 |
The ARCS has begun testing an APRS LoRa network with the commissioning of an iGate gateway at the Coti Chiavari site. The callsign is TK5KP-10 in locator JN41JS.
APRS LoRa trackers were used for our tests. Initial results are quite conclusive. |
The gateway uses CD2RXU's iGate software installed on a Lilygo LoRa32 module.
A dual-band antenna was installed on the tower for this purpose, and 2 bandpass and reject-pass cavities had to be inserted to suppress interference from the many transmitters operating on the site, and to protect against the TK5ZCG UHF relay.
The gateway receives LoRa frames broadcast on 433.775 MHz and retransmits them to the APRS-IS (Internet Service) network via the TKNet network.
The stations received can be viewed on the APRS maps available at aprs.radioamateur.tk and aprs.fi.
For our tests, LoRa APRS trackers from CA2RXU were used. These trackers have a limited power of 100 mW, but despite this low power, monitoring over several days confirmed that coverage was equivalent to that of the UHF relay on the same tower.
Several mobile stations in departments 06 and 83 were also received.
The installation of this gateway is described on the TK5EP website.
