M2 LoRa radio does not send data

Reach Module / M+ / M2 Hardware integration
1

Hello all,
I’ve been a user of Emlid devices for about a year now. We’ve been using two RS2 receivers for marking locations of various buried sensors and marking GCPs for our drones.

We decided to buy an M2 module to use with our Arducopter-based drone. Currently the S1 port is connected to the GPS port, and the drone is configured to talk with the M2 using ERB. There are no issues with this standard GPS setup, and we can get <0.2m of accuracy.

However, we wanted to use the Emlid LoRa radio for RTK, as that has been our primary communication between our RS2 units. I know that there is documentation for using the drones’ flight telemetry module for passing the corrections, but we wanted to eliminate needing to connect the RS2 to our laptop/tablet.

The LoRa radio is plugged into the S2 port. It has power (indicated by the PWR light), but the RX and TX lights have no activity. Is the M2 limited to only using the S1 or S2 port, but not both? The M2 is configured to output LoRa via the app, but the app says no LoRa is connected. It’s like the M2 doesn’t even sense that the LoRa radio is plugged in!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Peter

3

The Lora is connected to the S2 port.

Then is activated through the app, the settings must be the same on both sides.

Do you have a multi meter?

4

Thanks!
I do have the LoRa connected to S2. The app is configured to have the M2 receive corrections via LoRa on 902.0, 9.11. The RS2 base outputs LoRa on the same frequency/settings. The two RS2’s have no problem communicating this way, but not the M2.
I have a multimeter, what do you suggest?

5

Check to make sure the cable is not damaged, pins are not bent, check end to end.

6

Hi Peter,

Do you use our cable that comes with Reach M2? Can you please share the photo of the setup? I want to see how the LoRa radio is connected to the module.

I also did a brief test with Reach M2 and LoRa radio. When I connected them, the power LED on the modem was on, while the RX and TX LEDs were off. But the LoRa radio seemed connected in ReachView 3 and allowed receiving corrections.

7

It seems I need to use a link to display photos, weird.
Anyway, here are some photos of my setup, both hardware and on the app. I just can’t seem to get LoRa to connect. I’ve never even seen it say “waiting for corrections”, the M2 simply says “not connected”.
I appreciate any help you could give me!

[5 new items added to shared album] Reach
9

For trouble shooting what happens if you remove all the drone stuff, just power off usb?

Also what are your settings for position streaming? Any chance of a port conflict from another setting?

10

Peter,

Thanks for sharing the photos. I agree with @PotatoFarmer suggestions. And do you have another LoRa cable to connect the radio to Reach M2? It may help us make sure that the issue isn’t related to it.

Also, can you please generate and share full system report from your Reach M2? Please send it to support@emlid.com since it contains some private info.

11

I disconnected the drone things (unplugged the cable from S1), and then powered the whole thing off of USB directly to the M2.
It may very well be the cable, as when I first plug it in (sometimes), the app will display “waiting for corrections” under the LoRa settings instead of saying “not connected”. I do not have another cable. I checked continuity along all 7 wires and they are all good.
As far as position streaming, I have only the 1st one, streaming to S1 (UART).
I’ll send that full system report as soon as I can. Thanks!

12

I just generated and have sent that report via email. It would be great if it’s a simple problem!
Thanks for the help.

13

Peter,

Thank you for all these tests!

I’ve received your data via email and answered you there since further troubleshooting requires some sensitive info from you.

15

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