Sun, 22 May 2005

GSM Module

My GSM/GPRS/Camera phone module came today. I also added the eval breakout board, triband antenna, pcb antenna, and antenna connectors to the order.

Its *SMALL*, pictures will come shortly. Its about the size of a Nokia 8260 or T68 battery. And for those who don't know, that is very small. Makes my GPS unit look like a brick now ;(

A guy I know also bought one, so perhaps we might share notes. It will be a fun item to prototype.

Update

Here are some pictures of the nifty device. Once I get a working SIM, things will be much more entertaining for me. It showed up as a USB serial device on COM7, and I have been messing around with the AT command set in the device. However, I cannot get the camera to work yet. It does not recognize that one is installed :/ Luckily, there are some people in the forums that have been helping me out.

One of the biggest issues right now is a GSM SIM. Since I am a CDMA guy, I do not have an activated SIM laying around. If anybody knows where I can get a lousy pre-paid SIM card in the USA, let me know. This seems to be a difficult thing to find around here. The kiosks in the mall don't sell them that way....they want me to buy the phone.

Cool features of this device:

• AT command set driven
• Voice calls
• GPRS Data
• CSD GSM Data
• Phone book, missed calls, call list, etc. memories
• Call blocking, forwarding, etc. via AT commands
• Support for mic/speaker and handfree, independant volume controls
• In dept SMS support
• Built-in 640x480 Camera support
• Send camera image MMS via AT command, or dump JPG to serial port
• GPIO support
• Low voltage/power consumption
• 900/1800/1900 bands (No 850 currently)
• RS232, USB, or TTL serial link

While I could make a cool remote web cam or tracking device, my goal is to make a fully functional cellular phone--geek style. Perhaps it will even have an attractive case! But for now, it will be a mess of breadboards.

Once i get a little bit more comfortable with the device, i will probably hook up a gumstix or PIC to control the device. I will also probably pick up an LCD module from EarthLCD. I found a couple of (cheap) cell phone displays, along with a fancy 2.5" color touchscreen with graphics processor...we'll see.

GSM device, Eval breakout board, quarter, camera, PCB antenna, etc. (Not shown: larger tri-band antenna)

GSM module

Closeup of camera module, breakouts to left for audio, GPIO, etc.

[/gadgets] permanent link