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sparkfun / SparkFun_LoRaSerial

A simple to use radio modem for long distances using LoRa.
https://docs.sparkfun.com/SparkFun_LoRaSerial/
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Add new Repeater capability. #588

Open tonycanike opened 5 months ago

tonycanike commented 5 months ago

Add a new feature to have a third LoRaSerial radio or perhaps an additional pair of radios located in the same location) repeat the data from a radio at an RTK base to the radio at an RTK rover. The third radio would be located between the base and rover.

As these radios are mostly line of sight, the ability to put a third unit on a hill top to repeat the data over a ridge would be very useful. Commercial survey RTK radios often have this capability.

Bonus if the rover can automatically switch from receiving from either the base radio or the repeater radio.

Use case: the base and rover SparkFun RTK devices are setup with radios and surveying begins. The rover moves away from the base and perhaps over hills. If/when the signal from the base gets weak, the surveyor can back up and setup the repeater. The rover radio automatically picks the stronger signal. The surveyor can continue to move farther away from the base while surveying.

tonycanike commented 5 months ago

Also see discussion in

https://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?f=116&t=59557

cturvey commented 5 months ago

Perhaps want to consider different profiles, with different min-max frequency bands or hop patterns, so the two don't step on each other.

Could cross connect a pair of radios via JST headers, running different profiles, and one as MULTIPOINT:STATION and other as MULTIPOINT:SERVER to rebroadcast.

JST Common Grounds, JST#1 TX to JST#2 RX

The end-point radio being able to switch between the two profiles (DIRECT / REPEATER) would then be needed to handle this transparently.