

Coyote Board - A 2G GSM Shield for Arduino - franklovecchio
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1131889606/coyote-board-a-gsm-shield-for-aduino

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beardicus
This looks fairly neat. The "don't pay for a plan" part is a bit odd though...
as far as I can tell you're only getting a year of free low-bandwidth data,
and after that it'll cost you.

I queried the creator on kickstarter... he said $3 a month would be a worst
case cost for said connectivity after your initial year is up.

Perhaps more importantly, he indicated that it would be possible to not use
their server as a middleman, but that they need to get their analytics right
before allowing that. Currently going through their server allows them to
maintain sane data rates, apparently.

Personally, I couldn't find a one-off GSM data only SIM for less than $8 a
month in my searches... even at multiple year prepay... so this sounds like a
pretty good deal. I'm maybe more interested in just the cheap dumb pipe
option, but really their "middleware" server does sound handy.

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discardorama
Since it's not clear from the description: do you pay for sending the data or
not? If not, whose network does it use, and why are they allowing use of their
network for free?

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codezero
From the award levels, it looks like you don't pay for data per se, but you
may be capped on the number of requests you can do per month, and maybe they
offer increasing that cap for money. See this comment for some info about the
protocol:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6644515](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6644515)

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snom380
I wish they would explain what this GSM shield does apart from the one year
subscription and connection to their own platform?

There are several unlocked GSM shields and modules available with working
libraries and tutorials for under $50, using the exact same GSM module
(SIM900):
[http://dx.com/s/Sim900?category=499](http://dx.com/s/Sim900?category=499)

~~~
franklovecchio
None of those appear to be Arduino "shields", unless I'm not looking at them
correctly? An Arduino shield is plug/play, whereas I would define a generic
"module" as not.

~~~
snom380
This one is a shield: [http://dx.com/p/manolins-sim-900-gsm-gprs-shield-
expansion-b...](http://dx.com/p/manolins-sim-900-gsm-gprs-shield-expansion-
board-wireless-module-w-antenna-for-arduino-black-215144)

And so is this: [http://dx.com/p/arduino-compatible-gsm-gprs-shield-
wireless-...](http://dx.com/p/arduino-compatible-gsm-gprs-shield-wireless-
extension-board-module-w-antenna-adapter-144865)

And this (includes an Arduino Uno compatible board for
$80):[http://dx.com/p/elecfreaks-diy-gprs-gsm-learning-
development...](http://dx.com/p/elecfreaks-diy-gprs-gsm-learning-development-
set-works-with-arduino-products-222149)

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codezero
It's not entirely clear in the description, but it sounds like data is sent to
2lemetry and then from 2lemetry it's sent to your server via POST.

It's too bad that you can't just send data directly, but I guess this probably
means that 2lemetry will require specific structured data and will limit
requests. They say the limit is TBD which is pretty vague and not very
inspiring.

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tkellogg
2lemetry is running an MQTT broker - MQTT is a standard protocol designed by
OASIS for these sorts of low-power, low-bandwidth scenarios. It's a pub/sub
system and you'll probably get away with a few messages per minute. I think
the 2G hardware might be the limiting factor here.

~~~
codezero
Thanks, very informative.

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petersand
Here's an Arduino (clone) board with a GPRS option, flash memory for logging
data between transmissions, and some other features for remote data
acquisition: [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/386717175/sodaq-a-
lego-l...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/386717175/sodaq-a-lego-like-
plug-in-rapid-prototyping-board)

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oceanplexian
Embedded development is not like web development. Sometimes these things might
stay in a remote location sending telemetry data for a few years. I'm
surprised, this being GSM, that they don't put a slot on the board as an
optional add-on.

Are there technical reasons for this, or is it just designed to shut out
competition?

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gluxon
I always miss my bus in the morning. I've had the idea to stuff a remote
tracker in one of the bus seats for a while... this makes it possible.

~~~
asteli
APRS has been used for vehicle tracking for a while (it was first devised in
the 80s).

It is dependent on independently operated base stations to relay data to the
internet, and since all transmitters contend for the same frequency it may not
be feasible in high-use areas. You also need a Ham technician license
(35-question written exam).

On the plus side, it's totally free to use.

Wiki on APRS:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_Syst...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_System)

Live feed of beacons in the SF Bay Area:
[http://aprs.fi/#!lat=37.87810&lng=-122.27100](http://aprs.fi/#!lat=37.87810&lng=-122.27100)

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jimmcslim
So you can't put your own SIM in this and ping your own server?

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nileshtrivedi
Looks like it. The video says "No SIM cards".

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franklovecchio
No sim cards, correct.

