I recently received my RAK10701 field tester, and I’m impressed with it’s build quality. However, when a friend who also owns one shared a battery issue he was experiencing, I decided to investigate.
I connected my power analyzer and conducted power measurements in various modes:
- Idle mode (LCD ON): ~145mA
- Idle mode (LCD OFF): ~60mA (activated by a single click of the power button)
- Sleep mode (Power OFF): ~3.55mA (achieved by holding the power button for five seconds)
In my friend’s case, it seemed that his device hadn’t been used for a while, and the battery had likely been excessively discharged. Given the sleep mode’s current draw of 3.55mA and the battery’s 3200mAh capacity, the estimated standby time is around one month.
Considering that I would occasionally use the device, I decided to install a physical power switch. It also conveniently fits within its hard case.
One important note to mention: When the power is completely cut off, all LoRaWAN session information (OTAA parameters) will be lost, requiring device reconfiguration after each hard power cycle.
