Crazyradio PA is a long range open USB radio dongle based on thefrom Nordic Semiconductor. It features a 20dBm power amplifier, LNA and comes pre-programmed with Crazyflie compatible firmware. The power amplifier boosts the range, giving a range of more than 1km (line of sight) together with the Crazyflie 2.0 and above 2km Crazyradio PA to Crazyradio PA (line of sight).
The Crazyradio PA is not only for usage together with the Crazyflie and Crazyflie 2.0. Since it?s an open project with firmware written from scratch and a Python API for usage it?s great building block for systems that require longer range than WiFi and doesn?t have the same requirements for bandwidth. The hardware comes shipped with the latest firmware as well as a bootloader that enables firmware upgrades via USB without any additional hardware needed.
The Crazyflie PA is compatible with the first generation of the Crazyflie, but will not give the same range increase as with the Crazyflie 2.0.
Features
Radio power amplifier giving 20dBm output power
1km range LOS with Crazyflie 2.0
2x5 2.54mm header for prototyping (not mounted)
Hardware support for PPM
Same mechanical footprint as the first generation Crazyradio
Open source firmware
Firmware upgrade via USB
Low latency
Specifications
Based on nRF24LU1+ chip from Nordic Semiconductor
8051 MCU at up to 16MHz with 32Kb flash and 2Kb SRAM
2.4GHz ISM band radio
USB device peripheral
125 radio channels
2Mbps, 1Mbps and 250Kps communication datarate
Sends and receives data packets of up to 32 bytes payload
Automatically handles addresses and packet ack
Hardware SPI and UART
Combatible with Enhanced ShockBurst protocol from Nordic Semiconductor
Radio Specification
20dBm output power (100mW)
Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)
RPSMA connector
Can be powered with up to 13V via expansion header
2x5 2.54mm expansion header with following signals (not mounted):
Hardware support for PPM input
Up to 13V input power
GND
PPM
SPI/UART
Standard USBA connector
Mechanical Specification
Weight: 6g
Size (WxHxD): 58x16x6.5mm (including connectors)
Resources
Bitcraze
Wiki
Forum
Tech Support
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