When we launched the Notecard late last year, we hoped that developers would find opportunities to use the product in their own designs, spin their own boards, and be able to select from a growing ecosystem of Notecarriers. And while we’ve seen a number of community-created boards show up in Hackster and our Forum, today I am happy to share the first partner-created Notecarrier: the SparkX Qwiic Cellular from our friends at SparkFun!
Deploy with the Notecard, Qwiickly
Designed by SparkFun founder and super-engineer Nathan Seidle, the SparkX Qwiic Cellular board is a slick, small-footprint Notecarrier that’s ready for your next cellular IoT project. We’re long-time fans of SparkFun here at Blues Wireless, and had the pleasure of sharing the Notecard and our vision for wireless IoT connectivity with Nathan and the team last year. We’ve been exploring ways to work together ever since, and I’m delighted that Nathan and the team decided to build their own Notecarrier. This matte-black PCB includes:
- A Qwiic connector for I2C communication between the Notecard and a host MCU.
- A spare Qwiic connector for daisy-chaining other I2C devices.
- SMA connectors for cellular and GPS antennas.
- A rear-side footprint ready for a removable external SIM holder.
- Headers for accessing Notecard pins.
- JST connector for a LiPo battery.
- A reset button.
- VIN and charge indicator LEDs.
Get Started with Qwiic Cellular
To help you get started faster with the Notecard and SparkX Qwiic Cellular, we’ve added hookup instructions to the Notecard Quickstart and a new sensor tutorial that uses the SparkFun Artemis Thing Plus and an Environmental Combo Breakout board. It’s a complete SparkFun sensor tutorial!
In fact, when you head over to SparkFun to grab your SparkX Qwiic Cellular board, why not grab a ThingPlus and Environmental Combo while you’re at it? And if you grab a SparkX Qwiic Cellular, be sure to let us know on Twitter or over on the Forums, and we can’t wait to see what you build (and deploy) with it!
