Looking for a low-cost way to send and receive data messages via satellite? This is it! With a clear view of the sky, the Satellite Transceiver Breakout - Swarm M138 allows you to send and receive short messages. It works anywhere in the world, including the polar regions, far beyond the reach of WiFi and Cellular networks. It is perfect for a variety of low-bandwidth use cases: from connecting people and tracking vehicles, ships, or packages to relaying sensor data for agriculture, energy, and industrial IoT applications. The built-in GNSS receiver makes it perfect for many tracking applications.
At the heart of our product is a Swarm M138 satellite modem. This is a Mini-PCI Express Card containing both the satellite modem and a very capable u-blox GNSS receiver, all in one integrated package! It can operate from a wide range of supply voltages: 3.0V Min; 5.0V Max. Its standard 3.3V CMOS serial UART interface and NMEA-style command set makes it easy to integrate into your project. Our board includes both a USB-C interface (for power and/or serial data) and a full set of breakout pins. Want to plug it into your laptop or Raspberry Pi and use it to communicate out in the field? You can absolutely do that! We've written a Python3 PyQt5 GUI to get you started. Full details are available in the hookup guide and in the product repo. Want to connect it to your Arduino microcontroller board? You can absolutely do that too! Our Swarm Arduino Library makes that easy.
Our kit contains everything you need to get started:
- Swarm M138 Modem
- SparkFun Satellite Transceiver Breakout
- VHF Antenna and Ground Plane
- GNSS Antenna
- u.FL cables, adapter and screws
See below for our recommended extras.
Want to know more? Click the button below to open our hook-up guide:
Each Swarm modem requires a data plan to send and receive data. However, the cost of this is
much lower than other networks. A data plan is an annual contract for USD $60 per year (USD $5 per month). Each plan includes 750 data packets per month. Each packet can be up to 192 Bytes in size. You can also stack up to 4 data plans, allowing a single modem to use 3000 packets (576 kBytes) per month. Please see the
Registering Your Swarm M138 Modem for full details. Additionally, you can create or login to your Swarm account
here.
Swarm provide global coverage over all regions, but there are regulatory restrictions for specific countries.
The current list of approved countries / regions for the M138 Modem is: Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, UK, US, and International Waters (12 nautical miles offshore).
Swarm continues to grow this list of approved countries as quickly as possible. Customers will receive regular updates on approved regions through the
Swarm newsletter.
Experimental Product: SparkX products are rapidly produced to bring you the most cutting edge technology as it becomes available. These products are tested but come with no guarantees. Live technical support is not available for SparkX products. Head on over to our
forum for support or to ask a question.
Includes:
- Swarm M138 Modem
- SparkFun Satellite Transceiver Breakout
- Swarm VHF Antenna
- u.FL - SMA Adapter
- SparkFun Antenna Ground Plane (PCB, 8" x 8")
- Molex adhesive GNSS Antenna (u.FL)
- 2 x u.FL to u.FL cables
- 2 x M2.5 Screws
Features:
- PCB Dimensions (with modem attached):
- 3.5" x 1.4" x 0.37" (89 x 36 x 9.5mm)
- SMA Connections:
- Separate, robust connectors for VHF satellite communication and GPS / GNSS positioning
- Serial Interface:
- USB-C via a CH340E USB-serial converter
- 3.3V UART via 0.1" breakout pins
- Split pads allow the TX and RX breakout pins to be isolated from the CH340E
- TX and RX LEDs (configurable)
- Power Supply:
- 3.0V (Min)
- 5.0V (Max)
- Power can be provided by USB-C or via 0.1" breakout pins
- "Ideal diode" power mux circuit with ~0V voltage drop
- Current Draw @ 3.3V:
- Sleep: Modem: 80µA (Peak); Power Mux: ~70µA
- Receive: 26mA (Typ.); 40mA (Peak)
- Transmit: 850mA (Typ.); 1000mA (Peak)
- Current Draw @ 5.0V:
- Sleep: Modem: 110µA (Peak); Power Mux: ~100µA
- Receive: 25mA (Typ.); 45mA (Peak)
- Transmit: 550mA (Typ.); 600mA (Peak)
- Please note:
- When powering the board from USB, please use a USB-C or USB 3 port
- USB 2.0 is not supported
Documents: