LoRa APRS iGate on ESP32 PoE Board

This LoRa APRS iGate is using the T-Internet-PoE Board from TTGO.

Peter Buchegger

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Description

Some time ago I was taking a look into APRS via LoRa. But all implementations for an iGate where based on a Raspberry Pi which is much more expensive than a simple TTGO LoRa32 board.
So I started to develop an iGate Firmware for the ESP32 LoRa boards. After some time there was the need for an ethernet board.
This was the time when this project was born.

Details

The iGate has the following components:

TTGO T-Internet-PoE board and the
additional LoRa board which will be mounted to the pinheader of the PoE board.

The additional LoRa board has the following components:

LoRa Modem (Ra-02)
OLED 0.96''
2 buttons

The board is very simple to solder, so it is a perfect starter kit.

Currently there is just support for an APRS iGate. But there is no limit for additional firmware implementations.

The complete project (hardware and firmware) are open source.

If you want to build our own iGate, you can buy some components from tindie (will be published in the next days).

Files

LoRa_PoE_iGate_Schematic.pdf Schematic of the LoRa PoE iGate PCB Adobe Portable Document Format - 97.35 kB - 05/06/2021 at 20:27	Preview	Download

Components

1 × TTGO T-Internet-PoE The PoE board from TTGO. Don't forget: you need minimum one programer board to flash the ESP.
1 × LoRa modem board
1 × Ra-02 (LoRa modem)
1 × OLED 0.96'' the pinout (VCC vs. GND) is not important as you can define it via the solder jumpers on the board
2 × button

View all 7 components

Build Instructions

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1

Solder the pinheader on the PoE board

you need to solder the 2x8 pinheader on the upside of the PoE board like you can see in this picture:

Now solder the 1x6 pinheader on the underside:
2

Modem PCB: Solder the LoRa modem

Start with the modem, take care of the orientation and take your time.

Like you can see in the picture it is first not very nicely done. Remove the solder which is too much with a desoldering braid.
3

Modem PCB: take care of the LCD supply

The board can take all two versions of the LCD (switched power pins). Just solder the correct pads together. Take the two pictures as an example. Don't solder the LCD now on the PCB.