[Paul] has put together an insanely small yet powerful tracker for monitoring all the things. The USB TinyTracker is a device that packages a 48MHz processor, 2G modem, GPS receiver, 9DOF motion sensor, barometer, microphone, and micro-SD slot for data storage. He managed to get it all to fit into a USB thumb drive enclosure, meaning that you can program it however you want in the Arduino IDE, then plug it into any USB port and let it run. This enables things like remote monitoring, asset tracking, and all kinds of spy-like activity.
One of the most unusual aspects of his project, though, is this line: “Everything came together very nicely and the height of parts and PCBs is exactly as I planned.” [Paul] had picked out an enclosure that was only supposed to fit a single PCB, but with some careful calculations, and picky component selection, he managed to fit everything onto two 2-layer boards that snap together with a connector and fit inside the enclosure.
We’ve followed [Paul’s] progress on this project with an earlier iteration of his GSM GPS Tracker, which used a Teensy and fit snugly into a handlebar, but this one is much more versatile.
Isn’t 2G being shut down in the US?
2G is gone already on most of the planet. The US is about the only place it is still used. Everyone else is converting the bandwidth for LTE.
So, consequently, 2G modules are dirt cheap right now. It’s cheaper to buy a 2G module than the cost of the UFL to SMA lead and 3.3V reg that is on them. I have heaps of now-redundant SIM800 and SIM900 modules.
2G isn’t gone in Europe. At least in Finland most of the country is covered by 2G.
Its sane to keep 2g until LTE nb-iot and cat1/0 kicks in for real. But yea, 2g will be gone by 2030 ish. But in the short term its more sane to close 3G as its moot when 4G works better for the same application. 2G still have better range and lower power/data ratio for smaller ammount of data like IoT.
My country has gone straight to LTE because Narrow Band LTE is just a software upgrade from there and no one really knows when the Narrow Band LTE specification will be completed.
What is cat1/0?
2G has better range than 3G? Never heard that one before. One of the telcos in Australia went 3G 850 and had better range than 2G or the CDMA network it had which had better regional and rural coverage.
Sorry that i was cryptic, was talking about LTE CAT-M1 and LTE CAT-0
https://iot-for-all.com/cellular-iot-explained-nb-iot-vs-lte-m/
For a global list of “shutdown” (sunsets) of 2G & 3G networks see this file i uploaded (got it from our network operator):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_qB0LkRsAT6Wkxqd1h0Q1JDQmM/view?usp=sharing
I was refering to LTE-CAT0 and LTE-CATM1
see https://iot-for-all.com/cellular-iot-explained-nb-iot-vs-lte-m/
2G/3G Network shutdown by country/operator: (got this from our network operator)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_qB0LkRsAT6Wkxqd1h0Q1JDQmM/view?usp=sharing
@RÖB: You can buy NB-IOT modems now so I think the spec is pretty final. There’s 2 competing standards: NB-IOT and Cat M1). Some modems support both, like this one: https://www.seeedstudio.com/category/MicroPython-c-42.html
@jehu: GSM has better range in congested situations, because of its dedicated timeslots for each caller, so there is less interference. Though that also means the capacity is very strictly defined. CDMA cells tend to ‘breathe’ (cover a smaller footprint but with more calls) when it gets busy.
I’d say in rural Australia that advantage doesn’t really count because activity will be low.
Also, in Europe most 3G networks used 2100 Mhz, whereas GSM was mostly on 900 Mhz, the lower frequency enters buildings better. But this point has become moot with 4G now being deployed on 800 and 900 Mhz.
Could it be possible to reuse the modules by making your own “cell tower” on the ISM band?
I doubt it. The frequencies are too different.
AT&T is shutting down their 2G network, but other carriers are not.
ATT has already shut down the 2G network and TMUS is in the process of sunsetting for IoT. They’re not issuing any more 2G SIMS and haven’t been for a while now. VZW and Sprint never used 2G.
Oh man, you were sooooo close. You didn’t get the acronym ‘IoT’ in there somewhere.
Disappointed, Bob. Highly disappointed. :P
Oh, and a well done to Paul! if I put all that in one gadget it’d take up half my bench. Can’t believe you got it all in there!
For more inspiration and actual sources and schematics :) https://hackaday.io/project/7134-crunchtrack
I have half a mind to report you to the AAAAA (American Association Against Acronym Abuse) over your title for this article, as none of the example initialisms are actually acronyms.
(Yes, I know the AAAIA would be a more appropriate department for this kind of thing, but it doesn’t have anywhere near as cool a name)
Quintuple A is a battery form factor. Can only be assembled by chinese workers: Most skilled people who stuff tents into these tiny bags and you’ll never get them back in by yourself.
1+
B^)
See, this how I know you’re fibbing – when they are capable of mangling even “IIC” to “I2C” (three letters compressed to… three letters), there’s no way in hell any American would ever use something like “AAAAA” instead of immediately abbreviating it to “A5”
Very, very compact design! great work of engineering!. Yes, gsm modules are really insanely cheap, I little bit more that an US Dollar! ( http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bey3vnE ) . Some countries are switching off 2g, but in others there are a big installed based of 2g telemetry devices that couldn’t be upgraded very fast, so it wil probably stay for some years with us
Again, we don’t need your affiliate links to find cheap 2G modules.
Waa
Thank you and +1. Seems i’m not the only one pissed off by these links. Put them on a blacklist HaD!
huh?
Why are you upset?
Does your government force you to follow every link you encounter?
not yet. Seriously, i just don’t like people posting spam disguised as helpful/interesting comments.
Thanks for the link, really I did not know these GSM module. Do you know some precise GPS module that don’t work with 2G network?