Academy Edition
Academy Edition is a variant of SoftRF technology which is recommended for use by aviation education facilities, such as Flight Academy or Akaflieg.
This SoftRF model is based upon an award-winning and world famous Arduino (Zero/M0) hardware platform:
Arduino M0 or Zero tech specs:
- ATSAMD21G18, 32-Bit ARM Cortex M0+ MCU @ 48 Mhz
- 256 KB FLASH, 32 KB SRAM
- 3.3V operating voltage
- Arduino standard 68x53mm form factor
License free ISM band radio receive/transmit and GPS location features are provided by the Dragino Lora/GPS shield:
Dragino Lora/GPS Shield tech specs:
- Semtech SX1276 Long Range Low Power RF Transceiver
- Quectel L80 (based on MT3339) GPS Receiver
- operating voltage is 3.3V, but the board inputs are 5V tolerant
| Type | Protocol | FLARM | OGN tracker | PilotAware | Skytraxx | SoftRF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radio | FLARM AIR V6 |
|
|
|
||
OGNTP |
|
|
||||
P3I |
|
|
||||
FANET+ |
|
|
||||
| Data | FLARM NMEA |
|
|
|
|
|
| Garmin GDL90 |
|
|
||||
Dump1090 |
|
1 - it is necessary for a reader to distinguish the difference between statement "compatible"
and statement "fully compatible".
SoftRF implements only a reasonable minimum of the protocols specs.
No "bells and whistles" so far.
In general a lot of Chinese DIY electronics manufacturers are known to behave this way:
- sometimes they may not apply necessary Q.C. before releasing of a product from factory ;
- they may arbitrary change schematics and electronic components from one batch to the next one ;
- they may terminate manufacturing of a board just few month after initial production.
Because of that, author of SoftRF:
- will reject any hardware related claims associated with Dragino Lora/GPS Shield. Ask for support from seller or manufacturer ;
- reserves the right to suspend or terminate support of Dragino Lora/GPS in the firmware at any time.
For the time being ( December '21 ) there were no critical hardware issues reported for current version of the Dragino Lora/GPS Shield. However things my change over the time...
If you have issues with bringing up your new Lora/GPS Shield or just not happy with the board - be prepared to execute your Purchase Protection plan.
| Number | Part | Qty | Picture | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arduino m0 or Zero | 1 |  |
TBD |
| 2 | Dragino Lora/GPS Shield 2 | 1 | |
TBD |
2 - 868 MHz variant is applicable for these world regions: EU, RU, NZ, SA, IN ;
915 MHz - US, CA, AU, IL, KR ;
433 MHz - CN .
- plug the Dragino board on top of your Arduino Zero; connect antenna to the LoRa sub-module ;
- use an USB cable to Connect the Arduino to a PC ;
- follow these instructions to upload SoftRF sketch into your Arduino board
Procedure of settings change is very similar to that the Dongle Edition has.
Settings description is located there.
