LILYGO T3 LoRa32 V1.6.1 868MHz ESP32 Development Board with OLED & TF Slot

Specifications

• Microcontroller: ESP32 (Dual-core, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth/BLE)

• LoRa Transceiver: Semtech SX1276

• Operating Frequency: 868 MHz (Ideal for Europe and India)

• Display: 0.96-inch Blue OLED (I2C interface)

• Storage: Integrated TF / MicroSD Card Slot

• Antenna Connector: SMA Female

• Antenna Dimensions: 49.80mm length, 7.77mm diameter

• Board Dimensions: 64.47mm x 27.13mm

• Power Interface: Micro-USB (5V) or JST 1.25mm 2-pin (3.7V Battery)

• Hardware Version: T3_V1.6.1 (20210104)

Unlock New Capabilities (Project Evolution) The Off-Grid Environmental Sentinel: Take your data collection off the grid! Connect an I2C BME280 (Temperature, Humidity, Pressure) sensor to the LILYGO T3. House the unit in a weatherproof box and power it with a LiPo battery and a small 5V solar panel. You can deploy this node deep in a forest or agricultural field. It will read the environmental data, log a backup copy to the onboard MicroSD card, and use the 868MHz LoRa module to ping the data miles away to your base station.

PACKAGE INCLUDED

• 1 x LILYGO T3 LoRa32 V1.6.1 868MHz Development Board

• 1 x 868MHz SMA Antenna

• 1 x JST 1.25mm 2-Pin Battery Cable

• 2 x Straight Male Pin Headers

Downloads & Links

• ESP32-Paxcounter Github Link

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

1. What is the LILYGO T3 LoRa32? It is an IoT development board that combines an ESP32 microcontroller with a long-range LoRa radio transceiver, an OLED display, and a MicroSD card reader into one compact unit.

2. Which LoRa chip is used on this board? This version utilizes the Semtech SX1276 LoRa transceiver chip.

3. What frequency does this module operate on? This specific module operates on the 868MHz frequency band.

4. How do I know if 868MHz is right for me? 868MHz is the standard license-free ISM band for LoRa communication in Europe and India. If you are in the US or Australia, you typically need the 915MHz version.

5. Does it have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth? Yes, because it is based on the ESP32 chip, it features full 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v4.2 BR/EDR and BLE.

6. What is Paxcounter? Paxcounter is an open-source program commonly run on these boards. It estimates the number of people in an area by counting the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth probe requests sent out by their smartphones.

7. How do I program the LILYGO T3? You can easily program it using the Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, or MicroPython, just like a standard ESP32 board.

8. What are the I2C pins for the OLED display? The onboard OLED display is wired to SDA pin 21 and SCL pin 22.

9. Can I save data locally on the board? Yes! The board features a TF (MicroSD) card slot on the back for local data logging.

10. What are the SPI pins for the MicroSD card slot? The TF card slot uses CS: IO13, MOSI: IO15, SCK: IO14, and MISO: IO02.

11. What are the internal pins used to communicate with the LoRa chip? The ESP32 communicates with the SX1276 via SPI using MOSI: 27, SCLK: 5, CS: 18, MISO: 19, along with DIO: 26 and RST: 23.

12. Can I power it with a battery? Yes. It includes a JST 1.25mm 2-pin connector on the bottom, allowing you to plug in a standard 3.7V Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery.

13. Does the board charge the battery? Yes, the board has an integrated battery management circuit. When you plug a Micro-USB cable into the board, it will charge the connected LiPo battery.

14. What does the physical switch on the board do? There is a tiny sliding ON/OFF switch next to the Micro-USB port. This physically connects or disconnects battery power to the board, allowing you to turn it off without unplugging the battery.

15. Can I test the board without the antenna attached? No. Absolutely never power the board without the antenna attached. Transmitting RF signals without an antenna acts as an open load and can permanently destroy the SX1276 LoRa amplifier.

16. What type of antenna connector does it use? The board uses a standard SMA female connector.

17. How large is the board? The main PCB measures 64.47mm in length and 27.13mm in width.

18. What are the dimensions of the included antenna? The included "stubby" antenna is 49.80mm long and 7.77mm in diameter.

19. Do I need to solder the header pins? Yes. The board comes with two rows of male header pins unattached. You will need to solder them yourself if you wish to use the board on a breadboard or connect external dupont wires.

20. Can this board connect to The Things Network (TTN)? Yes, it is fully capable of acting as a LoRaWAN node and communicating with standard LoRa gateways, including those on The Things Network.