Connect HT-M01 to a LoRa Server

Summary

This article aims to describe how to connect HT-M01 Gateway to a LoRa server, such as TTN, ChirpStack, which facilitates secondary development and rapid deployment of LoRa devices.ff

Before all operation, make sure the HT-M01 is runing well with a Raspberry Pi (Linux) or Windows computer. If not, please refer to this HT-M01 Quick Start document.

Connect to TTN

Register a LoRa gateway in TTN

Create and active an account in TTN. Select Gateway in the console page.

Fill in the HT-M01 information as shown below and complete the addition.

Gateway EUI – The unique ID of HT-M01 gateway;
I’m using the legacy packet forwarder – Must select this;
Frequency Plan – Must matach the LoRa band configuration (global_conf.json) in HT-M01.
Router – Must use the default router allocated by TTN system.

Tip

That four points are the key to success connection with TTN.

Connect to TTN

In the HT-M01 gateway, need to configure the gateway ID, server address and port.

The TTN’s router addresses for different region:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/docs/gateways/packet-forwarder/semtech-udp.html#router-addresses

HT-M01 in Linux (Raspberry Pi)

Fix parameters in global_conf.json:

  nano /home/pi/lora/packet_forwarder/lora_pkt_fwd/global_conf.json

Configure gateway ID, server address, port. At the end of the global_conf.json, make these changes:

"gateway_ID": "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", /*Your gateway ID, 16 characters*/
"server_address": "router.cn.thethings.network", /*The router addresses need matach your region*/
"serv_port_up": 1700,
"serv_port_down": 1700,

ctrl + O to save and ctrl + X to exit, and restart the service in Raspberry Pi:

sudo systemctl restart lrgateway

HT-M01 in Windows

Select Use a cloud network, and fill in correct server address, keep Port default 1700.

Click OK and Start Packet Forwarder.

View gateway status, it is runing:

Connect to ChirpStack server

ChirpStack is the most popular LoRa server open source project, widely used in many fields, and also the best choise for a private LoRa server.

ChirpStack Installation guide: https://www.chirpstack.io/overview/
ChirpStack support forum: https://forum.chirpstack.io/

ChirpStack Gateway Bridge

One thing need attention! the ChirpStack need a special service named Gateway Bridge, which converts LoRa® Packet Forwarder protocols into a ChirpStack Network Server common data-format(JSON and Protobuf).

The Gateway Bridge service can running on the Raspberry Pi or the ChirpStack server. We recommend install it on the Raspberry Pi.

Install LoRa-gateway-bridge:

wget https://artifacts.loraserver.io/downloads/lora-gateway-bridge/lora-gateway-bridge_2.5.1_armhf.deb
#Download the LoRa-gateway-bridge package that supports the Raspberry Pi Zero_W version
sudo dpkg -i lora-gateway-bridge_2.5.1_armhf.deb
#Install LoRa-gateway-bridge
sudo systemctl start lora-gateway-bridge
#Start LoRa-gateway-bridge
sudo systemctl enable lora-gateway-bridge
#Set LoRa-gateway-bridge to boot up

Install ChirpStack Gateway Bridge can refer to https://www.chirpstack.io/gateway-bridge/install/debian

Starting the ChirpStack Gateway Bridge:

sudo systemctl start chirpstack-gateway-bridge

Register LoRa Gateway in ChirpStack