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User avatar
By Costas
#236106
I am looking to add an on/off switch to the asset tracker board. Is this possible? I do not see a V-EN or other type of pin to turn the MicroMod circuit on/off.

I have to use an Adafruit PowerBoost 1000 to get a switch at the moment.
User avatar
By Costas
#236146
But then it will not charge the battery when plugged in. I am finding a lot of major shortcomings with this board.
  • No power button capability.
  • No exposed serial interface.
  • No GPS... WTF, this is an "asset tracker". How are you going to track anything without GPS???
User avatar
By Costas
#236147
The SARA-R510S on the ExpressLink board has GPS disabled. There is another R5 chip that has the GPS enabled. Why would you not use that for an asset tracker? In order to attach an external GPS (i.e. Adafruit Ultimate GPS v3), you need serial comms. But no exposed serial, even though the MicroMod format has it.
User avatar
By YellowDog
#236150
Description says this:
Built around the u-blox SARA-R510M8S module, the asset tracker offers Secure Cloud LTE-M and NB-IoT data communication for multi-regional use and ***has an integrated u-blox M8 GNSS receiver for accurate positioning information.***
GPS should be enabled and is handled by the cellular module. Why do you want to shut the unit off? If it's off it's not tracking anything.
User avatar
By Costas
#236158
The AWS ExpressLink version uses the R510S (link), not the R510M8S with GPS, as with the normal carrier board. It should really be noted in the product description that this asset tracker does not actually track, especially for $185, given that is has populated GPSS antenna port and GPS-related LEDs and such. Very misleading. At least there is a Sparkfun Qwiic GPS module, so I can already continue my project.

The on/off is useful for when I am NOT using the device. If the device is in an enclosure, there is absolutely no way to turn it off when not in use, like when it is sitting at my desk. By cutting the off the battery with a switch, the USB port can no longer charge the battery unless the device is on.
User avatar
By YellowDog
#236159
The AWS ExpressLink version uses the R510S (link), not the R510M8S with GPS,
Where are you seeing this? I'm seeing that KIT-18450 contains a DEV-17272, which is the exact same product as the stand alone board. It seems really odd they'd make two different versions of the same board let alone using a module that doesn't have GPS capability on a board that needs it. I suppose you could connect a qwiic GPS if you absolutely had too but it doesn't make sense that you'd need that. Maybe sparkfun can clarify here?


The on/off is useful for when I am NOT using the device. If the device is in an enclosure, there is absolutely no way to turn it off when not in use, like when it is sitting at my desk. By cutting the off the battery with a switch, the USB port can no longer charge the battery unless the device is on.
Well, you can't have everything I guess. You could either modify sparkfuns design and roll your own board or you could add an external battery charger like PRT-10401 and have the on/off switch down stream of that.
User avatar
By TS-John
#236226
A power switch should not be too terribly difficult to add, however, revising a product is a process.

Thank you for your feedback. I will see what I can do to make the board more usable.
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