LoRa APRS Tracker

When you look at the SOTA reflector, it seems like every SOTA activator has built this LoRa APRS Tracker. There are now already 10 threads of 100 messages each about this project. Good luck if you want to read all those messages, the first thread starts here :

https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/lora-aprs-tracker-part-1/31589

I think thread number 9 had just started when I decided to give it a go. I do have a Yaesu FT1D which can transmit my position, but it seems nice to have a dedicated APRS tracker, and save the handheld battery for other purposes, like making QSO's !

So I ordered a HELTEC WIRELESS TRACKER board on Ali Express (price was 23.59€, shipping included). It arrived in 11 days, and I flashed the board witht he code I found on the GitHub page of Ricardo, CA2RXU:
https://github.com/richonguzman/LoRa_APRS_Tracker

The Wiki contains much more information, be sue to check it out:

https://github.com/richonguzman/LoRa_APRS_Tracker/wiki 

I also used the detailed instructions on how to get the firmware into the tracker from this website:
 https://hamradio.my/2024/09/how-to-turn-a-433-mhz-heltec-wireless-tracker-into-a-433-mhz-lora-aprs-tracker/

The only thing that was not directly clear to me, was that you have to upload the configuration file (tracker_config.json) separately from the firmware, this is described as "upload firmware" then "upload filesystem" in the Wiki.

UPDATE : in the mean time, Ricardo made a "Web Flasher tool", to save you from installing Visual Studio Code. I have not tried it yet, but it should make things much easier.

https://richonguzman.github.io/lora-tracker-web-flasher/installer.html

When I got it all right, it worked first time ! 

Then it was time to find a box to put the tracker in. I don’t have a 3D printer, so I had to make a box myself. I found a small plastic pill box, and made an inner “chassis” from pieces of PCB to hold it all toghether. The metal of the chassis would also make a kind of groundplane for the antenna.
The battery is an 1800 mAh Li-Ion cell from a laptop battery. Next to the antenna connector is the POWER switch.

This is the frame with the tracker board and battery mounted, but before I added the two pushbuttons:

The board came with a very small antenna, which is probably not much use, so I replaced that with an antenna from a handheld rig (see top picture), or the even longer quarter wave antenna shown in the picture above.

After this all worked, I needed to add two pushbuttons, since the internal pushbuttons would not be accessible once it was in a box. I added a USR button on the top, and a recessed RESET button on the side.

After making all the holes in the plastic box, I could put the frame inside. Add some labels and the tracker was ready for use.

Summary of operating instructions on the back.

I made several "test tours" around my home town, and all seems to work OK. I am lucky that there is good APRS iGAte in the vicinity. I wonder how good it will work on a SOTA summit ?

GL es 73,
Luc ON7DQ