iMETOS LoRa INSIGHTS AND MANUAL
iMETOS LoRA DOCUMENTATION AND MANUALS
Latest firmware: visit the www.metos.global/support page and click on the HELP button in the bottom right corner.
The data payload size is calculated for the Payload structure v1.00, used in the current iMETOS® LoRa firmware.
| IMT150 | IMT200 | IMT280 | IMT300 | Data payload size (1) | Total data payload size (2) | |
| Air temperature and relative humidity sensor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 12 Bytes | 39 Bytes |
| Rain gauge | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 Bytes | 26 Bytes |
| Leaf wetness | No | Yes | No | Yes | 2 Bytes | 26 Bytes |
| Global radiation | No | No | Yes | Yes | 2 Bytes | 26 Bytes |
| Wind speed | No | No | Yes | Yes | 4 Bytes | 28 Bytes |
| Total iMETOS® LoRa Payload size (3) | ||||||
| 39 Bytes | 49 Bytes | 56 Bytes | 61 Bytes | |||
Data payload size (1): size of the data the selected sensors occupy in the data payload (in Bytes)
Total data payload size (2): total data payload size of the iMETOS® LoRa station with the selected sensor
Total iMETOS® LoRa Payload size (3): total data payload size of the iMETOS® LoRa station with the selected sensors configuration
LoRa network limitations (based on LoRaWAN Regional Parameters v1.0.2):
EU868 MHz:
| Data rate | Maximum payload size (in Bytes) |
| 0 | 51 |
| 1 | 51 |
| 2 | 51 |
| 3 | 115 |
| 4 | 242 |
| 5 | 242 |
| 6 | 242 |
| 7 | 242 |
| 8:15 | Not defined |
US915 MHz:
| Data rate | Maximum payload size (in Bytes) |
| 0 | 11 |
| 1 | 53 |
| 2 | 125 |
| 3 | 242 |
| 4 | 242 |
| 5:7 | Not defined |
| 8 | 33 |
| 9 | 109 |
| 10 | 222 |
| 11 | 222 |
| 12 | 222 |
| 13 | 222 |
| 14:15 | Not defined |
Depending on the total data payload size, the iMETOS® LoRa station will select the minimum required DataRate setting to transfer the data to the LoRa gateway, even if the ADR is enabled.
Data payload of all connected sensors to one iMETOS® LoRa weather station should not exceed the maximum available size (242 Bytes for EU868 MHz region and 222 Bytes for the US915 region). If the user needs more sensors then it makes sense to have more iMETOS® LoRa stations with different sensor configurations.
If client wishes to have a specific set of sensors connected to one iMETOS® LoRa weather station, we will check if the number of sensors do not exceed the maximum available payload size and will advise clients accordingly.
1. Example of a successful automatic communication using the OTAA mode
LoRa module power: ON LoRa module terminal: ON RN2483 1.0.3 Mar 22 2017 06:00:42 mac get devaddr 03200005 mac get deveui 0004A30B001F40F5 mac get appeui 70B3D57EF0004453 mac get adr on sys reset RN2483 1.0.3 Mar 22 2017 06:00:42 mac join otaa ok accepted mac get dr 0 sys set pinmode GPIO11 digout ok sys set pindig GPIO11 1 ok mac tx cnf 4 0B05E3010264006800010005002003000102000600070001561A1E00020000 ok mac_tx_ok sys set pindig GPIO11 0 ok Done. LoRa module terminal: OFF LoRa module power: OFF
2. Supported Join Methods
The LoRa protocol describes two joining modes. OTAA join and ABP join. Currently the iMETOS® LoRa weather station supports only the OTAA join procedure.
In order, that the iMETOS® LoRa weather station is capable of successful join to the LoRa network, the iMETOS® LoRa device needs to be provisioned on the LoRa server. For provisioning the device, the user needs to have: DevEUI, AppEUI, AppKey values. The DevEUI and AppEUI values are in the terminal menu, the AppKey is provided by the PI support on request.
3. What is iMETOS® LoRa, what is ‚end node‘ and what is ‚sensor‘?
The iMETOS® LoRa weather station is an ‘end node’ device (according to the LoRa vocabulary). End node devices are often referred to as ‘sensors’.
The iMETOS® LoRa weather station device differs from other LoRa end nodes by providing the user an option to select which sensors he needs and connects to the iMETOS® LoRa board – therefore making it dynamic and adjustable to fit best for his needs.
We address the ‘end node’ as iMETOS® LoRa board and we address the sensors, which can be connected to the iMETOS® LoRa board as ‘sensors’.
4. I received the iMETOS® LoRa weather station. What now?
The device needs to be provisioned on the LoRa network server and it needs to be set to forward the data from the LoRa network server to FieldClimate platform.
If the device is provisioned and is able to connect to the LoRa network, you will see:
mac join otaa ok accepted
in the terminal menu when the iMETOS® LoRa attempts the communication. If the joining is not successful, you will see the following message:
mac join otaa ok denied
5. How to provision the device on the LoRa network provide platform?
In order, that the iMETOS® LoRa weather station is capable of successful join to the LoRa network, the iMETOS® LoRa device needs to be provisioned on the LoRa server. For provisioning the device, the user needs to have: DevEUI, AppEUI, AppKey values. The DevEUI and AppEUI values are in the terminal menu, the AppKey is provided by the PI support on request. Usually, the LoRa network provider provides you the access to their platform and you can provision the devices yourself or the LoRa network provider does that for you.
6. How to deliver the data from the LoRa network provider platform to the PI FieldClimate?
We are open for integration of any kind of communication protocol (MQTT, websocket, http post requests, PubNub,…). Usually the LoRa network provider provides us with the manual, what options are available and we prepare the things needed on our side. We are continuously integrating new platforms with our FieldClimate platform.
7. No data is displayed on the FieldClimate platform. What to do?
Steps to make:
- Check in the terminal menu the communication process. If it is different than the example in 4.1 it means either the iMETOS® LoRa did not join the LoRa network or that the data was not sent to the gateway.
- Check the LoRa network provider platform logs, if there are any requests coming from the iMETOS® LoRa weather stations (for example: you can check this using wlogger on Actility platform).
- If data is received on the LoRa network provider platform and not displayed on the FieldClimate platform, contact PI support.
8. Can I use raw data from the device?
Yes. The description of the first data payload structure is available along with the sample Python code. Once the data is delivered to the LoRa network provider platform, you can forward it to your own server (solution) and do the data parsing there. Beware, you will need the access to our API system to be able to get sensors descriptions.
Note: We do not recommend using the raw data from stations. It is much better if you retrieve the data via our API system. There is a lot of added value from the logics running on backend of our systems that can make your decisions and data understanding better and more useful.
9. Selecting which channels (and frequencies) the Microchip RN module uses.
The iMETOS® LoRa RN communication module must be set to use the same channels (frequencies) as the LoRa gateway is using. Without aligned channels, it may happen that the devices will not ‘talk’ to each other. In case of using the 868 MHz RN2483 (EU) model, this is not an issue as there are only 16 channels and all channels are enabled on the iMETOS® LoRa device by default. The issue may be with the 915 MHz RN2903 (US) module. The US modules support 72 upstream channels and usually the gateways use only 2 sets of 8 consequent channels, meaning, the iMETOS® LoRa should be optimized to use the same 16 uplink channels.
10. What to do if I need more help?
Contact our support at support@metos.at. We will gladly help you with whatever issue you may encounter.
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