Kits

Kit Options

• Notecard Cell+WiFi LTE Cat-1 bis Global

• Notecarrier CX with onboard STM32 MCU

• Flexible dual Cellular and GPS antenna

• Notecard Cell+WiFi LTE Cat-1 bis Global

• Notecarrier X

• Flexible dual Cellular and GPS antenna

• Notecard Cell+WiFi LTE Cat-1 bis Global

• Notecarrier F

• Cygnet

• Flexible dual Cellular and GPS antenna

Which Kit Is Right for Me?

The Starnote for Skylo Starter Kit contains everything you need to add satellite failover to any cellular or WiFi Notecard-based solution. Starnote includes satellite uplink and downlink data with the cost of the device in partnership with Skylo. Starnote for Skylo also provides a JSON-based programing interface consistent with Notecard, providing developers with access to yet another major Radio Access Technology (RAT) using straightforward, accessible semantics. And with 10KB of data included and no monthly fees, it's an affordable satellite IoT backup device!

Starnote for Skylo is a Notecard accessory that is intended to disrupt the conventional wisdom that using satellite requires a high hardware investment (in the hundreds of dollars) of monthly device fees even when devices aren’t communicating with satellites.

As an accessory, Starnote for Skylo is not a Notecard; it is meant to be used with Notecard, and works with Cellular, Cell+WiFi, and WiFi. From a developer’s point of view, Starnote for Skylo operates as an additional available RAT for Notecard. A developer uses the Notecard API to specify in Notecard’s mode of operations when to fallback to Satellite, and Notecard handles communications between itself and Starnote for Skylo.

Kit Contents

• 1x Starnote for Sklyo u.FL

• 1x Notecard WiFi

• 1x Notecarrier XS

• 1x Satellite Antenna

• 1x GPS Antenna

• 1x 500 mAH LiPo battery

The Starnote for Skylo (Antenna) accessory is an optional add on available for purchase with the Starter Kit.

Key Starnote for Skylo Kit Specs

• JSON-based API for configuration and communication with Notecard

• M.2 Key E connector for board-to-board usage and a six-pin JST for wire-to-board applications

• External via u.FL connectors

• NTN-capable satellite modem with zero-touch configuration

• Bundled with 10KB of satellite data from Skylo, enough to send 1 message per day for 6 months. Additional data is priced $0.00075 byte, with a minimum of 50 bytes per transmitted or received satellite data packet, billed monthly in arrears.

Additional Resources

• Satellite Quickstart

• Starnote Datasheet

The Blues Starter Kit for LoRaWAN contains everything you need to start building LoRa and LoRaWAN solutions with Notecard and Notehub. Start with a WisGate Edge Lite 2 LoRaWAN Gateway (pre-configured on the Blues Things Stack tenant for out-of-the-box connectivity) and connect it to local WiFi or Ethernet. Then, connect the three included Notecard LoRa devices to the included Notecarriers, place a LoRa antenna on each, and power them up with a LiPo battery. Use the Notecard API to configure the devices, and within minutes, you’ll have LoRa devices talking to Notehub!

Kit Contents

• WisGate Edge Lite 2 LoRaWAN Gateway
• 3x Notecard LoRa
• 3x Notecarrier B
• 3x LiPo Battery
• 3x LoRa Antenna

Key Notecard LoRa Specs

• Onboard ultra-low-power STM32WL LoRa MCU.

• Compatible with LoRaWAN and The Things Network.

Notecard for LoRa is a lower-cost version of cellular-based Notecards for LoRa only, and is API-compatible with cellular- and WiFi-based Notecards (with some exceptions). Notecard LoRa works with gateways provisioned on The Things Stack. Included is a flexible Molex 211140 antenna that supports both 868 MHz (Europe) and 915 MHz (United States) frequencies.

With just two lines of code, you can send data to the cloud in minutes, no complex device registration or provisioning required. With a powerful JSON-based API, you can program Notecard over USB, or control it from your preferred microcontroller or single-board computer using one of our open-source firmware libraries. Connect from your preferred host to Notecard using Serial or I2C.

Notecard is designed to work with a cloud service for ingesting and processing device data. Notehub provides secure device connectivity, project and fleet management, and simple routing to third-party cloud services.

Available Variants

• United States - 915 MHz (Datasheet)

• Europe - 868 MHz (Datasheet)

The Blues WisGate Edge Lite 2 is a full 8-channel indoor gateway with full LoRaWAN Stack Support (v1.0.3), Built-in Ethernet and WiFi connectivity. The gateways are pre-provisioned on the Blues Things Stack Tenant to enable out-of-the-box connectivity for Notecard LoRa. See the Blues WisGate Edge Lite 2 product page or RAKWireless documentation for additional details.

Notecarrier B is a small form-factor Notecarrier, only slightly larger than Notecard itself. Unlike other Notecarriers, Notecarrier B does not include an external SIM slot. It includes a Qwiic port for connecting I2C peripherals.

The flexible LoRa antenna has a supported frequency range of 868-870 MHz and 902-928 MHz with a u.FL terminator.

Additional Resources

• Blues LoRaWAN Quickstart
• Notecard for LoRa Datasheet

Add wireless connectivity to your micro PLC projects with Blues Notecard! This bundle includes an Arduino® Opta® Lite and a Wireless for OPTA, a plug-and-play expansion to the Opta that adds Cellular connectivity, powered by Notecard and Notehub.

Kit Contents

• Arduino® Opta® Lite

• Wireless for OPTA Expansion Unit

• 2 LTE SMA Antennas

• Solderless AUX Connector

The Arduino® Opta® Lite is a secure, easy-to-use micro PLC with Industrial IoT capabilities. Designed in partnership with Finder® – a leading industrial and building automation device manufacturer – it allows professionals to scale up automation projects. Supporting both Arduino sketch and standard PLC languages, including LD (Ladder Logic Diagram) and FBD (Function Block Diagram), it was designed with PLC engineers in mind.

Arduino® Opta® Lite Key Specs

• 8x configurable digital / analog (0-10V) input
• STM32H747XI Dual ARM® Cortex®:
  • Cortex -M7 core up to 480 MHz
  • Cortex -M4 core up to 240 MHz
• 1MB RAM (programming) & 2MB internal + 16MB Flash QSPI
• 4 Output Relays (250V AC - 10 A)
• 12..24 V DC Supply Voltage
• Support for Arduino programming language via Arduino IDE
• Support for IEC-61131-3 languages via the Arduino PLC IDE:
  • Ladder Diagram (LD)
  • Function Block Diagram (FBD)
  • Sequential Function Chart (SFC)
  • Structured Text (ST)
  • Instruction List (IL)
    

The Wireless for OPTA Expansion Module can quickly add Cellular capability to any Opta PLC. The Opta comes in three flavors, providing either Ethernet, Bluetooth, or WiFi capabilities, and the Blues Expansion Module allows customers to add Cellular inexpensively with a pluggable module that uses the standard AUX expansion port on the Opta, and can be daisy-chained with other Expansion modules. The Opta communicates with the Expansion and its Notecard via I2C and can leverage the Blues' note-arduino library for configuring Notecard and its backhaul.

Wireless for OPTA Key Specs

• 12..24 V Supply Voltage
• Cellular communication powered by Notecard (LTE Cat 1 North America or LTE Cat 1 EMEA) including 500 MB of data and 10-years of service with no activation fees or monthly commitments. 
  
• Network backhaul via Blues Notehub cloud service, with support for AWS, Azure, GCP and dozens of other cloud services.
• Communication test button and Neopixel for connectivity status.
• USB C port for direct Notecard programming and debugging.
• External SIM slot for bringing your own Cellular connectivity.
• Power outage detection and notification via an integrated Lithium-Ion Capacitor.

Available Variants

• LTE Cat 1 North America (Datasheet)
• LTE Cat 1 EMEA (Datasheet)

Additional Resources

• Opta Docs
• Opta Datasheet
• Opta User Manual
• Wireless for OPTA Quickstart
• Wireless for OPTA Datasheet
  

"Arduino" and "Opta" are registered trademarks of Arduino SA.

Finder OPTA® is a registered trademark of Finder S.p.A.