NOTE: Once the remaining backplanes are sold out, we will probably not order another batch. This means that if you still want some iC880A backplanes, you should order them while they’re still available 🙂

This is an adapter board to connect an IMST iC880A-SPI LoRaWAN concentrator board to a 40-pin Raspberry Pi (2B / 3B / Zero). It also gives you some ways to enhance and monitor your gateway. Current version: v2.1 (see v2.0 news post and v2.1 news post for details). Raspberry Pi / iC880A not included!

Note: This board is sold as a development kit (as a part of a full DIY gateway) and not a finished product. No certifications have been done, but every board is tested by us before shipping, to ensure it works!

Features

Besides connecting the two boards, the PCB gives you the following additional features:

Power supply

• Screw terminal for direct power input/output (5V)
• Screw terminal with on-board MP1584 step-down regulator (6.7-28V input, fixed 5V output). Great to connect a PoE-Adapter.
• Polyfuse and TVS diode to protect against voltage spikes
• Protection against accidentally reversed polarity

Sensors for monitoring

• Sensirion SHTC3 temperature / humidity sensor made in Switzerland (accuracy: ±2%RH, ±0.2°C)
• Microchip MCP3425 16-bit ADC to monitor input voltage

I/O

• Programmable button connected to GPIO (e.g. to shut down the Pi)
• Three programmable LEDs (Red/Yellow/Blue) connected to GPIO header
• 1 female pin header for serial communication (RX/TX)
• 2 female pin headers with pull-ups for I²C based sensors (SDA/SCL/GND/3.3V/5V)
• Full access to Raspberry Pi GPIO header

Cooling

• MOSFET with flyback diode for connecting and regulating a 5V DC fan

Mechanical

• Mounting holes for Raspberry Pi 2B / 3B / Zero (two nylon spacers included)

Open Source

• Open source hardware, full schematics provided with every order!
• KiCAD project available here under the TAPR Open Hardware License

More details can be found here: https://github.com/dbrgn/ic880a-backplane

Usage Notes

• You can find the schematics here.
• Here is a quick guide on how to read the SHTC3 temperature/humidity sensor from the Raspberry Pi.
• To monitor your gateway, you can find Collectd plugins for the SHTC3 and the MCP3425 here.
• The LEDs are connected to GPIO pins 36, 38 and 40 (BOARD numbering system). The button is connected to GPIO pin 32 (BOARD numbering system). You can find an example script here.
• In case you want to use the MCP3425 ADC to monitor the supply voltage: Here is an example script. You can find a Collectd plugin on Github. And here’s a brand new Rust driver.
• Here is an example shutdown script (and sytemd service file) that allows you to shut down your Pi with the button.
•  Datasheets:
  • MP1584 Regulator
  • SHTC3 Sensor
  • MCP3425 ADC

Shipping

We offer both untracked (non-insured) economy shipping and tracked (insured) priority shipping. We ship with Swiss Post only (UPS express delivery available on request for orders with 10 or more boards). All shipments are carbon neutral. For information on expected delivery times, see their document on carriage times. Note that sometimes processing at customs can cause additional delays (and possibly costs, depending on your country). We ship from Switzerland and our price does not include VAT.

Our Offer for Hackers and Makers

Are you part of a hackerspace, makerspace or some other community group and want to build a gateway for a non-commercial project that somehow benefits the public (e.g. a public gateway for The Things Network)? We want to support these use cases! Drop us an e-mail at shop@coredump.ch explaining your project to get the backplane 33% cheaper!

Feedback

Feel free to contact us at shop@coredump.ch if you have any questions or any general feedback. We’re also happy about reviews, just click on the “Reviews” tab above!

Thanks for your order! With it, you are supporting the efforts of our hackerspace to provide the infrastructure for noncommercial technical projects and to teach electronics and programming to kids and other people that want to learn 🙂