The Amp Hour

Alex Haro, CEO of Hubble, joins Chris to talk about building a network of terrestrial and space (!) based Bluetooth infrastructure to track low power devices across the globe, without a data plan or a GPS module onboard.

Welcome Alex Haro, CEO of Hubble

Chris welcomes Alex Haro, co-founder and CEO of Hubble, to discuss the ambitious task of connecting billions of Bluetooth devices directly to space

The “banner level spec”: Hubble enables any off-the-shelf Bluetooth chip to communicate with low Earth orbit satellites using a software-only firmware update

Alex describes the system as a global “Find My” for enterprise that also handles sensor readings and arbitrary data

Addressing the “Bluetooth in space” skepticism: Alex explains that while the standard is optimized for high-fidelity audio, the chips can be repurposed to emit a custom software-defined waveform in the 2.4 GHz band

The true innovation is on the satellite side: massive antenna arrays with thousands of elements perform advanced digital beamforming to pick up weak signals (0-20 dBm) from hundreds of kilometers away

The “Dinner Table Analogy”: Traditional networks “yell” to be heard, but Hubble has the device talk slower (lower bit rate) and enunciate (error correction) while the satellite uses thousands of “microphones” to isolate a single voice

Why Bluetooth instead of LoRa? Hubble co-founder and CTO of Ben Wild, is the architect of Amazon Sidewalk. He chose Bluetooth because it is globally ubiquitous and the 2.4 GHz band is unlicensed worldwide

Technical trade-off: While LoRa uses spread spectrum chirps, 2.4 GHz allows for much smaller antenna arrays on the satellites compared to the 900 MHz band

The hybrid network approach: Devices use the same SDK to communicate via a crowdsourced terrestrial network (apps and gateways) or directly to satellites when out of range

Constellation roadmap: Hubble currently has four production satellites in orbit (covering the globe twice daily) and aims for 64 satellites by 2029 for continuous real-time coverage

Removing the GPS chip: By using Angle of Arrival (AoA) on the satellite, Hubble can determine a device’s location to within tens of meters, reducing BOM costs and power consumption

Future “Reverse GPS”: Once multiple satellites are overhead, Hubble can combine AoA with Time of Flight (ToF) measurements for even higher accuracy

Network capacity: Each 10km satellite beam can handle roughly 100,000 simultaneous devices before hitting saturation, with terrestrial gateways offloading density in major metros

Dealing with the “grumpy engineer”: Alex discusses lowering friction for developers by investing in the Zephyr Project and partnering with Texas Instruments to pre-flash the Hubble stack on Bluetooth SOCs

Stack coexistence: The Hubble SDK allows the radio to time-slice, maintaining a standard Bluetooth connection to a phone while sending satellite packets during idle periods

Payload specs: Data packets are 13 bytes, transmitted at 400 bits per second

Business model: Pricing starts around $2 per device per month and scales down with volume to hit the “price elasticity” needed for tracking billions of assets

Enterprise use cases: From tracking shipping pallets to monitor loss, to cold chain monitoring for pharmaceuticals and agriculture

The SpaceX experience: Alex describes the “visceral” feeling of the double sonic booms from the Falcon 9 landing during their launch party

Find out more at hubble.com (or hub of BLE)

AI Data Centers & Local LLMs: Dave discusses his noise concerns regarding a new AI data center and its diesel backup generators being built near his office. Chris shares his experience running local AI models like Gemma 4 on a laptop using the Hermes orchestrator for tasks like coding and internet research.

USB Power Delivery Chips: Discussion of the CH224, a USB PD negotiation chip that works via DIP switches or pin strapping without requiring programming. They also touch on the CH32 X33/X35 series, which integrates similar PD functionality into a microcontroller.

CH224 LCSC Product Page

Dave’s Werewolf USB PD Review

The Art of (Paper) Electronics: The hosts admire Manabu Kosaka, a Japanese artist who creates 1:1 paper replicas of retro gadgets, including meticulously hand-cut lettering on SMD components. Dave also recounts his success as a “sold modern artist” after selling a printer-glitch masterpiece on eBay.

Manabu Kosaka on X

Manabu Kosaka Portfolio Article

Chris’s 0201 Project: Chris provides an update on his leveling project, which features an accelerometer and 16 LEDs. He is considering a move to a rigid-flex PCB design for future revisions to better manage the two-board sandwich construction .

Social Media & Networking: Insights on using LinkedIn for professional outreach (such as contacting Massimo Banzi) versus dealing with “algorithm fatigue” . A recommendation for using chronological feeds on X and Reddit to improve the user experience .

MacService Warehouse Clearance: A massive clearance at MacService in Melbourne features rows of vintage “boat anchor” test gear . Dave expresses concern that thousands of items may end up as e-waste if not sold by the pallet.

MacService Clearance Forum Thread

Bring a Trailer

Hyundai EV Recall: Dave recounts the recall of his 2020 Hyundai EV due to a software error that could lead to battery fires. He notes an annoying, repetitive relay clicking sound coming from the dash following the service update.

The TI Datasheet Controversy: Dave details how Texas Instruments updated process nodes and designs for classic parts like the NE5532 and OPA134 without changing part numbers. These changes led to reduced slew rates, lower maximum supply voltages (22V down to 18V), and the removal of features like trim pins.

Dave’s Video: TI Screwed Up the NE5532

“It Happens” Segment: Dave shares a “repair fail” where he accidentally mangled the 5,000-turn drive coil of his Bulova Accutron 2 watch while attempting to change the battery.

Industry and Legal News: Brief mentions of 3D printing regulations in New York, Bambu Lab’s “closed” ecosystem controversies, and Lewis Rossmann suing Samsung over warranty issues. They also discuss Battle Born Batteries suing a YouTuber after their product failed a test conducted to its own datasheet specifications.

Battle Born Technical Note

Dave and Chris discuss a massive “boat anchor” warehouse clearance, 0201 board assembly, Texas Instruments’ stealthy datasheet updates for classic op-amps, the latest in local AI models, and paper-based electronics art

Massimo Banzi is co-founder of Arduino, the worldwide project built upon easily accessible embedded hardware. He joins Chris to talk about the design, rise, struggles, and eventual exit of the company, and what he’s now doing with Supermoderno.