Lora Range SX1278

[bsarevalo]

Hello everyone ! especially to Hificat... I am developing a project where we are using Lora SX1278 in the KC868-A6 module, according to the characteristics of the Lora the device has a range of 1 km - 5 km, the code used by the sender is the following :

Code:

#include "Arduino.h"
#include "PCF8574.h"
#include <RTClib.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <LoRa.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <WiFi.h>

#define ss 5
#define rst 21
#define dio0 2

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(115200);
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
 
  while (!Serial);
  Serial.println("LoRa Sender");

  LoRa.setPins(ss, rst, dio0);    //setup LoRa transceiver module

  while (!LoRa.begin(433E6))     //433E6 - Asia, 866E6 - Europe, 915E6 - North America
  {
    Serial.println(".");
    delay(500);
  }
  LoRa.setSyncWord(0xA5);
  Serial.println("LoRa Initializing OK!");
  Dwin_hmi.begin(115200);
  LoRa.setPins(ss, rst, dio0);

  pcf8574.pinMode(P0, OUTPUT);
  pcf8574.pinMode(P1, OUTPUT);
  pcf8574.pinMode(P2, OUTPUT);
  pcf8574.pinMode(P3, OUTPUT);
  pcf8574.pinMode(P4, OUTPUT);
  pcf8574.pinMode(P5, OUTPUT);

  Serial.print("Init pcf8574...");

  if (pcf8574.begin()){
    Serial.println("OK");
  }else{
    Serial.println("NO");
  }

  pcf8574.digitalWrite(P0, HIGH);
  pcf8574.digitalWrite(P1, HIGH);
  pcf8574.digitalWrite(P2, HIGH);
  pcf8574.digitalWrite(P3, HIGH);
  pcf8574.digitalWrite(P4, HIGH);
  pcf8574.digitalWrite(P5, HIGH);

}

void loop() {

  LoRa.beginPacket();   //Send LoRa packet to receiver
  LoRa.print("LP01");
  LoRa.endPacket();
  Serial.println("Sending packet LP0: 1 ");

}

And the code for the receiver is the following

Code:

#include "Arduino.h"
#include "PCF8574.h"
#include <RTClib.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <LoRa.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <MCP23017.h>

#define ss 5
#define rst 14
#define dio0 21

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial1.begin(9600,SERIAL_8N1,13,12);

  while (!Serial);
  Serial.println("LoRa Receiver");

  LoRa.setPins(ss, rst, dio0);    //setup LoRa transceiver module

  while (!LoRa.begin(433E6))     //433E6 - Asia, 866E6 - Europe, 915E6 - North America
  {
    Serial.println(".");
    delay(500);
  }
  LoRa.setSyncWord(0xA5);
  Serial.println("LoRa Initializing OK!");

}

void loop() {

  //Serial1.write(0x01);
  //delay(20);
  //Serial1.flush();
  //delay(15);

  int packetSize = LoRa.parsePacket();    // try to parse packet
  if (packetSize)
  {
  
    Serial.print("Received packet '");

    while (LoRa.available())              // read packet
    {
      String LoRaData = LoRa.readString();
      Serial.print(LoRaData);

      if (LoRaData == "LP01") {
        pcf8574.digitalWrite(P0, HIGH);
      }

      if (LoRaData == "LP00") {
        pcf8574.digitalWrite(P0, LOW);
      }
     
    }
    Serial.print("' with RSSI ");         // print RSSI of packet
    Serial.println(LoRa.packetRssi());
  }

}

I have soldered the antenna on the correct pin and have done some tests, the communication works fine up to 3 meters, but when I move the modules further than 3 meters the communication fails ... maybe you could help me a little, we require a range of more than 200 meters... can you help me and tell me if I'm making a mistake in programming or installing the hardware? Or if I need to buy another Lora module maybe...?