How to connect LoRa node through the RAK7243 gateway to the chirpstack?

LPWAN Developer Gateways / Concentrators RAK7243
41

Hi Nick
thanks for your concern.

  1. How do I find the Hello World message in Base64 layout?
  2. Because my esp32 has like 7 versions and not completely sure how the sketch assigns the 3 pins of DIO according to my pinout.
  3. Because, If I understood right, for a proper communication, after every sending message from device, it needs a confirmation reception from gateway. And this Download queue I have not filled in
42

Hello, world! encoded as Base64 is SGVsbG8sIHdvcmxkIQ==

It’s more the other way round, you find out how the hardware is connecting the DIO pins and then tell the sketch in the pins section.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. OMG, who told you that?

Confirmation links are rare. When your gateways transmits the ack it can not hear anything at all, so all other nodes may be transmitting but their uplink won’t get through.

And as an individual device, your gateway may then exceed your local legal limits.

We use confirmed uplinks when we HAVE to know the gateway heard it. Even then it doesn’t confirm that the entire backend has acted on the uplink.

Downlinks are completely the opposite - they are messages from you to the device, which you can also choose to have confirmed if you wish, but again should be used sparingly.

43

Thanks again Nick.
Clear no need for confirmation of node message.
What I need is now modify my sketch to send readings from a bmp pressure temperature sensor and be able to read and store it in Chirpstack.
If I modify the first contact sketch and include the bmp readings, where can I access and store it in Chirpstack?
Brgds
Emilio:
My ultimate goal is to implement a 14 node lorawan network with 7 sensors per node and store it in the internet, creating later a dashboard with grafana. All this is to be implemented in a lemon plantation in South east Spain in the coming 6 months as a company practice of my studies in technical school

44

Perhaps review the docs related to integrations and uplinks?

45

Yup!
I will look for them and study.
I have found my Hello World message!!! :smiley:
you have to press a little down arrow in Device Data in the Device!

image
image1910×618 42.9 KB

Now I can be really happy for a minute!!! :star_struck:
Thanks!!!

46

Hello again guys

I managed to send node/device info from node to AWS SNS.
But I think there was a problem RAK could solve, and I say as feedback:
DNS server for the RAK7243 is not configured with the configuration protocol in web.
I had to do so using Putty linux commands and then I got access to AWS SNS
Before that, I could ping from Putty SSH connection to 8.8.8.8, but not to google.es

Nevertheless, my RAK 7243 is not valid for AWS IOT Core, so I must stop here and get a new RAK 7258 to do so.
Is that a proper gateway for handelling 14 nodes with 7 sensors each, 8 mobile esp32 sensors to track tractors, and 40 one month seasonal nodes for sending 2-3 photos per day each of citrus pest traps? All nodes being lora ESP32?
I will need 1 RAK 7258 to try and 4 to 14 more, if I succeed, so Vladislav, If can get a discount for the company let me know how do it.
Thanks for all your help. You have clarified my way a lot, and make me realise how some things work, that without your help would have stopped me.
REally, thank you both
Emilio

47

They both are, but if the sensors are outside, you could consider an outdoor gateway. Less than 70 devices would be no load at all for either, both of which could deal with 100’s if not 1000’s of devices.

What is it that stops the RAK7243 being valid for AWS IoT Core?

Given that most payloads are in the 20-50 byte range and there is an upper limit of ~222 bytes, you may not be able to pull a system together that sends pictures.

48

Hello Nick.
Thanks again dfor info.
It seems that what stops it is no having installed software Lora Basic Station. As far as I found out only 3 RAK gateways have it:

https://docs.rakwireless.com/Knowledge-Hub/Learn/RAK72xx-Getting-Started-Guide-for-AWS-IoT-Core-for-LoRaWAN/#verifying-operation-a-hello-world-example

But it seems it is possible though with other gateways if you install Mosquito MQTT server, though seems more complicated and not so efficient for later needs in AWS:

https://aws.amazon.com/es/blogs/iot/how-to-bridge-mosquitto-mqtt-broker-to-aws-iot/

Best regards and thanks again
Emilio

49

But you could install the software …

50

Yes Nick, but seems There could be a problem to smoothly run lambda procedures in AWS that way, and after trying to use AWS AI services in our year of data collecting to produce agricultural forecasts
It seems that with RAK wisgate Edge compatibles model that is easier to avoid problems.

Thanks for concern
Regards
Emilio

51

How? If you put Basic Station on a gateway instead of using UDP, so that it has the correct software, how could that affect the downstream processing of data? All gateways running Basic Station present the same network protocol …

52

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I do not know really. May be for using ASCII or MQTT format or for reasons I do not understand today, but IA specialist, and AWS specialist told me so.
Brgds

53

Balena for Pi runs Basic Station …

54

Can ir enter into conflict with updated firmware?
Where do I download it from?
Flash it together with running firmware or in a different sd?
What about configuration?
Thanks

55

That would be my choice then you can plug & play.

I don’t use Balena personally so I can’t say about the details of configuration - their website may be of use. They are well regarded by TTI as they had a main stage presentation at the TTS mini conference last Friday (27th May), one of the presenters was @xoseperez who works for a well known LoRaWAN IoT manufacturer based in China, so I’d expect he’d be able to help:

56

If you want to use the Balena BasicStation best way would be to use the existing project here: balenaHub: an easier way to find and publish apps and projects for edge devices.

The steps to have it running would be:

  • Create an account at balena.io (free up to 10 devices)
  • Click on the “Fork this fleet” button on the page linked above
  • Configure it (defaults will probably match your needs already) and click on “Create and deploy”
  • Click on “Add a device”, this will actually build an .img file you will have to burn on an SD card. You can use just Ethernet (DHCP is enabled by default) and optionally define a WiFi SSID and password if you want to. Finally click on the “Download BalenaOS” button at the bottom. Save the file.
  • Now use etcher or any other tool to burn the image to a new SD card, so you don’t overwrite the one that comes with the RAK product.
  • Plug it in the Raspberry and boot the board. In maybe 2-3 minutes a new device will appear on the Balena dashboard.

Once you are here I’d recommend you to read the documentation on the Balena BasicStation repository: GitHub - balenalabs/basicstation: LoRa Basics™ Station - The LoRaWAN Gateway Software. Let me know if you have any issues there.

This should work using any RAK concentrator (RAK833, RAK2245, RAK2247, RAK2287 and soon the RAK5146) with a Raspberry Pi or any other SoC supported by Balena. This includes all RAK Development Gateways.

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