Beacons

Beacons based on RFD22301 RFduino
Beacons based on RFD77101 Simblee

RFDbeacon12

RFduino based

The RFDbeacon12 is a small, low-power beacon using the RF Digital RFD22301 SMD RFduino module. It can be programmed as an iBeacon, Uribeacon, Eddystone, or custom beacon using the Arduino IDE. It has one LED indicator and one button typically used during configuration. To keep the unit as small as possible, it uses a CR1220 Battery. Lithium CR1220 batteries are typically rated for 30 to 40 mAh, providing a run time of 2 to 6 months, depending on the advertising interval selected. See the chart below.

RFduino Beacon RFDbeacon12 bottom CR1220 battery

GPIOs 0 and 1 are available for Arduino IDE programming or serial monitoring. The JTAG programming pins are brought out as well.

Run time *
Advertisement Interval	Average Current	Run Time Hours
ms	uA	@30mAh	@40mAh
1000	26.3	1140	1520
5000	13.7	2290	2920
10000	11.2	2680	3570

* NOTE: The lowest power is obtained by turning off all features, including the serial monitor. Run times were calculated for 30 mAh and 40 mAh-rated batteries. The actual run time with the Panasonic CR1220 was 1752 hours with a 1000 ms advertisement interval.

I have some of these FOR SALE HERE.

RFduino Beacon RFDbeacon12 kit I'm making this item available in partial kit form. The kit includes the motherboard, button, LED, Bergstik connectors, and battery holder. You obtain the RFD22301 module from your favorite source.

It is fairly simple to hand-solder the module to the board. See the instructional video on how to solder cassellated SMD modules to a motherboard.

SFMbeacon12

Simblee For Mobile Based

The SFMbeacon12 series are the world's smallest Eddystone-URL Beacons. They use the RF Digital RFD77101 Simblee module, which is the world's smallest Nordic nRF51822 based complete SOC in a LGA (Land Grid Array) style package. The advantage of these Beacons over the RFduino based beacons is that they use the "Simblee For Mobile" technology to provide built-in OTA (over-the-air) Smart Phone configuration. The RFduino based Eddystone Beacons cannot be configured OTA (over the air) because custom characteristic UUIDs are not possible with the current Arduino/RFduino IDE. The Simblee is in the same boat. But the advantage of the Simblee is that it can hold its own Smart Device App within itself, which it uploads to the Smart Phone when needed. So there is no need to have general UUID support for something as simple as self-configuration.

These perform similarly to the RFduino based beacons in regards to power consumption. It uses a CR1220 or CR1225 Lithium battery.

It comes with one LED indicator and one button to activate its configuration mode.

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