Name: MacSync LSS X2 LoRaWAN Soil Moisture & Temperature Sensor
Brand: Macnman
SKU: 8806
Availability: InStock

Question 1

How deep should a soil moisture sensor be installed?

Accepted Answer

Place the probe in the active root zone — commonly around 15 cm deep for row crops and about 5 cm to the side of a drip emitter, deeper for tree crops. Many growers add a second sensor below the root zone to see whether water is draining past the roots. Allow 10 to 14 days after installation for the soil to re-consolidate around the probe before using the readings to schedule irrigation.

Question 2

How long is the soil moisture sensor probe and what is it made of?

Accepted Answer

The MacSync LSS X2 probe is 85 mm long and machined from stainless steel, rated IP68 for permanent burial. It connects to the sensor unit on a standard 1 metre cable, so the probe sits in the root zone while the radio and battery stay above ground; longer IP68 cable extenders are available for deeper placements. Seat the full 85 mm against undisturbed soil and backfill firmly so no air gaps remain around it.

Question 3

What is volumetric water content (VWC)?

Accepted Answer

VWC is the proportion of a soil volume that is water — 25% VWC means a quarter of that soil volume is water. It is the measurement irrigation scheduling actually uses, because it tells you how much water is available to the roots. The MacSync LSS X2 measures 0–100% VWC to ±3% accuracy between 0 and 53% VWC.

Question 4

How long does the battery last on a LoRaWAN soil sensor?

Accepted Answer

The MacSync LSS X2 runs 7+ years on its 19 Ah Li-SOCl₂ cell at hourly reporting, about 4 years at 15-minute reporting, and roughly 2 years at 5-minute reporting. For sites that need frequent readings indefinitely, the solar variant pairs a 20 W panel with an 8000 mAh rechargeable battery.

Question 5

Does it work in clay, sandy or saline soil?

Accepted Answer

Yes. It uses capacitive sensing with no exposed electrodes, so it stays stable in clay, sandy and red soils, in cocopeat and greenhouse media, and in saline ground where conductive probes tend to drift or corrode.

Question 6

Do I need a gateway for a LoRaWAN soil sensor?

Accepted Answer

Yes — LoRaWAN sensors report through a gateway, but you only need one for a very large area. A single gateway typically covers an entire farm, plantation or orchard, and Macnman supplies both indoor and outdoor LoRaWAN gateways if you do not already have coverage.

Question 7

Which network servers does it work with?

Accepted Answer

It works with The Things Network (TTN), ChirpStack, MQTT platforms, Orbiwise, Netmore and private on-premise LoRaWAN servers. It supports LoRaWAN® v1.0.4, Class A by default with Class C configurable, OTAA activation and AES-128 encryption.

Question 8

How accurate is the soil temperature measurement?

Accepted Answer

Soil temperature is measured to ±0.5 °C across a −40 °C to +80 °C range, with response in under 10 seconds — accurate enough for germination windows, frost-risk alerts and root-zone temperature studies.

Question 9

Can it trigger irrigation automatically?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Configure soil moisture and temperature thresholds in the Maya app and the sensor sends an immediate uplink when the root zone crosses one. Your platform or irrigation controller acts on that event, so valves open on soil condition rather than on a timer.

Question 10

How many soil sensors do I need per field?

Accepted Answer

It depends on how uniform the field is. A common starting point is one sensor per irrigation zone or management block, placed in a representative spot, with additional sensors where soil type, slope or crop stage differ. Because one gateway serves many sensors, adding more points costs only the sensor.

Question 11

How is the sensor configured and updated?

Accepted Answer

Pair over Bluetooth with the free Macnman Maya Android app to set uplink interval, sampling rate, reporting mode and thresholds — no laptop needed. Devices already in the field can be reconfigured over the air with downlink commands, and firmware updates are signed.

Question 12

Is it suitable for greenhouses and polyhouses?

Accepted Answer

Yes. It performs in cocopeat and other growing media as well as field soil, and the battery variant suits covered structures where a solar panel would see little light. Threshold alerts are commonly used to protect high-value crops from both dry-down and over-watering.

Question 13

What variants of the MacSync soil sensor are available?

Accepted Answer

Five: solar-powered and battery-powered versions on LoRaWAN® (SKUs 8805 and 8806), the same two on Macnman's MacTalk device-to-device protocol (8807 and 8808), and a BLE variant for local monitoring and commissioning (8809).

MacSync LSS X2 Technical Specifications

Versions

Technology

General Specifications

Interfaces

Chips

LoRaWAN Range

Cloud Platforms

MacSync LSS X2 Dimensions

What's in the Box?

Soil Moisture Measurement

Soil Temperature Measurement

Probe & Cable

Wireless Transmission

Battery & Power

Reporting Modes

Device Management

Physical Characteristics

Security & Encryption

Ordering Variants

Certifications & Compliance