how to use two mailbox-sensors

[steuerzentrale]

Hi there

sorry for asking so many questions :P I recently installed a mailbox-sensor and would like to install another one. The mail and parcels are in separated departements inside my mailbox. How can I "pair" both to the Lora-gateway?

Can I use the same arduino-sketch for the second mailbox-sensor and the sensor just appears in HA as a second one? If not, what is the way operate two mailbox-sensors with one gateway?

environment
Home Assistant supervised
mailbox-sensor with Auto-MQTT discovery sketch
Lora-gateway with Auto-MQTT discovery sketch

thanks for the clarification

[PricelessToolkit]

Hi, you can ask as many questions as you want 😊
I use "LoRa_Gateway_MQTT_Simple" because it publishes row data "Keys" so I can distinguish which sensor it is.
PS; you need to use "Mailbox_Guard_Sensor.ino" for each sensor with different keys.

Don't forget to add a manual sensor

mqtt:
    sensor:
     - name: "LoRa_Code"
       state_topic: "LoRa-Gateway/Code"

     - name: "LoRa_RSSI"
       state_topic: "LoRa-Gateway/RSSI"

[steuerzentrale]

thats cool thanks. so to be sure, I use the LoRa_Gateway_MQTT_Simple and put in the ssid, password, mqtt_username, mqtt_password, mqtt_server and mqtt_port.

on the sensor I use Mailbox_Guard_Sensor.ino I put in the NewMailCode, LowBatteryCode and define the band. the NewMailCode and LowBatteryCode must be different for both sensors. thats it?

I dont have to change the sync-word or something else than above?

finally i add the manual sensors in HA.

[PricelessToolkit]

that's it if it not will be triggered at the same time.

[danielducu]

you can't set different spreading factors, set for the farthest and the same SF for all.

Yeah, make sense. One more thing hehe... i was reading about the syncword... it seams that cannot be used to filter data... (act as a private identify key for my sensors network) it has to be fixed 0x12 or 0x34 for lorawan ... am i wrong?

[PricelessToolkit]

sync word acts as a private identify key for the sensor network! A receiver using one sync word will not (mostly) receive packets from a transmitter using a different Syncword. LoRaWAN\TTN uses 0x34

[danielducu]

sync word acts as a private identify key for the sensor network! A receiver using one sync word will not (mostly) receive packets from a transmitter using a different Syncword. LoRaWAN\TTN uses 0x34

So .., we can use anything in the syncword?

[PricelessToolkit]

After searching the web for an answer to your question, I've found myself in a state of confusion. Various sources present differing opinions: some indicate that there are only two specific codes—0x12 for private use and 0x34 for LoRaWAN/The Things Network. However, Meshtastic appears to utilize 0x14. To clarify these discrepancies, a thorough review of the datasheets is required.

Our AI friend says......

Private Sync Word Range: Typically, any hexadecimal value from 0x00 to 0xFF is programmable, but you should avoid common values used by public applications or specified by other custom integrations to reduce conflicts.
Here are a few examples of private network sync word values you might consider:

0x12 (often used for LoRa private, but still quite common)
0x50 to 0x5F
0xA0 to 0xAF
0xC3
0xD7
0xE2

[danielducu]

After searching the web for an answer to your question, I've found myself in a state of confusion. Various sources present differing opinions: some indicate that there are only two specific codes—0x12 for private use and 0x34 for LoRaWAN/The Things Network. However, Meshtastic appears to utilize 0x14. To clarify these discrepancies, a thorough review of the datasheets is required.

Our AI friend says......

Private Sync Word Range: Typically, any hexadecimal value from 0x00 to 0xFF is programmable, but you should avoid common values used by public applications or specified by other custom integrations to reduce conflicts.

Here are a few examples of private network sync word values you might consider:

0x12 (often used for LoRa private, but still quite common)

0x50 to 0x5F

0xA0 to 0xAF

0xC3

0xD7

0xE2

I guess all I'm left with is check and see the downsides of not using a standard syncword. Thanks a lot for your time !!!!

[steuerzentrale]

I configured testwise my existing mailbox-sensor with Mailbox_Guard_Sensor.ino and the gateway with LoRa_Gateway_MQTT_Simple. It works fine so far, whenever the PIR detects motion, I get the code 0xA2B2. This code stays until I publish a message to LoRa-Gateway/Code, for example 0xLBAT. When the mailbox-sensor starts from scratch (removing and adding battery) the code is 0xLBAT.

question: 0xLBAT means low battery. How is that being measured? The battery is fully charged and I also replaced it with another fully charged 14500 3.7V battery.

Is it possible to implement the battery in percent as it is with the Auto-MQTT sketches? My goal is to know the batterys state in order to know when I have to replace or charge it.

[PricelessToolkit]

it will send 0xLBAT only when you need to recharge battery 3.3v ~, and when you put the new battery.