[OZAPRS] LoRA tracking

Wed Nov 8 10:46:51 AEDT 2017

You've got to be careful with the Oz LIPD bands in that you read the LIPD
schedules carefully...  both frequency and maximum EIRP are limited by
application and/or modulation.

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2015L01438

Here's the relevant sections (third column is EIRP not output power Px/Py).

*Transmitters for non-specific purposes;*

20

All transmitters

915–928

3 mW

*Frequency Hopping WiFi & RLAN transmitters*

54

Frequency hopping transmitters

915–928

1 W

A minimum of 20 hopping frequencies must be used.

58

Digital modulation transmitters

915–928

1 W

(a)    The radiated peak power spectral density in any 3 kHz must not
exceed 25 mW per 3 kHz.

(b)   The minimum 6 dB bandwidth must be at least 500 kHz.

*Radiofrequency Identification (RFID)*

43

Radiofrequency identification transmitters

(b)   918–926

1 W

45

Radiofrequency identification transmitters

920–926

4 W

(a)    The transmitter must comply with the instrument known as ISO/IEC
18000-6c.

(b)   Emissions in the band below 917.75 MHz must be no greater than
–37 dBm EIRP.

(c)    Emissions above 926 MHz must be no greater than
–33 dBm EIRP.

(d)   The transmitter must not be used unless more than 1 W EIRP is
necessary to achieve satisfactory system performance.

So you can build an VSB ATV modulator with an output power of 3mW (#20) and
use it on air after you have applied for your (free) class license.  You
can put in commercial (A-tick approved) point to point FHSS links on
915-928 with 1W EIRP (#54), so a 6dB colinear/beam with 20m of RG58
(*grin*) and the output power of 0.5W does the trick... you can even run
point to point or multi-point data networks (RLAN) using LoRA modules at
full output (25mW) on 915-928 (#58), however if you decide to up the output
power at all watch the associated spectral requirements it's not 1W for a
chirp modulation scheme.

The people developing RFID products have a sub-band of 918-926MHz within
the traditional 915-928MHz ISM band, I see this confusion all the time and
a lot of mis-information.  The ACMA legislation will point you at the
Comlaw site and should be peoples first stop when looking at what they can
and can't do with RF spectrum in Australia, it's relatively straight
forward.

If you do end up with American equipment that's on 902-928MHz expect a
visit from the ACMA since you'll be hammering Vodaphone and Optus LTE
networks and hunted down like a rabbed dog.
I hope that clears up the confusion...

If only the WIA could open up the opportunity for Amateurs in Australia
like Region 2 enjoy.. (*sigh*).

73

Matthew
VK5ZM

On 8 November 2017 at 07:43, Mark Jessop <lenniethelemming at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sure is! He sells a few variants...  868 MHz is europe's version of our
> 918-928 MHz ISM band, and is funnily enough in a very sensible location (2x
> 434 MHz, to catch harmonics from bad 434 MHz devices). I suspect the limits
> would be defined in the software you need to write, so as David has
> mentioned, you would need to make sure you get that bit right!
>
> Be careful of getting confused between LoRa (a 'chirp spread spectrum'
> modulation scheme, the physical layer), and LoRaWAN (a communications
> protocol - the 'MAC' layer). All of the LoRaWAN IoT gateways around
> Australia that I know of are running on 915 MHz, yes. If you're not
> intending on messing around with LoRaWAN gateways, then there's nothing
> stopping you from using 434 MHz.
>
> I'm just using the LoRa modems because they were a convenient way of
> getting very reliable bi-directional comms going between the cutdown
> payload and the chase car. I'm not using any of the LoRaWAN stuff (the spec
> hadn't been released when I started working on the payload), instead I
> wrote my own binary packet format suited to my application.
>
> 73
> Mark VK5QI
>
> On Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 5:23 AM, Glen English VK1XX <
> glenlist at pacificmedia.com.au> wrote:
>
>> the 868 one is illegal in AUstralia.
>>
>>
>> On 8/11/2017 6:19 AM, Dave wrote:
>> >
>> > The Jaycar gateway is a Dragino. I've seen an Aus site with them
>> > https://www.iot-store.com.au/collections/iot-networking-comms/LoRa-IoT
>> > and at about 2/3 Jaycar prices too.
>> >
>> > I believe that 915Mhz is recommended in Aus.
>> >
>> > Dave
>> >
>> >
>> > On 7/11/2017 7:11 PM, Mark Jessop wrote:
>> >> Nice descriptive reply there...
>> >>
>> >> Not quite sure why we're talking about LoRa in the
>> >> Australian *APRS* list, but anyway...
>> >>
>> >> Cheap LoRa Arduino
>> >> Shield: https://www.seeedstudio.com/Dragino-LoRa-Shield-support-433M
>> -frequency-p-2672.html
>> >> (similar available for 915 MHz).
>> >> LoRa Raspberry Pi
>> >> Shield: http://www.dragino.com/products/module/item/106-lora-gps-
>> hat.html
>> >> ... and probably something similar available from Jaycar, I guess?
>> >>
>> >> We've been using LoRa modules in the Project Horus 'flight
>> >> termination' payload (which also has GPS tracking) for a few years
>> >> now. We run them on the 434 MHz ISM band at 25mW, for command &
>> >> control of the cutdown mechanism (nichrome wire). We have a whole
>> >> ecosystem of software based around communicating with the cutdown
>> >> payload and transferring data around the chase car's network.
>> >> Ground Station: https://github.com/projecthorus/HorusGroundStation
>> >> Payload: https://github.com/projecthorus/FlexTrack-Horus
>> >>
>> >> Quite a few libraries around to talk to the LoRa ICs (usually a
>> >> Semtech SX127x series chip).
>> >> Python Library for use on a Raspberry
>> >> Pi: https://github.com/mayeranalytics/pySX127x
>> >> Arduino Library: http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/
>> >>
>> >> Unfortunately the LoRa modulation scheme is patented, so use of it on
>> >> the amateur radio band is a bit contentious. At the very least,
>> >> there's a reverse engineered gnuradio library
>> >> available: https://github.com/BastilleResearch/gr-lora
>> >>
>> >> 73
>> >> Mark VK5QI
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 5:58 PM, Andrew Rich <vk4tec at tech-software.net
>> >> <mailto:vk4tec at tech-software.net>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>     Jaycar
>> >>
>> >>     Sent from my iPhone
>> >>
>> >>     On 7 Nov 2017, at 5:13 pm, Justin Albury <justin at jacomms.com
>> >>     <mailto:justin at jacomms.com>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>>     Whats involved in (hardware) for the LoRA projects??
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>     Any links??
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>     Justin Albury
>> >>>
>> >>>     J Albury Communications
>> >>>
>> >>>     justin at jacomms.com <mailto:justin at jacomms.com>
>> >>>
>> >>>     0417246791
>> >>>
>> >>>
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>> >>>
>> >>>     *From:*OZAPRS [mailto:ozaprs-bounces at aprs.net.au
>> >>>     <mailto:ozaprs-bounces at aprs.net.au>] *On Behalf Of
>> >>>     *vk4tec at tech-software.net <mailto:vk4tec at tech-software.net>
>> >>>     *Sent:* Tuesday, 7 November 2017 11:50 AM
>> >>>     *To:* 'Australian APRS Users' <ozaprs at aprs.net.au
>> >>>     <mailto:ozaprs at aprs.net.au>>
>> >>>     *Subject:* [OZAPRS] LoRA tracking
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>     Playing with GPS / Arduino and LoRA 915 MHz modules
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>     Andy VK4TEC
>> >>>
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