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How far can I broadcast LoRa packets WITHOUT a radio? - LoLRa

CNLohr1 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
223K views · demo · evergreen · Uploaded 2024-03-25

CNLohr explains how he made an ESP32 produce valid LoRa packets without a LoRa radio, using aliasing and clever signal tricks. It walks through the RF math and shows how far the signals reach.

HN cites it as a striking example of radio hacking with commodity chips.

Embedded systems & DIY electronicsElectronics & circuit design

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3 comments from Hacker News

@donquichotte2024 · in “Rawdrawandroid – Build Android apps without any Java, in C and Make”

cnlohr is in his own league, this guy is bordering on genius. Dissatisfied with the state of the vendor SDK for CH32V003 microcontrollers (ultra-cheap RISC-V MCUs), he created his own [1], which is a pleasure to use. He also has a header-only RISC-V emulator that runs Linux (and Doom!) [2], and hacked an ESP32 to emit valid LORA frames with clever use of aliasing [3]. [1] [LINK] [2] [LINK] [3] [VIDEO]

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@yonatan80702025 · in “Show HN: A high-altitude low-power flight computer for high-altitude balloons”

In fact, it's so robust that even when your antenna is a piece of wire hanging off a GPIO of a microcontroller with absolutely no dedicated radio hardware, you can still get several km of range. Truly crazy stuff. [VIDEO]

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@airbreather2026 · in “Time Station Emulator”

check out this guy, doing something similar sending Lora packets without a radio - [VIDEO] "This video explores LoRaWAN communication using a microcontroller without a dedicated radio chip. CNLohr demonstrates techniques to transmit LoRa packets over surprisingly long distances, pushing the limits of inexpensive hardware. The project involves creative software and hardware interaction to generate signals at unexpected frequencies."

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