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# DongLoRa
Transparent LoRa radio over USB. Plug in a board, talk LoRa from your host.
Transparent LoRa radio over USB. Plug in a supported board, talk LoRa
from your host. The firmware is a dumb pipe — it exposes clean LoRa
parameters (frequency, bandwidth, spreading factor, coding rate, TX power)
and gets out of the way. No mesh logic, no protocol opinions, no config files.
## Quick Start
1. Get a [supported board](#supported-boards)
2. Install toolchain (see [Building](#building))
3. Build and flash: `just flash heltec_v4`
4. Run an example: `uv run examples/simple_rx.py`
5. See packets
## Supported Boards
| Board | Status | MCU | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heltec v3 | builds | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| Heltec v4 | builds | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| RAK WisBlock / WisMesh (RAK 4631) | **firmware** | nRF52840 | SX1262 |
| Board | MCU | Radio | Display |
|-------|-----|-------|---------|
| Heltec V3 | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 | SSD1306 OLED |
| Heltec V4 | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 | SSD1315 OLED |
| RAK WisBlock 4631 | nRF52840 | SX1262 | SSD1306 OLED (optional) |
## Next Up
## Protocol
High-priority boards — popular, well-documented, should be straightforward:
DongLoRa speaks a binary protocol over USB CDC-ACM: COBS-framed
[postcard](https://postcard.jamesmunns.com/) messages. 8 commands,
6 response types — everything you need to configure the radio,
transmit, and receive.
| Board | MCU | Radio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heltec v2 | ESP32 | SX1276 | Xtensa, older radio |
| Heltec Wireless Tracker (v1/v2) | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 | GPS + display |
| Heltec Vision Master E213 / E290 | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 | E-ink display |
| LilyGo T-Beam (SX1262) | ESP32 | SX1262 | GPS, popular |
| LilyGo T-Beam Supreme (SX1262) | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 | GPS, newer |
| LilyGo T-Echo | nRF52840 | SX1262 | E-ink, BLE |
| LilyGo T3 S3 (SX126x) | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 | Common dev board |
| RAK WisBlock 3112 | ? | SX1262 | RAK ecosystem |
| RAK WisMesh 1W Booster (3401 + 13302) | ? | SX1262 | High power |
| RAK WisMesh Tag | ? | SX1262 | Small form factor |
| Seeed Studio Xiao nRF52 WIO | nRF52840 | SX1262 | Tiny |
| Seeed Studio SenseCAP T1000-E | ? | SX1262 | Tracker |
See **[docs/PROTOCOL.md](docs/PROTOCOL.md)** for the complete wire format
specification with worked examples.
## Future
## Examples
Lower priority or niche — contributions welcome:
All examples use [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) for dependency management:
| Board | MCU | Radio |
|---|---|---|
| Elecrow ThinkNode M1 / M2 / M3 / M5 / M6 | various | various |
| GAT-IoT GAT562 30s / Tracker | ? | ? |
| Heltec Heltec Wireless Paper | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| Heltec MeshPocket | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| Heltec MeshSolar / MeshTower | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| Heltec T114 | nRF52840 | SX1262 |
| Heltec WSL3 | ? | ? |
| Ikoka Nano / Stick | ? | ? |
| Keepteen LT1 | ? | ? |
| LilyGo T-Beam 1.2 (SX1276) | ESP32 | SX1276 |
| LilyGo T-Deck (community) | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T-Echo Lite | nRF52840 | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T3 S3 (SX127x) | ESP32-S3 | SX1276 |
| LilyGo LoRa32 V2.1.1.6 | ESP32 | SX1276 |
| ProMicro nRF52 (faketec) | nRF52840 | SX1262 |
| RPI Pico 2040 + WaveShare SX1262 | RP2040 | SX1262 |
| Seeed Studio SenseCAP Solar | ? | SX1262 |
| Seeed Studio Wio Tracker L1 EINK / Pro | ? | SX1262 |
| Seeed Studio Xiao C3 | ESP32-C3 | SX1262 |
| Seeed Studio Xiao S3 WIO | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| UnitEng Nano G2 Ultra / Station G2 | ? | ? |
| Script | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| [`simple_rx.py`](examples/simple_rx.py) | Configure radio, receive and print packets |
| [`simple_tx.py`](examples/simple_tx.py) | Transmit a single packet |
| [`ping_pong.py`](examples/ping_pong.py) | Two-dongle demo (`--role tx` / `--role rx`) |
| [`meshcore/`](examples/meshcore/) | Full MeshCore packet decoder (advanced example) |
## Building
Requires [just](https://github.com/casey/just) and Rust.
```sh
just build-all # build firmware for all boards with available toolchains
just build-all # build firmware for all boards (skips unavailable toolchains)
just build heltec_v4 # build a specific board
just check-all # compile-check all boards (no firmware output)
just flash heltec_v4 # build + flash via probe-rs
just check-all # compile-check only (no firmware output)
just flash heltec_v4 # build + flash
just clippy heltec_v4 # lint
```
### Xtensa (ESP32) boards
### Xtensa boards (Heltec V3/V4)
Requires the [esp toolchain](https://github.com/esp-rs/espup):
Requires the [ESP toolchain](https://github.com/esp-rs/espup):
```sh
cargo install espup
espup install --toolchain-version 1.82.0.3
```
### ARM (nRF, STM32) boards
### ARM boards (RAK 4631)
Stock Rust stable. Targets are installed automatically.
<details>
<summary><strong>Board Roadmap</strong></summary>
### Next Up
| Board | MCU | Radio |
|-------|-----|-------|
| Heltec V2 | ESP32 | SX1276 |
| Heltec Wireless Tracker | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| Heltec Vision Master E213/E290 | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T-Beam (SX1262) | ESP32 | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T-Beam Supreme | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T-Echo | nRF52840 | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T3 S3 | ESP32-S3 | SX1262 |
| Seeed Studio Xiao nRF52 WIO | nRF52840 | SX1262 |
### Future
| Board | MCU | Radio |
|-------|-----|-------|
| Elecrow ThinkNode M1-M6 | various | various |
| Heltec Wireless Paper / MeshPocket / T114 | various | SX1262 |
| LilyGo T-Deck / T-Echo Lite / LoRa32 | various | various |
| RAK WisBlock 3112 / WisMesh variants | various | SX1262 |
| RPI Pico 2040 + WaveShare SX1262 | RP2040 | SX1262 |
| Seeed Studio SenseCAP / Xiao variants | various | SX1262 |
</details>
## Contributing
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).
## License
[MIT](LICENSE) — Stephen Waits