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Card Edition MkII

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Linar Yusupov edited this page Jul 23, 2026 · 18 revisions



Card Edition Mark II is a direct successor of SoftRF Card Edition .

It is supposed to require minimal skills from a builder to begin with and gives an opportunity to evaluate if the SoftRF technology is appropriate for your needs.

Card Edition Mark II is based upon a partner's hardware - Seeed SenseCAP MeshTracker X1 product, which is available for direct purchase from manufacturer at more or less reasonable price (40+ USD).

Seed® MeshTracker X1 uses he most recent and advanced Semtech LR2021 multi-band radio on the market

Compatibility 1

Type Protocol FLARM OGN tracker PilotAware Skytraxx SoftRF
Radio FLARM AIR V7

 

OGNTP

 

P3I

 

FANET+

 

1090 ES
ADS-B

2

2
 

SRD 860
ADS-L

Data FLARM NMEA

  Garmin GDL90

 

Dump1090  

1 - it is necessary for a reader to distinguish the difference between statement "compatible" and statement "fully compatible".
     SoftRF implements only a reasonable minimum of the protocols specs. No "bells and whistles" so far.
2 - Reception of DF17 traffic 'downlink' frames only.

ADS-B Out remark

No doubts that an amateur-built non-certified low-cost ADS-B transponder is possible.
It was shown to public by our own "proof-of-concept" study for :

However, as a certified and instrument rated pilot with 20+ years of experience, in no way I will give a tool for every looser in the world, all he/she can afford is to spend 40+ USD for the Seed® MeshTracker X1, to abuse the ADS-B technology and compromise my own flight safety and flight safety of every other air law abiding pilot.

SoftRF firmware does intentionally exclude every possibilities to transmit anything on 1090 MHz radio frequency.
Any attempt to contribute the transmit feature into SoftRF from aside will be blocked at very early stage.


Certificates

Seed® MeshTracker X1 has the following certificates of compliance :

It means that this device is approved by corresponding agencies for:

  • land use and
  • with genuine factory firmware.

Card Mark II vs Card

This is a ( reposted ) picture of Card Mk.II  ( left ) and Card Classic   ( right ) Editions, side by side.



Edition Card  Card Mk II 
First appearance 2024 2026
Manufacturer Seeed Studio Seeed Studio
SoC Nordic nRF52840 Nordic nRF52840
QSPI flash memory not specified 3 8 MB
sub-1GHz radio Semtech LR1110 Semtech LR2021 
sub-1GHz antenna internal, PCB internal, PCB
Battery Li-Ion 700 mAh Li-Ion 1100 mAh
GNSS receiver Airoha AG3335 Airoha AG3335
GNSS band(s) L1 L1 + L5 
USB magnet clip
2.0 device		 Type-C
2.0 device
LED green red
green
blue
Button(s) 1 pc. 1 pc.
Buzzer 1 pc. 1 pc.
Haptic 1 pc.
Sensors QMA6100P accelerometer
light
temperature		 air pressure SPA06-003 
optional STM LSM6D IMU
optional Bosch BMM350 magnetometer
Water and dust
resistance		 IP65 IP66
Certificates FCC  CE FCC CE
Weight (g) 32 45
Thickness (mm) 6.5 8

3 - QSPI flash memory is not reported in the Seeed T1000-E specs. However, some of the hardware revisions may (or may not) have this feature available ;


Summary

New Card Edition Mark II

  • can receive ADS-B traffic @ 1090 MHz
  • able to receive L5 band from GNSS constellations
  • has 1.5 times more of battery capacity than Classic Card does
  • built-in air pressure sensor and vibration motor
  • standard USB Type-C connector
  • more of LED colors

Disclaimer

Source code of SoftRF firmware for Card Edition Mark II is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Author of SoftRF firmware:

  • will reject any hardware related claims associated with Seeed SenseCAP MeshTracker X1. Ask for support from seller or manufacturer ;
  • reserves the right to suspend or terminate support of the MeshTracker X1 device in the firmware at any time.

For the time being ( Jul '26 ) there were no critical hardware issues reported for current version of the SenseCAP MeshTracker X1. However things my change over the time...
If you have issues with bringing up your new MeshTracker X1 or just not happy with the device - be prepared to execute your Purchase Protection plan.


Bill of materials

Number Part Qty Picture Source
1 Seeed
SenseCAP
MeshTracker X1 		1 Seeed Store

Quick start

Use these instructions to start operating with your delivered Card Mk.II device.


Settings



Procedure of settings change is explained on this page.

Basic (radio) settings description is located here.

Important

ADS-B and EASA ADS-L radio protocols selection is not applicable with current version of SoftRF Tool app for Android - use Online Tool method instead.

Default settings

Protocol Aircraft type
FANET Paraglider

If you are an application developer and you think about to add the Card Mk.II configuration menu into your software, please, use:


LED

Green LED indicates unit power on status.
Flashing green LED indicates low battery charge level.

Buzzer

The buzzer makes a four-tone sound at boot time to indicate completion of initialization sequence.

It plays a short melody at very first GNSS fix. A positive GNSS fix is required to start transmitting of radio packets and to decode received ones properly.

When air traffic situation needs attention from a pilot - the Card Mk.II makes one tone beep.

Button

When unit is Off:

  • press and release the button to turn the unit On.

When unit is On:

  • press, keep holding for 2 seconds then release the button to turn the unit Off.

Important

The Off button function has no effect until completion of boot sequence indicated by the buzzer sound.

Bluetooth LE

Factory default data output setting is to deliver GNSS and air traffic information over Bluetooth LE in NMEA plain-text format.


This data is sufficient for an app (such as XCSoar) to facilitate a Radar view:



These Bluetooth LE services are available:

  • UART
  • Battery
  • Bluefruit device information
  • OTA firmware update


This is a list of mobile applications that are known good to operate with the Card Mk.II over Bluetooth LE:

Please, use the Bluetooth LE page for Badge Edition to get more information.


Device Id

When a user wants to register a SoftRF device in OGN or other aircrafts database - it's Id can be obtained with assistance of SoftRF Tool application.

Protocol Id
OGNTP
Legacy
P3I
ADS-B
ADS-L
PRoL
FANET

Optional equipment

SkyView

SkyView EZ is a DIY companion device for SoftRF Card Edition Mark II.
Recommended connection method is Bluetooth LE.


   


SkyView Pico

   


WebTop

SoftRF WebTop USB (USB to Wi-Fi adapter)



Additional information on MeshTracker X1

  1. Seeed Studio MeshTracker X1 Wiki

Hardware

SoftRF

SkyView

Flight Recorder

Adapters

Software

Firmware

Tools

Protocols

Clone this wiki locally