Support for SPI Lora HAT on RPI using portduino

[recrof]

Right now, we need 2 devices to get fully working reticulum LoRa node. There is microReticulum that wants to fix this, but until it's ready, using portduino that runs RNode_firmware directly in linux and uses Waveshare SPI LoRa HAT as a radio might be easier to implement. Main inspiration was Meshtastic Linux Native Application

[markqvist]

This could be implemented directly as an interface module for Reticulum, no need to run the full RNode firmware in an emulated environment (sorry if I misunderstand, not familiar with portduino).

If there's interest, I can look into this.

[recrof]

if it's possible to implement full RNode functionality directly in reticulum, it'll be probably even better. let me know if I can donate RPI zero 2w with Waveshare SPI LoRa HAT. I'm sure there is interest because it's more efficient way of creating solar node. right now only option I'm aware of is using RPi running reticulum with usb connected RNode microcontroller(like RAK 4631).

[liamcottle]

This would be fantastic! I was going to look into seeing if we could run RNode Firmware in portduino as well, but if you're able to add support for SPI based LoRa hats directly into RNS for running on a Pi etc @markqvist then that would be even better ;)

Here's a pic of one of my minimal MT based Pi nodes.
Pi 4B + Waveshare SX1262 LoRa hat + Antenna drilled into case

My thoughts were it would be easier to run the RNode firmware emulated, otherwise you'd have to duplicate all the work into python for the CSMA side of things... But maybe that's a good thing...

[OK9UWU]

if it's possible to implement full RNode functionality directly in reticulum, it'll be probably even better. let me know if I can donate RPI zero 2w with Waveshare SPI LoRa HAT. I'm sure there is interest because it's more efficient way of creating solar node. right now only option I'm aware of is using RPi running reticulum with usb connected RNode microcontroller(like RAK 4631).

A separate RNode application or a layer to talk with the LoRa HAT would allow for more plasticity i'd say.
The TNC mode is really quite appealing aswell for amateur radio usage.

[joshbowyer]

Ill chime in and say that there is a lot of interest in this functionality. Some of us have been working on a low-power SBC to run Meshtastic, with functionality for a BBS server, among other things. A use case for this in Reticulum could be a dual-radio SBC that could be embedded in a small-ish solar panel. I just recently heard about Reticulum and am still learning about it, but provided Meshtastic never becomes an interface for Reticulum, this approach would allow some form of cross-connectivity between the two, handled by the SBC (perhaps Meshtastic and Reticulum users can access the same bulletin boards? A dedicated text channel that bridges IO between Sideband and Meshtastic?)

Even if one ignores MT entirely, this would allow a low-power SBC that can run on small solar to function as a full Reticulum device (again, learning, but Device + Transport?) and greatly extend the LoRa side of Reticulum.

[Bertrand256]

Support for “Waveshare LoRa Hat” within Reticulum (whether as part of a module or portduino-based RNode) would be something great. This would probably give automatic support for the MeshAdv-Pi-Hat module by Chismayers, which works great with Meshtastic.

[markqvist]

Ok, thanks for the input everyone! There's definitely interest in this, and it makes a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things.

Doing it as an application "emulating" a physical RNode via portduino or similar was not the way I originally expected to do it, but looking at your comments and thoughts on this, it really does seem to be the approach that makes most sense, so this is how I'm going to move forward with it!

Thanks for the offer for the donation @recrof! I already have a Pi Zero 2W, and have one of the WaveShare hats on order now, so no need at this point.

But if anybody in Europe has one of the MeshAdv Pi Hats they'd like to donate to the cause, that would be very useful!

[joshbowyer]

@markqvist just keep in mind that the Waveshare hat has a known defect, most likely with thermal piping to a trace next to the tcxo, that makes long messages fail (hence why chrismeyers made his MeshAdv hat).

[markqvist]

Argh, seriously, that sucks :( If that is really the case, it may be quite useless for Reticulum.

It is not something they have fixed in later revisions? Thanks for the info!

[joshbowyer]

not to my knowledge, waveshare hasnt been responsive.

for meshtastic, most of us are using the ebyte e22 series chips (as on the MeshAdv for example), or the seeed wio-sx1262.

[cobraPA]

I've always thought the Meshtastic Sufficient iOT hub would make a good node also. Not sure anyone else has tried it, but it runs debian and has Lora built in. I'm about half way through a porting project... but to many projects ongoing! When I looked at Portduino it did not seem to have enough functionality, but maybe that has changed in the last 6 months?

[recrof]

@cobraPA interesting find - do you have one of those devices? @markqvist is 128MB RAM enough for reticulum node? never measured how much memory it needs.

[recrof]

well this is unfortunate. I have 2 of those waveshare boards on the way and just today seen video from Jonathan Benett. I guess I will need to cancel the order and look at other solution :(.