An Air Quality Monitor with a Blues Satellite Link Module

Brian had no sooner finished the review of Blues' LoRa Notecard when the new Starnote module was introduced. This module allows an IoT device to link to a geosynchronous satellite, for situations in which neither WiFi nor Cellular data links are operational. This article describes a project using the Starnote module.

- Brian Millier

In Circuit Cellar issue #410 (February 2025), I reviewed the Notecard LoRa Starter kit by Blues. This is a LoRa-based communication card along with a preconfigured LoRa Ethernet/WiFi gateway. Blues makes a series of Notecards that connect to their Notehub cloud service via WiFi, WiFi/ Cellular or LoRa. Blues recently introduced Starnote, which is a module that also connects to the same Blues Notehub, however it does so via a satellite link.

Just as I was finishing work on the LoRa Notecard review, I was pleased to receive the new Starnote Starter kit from Blues. It made sense to investigate this module quickly, since all Blues Notecards work very similarly, and I had spent time learning how to use the Notecard LoRa for that review. I didn't have a specific use case for the Notecard LoRa, as I don't have sensors and such spread apart over long distances. However, I could see a use for the satellite-based Starnote and decided to design a project around it for this article.

As soon as you move away from WiFi or Bluetooth communication modes, you must consider the availability and cost of the data plan needed to implement your communication link. This can be challenging for an independent user such as myself. What Blues has done is integrate the data plan into the purchase price of the Notecard itself. In the case of their cellular-based notecards, this is in the form of a 10-year, 500MB cellular data plan, included in the Notecard price.