Serial communication with NUCLEO L073RZ for Semtech SX1280 LoRa

[JamesParking]

I'm a novice to ESP32 programming and LoRa, and I'm finding myself stuck with simple interfacing.

I have a L073RZ connected to a Semtech SX1280 Evaluation Board, but I don't have a display attached to it (didn't come with one). I'm wondering how I can connect the ESP32 to my PC to control the SX1280. I'm trying to use the LoRa for its ranging abilities.

I can't seem to find any firmware for the L073RZ+SX1280 combo, on either Semtech or NUCLEO.

[Andrew Neil]

---

@JamesParking wrote:

I'm a novice to ESP32 programming .

---

ESP32 is not an ST product - so this is not the place for ESP32 learning or support.

https://www.espressif.com/en/products/socs/esp32

 

Did you mean STM32 ?

In that case, maybe start here.

Some specific steps to get started here.

 

---

@JamesParking wrote:

I have a L073RZ connected to a Semtech SX1280 Evaluation Board, but I don't have a display attached to it (didn't come with one).

---

Indeed it doesn't come with a display, but there is a Virtual COM Port (VCP) to allow you to send data to a PC for display.

As suggested above, I strongly recommend that you start by getting that working

 

---

@JamesParking wrote:

I'm wondering how I can connect the ESP32 to my PC to control the SX1280.

---

Again, did you mean STM32 there?

Adding an ESP32 here would seem  a vastly unnecessary complication ...

[JamesParking]

Apologies, yes I meant STM32, I'm juggling multiple projects.

I'll try to get the VCP working, though I can't see any data coming through on any serial monitor (PuTTY, VSCode).

[Andrew Neil]

---

@JamesParking wrote:

I can't see any data coming through on any serial monitor (PuTTY, VSCode).

---

Can you see the COM port OK on the computer ?

The commonest mistake people make is to use the wrong pins - you must use the MCU pins which are physically connected to the ST-Link's VCP pins.

See the board's User Manual and/or Schematics for details.

[Andrew Neil]

As @unknown says, see Semtech's site for drivers, SDK, etc for their chips

https://www.semtech.com/products/wireless-rf/lora-connect/sx1280 - see the 'Software' tab.

 

Note that Semtech's own devkit for the SX1280 is based on an STM32 Nucleo board:

[Andrew Neil]

---

@JamesParking wrote:

a Semtech SX1280 Evaluation Board

---

What board, exactly ?

Make sure that it doesn't interfere with the VCP connection (on Arduino pins D0,D1) ...

 

First try to get just the VCP connection working without this extra board attached

[JamesParking]

I'm using the Nucleo L073RZ STM32 board connected to the SX1280 evaluation board. I have the STM32 connected to my PC via USB, and I can see it on STM32 Cube Programmer, but nothing shows up on the serial monitor.

[Andrew Neil]

Again, start by getting just the VCP connection working without SX1280 board attached.

Ensure that you use the correct pins for your UART.

The supplied examples should have this already.

CubeMX should know the correct pins.

 

You still haven't said what SX1280 board you are using.