by powering through the VCC you can save some milliamps by avoiding the voltage regulator.

[@NETBotic]

This is so cool. I love LoRa, especially where I live. I bought a Fi collar for my dog that uses LTE-M and it was a joke. I'm late to the LoRa game but testing has been fun.

[@dork3nergy]

I do too. It's a fun technology with a boat load of potential applications!

[@reedreamer9518]

Solution for poison ivy (9:07) - scrub affected areas with Dawn dish washing detergent, which is designed to dissolve and wash away oils and is 100% save for skin - even with beaks in the skin. This will result in instant relieve from poison ivy itch, and with oils removed healing begins immediately, with no possibility of scaring (even after scrubbing) because poison ivy blisters are only superficial. FYI

[@dork3nergy]

This is good advice. I had already stumbled on this info and can confirm it works!

[@josephkwong7934]

Great video. But, the Arduino Pro Mini Tutorial doesn't talk about how to connect the GPS module. Do you have any diagrams on the connections?

[@dork3nergy]

I use pins 7,8 for the gps Rx and Tx, 3 and 4 will also work. GPS ProMini ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Vcc ---> 3.3V Gnd ---> Gnd Rx ---> 7 Tx ---> 8

[@fatboyfpv3658]

I would suggest using the ESP lora32 v2.0 which has the highest rated power of the lora32 models as a home base. It has built in battery manager too. It comes with a tuned antenna that would also help alot. you should be able to get muiltple KM range with better antennas. Great work, very nice to help those neighbors

[@dork3nergy]

I should pick on of those up and see how they fare....or is it fair....Hmmm..both look ok. I guess there's no way to know (or is it know way to no?)

[@hendmei7066]

Здравствуйте, а где можно посмотреть схему и повторить вашу модель?

[@LevyCarneiro]

Which bandwidth and spreading factor settings are you using? Assuming you are optimizing for range. Great video!!

[@LevyCarneiro]

Found your answer in video 2!

[@diegomestrecam7674]

Helo. The RF95 can detect Rx data when is in sleep mode? or is the module always ON and the ESP chip is what foes to sleep in 5 min intervals? Basicaly my question is... If the chip and the RF95 are in sleep mode, can they detect incoming data? PS. Thanks for the video

[@dork3nergy]

You can sleep the RFM95 as well as the ESP32 but in my system, I just sleep the ESP32. The RFM95 will not detect signals in sleep mode.

[@LukeDixon]

Thanks for the video, this is exactly what I want to do for my cat.

[@dork3nergy]

Excellent. That should work for a while until cats develop anti-tracking devices.

[@ksnax]

The toilet reference; I'm dead. "I don't remember eating that!"

[@solarkbike8]

Whose LoRa library are you using? I found a couple. One is straight forward, the other gives invalidity errors. they differ with GPIO reqirements.

[@dork3nergy]

The Sandeep Mistry Library seems to work well. github.com/sandeepmistry/arduino-LoRa

[@solarkbike8]

@@dork3nergy that is the one I am trying. tx seems to initialize and is returning from sending. rx never gets a good return from LoRa.begin(xx). Your videos' style is a hoot. Just enough info to spark experimentation. keep it up.

[@dork3nergy]

If your RX module is not returning 1 from LoRa.begin(frequency) then it is likely a wiring issue assuming the module is good. You can test that by swapping the TX module for the RX one.

[@solarkbike8]

up too late. with it wired correctly all is good.

[@dork3nergy]

@@solarkbike8 Good to hear. Soldier on.

[@fbarnea]

Hi, this looks great but I was wondering is there any way to use the mobile phone and a mobile device as a gateway? That way you can track it on the move? Would it require a custom app? I can find my way around coding an app just not so good on the hardware side.

[@dork3nergy]

So, yes and no. I'm working on Part III of this project and it should answer you question in full. Stay tuned.

[@fbarnea]

@@dork3nergy that is great?, Looking forward. Thank you for making these videos!

[@talgatv]

Спасибо! (From Russia)

[@Melhisedek618]

Получилось у тебя сваять трекер на лоре?

[@akolec]

@DorkEnergy, have you tested this? How did it fare with your dog?

[@dork3nergy]

Works great. See Vid 2.

[@santaoct]

This is great and I been thinking about the same exact thing

[@ecsyntric]

what if i have 3 dogs?

[@fernandotomeo1653]

I also have a huge golden retriever and I would like to do this, can you leave in the description what parts you use and their prices? Thank you!

[@dork3nergy]

Sure. Prices will vary depending on where you get the parts from however. For the Tracker Module : RFM95 Lora Module (Make sure the frequency matches your location - 915MHZ for North America) LoRa Node PCB 203 from DIYCON Arduino Pro-Mini - 3.3V/8Mhz 3.7V, 200mAh LiPo battery 20mmx30mm Beitian BN-180 GPS module TP4056 Charge Module (Remember to change the resistor on it to match the battery ~ 6K for the 200mAh battery) A little spring antenna. A small slide switch For the Gateway: ESP32 RFM95 You'll need to power it and stick an antenna on it but that's really all you need. That should get you started.

[@pedrinho32286]

Hi DorkEnergy! Could you please tell me the connections between the rfm95 and Arduino pro mini. Thank you !

[@dork3nergy]

Sure thing. Make sure you are using a 3.3V pro mini. Pro Mini --> RFM95 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ GND --> GND VCC --> 3.3V 2 --> DIO0 3 --> DIO1 4 --> DIO2 5 --> RESET 6 --> NSS 11 --> MOSI 12 --> MISO 13 --> SCK

[@pedrinho32286]

@@dork3nergy Thank you:) Very Helpful! DiO1 and DiO2 need to be connected?

[@dork3nergy]

@PedroE You're right, they do not need to be connected since they are not used .... BUT, if they are implemented in the future you might be happy you connected them now. Also : github.com/matthijskooijman/arduino-lmic#dio-pins

[@pedrinho32286]

@@dork3nergy I´m not right. I don't have any knowledge to be right in this subject. :) I'm just a beginner. Again thank you!

[@dork3nergy]

@@pedrinho32286 I'm mostly feeling my way in the dark on most stuff too. But hey, you don't learn anything from being right all the time. Good luck with the project.

[@jamesking8105]

Cool working system. If you used a rtc on tx and rx would that help with syncing and energy conservation? Also how did you figure out bw, data rate, channels, power level etc. Basic setup? Cool python setup. Definitely a cool idea.

[@dork3nergy]

Thanks James. The system has been running autonomously on the roof for months now without any issues. My neighbor walks his dog at least 3 times a day and loves that he knows where is damn dog is when it runs away. I'm not sure what you are thinking regarding the realtime clock (RTC). Using it with the node or gateway? To save power on the node, the pro-mini can implement some sleep functions that would help. Also, removing the LED and voltage regulator would be benifical. BW, data rate, etc was determined by trial and error mostly. The basic principle for longest range is to have a low bandwidth and a high spread factor. If you haven't already, check out my 2nd video in this series. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqSxYa2MiNClas0

[@jamesking8105]

@@dork3nergy thanks for the update. What I was thinking with the rtc is to basically timestamps tx so you can record them. Also for interrupts you could set the tx window at a certain time and then have a slightly longer rx window with the rtc so that tx and rx operate synchronized. It may be possible to use a rtc to wake up the micro as well using external interrupts but you probably have a lot more experience in this. As far as the spreading rate is that related to the type of tx such as OOK, FSK, or GFSK?

[@dork3nergy]

So, right now, my gateway just listens for lora chirps in between sleep periods. There is no coordination between the node and the gateway. As soon as the gateway detects a lora chirp, it starts a continuous listen cycle until that signal is no longer sending. I can see a RTC would be great help if you were monitoring soil conditions for example and each node would send out data at a particular time everyday. Spread Factor is not really related to the modulation type (OOK, FSK etc) LoRa uses a proprietary modulation scheme called spread spectrum modulation. Here is a good article on the different LoRa parameters you can set. medium.com/home-wireless/testing-lora-radios-with-the-limesdr-mini-part-2-37fa481217ff

[@jamesking8105]

@@dork3nergy Thanks man, after watching a few videos it makes more sense. Chirp is just a sending tone pretty cool it's being used this way. I guess you use a smaller spreading factor for busy environments and a larger one for less busy environments. Very informative.

[@ajaybnl]

Amazing video. I think LoRa have KM's range!

[@cwb43068]

garmin alpha 100 is what i use for my hound. with the long antenna i get 9 miles

[@dork3nergy]

Wow. That's impressive.

[@raymondmichael4987]

Very informative 😊

[@ck-kb2kd]

Very good demo!

[@dork3nergy]

Thanks!

[@wassilachtioui1753]

can you write down all of the components you used ?

[@dork3nergy]

I updated the description of this video to include the parts. Cheers!

[@alik250]

Amazing video, man, this got me to fully commit to doing the same

[@dork3nergy]

Thanks Ben Dover. I have a part III in the works that may be of interests to ya.

[@indecentseas-]

Thank you!

[@peace7311]

How are you going to miniaturise it?

[@dork3nergy]

Oh jeez....well, I have big plans to do a PCB that slims everything down. Need to learn how to do that first mind you. Also want to look into that new seedunio XIAO board to see how it will cram into tight spaces. I'm sorry I haven't put out any videos about this lately...stupid fucking covid.

[@peace7311]

@@dork3nergy Just checked out this seedunio XIAO you are talking about. It is small, I can give you that. But I was wondering if someone wants to put this stuff in, say for example a wrist band, then what???

[@dork3nergy]

@@peace7311 Wristband, sure. It would be on the chunky side but shouldn't be a problem.

[@rafael91111111111]

Great i had something like this in mind

[@theentrepreneur8715]

Hello.. how can I contact you

[@dork3nergy]

Good question. [e-mail] should work.

[@ionutgeorgechica8586]

Nice project. I have a project with lora to do for my university and i need some help. If you have time, can you help me with my project? I’ll pay for it. Thank you!

[@dork3nergy]

What do you need help with Ionut?

[@tmpEngine]

hey i just googled your coordinates, you live in some kind of far away island in the middle of the ocean what the hell man

[@dork3nergy]

Yup. It's waterworld out here.

[@eto38581]

Duty cycle law : am I joke to you?

[@dork3nergy]

Heh heh. You said duty.

[@mbison9755]

This looks more like a p2p communication than a gateway.

[@dork3nergy]

You're probably right there. I knew less than nothing about this when I started this project so I can see myself using the wrong terminology.

[@mbison9755]

@@dork3nergy no worries mate great video anyway