LoRaWAN HAT for Raspberry Pi offers GPS, too

Seeed has launched a $19.90 “WM1302 Raspberry Pi HAT” to house an $89.90, Semtech SX1302 based WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module. The HAT also supplies a GPS chip.

For a total of $109.80, Seeed can set you up with its recently introduced WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module, which is available on a new WM1302 HAT for the Raspberry Pi. The $89.90, mini-PCIe form factor LoRaWAN module is available now while the $19.90 HAT is on pre-order, with shipments estimated for May 20.

WM1302 Raspberry Pi HAT on Raspberry Pi (left) and WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module
(click images to enlarge)

The WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module is equipped with a Semtech SX1302 baseband LoRaWAN chip. On the WM1302 module, the SX1302 offers 125 kHz LoRa reception with up to -139 dBm sensitivity “@ SF12 with SX1250 TX/RX front-end.” The module can achieve up to 26dBm @ 3.3V transmission power.

According to Seeed, the SX1302 provides higher sensitivity, less power consumption, and a lower operating temperature than the previous SX1301 and SX1308 LoRa chips. The SX1301 is used on RAK Wireless’ RAK2245 Pi HAT, which powers its RAK7244 LoRaWAN Developer Gateway, and the SX1308 is offered by RAK’s RAK2246 HAT for the Raspberry Pi Zero W, which drives the recent RAK7246 LoRAWAN Developer Gateway.

The WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module extends the SX1302 with a LoRaWAN authentication chip. There is also an STM32 MCU and a temperature sensor.

The module used by the WM1302 HAT has an SPI interface with US915 LoRaWAN support. There are also $98.90 USB versions, which are similarly provided in US915 and EU868 frequency models.

WM1302 HAT with WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module (left) and rear view
(click images to enlarge)

The 65 x 56mm WM1302 HAT is designed for any 40-pin Raspbery Pi. The HAT automatically configures the 52-pin mini-PCIe signals to the Raspberry Pi’s 40-pin GPIO.

The 5V HAT adds a GNSS module to enhance the accuracy of LoRa timing and location with GPS L1, GLONASS L1, and BeiDou B1 support. There also appears to be a micro-USB port and an antenna connector on the back.

Further information

The WM1302 Raspberry Pi HAT is available for pre-order at $19.90 with May 20 shipments. The WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway Module sells for $89.90 for the required SPI/US915 model. Volume discounts are available for both products, which were announced in this Seeed blog post.

More information may be found on Seeed’s WM1302 HAT shopping page and wiki, as well as its WM1302 LoRaWAN Gateway shopping page.