Mictrack MT600 4G GPS Tracker Supports Traccar, OpenGTS, and Other GPS Tracking Platforms

Cellular GPS trackers have been around for a few years, but so far mostly 2G or 3G GPS trackers with products like Ping, Particle Asset tracker, and many other models selling on Aliexpress. 4G GPS tracker have been less common. However, recently we’ve seen platforms like Wio LTE and AutoPi that could handle GPS tracking over LTE connectivity, and another alternative would be Mictrack MT600 that ready-to-use solution to track your car or other vehicle with GPS and 4G. Mictrack MT600 hardware specifications: GNSS U-BLOX7 GPS Chip GPS sensitivity -162dBm Channel – 56 Positioning Accuracy – 10m Cold start: 30s; warm start: 15s; hot start: 1s SMA antenna connector Cellular Connectivity Qualcomm 4G LTE chip MT600-A model (North America): 4G FDD LTE: 700/850/1700/1900MHz 3G UMTS: 850/1700/1900MHz GSM: 850/1900MHz MT600-C model (Asia): 4G FDD LTE: 900/1800/2100MHz 4G TDD LTE: 1900/2300/2500/2600MHz 3G UMTS: 900/2100MHz GSM: 900/1800MHz MT600-E (Australia/Asia/Europe) 4G FDD LTE: 800/850/900/1800/2100/2600MHz 3G […]

LimeSDR Mini is a $135 Open Source Hardware, Full Duplex USB SDR Board (Crowdfunding)

LimeSDR open source hardware software defined radio was launched last year with the promise of integration with Ubuntu Snap Store allowing to easily download and install various radio implementations such as LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRa, etc… It was offered for $200 and up as part of a crowdfunding campaign, but Lime Microsystems is back on CrowdSupply with a cheaper and low end version aptly called LimeSDR Mini.LimeSDR mini specifications: FPGA – Intel Altera Max 10 (10M16SAU169C8G) with 16K Logic gates, 549 KB M9K memory, 2,368 KB user flash memory Storage –  4 MB flash memory for data; 2x128KB EEPROM for RF transceiver MCU firmware and data RF Lime Microsystems LMS7002M RF transceiver Tx & Rx SMA connectors Frequency range – 10 MHz to 3.5 GHz RF bandwidth – 30.72 Mhz Sample Rate – 30.72 MSps with 12-bit sample depth Power Output (CW): up to 10 dBm USB – 1x USB […]

Need to Program Many ESP-WROOM-32 / ESP-32S Modules? This Board Should Help

We’ve just published an article about a 3D printed jig to program some ESP8266 light bulbs, but as I watched Andreas Spiess’s latest video about ESP32 boards, he showed a board specifically designed to flash firmware to ESP-WROOM-32 or/and ESP-32S modules, which could be useful if you have many to program. The acrylic base does not appear to be offered by all vendors, as some use some standoffs instead to lift the board up. You just need to insert your compatible ESP32 module in the board, flash the firmware it, take it out, and more to the next module. It can also be used as a development board since it exposes I/Os via three 14-pin headers, comes with a on/off button, reset and program buttons, as well as a micro USB port for power, programming and debugging I first found it on Banggood, where it is sold for $14.99 shipped, […]

Designing a 3D Printed Jig to Flash Firmware to ESP8266 based Light Bulbs

Karl here. I have to say that my favorite part of 3D printing is designing things from scratch. Recently a reader was asking about a way to flash a lot of Ai Lights on a project he was working on. I suggested 3D printing a jig that pressure fits pins. He didn’t have a printer, and we exchanged contact information and he sent me one of the lights and some pogo pins from Amazon. Design in Fusion 360 I started by taking a picture of the light to get my pin placement. I set a scale by measuring a known distance then printed and tested. It took about 3 iterations to get them to line up in real life. Keep in mind camera lenses distort reality and knew It would take a couple times. I would just let a few layers print then stop and line everything up. I had […]

Wanscam HW0026 720p IP Camera Goes for $9.99 (Promo)

Wanscam HW0026 is a 720p IP camera with night vision, motion detection, and ONVIF 2.1 support that was launched in 2015, although they seem to have updated the model since then. GearBest now has a promotion for the US version of the camera for just $9.99 shipped. The version with the EU plug is sold for $15 shipped without any deep discount. Wanscam HW0026 IP camera features and specifications: Camera 720P HD resolution, 1.0MP 1/4 inch CMOS sensor, 1 – 25fps adjustable frame rate 90 degree wide angle FOV, 3.6mm lens Supports 10 LEDs for night vision with infrared distance up to 10m Motion detection up to 10 – 15m Video – H.264 codec, AVI container, NTSC or PAL standard. Storage – micro SD card up to 64 GB Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Protocols – DDNS, DHCP, FTP, LAN, P2P, RTSP, TCP, UPNP Audio – Built-in mic and speaker, supports […]

MeLE PCG35 Apo mini PC Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Teardown, and M.2 SSD / SATA HDD Installation

MeLE PCG35 Apo is a mini PC powered by Intel Pentium J3455, one of the most powerful Intel processors from Apollo Lake family, coupled with 4GB LPDDR3, 32GB eMMC flash and support for M.2 SSD and 2.5″ SATA HDD/SSD. The company sent me a sample for review, and I’ll start by taking photos of the device, accessories, and internal design, as well as showing how to install an M.2 SSD and 2.5″ SATA drive, before publishing the second part of the review with Windows 10 at the end of next month. MeLE PCG35 Apo Unboxing The mini PC comes with the usual black package with gold fonts the company has used us to. The side shows the main specifications of the fanless mini PC. The mini PC, which comes with an aluminum heatsink shaped as number 6, ships with a 12V/2A power supply plus UK, AU, US, and EU plug […]

Review of Vobot Alarm Clock with Alexa

Karl here with a review of Vobot sent By Cafago. I had to Google it when I was asked to review it. Turned out it was an Echo type device with a pixel display and a battery. It started as an Indiegogo campaign. I had been wanting to try to do some sort of voice control with my home automation so I agreed to review it. Vobot Clock C1 Specifications These are pulled from Vobot’s website. No power supply is included but a long USB cable is. Vobot Setup I let my wife do the initial setup as I figured that she would use it the most. She followed the instructions, and it seemed straightforward from what she told me. She said she had to reboot it once during a step but it continued the setup with no problems. She tied to our Amazon Prime account, and she quickly was […]

Unofficial List of TV boxes Running Android TV OS

Most TV boxes run a modified version of Android operating system for smartphone, and devices based on Google’s Android TV are harder to find, and often country specific since they are tied to local streaming services. Yesterday, I was searching for boxes based on Marvell Armada 1500 Ultra SoC, and first found a couple in Spain and the US, but eventually found a bunch more when I discovered somebody was keeping track of all/most Android TV devices in a page hosted by Google but with no actual affiliation with Google. The devices are sorted in three categories: Pay TV Providers, usually only sold in a specific country with programs in the local language, and a fairly long list Streaming / Gaming – Those are the most famous Android TV TV boxes like Xiaomi Mi Box or Nvidia Shield Android TV with only 6 models in that list TVs with Android […]