In the next nRF9160 Feather board revision, any chance you could consider adding a mini SWD connector to the board? Whilst Tag-Connect/clip combo is useful, it’s easier to use a SWD connector hooked up to an Edu Mini or another J-Link probe, esp. if the board is in a case or something like a Feather doubler. In addition, there is a significant cost saving. Thanks.
Thanks for the suggestions zpm1066. I like the idea of having a dedicated 10-pin SWD connector as well. Unfortunately it doesn’t fit on the design! I’ll keep your suggestion in mind though.
Hi Jered. Thank you for your response and a fantastic site. I always view the activity on a forum/blogs as of great importance when committing to a dev board and platform.
I’m somewhat torn between which nRF9160 board to purchase. A few do have a nRF9160 in the standard Feather format with the 10-pin SWD and Sparkfun do their Thingy Plu but it is almost 8mm longer and won’t align well with the Feather doubler/triplers that I often use. I’m well into the Feather design with nRF52840, Particle Boron,/Argon/Xenon, Raspberry Pi Pico, ESP32-S3, plus my own Feather boards with GPS, etc.
I know fitting a 10-pin SWD is probably a challenge but then folks will save around $70 by not purchasing a Tag Connect. In reviewing your board, you may be able to replace the current Tag Connect holes by a Mini SWD 0.05″ pitch connector (only 6.1mm compared to a regular SWD 12.6mm) and move the Tag Connect holes to the other side of the board. An other option may be to support two board types, one with a 10-pin mini SWD and the other with the current design. Other nRF9160 boards have shown that it is possible, so certainly worth a serious consideration. It’ll make the board a more attractive purchase.
I use Particle Borons (nRF8240 + u-blox SARA R410M/R510S LTE with eSim) but as a huge fan Nordic Semi’s low power devices and Zephyr/nRF Connect SDK, I’d like to check out a nRF9160 Feather running Zephyr. Of course, there is always an option of using Zephyr with Boron but prefer to evaluate the low power nRF9160 with its modem/GPS. Particle Boron LTE with their generous free LTE Plan that includes support for up to 100 devices & 100MB of data is superb and invaluable. There are no real issues with Particle Device OS (FreeRTOS), I have a preference for development using nRF Connect SDK / Zephyr or vanilla Zephyr across the multiple devices that I use and deploy.
In addition to the 10-pin Mini SWD, I’m also looking for a nRF9160 Feather that has a PMIC/fuel cell for battery powered applications. I’m astounded when I find that battery operated devices, esp. those using low power nRF chips do not have an onboard fuel cell. Even the new Adafruit ESP32-S3 range now how onboard fuel cells. The cost of adding a PMIC/fuel is minimal. I’ve seen one or two nRF9160 boards with a fuel cell but lack a mini SWD connector.
Please consider adding a PMIC/fuel cell to your next nRF9160 Feather board upgrade.
Any chance you can share what new changes you have in mind for the next iteration of your nRF9160 board? A vote strongly for the addition or another SKU of the board with a mini 10-pin SWD and a PMIC/fuel cell.
Once again, Thank you for a fantastic site and all the work you’ve been doing to promote Zephyr and the nRF9160 Feather board.
Thanks for the feedback zpm1066. ! This is definitely stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past few years since introducing the nRF9160 Feather.
I just completed an overhaul on the design due to supply constraints and unfortunately those features didn’t make it in. I will unlikely be making any further changes/improvements until it’s easier to get parts in higher quantities.
One big improvement in the new design is the bootloader mode is now buttonless. Loading new code via the bootloader no longer requires user interaction. In many cases, for beginners, the bootloader is more than sufficient. I know for advanced users the additional tag connect is painful. But they’ll also need a programmer and the cheapest option is a nRF91DK (programming the firmware & mfw). There’s unfortunately no way around that!
Hi Jared. Thanks for the quick response. Yes, supply constraints is a significant pain point currently. Luckily I bought several Segger Edu Mini (~$20 each) for my different platform projects a while back and have a few more on back order but likely won’t get them until the end of the year if I’m lucky!
Great improvement regarding the buttonless boot loader. I assume it supports FOTA?
Does the current V4 use the latest Nordic Semi’s nRF9160 revision and modem firmware?
I’m leaning towards getting your board plus another with the 10 pin mini SWD (Sparkfun Thing Plus or other) but I’m still exploring options. I have a dozen or more Nordic Semi nRF52840 dongles that use 10-pin Tag Connector. So, will probably need to get a 6-pin Tag Connector for your board.
Are there any downsides to the Sparkfun nRF9160 Thing Plus? How does the GPS acquisition timings on nRF9160 Thing Plus compare to your nRF9160 Feather?
Thank you!
Great improvement regarding the buttonless boot loader. I assume it supports FOTA?
Yup!
Does the current V4 use the latest Nordic Semi’s nRF9160 revision and modem firmware?
No, it uses the older B0 silicon. New boards will be B1.
Are there any downsides to the Sparkfun nRF9160 Thing Plus? How does the GPS acquisition timings on nRF9160 Thing Plus compare to your nRF9160 Feather?
The power supply is not optimized. Otherwise it’s the same RF circuitry. I designed it based on the v2 of the nRF9160 Feather. 
“The power supply is not optimized.”
Hi Jared, What specifically is lacking in the power circuit of the nRF Thing Plus compared to your V4 board? Thanks.
The Thing Plus’s floor sleep current is > 1mA. v4 is about 35uA. v5 is about 6uA.
Awesome!! - V5 at approx. 6uA
When will you have the V5 boards available?
zpm1066 mid/late October
Fantastic! Thank you.
