4-20mA & 0-10V Analog to LoRaWAN® Converter

The MacSync LX1 is a 4-20mA to LoRaWAN converter: it puts an existing analog instrument on a LoRaWAN® network. It reads the 4–20 mA or 0–10 V output of a pressure, level, flow or temperature transmitter, or the state of a digital contact, and sends the value to a gateway and on to your dashboard or SCADA. Typical jobs are tank and borewell level, pipeline pressure, flow in water and effluent lines, and HVAC sensors in buildings.

Wire the sensor’s output to a channel on the MacSync LX1, then open the Maya app over Bluetooth. Set the channel to 4–20 mA, choose the power output and warm-up time the sensor needs, and set the reporting interval. The Check option shows the live reading, so you can confirm the wiring before you leave site. From then on the value travels over LoRaWAN® to your gateway and on to your platform, with no cable back to a control room.

Yes. The MacSync LX1 feeds the transmitter from its own power output. You pick the output level in the Maya app and set a warm-up of 0 to 2,000 ms, and the converter switches the transmitter on, lets it settle, takes the reading and switches it off again. Before ordering, compare the output level with the minimum supply voltage on your transmitter’s datasheet, or send us the model and we will check it. For an instrument that has to stay powered all the time, or that needs longer than 2,000 ms to settle, use the 9–36 V DC variant with an external supply.

Two. The MacSync LX1 has two analog channels, and each is set in the Maya app to 4–20 mA, 0–10 V or digital input, so one unit reads up to two instruments in any mix. A channel that is not needed can be disabled. RS485 Modbus RTU is an alternative mode on the same terminals, so a unit runs either in analog mode or in RS485 mode. For more measuring points at one location, fit additional converters.

Any instrument with a 4–20 mA or 0–10 V output, and any volt-free contact. That covers pressure, hydrostatic and ultrasonic level, flow, temperature, humidity, gas and vibration transmitters, plus float switches, alarm relays and run or trip contacts. The make of the instrument does not matter, because the signal is a standard.

Three things: a LoRaWAN® gateway within range, a network server and somewhere to see the data. One gateway covers many converters across a site. The network server can be ChirpStack, The Things Network or a private server, and it passes the decoded readings to your dashboard, SCADA or MQTT broker. The sensor can be the level or pressure transmitter you already own.

Order the battery variant, MacSync-L-BV-X1 (SKU 83301), for sites with no supply and slow reporting intervals. Order the 9–36 V DC variant, MacSync-L-PV-X1 (SKU 83300), where a supply exists, where the transmitter must stay powered, or where readings are needed every few minutes. MacTalk versions (SKU 83303 battery, 83302 DC) link devices directly with no gateway, and a Bluetooth-only version (SKU 83304) is for local logging.

There is no single figure, because the converter also powers the sensor. On the battery variant, with its 19 Ah cell, life depends on three things: how often the device reports, how much current the transmitter draws, and how long it needs to warm up before each reading (0 to 2,000 ms, set in the Maya app). The transmitter is energised only for that warm-up and the reading, then switched off, so a slow interval and a short warm-up give the longest life. Tell us the transmitter model and the interval and we will work out a realistic figure, or choose the 9–36 V DC variant where a supply exists.

Around 2 km through a built-up site and up to 8 km with a clear line of sight, on the internal antenna. Actual range depends on the gateway antenna height, buildings and terrain, so plan gateway positions with a site survey or the gateway and coverage calculator.

A 4–20 mA loop can run for hundreds of metres, because the current is the same at every point in the loop. The limit is voltage: the loop supply has to cover the transmitter’s minimum voltage plus the drop across the cable and the receiver at 20 mA. In practice the cost of the run sets the limit first, with trenching, conduit and surge protection for every metre. With an analog to LoRaWAN converter the cable is only the few metres from the instrument to the converter, and the radio link covers around 2 km in a built-up site or up to 8 km line of sight.

IN865, the 865 to 867 MHz plan used for LoRaWAN® in India, whose three default channels are 865.0625, 865.4025 and 865.985 MHz. The radio is WPC compliant. The same hardware is available on RU864, EU868, US915 and AU915 for projects in other regions, and the plan is selected in the Maya app.

Yes. The MacSync LX1 is designed and manufactured by Macnman Technologies in Pune, India. It is WPC compliant for use on the IN865 band and RoHS conformant. It is not certified for hazardous areas. Support comes from the engineers who designed it, in Indian Standard Time.

Macnman hardware carries a two-year limited warranty against manufacturing defects, counted from the invoice date. The non-rechargeable battery is a consumable and is not covered. The full terms are on the warranty page of the Macnman documentation.

Yes, as the telemetry link. A submersible 4–20 mA level transmitter in the borewell or piezometer connects to the battery variant, which powers the transmitter for each reading and sends the water level on the schedule you set, with no mains supply and no SIM card at the well. One gateway collects the readings from many wells. If the installation has to meet a groundwater authority’s conditions, check the logging interval it requires and where the data must be delivered, and send us those details so that we can confirm what the system provides.

A GSM or 4G logger needs a SIM card, a data plan and mobile coverage at every measuring point, and its modem draws more power. LoRaWAN® needs one gateway for all the points within a few kilometres and no SIM card in each device, and it suits battery-powered nodes. For one isolated point with good mobile coverage, a 4G logger is the simpler choice. For several points across a plant, a campus or a group of wells, LoRaWAN costs less to run.

Yes. It is a standard LoRaWAN® v1.0.4 Class A device using OTAA activation, so it joins any compliant network server — The Things Network, ChirpStack, MQTT-based platforms, Orbiwise, Netmore or a private on-premise server. Class C is configurable from the Maya app.

Usually the decoder is missing rather than wrong. The uplink is an encoded payload, so the network server shows raw values until a payload decoder is added. Add the MacSync LX1 decoder from the Macnman decoder repository on GitHub as the payload formatter in The Things Stack or as the codec in the ChirpStack device profile, then apply the scaling formula to turn milliamps into bar, metres or litres.

Yes. Settings such as the reporting interval can be changed from the network server by LoRaWAN® downlink. On site, the Maya app configures the device over Bluetooth and updates its firmware over the air, with no cable.

The difference is where the transmitter takes its power. A 2-wire transmitter is loop powered: two conductors carry both its supply and the 4 to 20 mA signal. A 3-wire transmitter adds a separate supply conductor and shares the return. A 4-wire transmitter has its own supply, often mains, and a separate signal pair. The MacSync LX1 reads all three. With a 2-wire transmitter it also provides the loop power, which is why the battery variant can run a pressure or level transmitter at a site with no supply.

Use the 4–20 mA output when the instrument offers both. Loop current does not drop along the cable, so the converter sees the same value the transmitter sends, and noise from drives and contactors affects it far less. A 0–10 V output is fine for short cables inside a plant room or a panel, which is where most HVAC and building sensors sit. The MacSync LX1 accepts either on any channel, so it works as a 0-10V to LoRaWAN converter with the same hardware.

The loop current falls to zero, and because a working 4–20 mA loop never goes below 4 mA, that reading can only mean a fault. Under the NAMUR NE 43 recommendation, 3.6 mA or less and 21 mA or more are fault signals. Put a trigger on the channel with its minimum just below 4 mA and the MacSync LX1 reports the break straight away instead of waiting for the next interval. With a 0–10 V signal a broken wire reads 0 V, which could equally be a real measurement, so the two cannot be told apart.

The converter divides each input range into 4,096 steps. On a 0–10 V input one step is about 2.4 mV; on the current input it is about 0.005 mA, close to 0.03% of the 16 mA span. For a transmitter ranged 0 to 10 bar, that is a step of roughly 0.003 bar. Resolution is the smallest change the converter can see. The accuracy of the whole measurement also depends on the accuracy class and calibration of the transmitter.

Take 4 mA off the reading, divide by 16 and multiply by the transmitter’s span, then add the bottom of its range. A 0 to 10 bar transmitter reading 12 mA gives (12 − 4) ÷ 16 × 10 = 5 bar; a 0 to 5 m level transmitter reading 8 mA gives 1.25 m. Put the formula in the payload decoder on your network server and the dashboard shows bar, metres or litres instead of milliamps. The scaling table on this page lists the common points.

Yes. A digital input detects a change between high and low states, and a state change can trigger an immediate uplink rather than waiting for the next scheduled report. That suits float switches, door and tamper contacts, alarm relays and pump or generator run status, where what matters is knowing the moment something changes.

No. The MacSync LX1 is an end device: it reads your sensor and transmits to a LoRaWAN gateway, which forwards the data to a network server. You need a gateway within range — your own or a public network — and one gateway typically serves many converters across a site. In MacTalk mode two MacSync LX1 devices can also communicate directly, with no gateway and no internet.

Yes. The same MacSync LX1 hardware includes an RS485 port that acts as a Modbus RTU master, for energy meters, flow meters, PLCs and any instrument with a serial output. If your equipment speaks Modbus rather than 4–20 mA, see the MacSync LX1 RS485 Modbus to LoRaWAN converter page, which covers function codes, baud rates and register limits.

No. A wireless 4–20 mA transmitter and receiver pair copies the current loop from one place to another, so a PLC analog input at the far end sees 4 to 20 mA again. The MacSync LX1 does a different job: it turns the reading into data and sends it through a LoRaWAN® gateway to a network server, a dashboard or SCADA. Choose a pair when a controller needs a physical analog input. Choose LoRaWAN when you want readings from many scattered instruments in one platform.

In most cases yes, with one planned interruption. A current input goes in series with the loop, so the loop is opened once to insert the converter, ideally during a shutdown. Each receiver adds burden: check that the loop supply still covers the transmitter’s minimum voltage, the PLC or display input, the converter and the cable. If the loop must not be opened, or the receivers have to stay electrically isolated from each other, fit a signal splitter or isolator and connect the converter to its second output. Send us the loop details and we will check them before you order.

No. The MacSync LX1 carries no hazardous-area certification, so it must not be installed inside a classified zone. Where the transmitter sits in one, keep the converter in the safe area and bring the loop out through a barrier or isolator suited to that transmitter, as for any safe-area instrument. Allow for the voltage the barrier drops when you check the loop supply.

The digital inputs are specified for high or low state and for state-change detection, not as pulse counters. For flow, read the meter’s 4–20 mA rate output on an analog channel, or read its totaliser registers over RS485 Modbus with the same MacSync LX1 hardware.

No. The MacSync LX1 reads the 4–20 mA analog current, which carries the transmitter’s primary variable. It is not a HART modem, so the digital HART variables and device configuration are not read.

The box contains the MacSync LX1, a mounting clip, mounting screws, a user manual and a warranty card. An IP68 cable extender and a power adapter are optional accessories. The converter mounts on a wall with the bracket or on a pole with zip ties through the mounting clip, and measures 142 × 80 × 32 mm.

No. A 4–20 mA loop carries one measurement, so each transmitter needs its own loop and its own input channel. One MacSync LX1 reads up to two transmitters. For more points at one location, fit more converters, or read a multi-channel instrument over RS485 Modbus with the same hardware.

No. The MacSync LX1 is an input device: it measures a 4–20 mA or 0–10 V signal and reports it as data. It does not regenerate an analog output at the far end. To act on a reading, pair it with the MacSet LX1 controller, which switches pumps, valves and motors with its relays.

Yes, in the Maya app. You select the regional frequency plan, switch adaptive data rate on or fix the spreading factor, and choose Class A or Class C. The app also shows the DevEUI, AppEUI and AppKey, with a QR code for registering the device on network servers that support it, and it can regenerate the keys.