Cellular ingest (Particle Boron)

Push DS18B20 readings from a Particle Boron over LTE via a Console webhook. For remote sites without garage Wi‑Fi; stale-probe detection covers cellular dropouts.

Top view of a blue Arduino Uno microcontroller board on a white background
Arduino-compatible boards run the sketch that polls probes and publishes JSON. Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor. CC0

Cabins, wells, and outbuildings often have power but no garage Wi‑Fi. A Particle Boron (or B-Series) LTE board POSTs the same ingest JSON through a Particle Console webhook. Cellular dropouts are normal: ThermalTrace already marks probes stale when posts stop, so you do not need an aggressive on-device retry storm.

Prefer Blues? A Notecard + Notehub route can forward the same JSON; the Boron sketch is the first-class download from Devices.

Parts

Parts for a cellular freeze probe
Part Why Buy
Particle Boron / B-Series LTE-M / NB-IoT (region SKU). Nano-SIM or Particle SIM plan required. Particle Boron · Amazon search
Waterproof DS18B20 Pipe / crawlspace probe. Data on D2. Adafruit DS18B20 · Amazon
4.7kΩ resistor Pull-up from DS18B20 data to 3.3V. Amazon 4.7k
Cellular plan Particle cloud + carrier data. Budget for remote sites that only wake hourly. Particle Console billing or your own nano-SIM where the SKU allows it.
Optional: Blues Notecard Alternate cellular path via Notehub webhook route (same ingest URL). Blues Notecard

Wiring

  • DS18B20 VDD → Boron 3V3
  • DS18B20 GND → GND
  • DS18B20 data → D2, 4.7k to 3V3
  • USB for flash and 115200 serial; antenna attached before field deploy

Flash and webhook

  1. Open Dashboard → Devices and download Particle Boron .ino plus the webhook JSON (ingest URL filled in).
  2. Flash with Particle Workbench or Web IDE (Device OS 5+). Libraries: OneWire, spark-dallas-temperature.
  3. Console → Integrations → Webhook: event thermaltrace_ingest, POST to your ingest URL, use the downloaded webhook JSON (or set the body to the Particle event value), Content-Type application/json.
  4. Serial 115200: publish ok. Webhook history should show HTTP 200. Sensor key temp1 imports on first successful POST.

Repo listing: sketches/particle/boron_ds18b20_ingest/

Dropouts and stale probes

LTE will miss intervals in weather, roaming, or prepaid outages. Keep posting about once a minute when connected; let stale-reading detection and freeze alerts cover silence. Do not burn battery on tight reconnect loops.

Related

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FAQ

Can a cellular board post to ThermalTrace without Wi‑Fi?
Yes. The Particle Boron sample publishes JSON on event thermaltrace_ingest; a Particle Console webhook POSTs that body to your HTTPS ingest URL. DS18B20 on D2. Guide: thermaltrace.dev/about/cellular-ingest.

What happens when LTE drops?
Missed intervals are expected. ThermalTrace flags stale probes when posts stop, and freeze alerts still fire on the last known cold reading plus silence. Avoid tight reconnect loops that drain the battery.

Is Blues Notecard supported?
As an alternate path: route Notehub to the same ingest URL. Devices downloads first-class Particle Boron firmware and webhook JSON.