As an alternative tool to setup the RAK10706 Signal Meter for LoRa, the SignalMeter Tool is available.
It is a simple to use tool that provides to setup the different functions of the RAK10706 SignalMeter:
- Choose test mode
- Set the test interval
- Enable/Disable location tracking
- Set LoRaWAN region
- Get/set the LoRaWAN credentials (required to register the device in the LoRaWAN server)
- Set LoRaWAN Join mode, data rate, ADR, TX power
- Set LoRa P2P frequency, SF, BW, CR, preamble length and TX power
- If the device has RTC
- get and adjust the RTC time and date
- If the device has a SD card
- set the timezone for the log date/time
- read the log files (can take very long time, it is recommended to take out the SD card and read the files on a computer instead)
- delete all log files
If the connection between the computer and the device is interrupted, it is necessary to restart both the tool and the device to ensure a proper restart.
For Windows an installer is available in the SignalMeterTool-Windows folder.
For macOS (not fully tested), the application is in a zipped file in the SignalMeterTool-macOS folder.
The app is not signed by Apple and you might need to run codesign.sh once the application is installed.
Only partly tested on Ubuntu. The application is in a zipped file in the SignalMeterTool-Linux folder.
It was required to manually give access to the USB port with shell commands.
- Connect the RAK10706 over Serial to the computer
- Select the COM port to which the device is connected
- If multiple USB devices are connected that provide a serial connection, it is recommended to remove the other devices.
⚠️ If the RAK10706 is connected to the computer after the application was started, use the refresh icon to get the new port list.
- If the port of the RAK10706 is known, select this port
- If the device on the selected port is not a RAK10706, a warning will be displayed:
- In this case change the port and retry to connect.
Do not disconnect the device while the communication is ongoing, or the device setup might be incomplete.
- Once the device connection is established, the UI of the SignalMeter Tool will change, depending on the available features and settings.
- LoRaWAN settings for OTAA Join Mode
- LoRaWAN settings for ABP Join Mode
- LoRa P2P settings
- Send new settings to the device (Update Device)
- Reload current settings from the device (Reload)
- If a SD card is present
- Read the test log files from the device and save them as .CSV files
- Delete all log files from the device
- The folder path where the log files are saved to.
- Send interval for the test packets
- Test mode
- LinkCheck for basic LoRaWAN test mode without an back-end server
- LoRa P2P test mode
- FieldTester modes (compatible only, does not provide all Field Tester functions, requires an backend setup)
- Show current date and time on the device
- Set the timezone to have the correct time/date in the log files
- Computer current timezone and date time
- Set button to synchronize the time on the device with the computer time
The small blue DBG button on the bottom left side is opening an additional window that shows the communication between the device and the application:
This setup is only availble when the device is in LinkCheck or Field Tester test modes.
The LoRaWAN DevEUI, AppEUI (JoinEUI) and AppKey are preset by RAKwireless with unique values during the production. There are two options:
- (Recommended) Use the preset EUI's and Key to register the device on a LoRaWAN server (Chirpstack, TTN, Actility, ....)
- Get EUI's and Key from the the LoRaWAN server and change the values here.
In addition, the TX power for the uplinks and datarate for the uplinks can be set here and adaptive datarate can be enabled or disabled.
This setup is only availble when the device is in LinkCheck or Field Tester test modes.
The LoRaWAN Device Address, Nw Session Key and App Session key must be set the same on the LoRaWAN server and in the device. Retrieve the keys and device address from your LoRaWAN server and use them here to setup the device with the correct values.
In addition, the TX power for the uplinks and datarate for the uplinks can be set here and adaptive datarate can be enabled or disabled.
Set the transmission parameters like frequency, bandwidth, coding rate, spreading factor, preamble length to the same values used by other LoRa P2P device that are used in the coverage testing.
These settings define the test interval, the test mode and whether location tracking is used or not.
Send interval defines how many seconds are between two outgoing test uplinks.
Test Mode switches between the different available test modes.
Location tracking enables or disables the GNSS location chip in the device.
Location tracking works only outdoors. If the test is for coverage test indoors, the GNSS location tracking should be disabled. This will reduce power consumption of the device.
Once the setup is finished, the device must be synced to the new settings with the Update Device button.
Pushing the button, will send all new settings to the device. The device will reset once it received the update and the application will reconnect automatically.
While the settings are send to the device, the ongoing documentation is indicated with a rotating BUSY icon and the application UI is disabled.
After the update is finished, the application UI will refresh with the new settings.
If the device does not have an RTC module, it will retrieve the date and time from the LoRaWAN server with the TimeRequest command. The date and time sent by the LoRaWAN server is in GMT+0 format. To get the correct date and time in the log files, the device has to be setup with the correct timezone.
With the Reading Logs button, the log files saved on the SD card of the device can be read.
The log files will be saved in .CSV (comma separated values) format. This format can be imported by most spread sheet applications like Excel.
The RAK10706 Signal Meter splits the log into several small files to avoid file corruption during the tests. The files need to be joined together manually in the spread sheet application.
During the download of the files, the rotating BUSY icon is shown.
The path where the files are saved are shown below the buttons.
Retrieving the log data over the USB port can take a long time, depending on the number and size of the log files.
It is recommended to remove the SD card from the device and use a computer and a SD Card adapter to copy the log files. This method is much faster than reading out the files from the device
After all log files are downloaded, the RAK10706 SignalTester will perform a reset and the application will automatically reconnect to it.
The Delete Logs button will erase all stored log files from the SD card of the RAK10706 SignalMeter.
Before the data is erased, a confirmation window will be shown.
The current date and time of the RTC and the used timezone are displayed in the application.
As reference, the current computer date, time and timezone are shown below.
The date and time can be changed manually or synced with the computer time using the Set button.
The device date and time will be updated by using the Update Device button.
