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.