Adafruit Feather 32u4 RFM69HCW Packet Radio - 868 or 915 MHz (RadioFruit)

The Adafruit Feather 32u4 Radio (RFM69HCW) 900MHz combines an ATmega32u4 microcontroller with a long-range ISM band radio, offering flexible wireless networking, built-in USB, and LiPo battery charging for portable, low-power projects.

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This is the Adafruit Feather 32u4 Radio (RFM69HCW) 900MHz. We call these RadioFruits, our take on an microcontroller packet radio transceiver with built in USB and battery charging. Its an Adafruit Feather 32u4 with a 900 MHz radio module cooked in! Great for making wireless networks that can go further than 2.4GHz 802.15.4 and similar, are more flexible than Bluetooth® LE and without the high power requirements of WiFi.

Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores.

We have other boards in the Feather family, check'em out here.

This is the 900 MHz 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. We also sell a 433MHz version of the same radio chipset and if you want much longer range, check out the LoRa 900MHz Feather.

At the Feather 32u4's heart is at ATmega32u4 clocked at 8 MHz and at 3.3V logic, a chip setup we've had tons of experience with as it's the same as the Flora. This chip has 32K of flash and 2K of RAM, with built in USB so not only does it have a USB-to-Serial program & debug capability built in with no need for an FTDI-like chip, it can also act like a mouse, keyboard, USB MIDI device, etc.

To make it easy to use for portable projects, we added a connector for any of our 3.7V Lithium polymer batteries and built in battery charging. You don't need a battery, it will run just fine straight from the micro USB 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. We also tied the battery thru a divider to an analogue pin, so you can measure and monitor the battery voltage to detect when you need a recharge.

Here's some handy specs! Like all Feather 32u4's you get:

• Measures 2.0" x 0.9" x 0.28" (51mm x 23mm x 8mm) without headers soldered in
• Light as a (large?) feather - 5.5 grams
• ATmega32u4 @ 8MHz with 3.3V logic/power
• 3.3V regulator with 500mA peak current output
• USB native support, comes with USB bootloader and serial port debugging
• You also get tons of pins - 20 GPIO pins
• Hardware Serial, hardware I2C, hardware SPI support
• 7 x PWM pins
• 10 x analogue inputs
• Built in 100mA lipoly charger with charging status indicator LED
• Pin #13 red LED for general purpose blinking
• Power/enable pin
• 4 mounting holes
• Reset button

The Feather 32u4 Radio uses the extra space left over to add an RFM69HCW 433 or 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 ned more range than 2.4 GHz (BT, BLE, WiFi, ZigBee)

• SX1231 based module with SPI interface
• Packet radio with ready-to-go Arduino libraries
• Uses the license-free ISM band ("European ISM" @ 868MHz or "American ISM" @ 915MHz)
• +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
• Range of approx. 350 meters, depending on obstructions, frequency, antenna and power output
• Create multipoint networks with individual node addresses
• Encrypted packet engine with AES-128
• Simple wire antenna or spot for uFL connector

Comes fully assembled and tested, with a USB bootloader that lets you quickly use it with the Arduino IDE. We 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.

Lipoly battery, breadboard and USB cable not included. 

Features

• ATmega32u4 microcontroller @ 8MHz with 3.3V logic
• RFM69HCW 900MHz radio module (868MHz or 915MHz)
• 20 GPIO pins with hardware Serial, I2C, and SPI support
• 7 PWM pins and 10 analogue inputs
• Native USB support with bootloader and serial debugging
• Built-in 100mA LiPo battery charger with status indicator
• 3.3V regulator with 500mA peak output
• Compact size: 2.0" x 0.9" x 0.28" (51mm x 23mm x 8mm)
• Approximately 350 meter range (depending on conditions)
• +13 to +20 dBm power output (100mW maximum)
• AES-128 encrypted packet engine
• Supports multipoint networking with individual node addresses
• Compatible with Arduino IDE
• Includes headers and pre-soldered antenna connector

Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 51mm x 23mm x 8mm
• Weight: 5.5g

Revision History

• As of June 24, 2024 - We updated this PCB with Adafruit Pinguin to make a lovely and legible silkscreen.

Resources

• Datasheets
• Tutorials

Package Contents

• 1x Adafruit Feather 32u4 RFM69HCW Packet Radio - 868 or 915 MHz (RadioFruit)
• 2x Header Strips

Lipoly battery, breadboard and USB cable not included.