T&L Publications

I have been trying to develop an Arduino controlled weather station that will upload readings via a cell modem.

Originally I bought an MG 2639 cellular shield from Sparkfun. I can read the information off of the SIM card in the shield, but I can't get it to respond to or send text messages. I contacted Sparkfun tech support, and they weren't much help since they have discontinued the product.

I looked on the Arduino shop, and the only cellular shield I can find there only works on a 2G network, which I do not have access to.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a cellular modem I can use for this project?

Maybe you can transmit to an activated phone using Bluetooth and either tether or remote operate. The BT hardware should not be too hard to find. Writing code for it to connect to an app in your phone is a different kind of hurdle. One would need to develop or locate sample code for both the app and the firmware. Negotiating a cable modem connection to a flip phone might be easier, I think you may be able to use a serial Modem mode.

Can we assume the SIM card was already activated and worked in another phone otherwise?

I think the Adafruit fona module is the best bet if you want to stay on the same track at $44

Not a lot of cellular modem dev kits but here are a couple:
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/05/a-cellul ... data-plan/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sp ... imple-data
https://www.particle.io/products/hardwa ... ar-dev-kit
Not cheap stuff:
https://www.semiconductorstore.com/Cell ... Kits/C/429

"LTE Dev Kit" found more stuff
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/1963/ ... YgodNy8Khw

http://www.mouser.com/new/adafruit/adaf ... ona-board/


Unrelated but Cool new product I found while searching:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/ ... fgoda3AFAQ

yeah, I think I will end up going with the Particle electron on this one.

Dang, the 3G kit for Americas listed as sold out, you might have to wait. Did you figure out how much their data cost for their SIM card?

The Electron isn't sold out. I just got one. Comes with a SIM card and data plan is $US 2.99/month.

The asset tracker is marked as sold out though.