We have now opened up pre-orders! Our manufacturing run is presently underway. Delivery will be in early December 2019.
We sell our HamShield: LoRa Edition in packs of two for a slight discount. Select the version you want when you add to your cart.
Version 2 features an improved matching network and spot to place our GPS receiver!
You get two HamShield: LoRa Edition boards in each pack! Works with both Raspberry Pi and Arduino! Transmit some serious power on the most sought after spread spectrum mode! Enjoy miles of non-line of sight connectivity.
LoRa stands for Long Range, and is a chirp spread spectrum (CSS) radio technology. There has been a lot of buzz around LoRa, and from our field testing, it is well earned. With a link budget of 166dB, you can get some physics defying distance, even in the 900MHz band. Every LoRa Edition HamShield comes with a powerful amplifier. Transmit at half a watt on our 2 meter/144MHz and 915MHz versions, and a full watt on our 70 cm / 440MHz version.
This is also not your father's LoRa module. Not only do these modules put out serious power, they have been designed to meet or exceed standards for amateur radio spurious and harmonic emissions with a custom RF filter stage. The HamShield: LoRa Edition is compatible with 3.3V and 5V Arduinos, as well as Raspberry Pi!
And for those traditionalists, we also offer FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK and OOK modulations from 1.2kbps to 300kbps. These modes are great for working satellites!
We offer this powerful shield for 3 different amateur radio bands:
| Ham Band | Guaranteed Range | Extended Range | RF Power |
| 2 Meters | 144MHz-148MHz | 137MHz - 175MHz | 500mW |
| 70 Centimeters | 420MHz-450MHz | 410MHz - 525MHz | 1 Watt |
| 33 Centimeters | 902-928MHz | 862MHz-1020MHz | 500mW |
We think LoRa is the perfect technology for digital weak signal operations, such as cube sats, balloon launches, meteor scatter, VHF/UHF ducting, refraction, troposcatter, drone based digipeters, and other unique modes.
While HamShield: LoRa Edition will work with a variety of LoRa libraries for the Semtech SX1276, we have created our own edition that is better suited for amateur radio, along with a variety of simple-to-use demos.
Specifications
Optional GPS header fits our Ublox HAB GPS perfectly, routed to software serial
Chipset: Semtech SX1276 with amplifier and RF shielding
Mono Band Options: 2 meters, 70 cm or 33 cm
Frequency range: 137-175MHz, 410-525MHz, or 862-1020MHz
Recommended Range: 144-148MHz, 420-450MHz, 902-928MHz
Modulations: LoRa, FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK, and OOK
Data Rates: OOK/FSK: 1.2kbps-300kbps, LoRa mode up to 30kbps
Power Output: 500mW on 2 meter and 33 cm, 1 Watt on 70 cm, configurable!
Connector: SMA Female
Voltage: Either 3.3V or 5V
Platform: Dual pinouts for Raspberry Pi and Arduino
Software: Use our special HamShield: LoRa Edition library, also works with most LoRa libraries
Resources
LoRaChat - multi user chat room software
RadioHead - Library that works great with HamShield: LoRa Edition
LARPS - A powerful amateur radio protocol actively under development
Getting a RadioHead initialization failure? See our blog post for a very simple piece of code you need before you initialize the radio.