Adafruit Feather RP2040 RFM69 Packet Radio - 868 or 915MHz - RadioFruit and STEMMA QT
In stock, ships same business day if ordered before 2PM
Delivered by Mon, 6th of May
Quantity Discounts:
- 10-25 $36.83 (exc GST)
- 25+ $35.68 (exc GST)
Restrictions apply to this RF Equipment for use in Australia:
- Only to be operated on 433Mhz / 915-930Mhz / 2.4Ghz (check the product description for compatible frequency ranges).
- If operating outside of shared frequencies or in such a way that is beyond low interference potential devices are intended to function, then you have obtained the appropriate authorisation to do so.
For use in other locations around the world:
- Follow region-specific frequency spectrum rules.
A declaration of use will need to be submitted during checkout.
This is the Adafruit Feather RP2040 RFM69 Packet Radio (868 or 915 MHz). We call these RadioFruits, our take on an microcontroller with packet radio transceiver with built-in USB and battery charging. It's an Adafruit Feather RP2040 with a RFM69HCW 900MHz radio module cooked in! Great for making wireless networks that are more flexible than Bluetooth LE and without the high power requirements of WiFi.
Feather is the development board specification from Adafruit, and like its namesake, it is thin, light, and lets you fly! Adafruit designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores. Adafruit have other boards in the Feather family, check'em out here.
It's kinda like Adafruit took our RP2040 Feather and RFM69 900MHz breakout board and glued them together. You get all the pins for use on the Feather, the Lipoly battery support, USB C power / data, onboard NeoPixel, 8MB of FLASH for storing code and files, and then with the 8 unused pins, Adafruit wired up all the DIO pins on the RFM module. There's even room left over for a STEMMA QT connector an a uFL connector for connecting larger antennas.
This is the 900 MHz RFM69 packet radio version, which can be used for either 868MHz or 915MHz transmission/reception - the exact radio frequency is determined when you load the software since it can be tuned around dynamically. Despite calling it a 'packet' radio (and it does send packets of data) the RFM69 can also be used for non-packetized radio transmission and reception.
At the Feather's heart is an RP2040 chip, clocked at 133 MHz and at 3.3V logic, the same one used in the Raspberry Pi Pico. This chip has a whopping 8MB of onboard QSPI FLASH and 264K of RAM! This makes it great for making wireless sensor nodes that can send to each other without a lot of software configuration.
To make it easy to use for portable projects, Adafruit added a connector for any of Adafruit's 3.7V Lithium polymer batteries and built-in battery charging. You don't need a battery, it will run just fine straight from the USB Type C connector. But, if you do have a battery, you can take it on the go, then plug in the USB to recharge. The Feather will automatically switch over to USB power when its available.
Here're some handy specs! You get:
- Measures 52.2mm x 23.0mm x 7.3mm / 2.1" x 0.9" x 0.3" without headers soldered in
- Light as a (large?) feather - 6 grams
- RP2040 32-bit Cortex M0+ dual core running at ~133 MHz @ 3.3V logic and power
- 264 KB RAM
- 8 MB SPI FLASH chip for storing files and CircuitPython/MicroPython code storage. No EEPROM
- Tons of GPIO! 21 x GPIO pins with following capabilities:
- Four 12-bit ADCs (one more than Pico)
- Two I2C, Two SPI, and two UART peripherals, Adafruit label one for the 'main' interface in standard Feather locations
- 16 x PWM outputs - for servos, LEDs, etc
- Built-in 200mA+ lipoly charger with charging status indicator LED
- Pin #13 red LED for general purpose blinking
- RGB NeoPixel for full-color indication.
- On-board STEMMA QT connector that lets you quickly connect any Qwiic, STEMMA QT or Grove I2C devices with no soldering!
- Both Reset button and Bootloader select button for quick restarts (no unplugging-replugging to relaunch code)
- USB Type C connector lets you access built-in ROM USB bootloader and serial port debugging
- 3.3V Power/enable pin
- 4 mounting holes
- 12 MHz crystal for perfect timing.
- 3.3V regulator with 500mA peak current output
Adafruit squished all the parts on Adafruit's Feather RP2040 over towards the USB port to make some room on the end. This Feather RP2040 LoRa Radio uses the extra space left over to add an RFM69HCW high power 868/915 MHz radio module. These radios are not good for transmitting audio or video, but they do work quite well for small data packet transmission when you need more range than 2.4 GHz (BT, BLE, WiFi, ZigBee).
Radio module specifications:
- SX1231 based module with SPI interface
- +13 to +20 dBm up to 100 mW Power Output Capability (power output selectable in software)
- 50mA (+13 dBm) to 150mA (+20dBm) current draw for transmissions, ~30mA during active radio listening.
- Range of approx. 500 meters, depending on obstructions, frequency, antenna and power output
- Create multipoint networks with individual node addresses
- Encrypted packet engine with AES-128
- Packet radio with ready-to-go Arduino & CircuitPython libraries
- Uses the license-free ISM band: "European ISM" @ 868MHz or "American ISM" @ 915MHz
- Simple wire antenna can be soldered into a solder pad, there's also a uFL connector that can be used with uFL-to-SMA adapters for attaching bigger antennas.
Adafruit's initial tests with default library settings indicate they can go at least 500 meters line of sight using simple wire antennas, probably up to 5Km with directional antennas and settings tweakings
Comes fully assembled and tested, They also toss in some headers so you can solder it in and plug into a solderless breadboard. You will need to cut and solder on a small piece of wire (any solid or stranded core is fine) in order to create your antenna. or use a uFL connector and SMA 900MHz antenna. Lipoly battery and USB cable are not included, but we do have lots of options in the shop if you'd like!
Technical Details
Product Dimensions: 52.2mm x 23.0mm x 7.3mm / 2.1" x 0.9" x 0.3"
Product Weight: 6.0g / 0.2oz
Exact shipping can be calculated on the view cart page (no login required).
Products that weigh more than 0.5 KG may cost more than what's shown (for example, test equipment, machines, >500mL liquids, etc).
We deliver Australia-wide with these options (depends on the final destination - you can get a quote on the view cart page):
- $3+ for Stamped Mail (typically 10+ business days, not tracked, only available on selected small items)
- $6+ for Standard Post (typically 6+ business days, tracked)
- $10+ for Express Post (typically 2+ business days, tracked)
- Pickup - Free! Only available to customers who live in the Newcastle region (must order online and only pickup after we email to notify you the order is ready). Orders placed after 2PM may not be ready until the following business day.
Non-metro addresses in WA, NT, SA & TAS can take 2+ days in addition to the above information.
Some batteries (such as LiPo) can't be shipped by Air. During checkout, Express Post and International Methods will not be an option if you have that type of battery in your shopping cart.
International Orders - the following rates are for New Zealand and will vary for other countries:
- $11+ for Pack and Track (3+ days, tracked)
- $16+ for Express International (2-5 days, tracked)
If you order lots of gear, the postage amount will increase based on the weight of your order.
Our physical address (here's a PDF which includes other key business details):
Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove Parade
Adamstown
NSW, 2289
Australia
Take a look at our customer service page if you have other questions such as "do we do purchase orders" (yes!) or "are prices GST inclusive" (yes they are!). We're here to help - get in touch with us to talk shop.
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