Questions about the LoRa Notecard

Hardware
1

Hi,
I have a few questions about the upcoming LoRa Notecard:

  1. The STM32WLE5 is a transceiver; will the LoRa Notecard enable the ability to transmit and receive from the Notecard?
  2. Will the LoRa Notecard be able to be used without a LoRa gateway? For example, for communication between 2 LoRa Notecards?
  3. The STM32WLE5 states that active-mode RX uses 4.82 mA and active-mode TX uses 15-87 mA. The Notecard power usage table specifies a power supply capable of 250 mA. Can we expect the power requirements to match the STM32WLE5 published specs?
  4. The STM32WLE5 is a microcontroller. Will a separate microcontroller still be required to interact with the LoRa Notecard like the other Notecard products?
  5. What is the expected price of the LoRa Notecard? Edit: Looks like $10.
  6. When will the LoRa Notecard be available for purchase?

Thanks!

2

Hi @icecats,

Happy to answer these question as best I can:

  1. The STM32WLE5 is a transceiver; will the LoRa Notecard enable the ability to transmit and receive from the Notecard?

Yes, you can both send and receive data with the Notecard LoRa, just like other Notecards.

  1. Will the LoRa Notecard be able to be used without a LoRa gateway? For example, for communication between 2 LoRa Notecards?

No, all communications must go through a TTN gateway.

  1. The STM32WLE5 states that active-mode RX uses 4.82 mA and active-mode TX uses 15-87 mA. The Notecard power usage table specifies a power supply capable of 250 mA. Can we expect the power requirements to match the STM32WLE5 published specs?

I need to follow up on this internally, but I believe the 250mA is a “safe” estimate for spikes when the Notecard boots. I would expect normal power requirements to be very similar to what is documented for the STM32WLE5.

  1. The STM32WLE5 is a microcontroller. Will a separate microcontroller still be required to interact with the LoRa Notecard like the other Notecard products?

Yes, you will still need a separate microcontroller.

  1. What is the expected price of the LoRa Notecard? Edit: Looks like $10.

Correct.

  1. When will the LoRa Notecard be available for purchase?

It’s looking like December, but nothing official beyond that.

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