Meet SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E for Meshtastic

[zealous turtle]

Hello, community! This is Zero from Seeed Studio.😊 I'm excited to introduce our T1000-E, the world's first IP65 rated Meshtastic tracker device. It's as small as a credit card, allowing it to easily fit in your pocket or attach to your assets, seamlessly integrating with the Meshtastic LoRa mesh network.

Here are the key features of the T1000-E:

• Multi-Protocol Support: Equipped with nRF52840 and LR1110, it supports Bluetooth 5.0, Thread, Zigbee, and LoRa, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of devices and networks.
  -** Powerful Positioning Capabilities**: Integrated with the Mediatek AG3335 GPS chip, providing high-precision positioning services.
• Expandable Interfaces: Designed with four pogo pins, it supports a USB interface for DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade), serial logging, and API interface, simplifying device management and debugging.
• Open Source Support: Compatible with the Meshtastic open-source mesh networking protocol, suitable for long-range and low-power communication needs.

More details: https://bit.ly/4coB9Pr

[terse flame]

Any idea how long that battery last on a single charge?

[snow falcon]

Does this come in a non-transparent case?

[turbid orchid]

I really like the form factor and hardware, but i would love something like this to have a usable antenna port tbh.

[zealous turtle]

up to 2 days😊

[zealous turtle]

Currently, we only have the translucent black version as shown in the picture.

[zealous turtle]

Thank you!! We will have different types of Meshtastic devices like the T1000-E with the antenna port, in the future. Please stay tuned! By the way, here is a video showing the antenna test of the T1000-E; you can take a look if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWIO_Ea6z4o

[terse flame]

Is that normal operation or in power saving mode?

[zealous turtle]

yes, normal operation mode!

[terse flame]

Awesome!

[dark hatch]

Just got mine today!

[zealous turtle]

Hope you're having fun exploring it!

[worthy falcon]

2days+ gps on, buzzer on, temp sensor on.

[sweet nimbus]

cant wait. mine just landed and are going through customs

[sweet nimbus]

what GPS update rate do you have to get 2 days?

[worthy falcon]

15minutes

[sweet nimbus]

Awesome, thanks, that was the number I was hoping for

[zealous turtle]

Thank you for your support!

[spring girder]

I just got mine today, really nice formfactor and smaller than I expected. Although its weird that theres a small hole on the front (I think thats the light sensor).

[spring girder]

Actually its the speaker

[sweet nimbus]

Yay

[dense nest]

If someone knows how to get the buzzer working again after updating, I'm all ears. I posted a bug report on Github so I'm sure it will be looked at soon.

[dense nest]

Is that a waterproof case for your waterproof case? 😁

[sweet nimbus]

why yes. i have salty water around here so want to be extra safe

[zealous turtle]

Our team is working on it, thank you for the feedback Jason

[zealous turtle]

cool!!

[dense nest]

That's awesome to hear, thank you for the quick response.

[sweet nimbus]

I just updated mine to 2.4.3 and buzzer works

Are you on 2.5?

[dense nest]

No, 2.4.3 also. Did you enable the module or just works as is?

[sweet nimbus]

Sorry I just tested

My buzzer physically works

But not the notification sound

Which is what you mean

[dense nest]

Right..I get the wake up and sleep tones

I think it's just a pin mapping thing most likely, but above my skillset to break into the code. I bought a few, so checked settings between factory and reflashed, they're the same from what I can tell. I was hoping it would do the RTTL ringtones from the external notification module.

[spring girder]

I think that it’s a potential issue because sand/water can ingress into it

[sweet nimbus]

thats for the speaker diaphram, though looks liks there is a black seal. im putting mine in a waterproof card holder for kayaking/beach. probably ok for light water but not sand like you said

[spring girder]

But still I can imagine a peice of debris getting in there

If they were to make a new version I would want it flush

[sweet nimbus]

throw a piece of electrical tape over? might solve it

speaker would work less but whatever

for the odd time that matters, i think its ok to test

[hard adder]

I saw your discussion about the buzzer. In fact, this was the result of discussions with the developers at the time. The factory firmware carries a hard-coded beep. In firmware after 2.4.3, it must be turned on through an external notification module

The specific way to turn it on is a bit strange, but for now this is the only way to do it

In particular, it is necessary to open the outputled GPIO and set it to 24 pin

This will ensure that buzzer enable, and in some cases you need to wait for a while, it will take about 10s to start successfully.

[hard adder]

You can try the method I mentioned @dense nest

[dense nest]

Thank you, I will try that now.

[hard adder]

waiting for your feedback~~😆

[dense nest]

That worked perfectly. Thank you for the quick fix.

[hard adder]

🎉

Hope U have fun with T1000-E~

[dense nest]

I will, I bought several for my family. I'm already working on a couple of 3d models for accessories using this as the base:

[sweet nimbus]

should be pinned

[spring girder]

@feral kestrel

[feral kestrel]

yep, that works

[feral kestrel]

@abstract fulcrum this works

thanks @spring girder

[spring girder]

Did you also get the card tracker?

[feral kestrel]

just the t1000e

[spring girder]

This guy

[feral kestrel]

Yep, that's what I have

Very nice piece of hardware. My concerns will be for battery life and reception.
Nrf52 obviously is great for battery life, but does the GPS still steal power when disabled in position settings?

As for reception, I assume it will be middling, but that's fine and as expected for such a device.

[dense nest]

I've been carrying it for a couple days now, it's on par with the t-echo w/ decent stubby antenna for reception and battery life.

[abstract fulcrum]

2-2.5 days of battery life in my experience

[feral kestrel]

Yeah that was my concern

Oh well

[abstract fulcrum]

IMO perfect battery life

I want essentially slightly more than parity with my phone

[feral kestrel]

I was hoping for about double that

3000mah lasts me about 17 days on a 4631

this is 750 - so should be like 4.25 days if all scales perfectly

[abstract fulcrum]

I get this for standalone devices but I don't understand the obsession with extreme runtimes with a phone paired node

[feral kestrel]

but certainly it's not too bad

[abstract fulcrum]

You end up having to charge your phone, so you can charge your device then too

[feral kestrel]

One less thing to worry about

[abstract fulcrum]

But you're there anyway if you're having to charge your phone

All of my power banks have multiple ports 🤷‍♂️

[feral kestrel]

sure, but one more cable, one more port, one more thing to think about

I do enough thinking already!

[abstract fulcrum]

I've got cables coming out my bunghole at this point

[feral kestrel]

I do like the device. It's very cute

I lvoe that they went with a transparent case

[abstract fulcrum]

And this is after some purging

Just bags and bags of USB-C cables

[feral kestrel]

yeah I do have a lot of rak usb-a to c cables

[abstract fulcrum]

Yep, that's what 99% of these are, lol

[feral kestrel]

I honestly don't know why they include them

I know, I know, data cables

[abstract fulcrum]

I like the purple on the new ones, but I miss the old cable form factor

[feral kestrel]

purple?!

[sweet nimbus]

This is designed specifically to be the exact size as the RFID cards or credit cards with a little more thickness. IMO this fills the void for the previously lacking: discrete, pre-made, Everyman consumer device that is ready to go. Adding more battery would destroy the most important part which is form factor. It's still really easy to make a small rak device with a good battery. But this is for a specific type of customer.

The only other one comparable and discrete I think is muzi's "vape" style one. Which is very nice, but a little thicker even though just as pocketable (still plan on buying muzi's though)

[feral kestrel]

Oh I know, it's great

but I can dream, you know?

[sweet nimbus]

I feel like now is the time to release the secret nuclear batteries the government has.

[feral kestrel]

whoooo! 5 microamps!

[sweet nimbus]

Temp sensor seems accurate

34 C in my pocket

Which is right smack in the middle of expected skin temp

[worthy falcon]

T-echo does not have buzzer. This very good option.

[sweet nimbus]

GPS is working really well. Im getting 14 satellites on my SEEED device in my cup holder in my car, while my heltecV3+GPS on my car roof is only seeing 5 satellites. And i dont even have a moonroof

[feral kestrel]

I am really, really impressed by this product

this is the "killer" meshtastic product. I expect it to be wildly popular, if seeed can publicize it properly and some bugs can be worked out

I'd love a second version with perhaps double the battery - and with the GPS disabled with a transistor to prevent battery drain when disabled, assuming it doesn't already have one

[sweet nimbus]

double the battery loses the "credit card form factor" though. At that point just use a different device. Lots of other small (RAK) devices to choose from. This is the only ultra compact one that is extremely user friendly.

perhaps straight up doublt the thicknes .5" would work.

[feral kestrel]

That's what I was thinking

or remove the GPS entirely

[sweet nimbus]

But it would be bigger than tony's 19003 case at that point

[feral kestrel]

and enlarge the battery

[sweet nimbus]

so no point

[feral kestrel]

the point is that it's water resistant and turnkey - no assembly required

[sweet nimbus]

nah GPS is most important part for an all in one solution

[feral kestrel]

But it's not an all in one

no screen, no keyboard

[sweet nimbus]

now one twice as thick with a small screen and keyboard makes sense

[feral kestrel]

I'm a Big Battery Bitch (B³)

[sweet nimbus]

you want a discrete GPS so if your phone ever dies, you are atleast still trackable

[feral kestrel]

I like bit batteries and I cannot lie

[sweet nimbus]

im getting 2-2.5 days on mine already

[feral kestrel]

is that with GPS or without?

[sweet nimbus]

point is small formfactor turnkey

theres a reason it is the exact size as an ID badge

not 5mm taller or smaller

[feral kestrel]

have you had odd issues where it doesn't serve packets to phone until turned off and back on?

[sweet nimbus]

nope

[feral kestrel]

I'm on a custom v2.5 from thebentern. I should replace that with stable

[sweet nimbus]

ive been using it every day in my pocket since i got it

yea im running 2.4.3 right now, my other nodes are 2.5 though

[feral kestrel]

alright, switched back to 2.4.2

[feral kestrel]

☝️

[sweet nimbus]

with

[feral kestrel]

I should try without

[sweet nimbus]

try 2.4.3, there are lots of other fixes

has been running fine for me on both of mine

2.4.2 atleast for my heltec had a massive GPS bug that wasnt fixed until after

was picking up only 3 satellites every 4 hours instead of 12 satellites continuously now on 2.4.3

[feral kestrel]

thanks

[sweet nimbus]

ok, i just had this issue. rebooting the phone or app did nothing. i had to reboot the device. This was after about 3 days of the node being constantly on

[hard adder]

Did you guys appear when running V2.5? I haven't tried V2.5 yet.

[sweet nimbus]

No, 2.4.3

[hard adder]

I installed a copy of 2.4.3 today and tested it at the company ，tomorrow morning to see if it disappears and rec log files

[hard adder]

@sweet nimbus after 24Hours ，its BLE still working

wait till tommorrow~~ and take a look again

[hard adder]

Nothing abnormal, everything is normal. How about your T1000-E doing there?@sweet nimbus

[sweet nimbus]

Mine still running fine

Might have just been a one off

[worthy falcon]

Ip68 protection

[sweet nimbus]

IP69 protection

[abstract fulcrum]

And you can still see those innards!

[zealous turtle]

WOW

💯

[sweet nimbus]

some power data i have over the last day of testing. Looks like about 3 days of battery life even with my very aggressive GPS updates

when @wide linden and @slender badge finish their work, im sure it will be even better

[wide linden]

nice chart!

As @sweet nimbus , we have been working on configuring the GPS a bit more robustly. We had a breakthrough yesterday that should hopefully make things even better 🙂

[worthy falcon]

https://www.seeedstudio.com/USB-Cable-Type-A-to-4P-with-magnetic-type-Black-1000mm-p-5977.html?___store=retailer

[sweet nimbus]

cant believe i didnt look there for it first

wouldve ordered them with my initial T1000-E order

[worthy falcon]

Only few days ago listed

[turbid orchid]

Just received 2 trackers and so far it looks quite impressive for its size!

[terse flame]

What makes the t1000e different from the t1000a? Since the t1000a has a Lora radio, GPS, and Bluetooth could you run meshtastic on it?

[chilly otter]

In terms of hardware (chip selection), the T1000-E uses nRF52840 + LR1110 + MTK GNSS, while the T1000-A uses a different MCU and LR1110, with GNSS data being processed via the LoRaWAN Cloud.

On the software side, the T1000-E uses the Meshtastic app, whereas the T1000-A uses the SenseCraft app.

As a result, the T1000-A cannot be used with Meshtastic.

[dusky wyvern]

Very impressed with this device. Excellent form factor. And the internal antenna works great.

[tropic violet]

@chilly otter One of our members in SoCalMesh got the following when trying to ask for help? Know what's going on?

[spring girder]

It’s a scam

[tropic violet]

Yeah just trying to make Seeed aware

[chilly otter]

That's right, he's a scammer.

Please note that Seeed's technical support staff only provide answers to questions and will never be involved in financial matters.

Thank you for the reminder.

[sweet nimbus]

Can someone from SEEED please post the original firmware that was shipped with the latest batch of T1000E devices. My original two devices from a month ago are fine, however my latest device (which i assume is from the second batch as the MAC address is printed on the back now), does not detect the hardware GPS. unfortunately i updated the meshtastic firmware as soon as i got it and did not confirm if the GPS was detected as shipped. I am hoping just the enable pin has been reassigned.

#alphanauts-testing message

[hybrid sage]

Curious if any of you that purchased via Paypal got tracking info for your orders? I did not create an account when I ordered. I ordered 5 days ago and have not seen any tracking info yet. It showed in stock at the US warehouse when I ordered it.

[zealous turtle]

Could you please let me know your order email or order number with me(via DM is ok)? I’ll ask my colleague to check it for you.

[hybrid sage]

Sent DM. Thanks

[lilac drum]

Been loving my T1000-E and its long battery life but I feel like it dies pretty quickly below ~45%. How quick is the battery supposed to drain towards the end of its capacity? Anyone else experience this? Went from 45% to 2% in less than 3 hours. Battery life as a whole is great, it just drops quickly once it gets low. Running 2.5.4 stable

[sweet nimbus]

Might just be bad calibration that can be accounted for in the firmware

Are you still getting about 2 days of battery life?

I'll run mine overnight with aggressive GPS updates to see if I get a similar drop at the lower voltage

[hard adder]

One thing we worry about is whether the battery is fully charged, and our internal testing shows that a long charge of at least two hours is required

[lilac drum]

Yes, it’s still lasting a fairly good time so I’m not concerned about operating battery life. I haven’t run it constantly but I’d estimate two days yes

[lilac drum]

When I was charging it with my laptop last night I had a serial window open. It topped out at about 4.18V I think and fluctuated there. Serial was reporting isCharging=1 and batteryPrct=99 (estimating what I think the variable names were). It was plugged in for over 3 hours and was down to a current consumption between 20-40mA depending on GPS usage, compared to the 240mA it started out using when first plugged in and charging

[spark folio]

Stumbled across this thread with my recently acquired T-1000E. Battery life was about 50 hours (estimated) in a very low traffic area - just all the nodes in my house : D

Via the Meshtastic app the T-1000 was reporting around 45% battery last night at ~20:30 but was fully dead at 05:30 this morning.

Probably just a calibration issue but I wanted to throw an extra data point into the mix if it helps.

--

I love the form factor and so far it's worked great for me, I'm just considering gutting it and wiring in a much larger battery because I hate needing to remember to charge things more than once a week.

EDIT : 2.5.4.8d288d5 firmware and latest Android Meshtastic app.

[sweet nimbus]

why not just buy a rak at this point?

the slim design is a major feature

and breaks waterproofness

[spark folio]

Because I already have 5 raks : D

I was thinking about just snaking the power cables outside to a larger battery and sealing it, but that's neither here nor there for this thread - we can move it elsewhere if you'd like.

[chilly otter]

We are currently investigating the battery drain issue. I believe we'll have results soon.

[hybrid sage]

Question. Have you considered making a charging/USB adapter with a female USB C end so we can simply plug in to our existing USB C cables?

[hybrid sage]

Also, curious on which modules in the Telemetry settings should we enable in the meshtastic app? Your Wiki shows the following modules enabled:

Are the power or air quality modules compatible?

[abstract fulcrum]

Only environment

There are no power or AQ sensors

[hybrid sage]

Thanks

[strange nacelle]

Finally posted my holster for it! https://www.printables.com/model/1070854

[abstract fulcrum]

MOLLE mount ✅

Feng clip ✅

Very handy

[hybrid sage]

Looks awesome. Two questions. Will you sell these pre-made?

Two, is this a typo?

[strange nacelle]

It’s not a typo, although I copy/pasted that from the other listing and forgot to change that part. Alley Chat is the name I use for all my Meshtastic cases because the Chat part makes sense and I like it. Anyway, I fixed that because it’s obviously not the T114 case, so thank you for pointing it out!

Oh, for the other question, I don’t sell anything, but there are a few people who sell a lot of stuff I design, and I’m sure they’d be happy to sell this to you as well!

[dusky wyvern]

What’s the best way you recommend printing this.

Standing up or sitting down

[strange nacelle]

It should load in the correct orientation, but the molle clip is flat on the back, and the other one is standing up.

[molten sky]

https://www.seeedstudio.com/Card-Tracker-T1000-E-Charger-Accessory-p-6263.html

[feral kestrel]

good for seeed. They're really trying to support an ecosystem

[hybrid sage]

Anyone aware if the charging cable for this is the same as what is used to charge some smartwatches/headphones?
See this as an example
https://www.amazon.com/Haourlife-Replacement-Conduction-Headphones-Smartwatches/dp/B0CFR3WPJS

Alternatively, will you make the charging cable available via your Amazon store? Ordering from the Chinese warehouse takes a long time.

[dark hatch]

I modified an AliExpress one that looks exactly like that to be USB-C compatible, works well.

This was the cable: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mq8ftTN

[hybrid sage]

The charger I linked works. Haven't tried it to see if Data works, but I didn't pick it up for that reason so not important to me

[worthy falcon]

. https://www.seeedstudio.com/USB-Cable-Type-A-to-4P-with-magnetic-type-Black-1000mm-p-5977.html?___store=retailer

[hybrid sage]

I'm well aware of this. I wanted something that I wouldn't need to wait weeks to arrive. My T1000-E took three weeks to deliver despite showing it being in the US warehouse when I ordered it.

[dusky wyvern]

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMJTF4r

[hybrid sage]

I don't need more suggestions, but I appreciate you all sharing. I found one that worked and it only took a day to get to my house

[dusky wyvern]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CR31F85G?

[dusky wyvern]

https://www.amazon.com/2022New-Taxidermy-Chicken-Egg-Lamp/dp/B0B3TG9RFC

[hybrid sage]

Nice little dock I had printed. Works great with the charger I bought from Amazon. Only slight trimming was needed on the dock when I received it.