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Micro Thor vs. LoRa question (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I recently found out about Thor Modes and now i am asking myself how it compares against LoRa. Thor seams to be possible on very low frequency, while LoRa is somewhere up at 800-900mhz.

How would a FM 4W CB-Radio @27mhz (full length antenna not a mobile device) in Thor Mode (Thor4 or Micro Thor) do against a commercial LoRa Module in a urban environment?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

LF/HF data modes generally have extremely long range, often to the other side of the planet in the right conditions. But Thor maxes out at 22 bps, whereas LoRa is in the 5 kbps - 20 kbps range, nearly 1000 times faster.

CB/11M band would likely get some good range with a low baud data mode. However a 4W CB radio is going to consume a massive amount of power and be very large physically compared to a LoRa device.

In an urban environment I'd say the LoRa device would do better, due to the absolutely tiny amount of signal it can process into usable data even with lots of ambient noise.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thank you very much for the answer! The power difference between the 0.25W Lora and the 4W FM is huge yes, thats why i kinda hoped Thor over CB would give me better range in a environment where line of sight is not given and there isnt a Mesh network in place for the LoRa.

I am trying to make a low speed text chat connection at a distance of 20-40km, with half a city between the Radios. I looked into LoRa based standalone devices like the T-Deck, but what i saw online was sobering regarding the actual functionality out in the field(besides super duper ranges in elevated line of sight).

The next idea was just geting a cheap used CB-Radio and hooking it up to AndFLmsg, would that be realistic to clear the distance of 20-40km with half a city between it?

I mean if that dosent work out there is still the non licensed sub 9khz band....

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Neat idea! Nothing is really going to go through multiple buildings in a city, so your best bet might be the ham bands that like to bounce off the atmosphere, bypassing the city entirely.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

27mhz can skip if the conditions are right, im guess i just find out if it works. Used some web SDR to check the CB band round here...not much going on so at least there wont be much background noise

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

When you get skip on 11m, it usually goes halfway across the continent and nothing will be heard the next town over.

You need NVIS propagation to get a signal to a nearby location. That only works on lower frequencies like 30m through 160m depending on solar conditions. The signal gets send straight up and bounces back down in a several hundred mile radius around you. There is a map that shows which frequencies will currently work for NVIS as well as the Local Area Mobile Prediction tool to help you figure out what frequency to use for a given time and location.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

NVIS propagation

Is a interesting topic, basically what i am looking for. Problem being is that right now i am restricted to license free bands.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah sounds like a fun thing to try out