Cellular Function for MicroMod
The Blues Wireless Cellular Function Board joins the MicroMod family, two new versions of the Main boards are now available, and a new Arducam 64MP Camera brings new options for imaging sensors.
Hello, friends! Welcome to 2023 and the First Friday Product post of the new year! This week, we are happy to bring up three new additions to the MicroMod ecosystem, all starting with the Blues Wireless Cellular Function Board! This board brings the NOTE-NBGL-500 Notecarrier and a 10-year subscription of data to your next MicroMod project. Following that, we have two new Main Boards for MicroMod, that you will need to start using the Function Board we just spoke of, with heavy feature changes to each of them that vastly improve on their functionality. We wrap the day with a new Arducam 64MP Camera Module that provides a new imaging sensor option for users.
Before we jump in to our new products, we wanted to remind you that it's our 20 Year Anniversary! In celebration of this event, we have put 20 of our most popular products on sale. The Top 20 for 20 Years Sale runs from Wednesday, January 4th at 12:01 a.m. MST through Wednesday, January 11th at 11:59 p.m. MST. If you're looking for a great deal on a SparkFun Original, make sure to check this sale out!
Now, on to our new products!
The first Cellular option for MicroMod!
$119.95
$64.95
The SparkFun Notecarrier Cellular Function Board adds a cellular modem to the MicroMod ecosystem using the Notecard - NOTE-NBGL-500 from Blues Wireless. The Notecard is unique among cellular modules as it has a built-in SIM card and includes a 10-year subscription and 500MB of data included in the price. This Function Board comes with nearly everything you'll need to integrate the Notecard into a MicroMod assembly. Simply connect an LTE antenna and a GNSS antenna if you wish to use location data to the U.FL connectors on the Notecard and you're ready to start pumping data to a cloud service of your choice.
The MicroMod Main Board - Single and Double is a specialized carrier board that allows you to interface a MicroMod Processor Board with one or two MicroMod Function Boards, depending on which board you choose. With the M.2 MicroMod connector, connecting your Processor and Function Boards is a breeze. Simply match up the key on your board's beveled edge connector to the key on the M.2 connector and secure the boards with screws. These boards have seen a lot of changes with this revision, so be sure to check the Features tabs on each page for a full changelog.
A first for the Raspberry Pi ecosystem: A 64MP camera module that matches the specs of smartphone cameras. The Arducam 64MP Camera Module puts a 64MP sensor with autofocus in the standard Raspberry Pi camera module form factor. Much like the other cameras we carry from Arducam, this sensor easily interfaces to the Raspberry Pi line via the MIPI CSI-2 Ribbon Cable and connectors found on most of the Pi boards.
That's it for this week. As always, we can't wait to see what you make. Shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. Please be safe out there, be kind to one another! We'll be back with more new products next week so make sure to check back then. Happy hacking!
Regarding SparkFun MicroMod Cellular Function Board - Blues Wireless Notecarrier, the description says "a 10-year subscription and 500MB of data included". If you do the math, that averages a bit under 100 bytes/minute. Although I can think of "use cases" where that would be plenty, I can also think of "use cases" where this wouldn't be anywhere near enough. Without digging through the Blues website (there's a pun lurking there, which I'll forego saying), I'm wondering if one can buy additional data? (And at a reasonable price?)