Dear all,
I am building a monitoring system in the middle of crop field and the measured datasets need to be transferred back to a server/hard drive at home.
I am looking for a very tiny GSM module that can fit inside a PCB tubbing. Are there anyone have recommendation for me? Have you seen any similar project before?
The module needs to be tiny to be connected with Spark Core and can be powered by AAA batteries.
Any comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks a lot.
Michael
@changks, can you try this, I didn’t use this one but ordered one and waiting.
Depending on how many Sparks you’ll be deploying, and what area they need to cover, you might perhaps be better of with something other than a GSM shield. I was thinking about one of those GSM hotspots (I believe they’re called MiFi). You could power it of a small solar panel connected to a battery pack. This way, not only do you not have to worry about whether or not it’s going to fit inside a casing, you won’t have to worry about getting the code working with the potential shield, and perhaps even more interesting: you’ll probably be cheaper off if you can save $45 per sensor, since you can connect multiple devices to one MiFi hotspot.
Systems like this already exist, try doing a quick Google search on “solar mifi”.
An interesting project, looking forward to seeing it coming to reality!
Good luck!
In that case I would also think about Mesh Networking.
Those MiFi things are said to have a range of around 100m, so depending on how big the range needs to be, it might not be necessary. I don’t know if you can hook up a wifi range extender on one of those things, but that could be an option as well. If the fields aren’t ridiculously far away from your own wifi, you might consider a long range wifi antenna. Some claim to reach distances of over 50km.