Checking LoRa module in LoRa 32 v3 board

#1

Greetings,

Just a disclaimer I am a total newbie with this stuff, and trying to dive into it and learn how to use it. I bought a LoRa 32 v3 module, Amazon listing

I bought this board because I wanted to have a general purpose dev board to do some projects on, and lean about LoRa.

I started it up on my computer and it ran the WIFI_LoRa_32 factory test code without attaching the antenna, everything seems to work fine (WIFI setup, WIFI scan, OLED) But since i only have one of these LoRa modules, I can’t test if the module is still working, I am worried that i cooked the LoRa module when i started it up without the antenna on. Short of buying more modules, Is there a way i can check if the LoRa module is still operational?

Thanks for your help!

#2

I don’t know of any way to check LoRa transmissions without some sort of receiver, and the cheapest receiver is probably another module… But having said that, while it is certainly not recommended, I have run these modules on occasion, accidentally and usually only briefly (a couple of minutes perhaps), without the antenna connected and without any apparent damage to the LoRa chip.

2 Likes
#3

I’ve had some run for hours sending once every other minute or so. Performance will degrade over time but quite certainly not cooked at once.

1 Like
#4

Thanks for the advice! Guess the best way is to just get another module and try it out.