I have a small project that requires remote logging gps nmea strings (every 5 seconds) for 12 hours/day and, ideally, retreiving this data wirelessly. It needs to run 10-14 days on battery power. I only need 10-20 units.
The Sparkfun Geochron Blue can be configured to do exactly what I need out of the box for a short period of time. I see my options as:
Use the Geochron Blue out of the box and add additional battery (I have the luxury of space). The smallest/cheapest marine deep cycle battery and, a bit smaller, a deer feeder battery from the local redneck pro shop (bass pro shop) should do the trick - as they are both 12v, they would be used to charge the Geochron’s internal LIPO battery. Any more efficient suggestions to extend battery life welcome and appreciated
Modify the Geochron to uses less power (having bluetooth sleep most of the time?) and beef up the battery. This adds the advantage of a more purpose specific interface over SPP. It seems that the Geochron Blue is not set up optimally for this but it can be done. I’m a hair intimidated by the LPC ARM but not terrified.
Build a functionally similar unit from scratch - I’d most likely do this with a Synapse Snap 2.4g module for the radio and microprocessor because that is more in my comfort zone and the range would be nice. As fun as this would be, it would (almost) be reinventing the wheel and more expensive.
Any suggestions and comments on any of these options?
Thanks!