SparkFun Satellite Transceiver Kit - Swarm M138 Hookup Guide
Contributors:
Ell C, 
PaulZC
PaulZC 
Swarm Satellite
Swarm's mission is to connect people and devices anywhere, at all times, at the lowest cost.
If you've used satellite communication systems in the past, you'll know that the message costs can be high if you're sending a lot of data. Swarm are changing that. Their uniquely small satellites are the smallest operational satellites in space, at just ¼U (11 x 11 x 2.8 cm). Because of their small size, they cost much less to launch than most satellites, and these savings are passed along to their customers.
Each Swarm modem requires a data plan to send and receive data. However, the cost of this is much lower than other networks. A data plan is an annual contract for USD $60 per year (USD $5 per month). Each plan includes 750 data packets per month. Each packet can be up to 192 Bytes in size. You can also stack up to 4 data plans, allowing a single modem to use 3000 packets (576 kBytes) per month. Please see the Registering Your Swarm M138 Modem for full details. Additionally, you can create or login to your Swarm account here.
Swarm provide global coverage over all regions, but there are regulatory restrictions for specific countries.
The current list of approved countries / regions for the M138 Modem is: USA, Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and International Waters (12 nautical miles offshore).
Swarm continues to grow this list of approved countries as quickly as possible. Customers will receive regular updates on approved regions through the Swarm newsletter.
The current list of approved countries / regions for the M138 Modem is: USA, Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and International Waters (12 nautical miles offshore).
Swarm continues to grow this list of approved countries as quickly as possible. Customers will receive regular updates on approved regions through the Swarm newsletter.