OK got the Xbee Series 2 Dev Kit with all of the RS232 and USB boards, 2 coordinators and 3 endpoint/router modules.
Followed the “Quick Start” guide, connected coordinator to PC and an end point module to a battery powered RS232 board with the red loopback attached.
Sent +++ to coordinator find, send ATND fine and got the other modules 64bit address, used ATDH and ATDL to set the address on the coordinator, all fine…
Then what? All the documentation, support and everything else included stops there, whats the use in that? It hasn’t told me how to send data, how to configure endpoint or router modules in any way, anything else about the other commands, how to interface the modules off the dev board and do the AT command sending and receiving from a pic chip or any external component for that matter. I paid fair money for a dev kit, and got pretty much zero documentation and not even a working example of actual communication on the most basic level of just sending a byte across them!
Using the X-CTU tool I tried a range test after setting the 64bit address, and all it does is report timeout errors. The endpoint Tx and Rx lights flash as the range test is running so it much be receiving the data, but the coordinator does nothing, no flashing or data received.
Can someone provide me with some worth-while documentation on using the Xbee2 and setting them up on a PIC for basic communication?
I brought the series 2 before getting feedback from the forum as was eagar to get started and the digi site stated for new customers go with 2 as 1 is legacy.
Not to worry. All I need to do is get them working on a basic level. I can set the Pan ID, destination addresses (64bit or network ID), and find out their own addresses, so effectively get 2 devices setup to only communicate with each other and no others… I think.
The problem is from there the range test doesn’t work and I have no idea how to actually send a message, byte, bit or any sort of data to and from them? What AT command do you use or what the heck do you do?
The manual explains easily enough about discovery and pairing and by setting each end point module with a unique PanID per customer, and a unique NI per module for that customer where the module pair have the prefix “COORD-ID” and “END-ID” (replacing ID with the unique number per module per customer), all the user need do to pair a set is to set the same ID for the co-ordinator and endpoint. Then on the modules I set the DN on endpoints to COORD-ID and END-ID on the co-ord, so they only send/receive data to that specific node. Simples.
The problem comes when that is done… read the manual twice, not a single mention of just sending data or receiving it. Can someone not tell me what the command is or what I do to send say the number “123456” from one module to the other? The manual is missing the absolute basic core reason I brought this module… to “send/receive” data!
The module labelled with the “W” in the dev kit turned out to be flashed with router firmware so I had no routers in my dev kit, that was the first problem.
The second was very funny; obviously thiking the router was a coordinator I was doing everything as normal, and the ass LED was flashing on both as if they were connected to each other, so I didn’t question it. The one thing that was bugging me was it stated that the coordinator shouldn’t flash, or the router shouldn’t flash until connected (cant remember which off top of my head), and that the coordinator would flash once per second, and mine was doing it twice. Discovering it was a router I flashed it with coord firmware and that solved that issue. Now when I powered up the coordinator, no leds, nothing on the ATND… yet the router was always flashing twice per second when turned out… but how?
I probed the Pan ID of the 2, and turned out the routers were connecting to a device that wasn’t the coordinator all the time. I tracked it down and turns out my home broadband router (Seimens) uses Xbee inside it, or something that can operate on the same protocol! I flashed the Xbees from ZNet 2.5 to ZB and now the routers no not connect to the broadband router, so that solved that problem too. What a random set of circumstances.
Peer to peer networking is the best to start with.
No PAN coordinator.
All nodes are equals.
Simply set the destination address.
(I’ve never seen 802.15.4 inside a WiFi router. No logical reason for it. Are you sure? You segregate 802.15.4 networks by the PAN ID and/or the RF channel choices)
I have two x-bee series 2 modules.I set one as the router and other as the coordinator.But i can only send data from the router to the coordinator.I also want to send data from the coordinator to the router.How can i do this??? :?
Firstly check you actually have router firmware on the router, and coord on the coord using the XCTU util and going to the Read button on the last tab, as mine came wit incorrect firmware and caused this seemingly similar problem in the first place.
If you have the correct firmwares then the DH and DL of the coord should be 0 or FF cant remember which, and all routers should get the messages anyway. If not try restoring the xbee defaults using the last tab again, or setting the DH and DL to the routers 64bit address (got by placing the coord into AT using +++, then calling ATND), then setting the DH and DL in AT mode by ATDL xxxxxxxx and ATDH xxxxxxxx where the X’s are the router address
Are these Series 2.5 units? I just got two [XBee 2mW Series 2.5 RPSMA and can’t get anything happening with them at all. The only settings mine work with are “XB24-B” and “ZIGBEE Router/End Device AT.”
I eventually need one XBee on my PC that can talk to one or more in robots. So far, this doesn’t seem to want to work. I’ve just got my other XBee on an XBee shield on an Arduino USB board right now and the other is on an XBee Explorer connected to my PC.
I have no idea what I am doing wrong and can’t seem to find any info that shows what I need to do to get them to talk to each other. I haven’t found a tutorial that matches what I have yet.
The modules you have should be flashable to any XB25-??? firmware at a minimum, what problems are you having with flashing? Can you communicate with both of them through your PC and XCTU?
By the way, I have since switched to using Nordic wireless modules instead of these after countless problems, and worryingly the more you read the more you find everyone having the same issues :?
angelsix:
The modules you have should be flashable to any XB25-??? firmware at a minimum, what problems are you having with flashing? Can you communicate with both of them through your PC and XCTU?
I don't see anything that says "XB25-* anything in X-CTU. I only see the "XB24", "XB24-B", "XB24-DM", and "XB24-ZB" that has to do with XBees. I haven't tried the DM or ZB variants though.
angelsix:
By the way, I have since switched to using Nordic wireless modules instead of these after countless problems, and worryingly the more you read the more you find everyone having the same issues :?
I chose the XBees for the mesh networking ability for use in robotics.
I got my two Series 2.5 XBees talking! It turns out that the XBee Shield I bought does not work with the double wide extender shield I got from Liquidware. The two just don’t seem to be compatible. When I attach the XBee shield directly to my Arduino board, everything works great.
I flashed the Xbees from ZNet 2.5 to ZB and now the routers no not connect to the broadband router, so that solved that problem too. What a random set of circumstances.