Remote Soil Moisture Meter

My current project is a remote soil moisture meter which uses LoRa wireless data technology. A soil moisture sensor will be in soil where plants are growing and be connected to a LoRa transmitter which sends the moisture measurement of the soil every hour to the LoRa receiver for display. I am thinking of using it in my herb garden. The receiver will be situated indoors.

Soil moisture sensor will be pushed into the soil

The LoRa receiver display

I have also connected a type LM35 analogue temperature sensor to the LoRa transmitter. The air temperature will also be measured and sent every hour. The complete packet of data that is sent contains the temperature, moisture value and level, and the packet number. I really only included the temperature to make the data-packet longer and more interesting.

The receiver hosts a web-page

I have completed the firmware, and added wi-fi functionality to the receiver so that the date/time stamp, web server and an Android app can be used. Everything works just fine when connected together in the lab.

Custom app "SpacerLabs_Moisture"

I shall probably post an update when I have completed the project by fitting the LoRa modules in suitable boxes, ( I'd find a 3D printer useful ! ), and purchasing a small solar panel for the transmitter. After that I might add more sensors in different locations which will require using the addressing protocol of LoRa, and also try to connect to my nearest LoRa gateway 6 kms away for LoRa-WAN.

For a short description of LoRa and my set-up see 15 Feb 2021.