Does the Tracker One have an internal battery? It appears to work without being plugged into USB-C so it must have some but I am guessing this is not enough for normal operation even when using deep sleep for extended periods of time. I’m guessing this is designed for an external LiPo via the M8 port. Is this correct? If it can also operate without an external battery is the internal battery capacity documented anywhere. I didn’t see a reference to a battery capacity in the tracker one datasheet.
The Tracker One has an 1800 mAh 3.7V LiPo battery inside the sealed case.
It’s designed to powered externally by the M8 (or USB-C), however it’s not intended to be powered by a single external LiPo. The minimum voltage on the M8 connector is 6.0 VDC. The onboard charger and battery fuel gauge only work with the internal battery.
Thanks Rick. So the battery is merely to avoid power shut down when changing VIN on the M8 input for example?
It all depends on how you are using it. If you’re grabbing one sample per day, you can go for a quite a while on just the 1800 mAh battery.
If you are using intermittent power, such as a vehicle ignition, the on-board battery can allow the device to gracefully power down and go into sleep mode when external power is removed.
You can also use the on-board battery with external power sources like solar.
Awesome, thanks Rick
Kevin McQuown
Principal Engineer
Windy City Lab