No packet reception on RAK7243 Gateway

#1

Hi,
last week I take my RAK7243 gateway into operation (EU868) but I see no CRC_OK packets received at all. Occasionally I see in a 5 to 10min rage a few CRC_FAIL: GPS reception is fine even from indoor and after temporarily reconfiguring to forward also CRC_FAIL packet I see packet reception (the fails) in the TTN portal.

I’m about 3km from Dachau city center and about 20km from Munich city center. I tried also 2 places closer to the city outdoor. I have assumed to see at least a few good packets, but always zero CRC_OK and only a few CRC_FAIL 100%. I can’t believe that Munich is so silent.

From your experiences how high is the Likelihood that either the antenna or the antenna cable to the PCB is broken, or even the receiver path? I opened the device and it looks like that the antenna terminal is correctly fitted to the PCB. I get scared that I received a defective device.

I have powered the device only with mounted antenna.

Next week I will get my own sensor which i will place nearby and do further experiments.

Any feedback welcome.
Rudi

#2

Is there a Nodes that sending data? It is normal to not see any packets if there are not any :slight_smile:

#3

Hi Todor,
No I don’t have yet an own node. But I have expected to see packets being nearby a big city like Munich. Hope i get my own node soon so I can verify.
Rudi

#4

Hi community,
just want to let you know that I received an RAK7204 sensor and I can see packets now :-).
I have the impression that I need to invest in a better antenna. Placing the sensor 0.5m away from the gateway indicates me a RSSI of 49. Placing 8m away indoor RSSI is going down to 77.
Rudi

#5

Hi. То -120 RSSI you are good :slight_smile: Keep in mind that RAK7243 is a developer Gateway. But with good antenna you can make few km with ease(LoS). You can use this one https://store.rakwireless.com/products/fiber-glass-antenna?variant=27103007178852
You can find more useful information about RSSI, SNR, etc. here https://lora.readthedocs.io/en/latest/