The Ai-Thinker company in Shenzen has recently introduced two new LoRa radio modules, the Ra-08 and Ra-08H. These new LoRaWAN modules are based on the ASR Microelectronics ASR6601 module featuring a 48MHz ARM Cortex M4 microcontroller and Semtech SX1262 transceiver allowing long-range, low power communication for the Internet of Things.

Both LoRaWAN modules share most of the same specifications, but the Ra-08 module operates in the 410-525MHz frequency band, while the Ra-08H module works in the widely used 803MHz to 930MHz band. Ai-Thinker also provides a development kit for each module.

Ai-Thinker Ra-08/Rs-08H key features and specifications:

• Programmable embedded Arm Cortex-M4 MCU with 128 KB of Flash and 16 KB of SRAM
• LoRa radio
  • Sensitivity – -138 dBm @ SF12/125KHz
  • Tx power – Up to +22dBm
  • Frequencies
    • Ra-08 – 410 MHz to 525 MHz
    • Ra-07H – 803 MHz to 930 MHz
  • Spread spectrum factor – SF5, SF6, SF7, SF8, SF9, SF10, SF11, SF12
  • LoRa, (G)FSK, BPSK, and (G)MSK modulation
  • Bit rate up to 62.5 Kbps in LoRa modulation mode, up to 300 Kbps in (G)FSK modulation mode
  • Antenna options – IPEX connector, or solder via castellated hole or through-hole
• Peripherals – GPIOs, I2C, I2S, UART, LPUART, SWD, SPI, QSPI and WDG
• Security – AES, DES, RSA, ECC, SHA and SM2/3/4
• Supply Voltage – 3.3V (2.7V to 3.6V)
• Power Consumption – Down to 0.9uA in deep sleep mode
• Dimensions – 16 x 16 x 3.2m (SMD-18 package)

The modules support OTA firmware updates, and the company also provides PDF documentation for the individual modules, as well as Ra-08-kit and Ra-08H-kit development kits. Most of the documents are however still in Chinese, but can easily be translated with Google translate to make them easily understandable.

The modules feature a factory-installed AT-Command set for rapid application development, as well as the capability to completely reprogram the ARS6601 with your own custom firmware, using STMCube IDE from ST Microelectronics. At the moment, there does not seem to be any STMDuino support available for these, but we are sure that will change in the near future, as they gain popularity with users.

Applications

The Ra-08/08H modules, and ASR6601 LoRaWAN chip, enable a new generation of indoor and outdoor IoT applications such as smart agriculture, smart cities, smart meters, asset tracking, streetlights, parking sensors, smoke sensors, smart environmental monitoring, automation in the smart home, building automation, and more.

If you’d like to find out more, or order samples, please check out the Ai-Thinker website or contact them by email at overseas@aithinker.com.

Special Offer
MakerIoT2020 has two sets of Ra-08 and RA-08H development kits available for two lucky readers, limited to one set each. These modules are unused and brand new from the factory. Find out more on our Facebook and Instagram pages on how to stand a chance to get them for free (shipping to your own account)

Package Includes:

• Ai-Thinker NodeMCU-Ra-08-Kit Development Board