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Rail Product News

8/21/2017



Lat-Lon eliminates monthly cellular service charge on new version of the LoRa Solar Tracking Unit

Lat-Lon recently announced that it had eliminated the monthly cellular service charge on its new version of Solar Tracking Unit. Lat-Lon replaced the standard cellular modem with a LoRa data modem. The LoRa data modem can off load the data collected during a trip to a gateway for no charge.
 
An acronym for Long Range Radio, LoRa is a proprietary radio modulation technology. It is a low power, low cost, long range wireless technology specifically designed for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Data is communicated to a network of gateways that are connected to the Internet. This is known as a Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN).

LPWAN differs from a wireless WAN in that the LPWAN requires less power and has a low bit rate, ideal for small packet transmission of “things.” LPWAN can be used to create a private network rather than “leasing” an existing network via modems with monthly/annual operating costs. Communication is secure and bi-directional using frequency hopping and variable data rates. LoRa is considered a compliment to M2M technology best used for low power operations.

The new LoRa Solar Tracking Unit (LoRa-STU) has all of the capabilities of its cellular based product including, impact detection and temperature monitoring. With the LoRa-STU, fleet owners can significantly lower operating costs, the company says. The same Lat-Lon website is used to review data, graphs and photos. Lat-Lon also has joined the LoRa Alliance to help promote understanding and consistency for success in IoT and M2M applications.

Lat-Lon is owned by BSM Technologies Inc. Visit Lat-Lon/BSM at Booth #3452 at Railway Interchange 2017, which will be held Sept. 17-20, 2017, in Indianapolis.