netvox R72632A01 Wireless Soil NPK Sensor
Introduction
R72632A01 is a netvox Class A type device based on LoRaWAN open protocol, which is compatible with LoRaWAN protocol. R72632A01 can be externally connected with NPK (485 type) soil sensor to report the soil nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content collected by the sensor to the corresponding gateway. The external sensor of R72632A01 has high precision, fast response and stable output, it is less affected by the salt content of soil and is suitable for all kinds of soil. It can be buried in the soil for a long time. It is resistant to long-term electrolysis, corrosion, vacuuming and potting. It is completely waterproof, which greatly facilitates the customer’s systematic evaluation of soil conditions
LoRa Wireless Technology
LoRa is a wireless communication technology dedicated to long distance and low power consumption. Compared with other communication methods, LoRa spread spectrum modulation method greatly increases to expand the communication distance. Widely used in long-distance, low-data wireless communications. For example, automatic meter reading, building automation equipment, wireless security systems, industrial monitoring. Main features include small size, low power consumption, transmission distance, anti-interference ability and so on.
LoRaWAN:
LoRaWAN uses LoRa technology to define end-to-end standard specifications to ensure interoperability between devices and gateways from different manufacturers.
Appearance
Main Features
- Apply SX1276 wireless communication module
- 8 ER14505 lithium batteries, total battery capacity is 9600mAh
- Detect the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soil
- Protection Class: Main body-IP65, NPK Sensor IP68
- Compatible with LoRaWANTM Class A
- Frequency hopping spread spectrum
- Configuration parameters can be configured via a third-party software platform, data can be read and alerts can be set via SMS text and email (optional)
- Applicable to third-party platforms: Actility / Thing Park, TTN, My Devices/Cayenne
- Low power consumption and long battery life
Note:
Battery life is determined by the sensor reporting frequency and other variables, please refer to http://www.netvox.com.tw/electric/electric_calc.html
On this website, users can find battery lifetime for varied models at different configurations.
Set up Instruction
| On/Off | |
| Power On | Connect to battery pack |
| Turn On | Connect the battery pack directly to boot |
| Turn Off (Restore to factory setting) | Press and hold the function key for 5 seconds and the green indicator flashes 20 times. |
| Power Off | Remove battery pack |
| Network Joining | |
| Never Join the Network | Turn on the device to search the network. The green indicator stays on for 5 seconds: success The green indicator remains off: fail |
| Had joined the network | Turn on the device to search the previous network. The green indicator stays on for 5 seconds: success The green indicator remains off: fail |
| Fail to join the network | Suggest to check the device verification information on the gateway or consult your platform server provider. |
| Function Key | |
| Press and hold for 5 seconds | Restore to factory setting / Turn off The green indicator flashes 20 times: success The green indicator remains off: fail |
| Press once | The device is in the network: green indicator flashes once and sends a report The device is not in the network: green indicator remains off |
| Sleeping Mode | |
| The device turns on and joins in the network | Sleeping period: Min Interval When the report change exceeds setting value or the state changes, send a data report according to Min Interval |
| Low Voltage Threshold Alarm | |
| Low Voltage | 6.8 V |
Data Report
After the device is powered on and connected to the network, a version package will be sent immediately. After the collection of the preheating sensor is completed (about 20s), a report data containing the current battery power and soil nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content will be reported immediately.
Default setting:
Report Max Time: 3600s (The Max Time should be ≥ 60 seconds.)
Report Min Time: The R72632A01 device does not support the Report Change function
(That is, the configuration of Report Min Time is invalid), and the report data string sent is always sent according to the Report Max Time cycle.
The data reported by the R72632A01:
Soil nitrogen content (N), soil phosphorus content (P) and soil potassium content (K). Detection range of soil NPK: 0 to 1999 mg/kg, unit: 1mg / kg
Note
- Before any configuration, the device sends data according to the default configuration.
- The data transmission cycle of the device is subject to the burning configuration, and there is no minimum time. The value of ReportMaxTime should be greater than or equal to 60 seconds.
- In order to make the NPK soil sensor work stably, it is required to send the report data information 20 seconds after the power on and network.
- After briefly pressing the key, the device needs a period of time to warm up and process the sensor information. Please wait patiently.
The device reported data parsing please refer to Netvox LoRaWAN Application Command document and Netvox Lora Command Resolver http://loraresolver.netvoxcloud.com:8888/page/index
Example of Report Data Cmd
FPort：0x06
| Bytes | 1 | 1 | 1 | Var(Fix=8 Bytes) |
| Version | Device Type | Report Type | Netvox Pay Load Data |
Version– 1 byte –0x01——the Version of Netvox Lo Ra WAN Application Command Version
Device Type– 1 byte – Device Type of Device
The device type is listed in Netvox LoRaWAN Application Device type doc
Report Type – 1 byte –the presentation of the Netvox Pay Load Data， according the device type
Netvox Pay Load Data– Fixed bytes (Fixed =8bytes)
|
Device |
Device Type | Report Type |
Netvox Pay Load Data |
||||
|
R72632A01 |
0x09 | 0x0F | Battery (1Byte, Unit:0.1V) |
Nitrogen (2Bytes,Unit:1mg/kg) |
Phosphorus (2Bytes,Unit:1mg/kg) |
Potassium (2Bytes,Unit:1mg/kg) |
Reserved (1Byte,Fixed 0x00) |
Uplink: 01090f450014001c004100
| Byte | Value | Attribute | Result | Resolution |
| 1st | 01 | Version | 01 | – |
| 2nd | 09 | Device Type | 09 | – |
| 3rd | 0F | Report Type | 0F | – |
| 4th | 45 | Battery | 6.9v | 45(HEX)=69(DEC),69*0.1v=6.9v |
| 5th~6th | 0014 | Nitrogen(N) | 20mg/kg | 0014(HEX)=20(DEC),20*1mg/kg=20mg/kg |
| 7th~8th | 001C | Phosphorus(P) | 28mg/kg | 001C(HEX)=28(DEC),28*1mg/kg=28mg/kg |
| 9th~10th | 0041 | Potassium(K) | 65mg/kg | 0041(HEX)=65(DEC),65*1mg/kg=65mg/kg |
| 11th | 00 | Reserved | – |
Example of Configure Cmd
FPort：0x07
| Bytes | 1 | 1 | Var (Fix =9 Bytes) |
| Cmd ID | Device Type | Netvox Pay Load Data |
Cmd ID– 1 byte
Device Type– 1 byte – Device Type of Device
Netvox Pay Load Data– var bytes (Max=9bytes)
Example of report Max Time configuration:
| Description | Device | Cmd ID | Device Type | Netvox Pay Load Data | ||||
| Config Report Req | R72632A01 | 0x01 | 0x09 | Reserved (2bytes Unit:s) |
Max Time (2bytes Unit:s) |
Reserved |
||
| Config ReportRsp | 0x81 | Status (0x00_success) |
Reserved |
|||||
| Read Config Report Req | 0x02 |
Reserved |
||||||
| Read Config Report Rsp | 0x82 | Reserved (2bytes Unit:s) |
Max Time (2bytes Unit:s) |
Reserved |
||||
- Configure device parameter Max Time = 2min
Downlink: 0109000000780000000000 // 78 (HEX) = 120 (DEC),
Device return:
- 8109000000000000000000 (configuration successful)
- 8109010000000000000000 (configuration failed)
- Read device parameters
Downlink: 0209000000000000000000
Device return:
8209000000780000000000 (current parameters of device)
Installation
The device is suitable for measuring ordinary yellow-cinnamon soil, black soil, and terra rossa. It is not applicable to saline-alkali land, sandy land, or other powdery objects with high salinity. The soil humidity shall be more than 25%
Installation and use method of sensor:
- Quick test method:
Select a suitable measurement location, avoid stones, and ensure that the steel needle will not touch hard objects. Throw away the topsoil according to the required measurement depth, maintain the original tightness of the soil below, hold the sensor tightly and insert it vertically into the soil. When inserting, do not shake left and right. It is recommended to measure multiple times to obtain the average value within a small range of a measurement point. - Buried measurement method:
Dig a pit with a diameter of >20cm vertically, insert the sensor steel needle horizontally into the pit wall at a given depth, and fill the pit tightly. After it is stable for a period of time, it can be measured and recorded for consecutive days, months or even longer.
Installation precautions:
- When measuring, the steel needle must be completely inserted into the soil.
- Avoid high temperature caused by strong sunlight directly shining on the sensor. Pay attention to lightning protection for field use.
- Don’t bend the steel needle violently, don’t pull the sensor lead wire forcibly, and don’t beat or hit the sensor violently.
- The protection grade of soil sensor is IP68, which can soak the whole soil sensor in water.
- Due to the existence of RF electromagnetic radiation in the air, it is not suitable to be energized in the air for a long time.
Assembly precautions:
Users only need to disassemble and assemble the new battery when installing it. Please do not disassemble and assemble it without authorization in other cases. Please do not touch the waterproof rubber strip, waterproof fixing head, waterproof LED lamp and waterproof key during the process of assembling the battery. After the installation of the battery, you must use an electric screwdriver with a torque set to 4kgf to assemble the housing screws (if there is no electric screwdriver, please use a cross screwdriver with suitable screws to assemble and lock to ensure that the upper cover and the lower cover are assembled tightly), otherwise the air tightness after assembly will be affected
Information about Battery Passivation
Many of Netvox devices are powered by 3.6V ER14505 Li-SOCl2 (lithium-thionyl chloride) batteries that offer many advantages including low self-discharge rate and high energy density. However, primary lithium batteries like Li-SOCl2 batteries will form a passivation layer as a reaction between the lithium anode and thionyl chloride if they are in storage for a long time or if the storage temperature is too high. This lithium chloride layer prevents rapid self-discharge caused by continuous reaction between lithium and thionyl chloride, but battery passivation may also lead to voltage delay when the batteries are put into operation, and our devices may not work correctly in this situation.
As a result, please make sure to source batteries from reliable vendors, and it is suggested that if the storage period is more than one month from the date of battery production, all the batteries should be activated. If encountering the situation of battery passivation, users can activate the battery to eliminate the battery hysteresis.
ER14505 Battery Passivation:
To determine whether a battery requires activation
Connect a new ER14505 battery to a resistor in parallel, and check the voltage of the circuit. If the voltage is below 3.3V, it means the battery requires activation.
How to activate the battery
- a. Connect a battery to a resistor in parallel
- b. Keep the connection for 5~8 minutes
- c. The voltage of the circuit should be ≧3.3, indicating successful activation.
| Brand | Load Resistance | Activation Time | Activation Current |
| NHTONE | 165 Ω | 5 minutes | 20mA |
| RAMWAY | 67 Ω | 8 minutes | 50mA |
| EVE | 67 Ω | 8 minutes | 50mA |
| SAFT | 67 Ω | 8 minutes | 50mA |
Note:
If you buy batteries from other than the above four manufacturers, then the battery activation time, activation current, and required load resistance shall be mainly subject to the announcement of each manufacturer.
Important Maintenance Instruction
The device is a product with superior design and craftsmanship and should be used with care. The following suggestions will help you use the warranty service effectively.
- Do not use or store in dusty or dirty areas. This way can damage its detachable parts and electronic components.
- Do not store in excessive heat place. High temperatures can shorten the life of electronic devices, destroy batteries, and deform or melt some plastic parts.
- Do not store in an excessively cold place. Otherwise, when the temperature rises to normal temperature, moisture will form inside which will destroy the board.
- Do not throw, knock, or shake the device. Treating equipment roughly can destroy internal circuit boards and delicate structures.
- Do not wash with strong chemicals, detergents, or strong detergents.
- Do not paint the device. Smudges can make debris block detachable parts up and affect normal operation.
- Do not throw the battery into the fire to prevent the battery from exploding. Damaged batteries may also explode.
All the above suggestions apply equally to your device, batteries, and accessories. If any device is not operating properly, please take it to the nearest authorized service facility for repair.
Documents / Resources
 |
netvox R72632A01 Wireless Soil NPK Sensor [pdf] User Manual R72632A01 Wireless Soil NPK Sensor, R72632A01, Wireless Soil NPK Sensor, Soil NPK Sensor, NPK Sensor, Sensor |
