Contents

Sensor

Q: Can soil probe work in liquid?

Yes, the probe can be put on liquid like nutrient solution.

 

Q: Is EM500-SMT/SMTC measuring VWC or GWC?

EM500-SMT/SMTC measures VWC (Volumetric Water Content).

 

Q: Can soil probe work with cement or concrete?

No, EM500-SMT/SMTC soil probe can not work with cement or concrete.

 

Q: Is EM500-SMT/SMTC UV-proof?

The material of EM500 is ABS + PC which is UV-proof but the soil probe does not support UV-proof, please do not expose the probe to the sun directly.

 

Q: Why need to measure the soil conductivity?

Soil electrical conductivity (EC) refers to the conductivity of a solution within a unit distance, it represents the content of soluble salts in the matrix, also known as salinity or ion concentration. Soil conductivity is an index to measure soil water-soluble salt, and soil water-soluble salt is an important indicator of mineral nutrients in the topsoil that can be quickly utilized by plants, and is a factor to determine whether salt ions in soil limit crop growth.

Soil EC that is too high or too low hinders the growth of crops. If EC is too high, reverse osmosis pressure may be formed, which will replace the water in the root system and make the root tip brown or dry. Excessive EC value also increases the probability of root rot caused by cotton rot fungus. If the EC value is too low, it indicates that the effective nutrients are insufficient.

 

Q: What is the measuring range of soil probe?

The soil probe can only measure 1 liter soil around. So it is suggested to select a representative area with the major soil type, typical terrain and average yield to get accurate results.

 

Q: When wiring a SMTC probe to EM500 transceiver, how to wire the green cable which not mention on the device label?

There is not need to connect the green cable to the EM500 transceiver, please cut off it or insulated wrap it.

 

Q: Why I can not get 100% moisture value when putting the probe into water?

Please ensure the whole probe is inside the water and the container should be large enough to keep away from side-wall (>70 mm), or the probe will be affected by air and side-walls.


Q: Can EM500 series support external power supply?

Yes, it can be powered by type-C port inside the device, but this should release the IP67 case of EM500 transceiver. If you need to place outdoors, please customize the waterproof case or contact Milesight for customization services.

 

Q: What is the sampling/collecting interval of every sensor?

The sampling/collecting interval is the same as reporting interval, you can change it by changing reporting interval.

 

Communication

Q: Why can not receive EM500 device battery level data on regular uplinks?

The reporting interval of EM500 battery level is 24 hours and this is non-editable.

 

Q: Will EM500 send threshold alarm packets? How often the device send the alarm?

Yes, EM500 device supports threshold alarm feature. When the value reaches the threshold, it will send the alarm once immediately. After that, it will not send instant again until the value is below the threshold.

 

Q: Does this device support low battery alarm?

Yes, the device will send a low battery alarm packet to network server when battery level is lower to 10%.

 

Q: Can the device work with other brand gateways?

Yes, the device can work with other brand gateways which supports standard LoRaWAN protocol.

 

Q: How the device achieve secure communication with gateway?

The device communicate with gateway via LoRaWAN protocol which support AES128 encryption and a series of communication mechanism, for details please refer to article: https://lora-alliance.org/resource_hub/lorawan-is-secure-but-implementation-matters/

 

Q: What is the default App EUI and AppKey? Can the device support random AppKeys?

The default App EUI is 24E124C0002A0001 and Appkey is 5572404C696E6B4C6F52613230313823.

Yes, the device support random Appkey pre-configuration and you can ask Milesight for it before purchase.

 

Q: Are device EUI, App EUI and Appkey editable on your device?

The device EUI is unique and non-editable, App EUI and Appkey can be edited via ToolBox.

 

Q: How to connect device to network servers like TTN, Chirpstack, Actility, Senet, etc?

Yes, please refer to Milesight IoT knowledge base: https://support.milesight-iot.com/support/solutions/folders/73000325953

 

Q: How to decode the data? Where can I find the decoder?

For the definition of data please refer to corresponding device user guides: https://www.milesight-iot.com/documents-download/

Milesight also provides decoder examples here: https://github.com/Milesight-IoT/SensorDecoders. You can modify these decoders according to your platform requirements.

 

Q: What is the LoRaWAN version of EM500 series device?

The LoRaWAN version is 1.0.3.

 

Q: What reporting interval can the device be configured?

1 to 1080 minutes is configurable. It's not suggested to shorten the interval to second which will reduce the battery life quickly.

 

Q: What is the working mechanism of rejoin mode feature?

The device will send a specific number of LinkCheckReq MAC packets to the network server every 30 mins or longer to validate connectivity; If there is no response after the specific number of packets , the device will re-join the network.

 

Q: Can the device get confirmation to know if the data is sent to server?

Yes, please enable Confirmed Mode on ToolBox. If the device does not receive the confirmation, it will send the data once again.

 

Partial support, please refer to corresponding user guide for downlink commands: https://www.milesight-iot.com/documents-download/

 

Q: Is it possible setting the spreading factor of 915 frequency device to SF11 or SF12?

Not support now since SF11 and SF12 will over the dtwell time limitation restricted by LoRa Alliance and parts of countries. If you have any requirement for it please contact Milesight for details.

 

System & Maintenance

Q: What if I fail to read or configure the sensor via NFC?

  1. There is battery insulating sheet inside the device, please ensure the sheet is pulled out before powering on device.
  2. Connect type-C port to PC and check if ToolBox PC software can read this device. If ToolBox PC software works fine and ToolBox App not work if type-C is disconnected, it means the battery is dead please replace a new one.
  3. Pull out the battery and short cut the capacitor on the board for a few seconds, then restore everything back to check.

 

Q: Can the device upgrade remotely via LoRaWAN?

Not support, Milesight only provides locally upgrade via Milesight ToolBox App or ToolBox PC software now.

 

Q: Where to find the latest firmware of devices?

Please find the latest firmwares here: https://www.milesight-iot.com/software-download/

 

Q: Can I backup the configurations of one device and import to another device?

Yes, both Milesight ToolBox App and software supports backup feature, this should ensure both devices have the same model and frequency.

 

Q: Can all default parameters of pre-configured before shipping?

Yes, Milesight provide OEM services to pre-configure the device settings before shipping to save your time to configure bulk of devices.

 

Q: Can Milesight provide code to modify the firmware?

No, the device does not support firmware modification by yourselves. If you have any extra feature requirements, please contact Milesight for software customization services.

 

Q: Does the device have any API to get the data?

No, the device can only send data to gateway via LoRaWAN. It's suggested to connect device to Milesight gateway which provides MQTT/HTTP API to send data to your applications.

 

Q: How to get device debug logs for troubleshooting?

Please refer to article How to Get Milesight Node Log File.