LoRa 900Mhz Radio Tests

About LoRa

"LoRa (Long Range) is a spread spectrum modulation technique derived from chirp spread spectrum (CSS) technology originally developed in France. LoRa consists of multiple networking layers which includes LoRaWAN. LoRa covers the physical networking layer while LoRaWAN consists of the protocols covering the upper network layers. LoRaWAN is deployable in public or private networks providing end-to-end encryption using industry standard AES-128.

LoRa operates in the unlicensed industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio spectrum between 433 and 923 MHz radio frequency bands. The band in which it uses depends on the device operating conditions and country regulations. The broadcast range of LoRa is much further than Bluetooth LE reaching distances of up to 5 km (3 miles) in cities with maximum distances of up to 15km (10 miles) in rural areas. It can achieve data rates between 0.3 and 27 kilobits per second."

Source: https://forum.cadlibrary.org/t/weather-station/97/2

Demonstration of LoRa 900mhz weather station transmission to Uganda colleagues via zoom Aug. 31^st, 2026

The Sangala Initiative, launched by the National Technology Leadership Society (NTLS), builds local engineering capacity in East Africa through K-12 education. At a pilot school, students design and fabricate solutions such as 3D-printed microscopes and weather stations that address community needs while developing the skills to maintain, improve, and sustain them.

Puget Sound (Seattle) Distance Tests

On 8/6/26 5:22 PM, Gerald Knezek wrote:

Yesterday my son Gabe and I successfully received transmitter signals (temperature, barometric pressure etc.) from a makerport weather station with the standard small omnidirectional vertical antenna placed near a Puget Sound viewing rail in a park near his home on the hillside in Queen Anne, at a distance up to 8.6 miles crossing the Sound by ferry to Bainbridge Island. The signal was being received   being through a 3 element Yagi 11 inches long with a 6 foot antenna to receiver connector cable.  Some photos of the receiving end are attached here. I will send some transmission setup photos next.  This was testing the potential of a cell phone tower type hub network sending to any or all? antennas / receivers pointed at it from 180 degrees  around it. We are confident a point to point transmission from transmitter with this Yagi to receiver with the same (line of sight) could reach at least the 9 miles we predicted; and possibly up to 50 percent or 100 percent more. Regards Gerald

The straight-line (“as the crow flies”) distance between the Seattle ferry terminal at Colman Dock and the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal is approximately 8.1 miles (13.1 km).

Using published terminal coordinates:

• Seattle/Colman Dock: about 47.6025° N, 122.3394° W
• Bainbridge Island: about 47.6232° N, 122.5109° W

That works out to 8.12 miles, or about 42,900 feet, terminal-to-terminal.

 

Transmitter station photos (Queen Anne, Seattle)

 

Receiver station photos (Ferry to Bainbridge Island)