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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : RFI: LoRa Radio Regulations (UK)
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Upweywarrior Newbie  Joined: 22/07/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7 |
Hello, I would like some advice and assistance. Re: Radio laws, Regulations etc. I Recently watched a video about, https://reticulum.network/ I Like the idea and would like to use the application as a framework to build up a local Chatter net of Friends and Relatives. However, i have a couple of questions that i hope you can help me with before i get started. I have communicated with Ofcom who essentialy said its Licence exempt. However, I should get legal guidance to Navigate there legislation and guidance for clarity. Not Very helpfull! I Was looking at purchasing a couple of these, LoRa Devices "Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) Dev-board with SX1262 ESP32 LORA node" I Follow a Guy on youtube called Andy Kirby, He recently did a video on this Video Link He states in his video that; He says this is narrow band and thus abides by the uk license exemptions etc. Is his assertion Correct? Is this legal in the Uk? Would i need to be the holder of an Amature Radio licence to operate? I though this forum would be the best place to ask for advice, Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any help or advice on this topic would be very much appreciated. |
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| Andy-g0poy Regular Member  Joined: 07/03/2023 Location: United KingdomPosts: 75 |
867Mhz is not part of the Amateur Radio Allocation so such a license would be of no use to you. You need to find the 867.5 band regulations and read them to see if it is OK. LoREa is essentially a data transmission so there will be a fine line between voice and data if you convert the voice tom digital data stream is it data or voice comms? Good luck with that! What sort of range do you want? 867 will not go very far wihtout a lot of effort. Andy |
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| ville56 Senior Member  Joined: 08/06/2022 Location: AustriaPosts: 220 |
I suppose the 433 MHz ISM band should also, with limitations on power, bandwith, modulation etc, be usable in the UK without a license. So check for this band also as there is also transceiver hardware available. And you may get better coverage than with the 860 MHz range. 73 de OE1HGA, Gerald |
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| Upweywarrior Newbie Joined: 22/07/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7 |
Hi Andy, Thank you for your response. Regarding the range, I’m referring to relatives who live about five doors down the road and friends who live across the street, so the distance isn’t very far. From my current understanding, base stations could be set up using various interfaces like TCP, UDP, I2P, HF links, etc. This flexibility would allow for many possible configurations, and in theory, the mesh network could expand over significant distances. (Similar to EchoLink that Ham operators use). Along the way, encrypted data would be routed via the shortest path, whether that’s through the internet, long distance HF link, or another interface, to reach its destination efficiently. I also agree with your observation about the . I know from browsing youtube videos that alot of Ham operators have started to explore this software and are starting to convert there old Meshtastic devices into Rnodes. This Video is very informative on the system itself. However, When it comes to LoRa devices There is so much ambiguity regarding there usage and the laws that govern them and Ofcom are of little help.. I Mean, I would have a very hard time finding a legal expert trained in Radio communication laws. Even if i did have the budget to seek legal clarification!! Edited 2025-01-12 05:36 by Upweywarrior |
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Mixtel90 Guru  Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7857 |
863–870/873 MHz in Europe, license free. RS sell LoRa modules for 433MHz, 868MHz, 915MHz 928MHz for the UK. This may be useful. And this. . Edited 2025-01-12 05:41 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7857 |
The ordinary LoRa data rate is very low. It's intended for short packets over long distances. Simple voice transmission isn't currently available AFAIK. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6269 |
I can't comment on the UK regs but there are factors that will be common to the AU regs. Power is measured as EIRP which means that you can't just put a high gain antenna on to get more range. Usage is limited to a small duty cycle to allow others to share the frequency. Think of garage door openers, not audio streaming. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| Upweywarrior Newbie Joined: 22/07/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7 |
Thanks for all the links and information! From what I’ve seen about Reticulum, it seems you can use it to encode low-quality voice over LoRa, as well as send image files and text. It’s a relatively new software release, and it’s quite impressive in its capabilities. However, my concern is that if/when this software gains widespread adoption, it could saturate the frequency bands due to the lengthy transmission times required for things like voice and image data. I’ve seen others disagree with me about this on other forums, so opinions seem to differ. I’d love to set it up to experiment and observe the spectrum using an SDR, but unfortunately, I wouldn’t want to risk being in breach of any laws.  I’ll probably just sit back for now and see how the project develops. Thanks for all your input  |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5056 |
Hi all, There will probably an awfull lof of second hand CB equipment for sale for near to nothing (27MHz). And for these short distances you could work with small antenna's. Disadvantage: it is half duplex. Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Upweywarrior Newbie Joined: 22/07/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7 |
Hi Volhout, Regarding regulations, do you or anyone else know if there are any specific rules for using automatic, computer-driven responses on CB radio? Let me explain my project plan to provide more context: I plan to set up a base station that listens for the call sign or phrase "AI Responder." When the system detects this from a local radio user, it will extract the question, process it using a large language model (LLM) to generate a response, convert the response into speech using a text-to-speech (TTS) generator, and then transmit the audio response over the radio. For example: User A keys up and asks, "AI Responder, what's the capital of England?" The AI-driven base station detects the call, generates an answer, and responds with something like: "AI Responder to User A: The capital of England is London." I can implement safeguards to ensure responses are short, under a specific character limit, and filtered to avoid any inappropriate or illegal content. Additionally, the system would have minimal latency since both TTS generation and LLM inference would be performed locally on my machine, ensuring quick responses. Let me know if you're aware of any regulations that might apply to such a setup. |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7857 |
AFAIK you are only able to do this as a radio amateur in the UK. CB is intended for person-person communication but I can't see anything about automatic transmissions. Radio amateurs can have special licences for unattended transmissions such as repeaters and beacons, which aren't available on CB. I think this is something that you would have to clarify with Ofcom. The UK CB band is shared with the MOD and you have to be able to handle interference from them. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| PhenixRising Guru Joined: 07/11/2023 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1360 |
ESP-NOW compared with LORA |
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