Wireless communications in a drilling operations environment

An apparatus comprises: a drill string and an inline instrument hub 115 located at or above the earth's surface comprising a transmitter to wirelessly transmit, while the drill string rotates, data representative of downhole communications to a data processor unit 192 located above the earth's surface. The hub further comprises an antenna to receive communications from the data processor unit. The apparatus further comprises a first communication channel between the hub and downhole instrumentation 151 comprising wired pipe and a second communications channel between the hub and downhole instrumentation which carries one of mud pulse, acoustic and optical signals. The hub may be associated with a sensor including an accelerometer and a fluxgate. The hub may also comprise means for powering the sensor. The downhole instrumentation may comprise an antenna used to communicate directly with the data processor unit when a downhole tool is proximate the surface of the earth.