Please include the following information, in order for us to help you as effectively as possible.
What product do you wish to discuss? RAK13302
What firmware are you using? Arduino
Hi,
I was just wondering what the limitation is regarding the RAK13302 being used with RAK4631 instead of the RAK3401?
It looked like both modules had an identical pinout on the 40pin header but on review the datasheet for the RAK3401 is using the schematic for the RAK4630.
This is for a dual radio project and the additional range would be beneficial if achievable.
The difference between the RAK4631 and RAK3401 is that the RAK4631 has an LoRa transceiver inside, while the RAK3401 does not have this transceiver.
Theoretically you can use the RAK4631 with the RAK13302, but I am not aware of any drivers that would support both LoRa transceivers.
If you use it with Meshtastic or meshCore firmware, depending on the firmware version you flash on the RAK4631, either the transceiver on the RAK13302 or the internal transceiver will be used.
As the other one transceiver would be uninitizialized and not put into sleep mode, the power consumption will be higher.
If I’m understanding correctly, while it is possible to use the 4631… meshCore firmware modifications would be needed in order to use the13302 1w board…not use the 4631.
Is that correct? One cannot just plug in the 13302 onto the board and it’ll automatically be used?
You can use the MeshCore firmware for the RAK3401 + RAK13302 with a RAK4631/RAk13302 combination. But the power consumption will be higher, as the internal LoRa transceiver of the RAK4631 is not initialized, can’t go to sleep mode and will consume a higher current.
Ah okay, that makes sense. Thank you for this explanation. I was having a tough time wrapping my brain around it. So leaving an antenna off that Lora radio on the 4631 should be fine as it won’t be Tx?
And maybe some point they will get a firmware created to handle that setup.
Not sure if MeshCore or Meshtastic is actually working on such a solution. The combination of a RAK4631 and a RAK13302 would make only sense if they would support two LoRa transceivers. The RAK3401 and RAK13302 combination is cheaper.
I’m hoping your or someone can assist me here. Looking at the datasheet for the RAK13302 it looks like in the default configuration usees shared pins with the SPI Flash fitted on the RAK4631/3401 - including the chip select. This seems a bit odd as it’s always going to conflict but isn’t mentioned in the examples.
Can you please confirm that is correct? Also can you please confirm that R4/R7 are on the locations indicated in the below image of the PCB?
