Simple breakout board for RN2483(A)/RN2903(A) LoRa transciever
Designed by Azduino by Spence Konde in United States of America
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This breakout board offers an affordable solution for makers working with the popular RN2483(A) and RN2903(A) LoRa transceivers from Microchip, widely used for LoRaWAN. The layout of this breakout b…
Read More…This breakout board offers an affordable solution for makers working with the popular RN2483(A) and RN2903(A) LoRa transceivers from Microchip, widely used for LoRaWAN. The layout of this breakout board is based on the the datasheet reference designs. This board breaks out all 14 GPIO pins to a row of 0.1" pin header, and the power and serial communication pins to a second row of 0.1" pin header. While all manufacturer literature (other than ordering information) calls these the RN2483 or RN2903, since not long after they were first released, they have all been marked as RN2483A and RN2903A; my understanding is that this was a hardware revision to fix some issue in the initial release. These days, the non-A parts have long since worked their way through the supply chain; the A is typically only listed in ordering information, and engraved in the top of the module itself.
New in December 2020, we introduce the latest version, Rev. G, which contains a suite of incremental improvements to silkscreen routing and layout (the Rev. F had already been thoroughly optimized, though the ground connections near the RF connections were improved slightly, users should not expect a noticable improvement in performance) - as well as a new 7-pin header to make prototyping and development a bit easier. This new 7-pin header, located along the right edge (with the antenna pointing away from you) echos the ubiquitous "FTDI" pinout - if a 1x6 row of pin header is installed in the 6 holes closer to the antenna, they will match the "FTDI" serial pinout, with the DTR (or RTS, on some adapters) pin connected to the RN2483 reset pin, allowing you to reset it from a serial console. It is expected that this will expedite initial development - and it was possible without enlarging the board footprint, so if you don't plan to use the new header, everything is in the same place as on the Rev. F.
Assembled RN2903A with PCB Trace antenna
The RN2483 and RN2903 are identical except for their transmission frequency and which world regions they are approved for use in. The RN2483 operates at 433mhz and 868mhz, and is approved for use in Europe, while The RN2903 operates at 915mhz, and is approved for use in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The markings on these breakout boards correspond to the RN2483; if using with RN2903, use the antenna marked 868mhz (the RN2903 does not support a lower frequency band). The RN2903 (but not the RN2483) is certified for use with a PCB trace antenna. A board integrating an antenna (directly copied from Microchip specifications) is also available.
The pin layout for the serial and power pins is designed such that it can be plugged into breadboard alongside an Espruino Pico, and the pins will line up - see the Espruino RN2483 module guide for details.
Since many of our customers are using these with 5v microcontrollers (such as Arduino), we now offer a level shifter as an add-on. These level shifters are mass produced 4-channel bidirectional fet-based level shifters. See the diagrams below for wiring examples.
Required:
Optional:
Don't forget prototyping board!
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1865
We typically have several hundred of these boards in stock. Tindie has a maximum purchase quantity of 99 boards; if you need more, message me immediately after ordering, or mention it in the order instructions, and I'll get in touch and make sure we can combine shipping.
The gerbers for the stencil (front and back) can be downloaded here: RN2483 Stencil
The boards are made in panels of 6 - if you order a multiple of 6 boards, you'll get full panels.
A number of Espruino users in Europe working with LoRaWAN requested an affordable, minimalist board design for use with the RN2483 modules. The design of these modules makes use without a purpose made breakout board virtually impossible, however, such boards were not available.
See this thread for additional background: http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/277687/
Need a breakout board for some other part with an unusual package like this? Contact me.
The Things Network is a thriving community dedicated to LoRaWAN which has a great deal of useful information available to makers experimenting with these sort of devices:The Things Network
For use with Espruino, see the Espruino RN2483 module documentation
For use with a Raspberry Pi, Michael Honaker of Beach Cities Software has written some demo code that can be valuable to help get started, available from his Github:
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