====== Lora Node (Prototype) for Soil Moisture Profile Probe ======

This device can connect to a soil moisture profile probe for measuring soil permittivity and temperature at three different depths. The data gets transmitted to an IoT-Stack for saving the data permanently and displaying it nicely in graphs. The data from a test we run on our terrace can be found here: [[https://weather.eolab.de/grafana/d/XywFgRnnk/sceme_node?orgId=1&from=1634134115240&to=1634306915241&refresh=15m|Grafana Dashboard]]

The device is powered by solar and an internal battery. It can also monitor the battery. The battery levels get also logged on the dashboard. 
This prototype also includes a custom-made circuit board.

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====== Soil Moisture Lora Node (Prototype v2) ======

The second prototype is more sophisticated and implements things that work in a more compact and also cleaner way.
It is still based on the RFM95 HopeRF Module on 868 Mhz. It's using a 18650 LiPo battery and also includes a Solar Charger, so a Solar Cell can be hooked up. Furthermore, a coulomb counter observers the power usage so it can be precisely determined if and how much current is used or if the battery is recharged.
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Currently, we are running our final tests on these prototypes and will deploy some of these in the field for testing. One prototype, with a solar cell, is already running on our lab's terrace.

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The casing right now is not perfect and much bigger than it would be needed.

====== Soil Moisture Lora Node in Action ======

We installed one of the prototypes v2 with a bigger solar cell on a field near Goch. It´s right next to the river Niers. Because it rained the last days before installation, the field was partly flooded.

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Because this particular field is used for cows in the summer, the wire needed to be buried underground. In the future the sensor node should be moved higher.