Starnote not responding

Hardware
1

I have a Starnote that is no longer responding. The error is:
sync: connect error: ntn: satellite module not responding.
For the past few months it has been working beautifully, collecting 6 notes per day and syncing twice per day. But 3 days ago it stopped for no apparent reason. I have power-cycled it a half dozen times. Left it off for an hour and restarted it, but the error is the same. I’m using a high quality directional antenna pointing up at the sky and connections have generally been very reliable, except maybe when it is raining. Connections are all ok. I’ve removed the Starnote and Notecard and reseated them. Same with antenna connections. I have even swapped out Notecards but neither Notecard is “seeing” the Starnote. Attached is a log which covers a few hours.
Crook starnote log13Apr25.log (50.0 KB)
Could I please get some help to resurrect this module?

2

Hi @rberkelm,

Can you please issue this request and let me know what the response is?

{"req":"ntn.echo"}

Thanks,
Rob

3 
> {"req":"ntn.echo"
{}
S00:53.11 sync: connect requested by first sync; periodic inbound sync due; periodic outbound sync due (DATA)
S00:53.13 connect: 4.48V 24.94C before comms power-on
<< {"cmd":"ntn.status","id":10}
>> {"cmd":"ntn.hello","id":4,"body":{"sku":"NTN-SKY1","ordering_code":"ZZ","apn":"blues.prod","device":"skylo:901980060002785","modem":"CC660DLSAAR01A03_01.001.01.001","iccid":"89901980100600027853","imsi":"901980060002785","imei":"860952060047017","policy":"10TPM","mtu":256,"band":"0","channel":"0","org":"Blues Inc","product":"Starnote","version":"st... (459)
R01:01.32 ntn: skylo:901980060002785
<< {"cmd":"ntn.hello","id":11}
S01:08.28 penalty: retrying because 3 consecutive failures is still less than 5 allowed: ntn: satellite module not responding

There doesn’t look to be a response.

4

Hi @rberkelm,

Thanks - I should’ve also had you issue an ntn.status request. Can you do that as well and let me know the response?

{"req":"ntn.status"}
5 
> {"req":"ntn.status"}
{"status":"status has not yet been reported {no-status}"}
6

Hi @rberkelm,

We are looking into this to see about other ways we can help debug. In the meantime, it may be worthwhile updating to the latest LTS release of Notecard firmware as it does include some bug fixes for Starnote/Notecard interaction.

Will follow up with more info!

Rob

7

Hi @rberkelm,

Are you using Notecarrier XS in your setup?

Also, while you’re connected to the In-Browser Terminal, can you please remove the Starnote and then put it back in. You should see some activity that tells us the Notecard can see and communicate with it. Pro tip: when you see << in the log, those are outbound queries from the Notecard and >> are responses from Starnote.

Thanks,
Rob

8

Hi @RobLauer
I think it’s working again, but there is still some weird behavior that I don’t understand.
Yes, my setup is in the Notecarrier XS - USB connected as well as a lipo battery.

I did a firmware upgrade of a second Notecard (not the one I was using when the Starnote stopped responding) to V8.1.4. I paired this Notecard with the Starnote that wasn’t responding. After setting up the Notecard with an ntn template, I queued some data and sent it over ntn and it all worked perfectly. I can see my ntn note in Notehub Events - happy days!
Then I did a firmware upgrade on my original Notecard to V8.1.4, paired it with the same Starnote, then queued and sent the same data. It seemed to connect and sync the data fine over ntn. However, I do not see any data arrive in Notehub. I’ve repeated it several times with the same result - the note sync’s over ntn, but nothing arrives in Notehub. Why?
Here is a log which includes some diagnostic queries at the end.
notecard_2025-04-18T01_26_51.log (9.7 KB)

9

Hi @rberkelm,

There is nothing in our server logs that point to an error with that Notecard, which leads us to one of three possibilities:

  1. The Notecard in use did not sync with Notehub over cellular after being physically paired with Starnote in the Notecarrier XS (this is a requirement).
  2. You’re using a template on that Notecard that was not synced with Notehub over cellular prior to using ntn communications with Starnote.
  3. Due to the nature of satellite communications, payloads can be dropped entirely and we have very little insight into tracking these. However, this one seems unlikely if you’re able to repeat the issue.
10

Hey @RobLauer ,
A long weekend and plenty of testing, but still no joy. I’ve done a card restore and set it up from scratch, including a new ntn template (with a different port #). I was careful to sync it over cellular first. As before, I can send notes over cellular and see them in Notehub, but ntn notes do not appear in Notehub. This is despite the log clearly showing that the ntn connection and sync went fine.
I have reverted back to a different Notecard and under identical setups, both cellular and ntn notes are sent and received fine.
The only thing that makes sense to me that that my dev:867730051183840 with a sat.qo note is somehow being intercepted and rejected by your server. Would you be able to chase down the connection attempt in the log below in your server log to see what might be going on?
StarNote_log_21Apr25.txt (22.6 KB)

11

Hi @rberkelm,

Thanks for your patience as we work through this - definitely a scenario we haven’t seen yet. Clearly if it’s working on one Notecard but not another (and assuming you’re literally sending the same commands in the same order etc) we may need to swap out that Notecard, but more on that later.

In the meantime, if you have it in you to keep testing some ideas out:

  1. Instead of performing a straight hub.sync in ntn mode, try using the out arg: {"hub.sync","out":true}
  2. I’d be VERY curious to see if you could sync an inbound Note from Notehub. Can you try creating a new inbound template, sync it over cellular, generate an inbound Note using the Notehub UI, then sync via Starnote with {"hub.sync","in":true}
  3. Lastly, I would try removing the Starnote, issuing an ntn.reset request to the Notecard (so the Notecard “forgets” about the Starnote), then put the Notecard in ntn mode with card.transport and see if you can sync Notes while in ntn mode but w/o a Starnote. Basically the first part of our Starnote quickstart.
12

Hi @RobLauer

[quote="RobLauer, post:11, topic:2984"]
Instead of performing a straight `hub.sync` in ntn mode, try using the `out` arg: `{"hub.sync","out":true}`
[/quote]

I have added the “out” argument in various tries, but no difference.
Regarding suggestion #2, I went through the docs and created a template, sync’d it via cellular, then created the Note and sync’d it via ntn. It doesn’t look to me like it actually got the inbound note. See the log below.
I also tried your #3 suggestion. Interestingly, the Notecard sync’d the note via cellular and it shows in Notehub as a ntn note (but it is not). So, it is a confused Notecard. See last part of the log and the screenshot of Notehub.

sat.qi and sat.qo notes
sat.qi and sat.qo notes2069×291 20.5 KB

notecard_2025-04-22T23_55_27.log (26.3 KB)

13

Thanks @rberkelm,

I also tried your #3 suggestion. Interestingly, the Notecard sync’d the note via cellular and it shows in Notehub as a ntn note (but it is not).

So this is good, it is by design that a Note sent in NTN mode appears that way.

One more question for you - the non-functioning Notecard is an NBGL, correct? What model of Notecard is the functioning one?

Thanks,
Rob

14

Hi @RobLauer
Both Notecards are legacy NBGL-500.

15

Hi @rberkelm,

I think we have uncovered the core issue here. In certain circumstances, if you switch back and forth using the same Starnote with different Notecards, it can cause Notehub to effectively “block” one of the Notecards.

We have temporarily unblocked your problematic Notecard, so it should work with Starnote. In the meantime, I would suggest not swapping Notecards until we get this issue worked out in Notehub!

Thanks,
Rob

16

Yay, it works! Thanks @RobLauer for your persistence in tracking down the cause!
Cheers
Ray

17

I should qualify that a bit… Data from this Notecard are being received and routed successfully. Still nothing showing in Notehub Events though.

18

Hi @rberkelm,

I’m glad to hear it’s functional, but the fact that nothing is showing up in Notehub is obviously not right. In your Notehub project can you please navigate to Settings → Members and click the “Invite Support” button? I’d like to get some more eyes on your Notehub project and see if we can resolve this discrepancy (if you could also send a trace log with some time stamps that would be great as well).

Thanks,
Rob

19

Thanks for the follow-through Rob!
notecard_2025-04-28T03_46_01.log (74.8 KB)

20

This should be resolved now @rberkelm but let me know if you see any other issues!