Really simple, reliable, short range RF?

Greetings,

I’m an experienced PIC and PC programmer but an RF newbie, asking for a bit of RF advice. I need to transmit a 10-byte packet once a minute to a receiver over a distance of no more than 20 feet. I don’t want to mess with Manchester encoding etc., and am looking at a variety of possible drop-in solutions that will provide a transparent no-brainer serial link (at least 9600 baud) that is as physically small as possible. FCC and European certification for the module is a must. I’m considering the DM163027 from Microchip (or the nRF2401A if it’s certified); can anyone suggest any better solutions?

Thanks in advance for any input you may have.

I’d use the nRF24L01. The chip itself meets ETSI standards, but you will still need to get your system tested for conformance before selling it. It’s quite expensive.

Leon

Why not use bluetooth? Range and speed are more than adequate for your application.

heliophagus:
Greetings,

I’m an experienced PIC and PC programmer but an RF newbie, asking for a bit of RF advice. I need to transmit a 10-byte packet once a minute to a receiver over a distance of no more than 20 feet. I don’t want to mess with Manchester encoding etc., and am looking at a variety of possible drop-in solutions that will provide a transparent no-brainer serial link (at least 9600 baud) that is as physically small as possible. FCC and European certification for the module is a must. I’m considering the DM163027 from Microchip (or the nRF2401A if it’s certified); can anyone suggest any better solutions?

Thanks in advance for any input you may have.

Maybe overkill as it’s two-way with error correction (that can’t be done with a unidirectional link): 802.15.4 modules from any of 15 vendors, including Digi XBee sold here. Indeed, Digi’s marketing theme is “Drop-in Networking”, where often you need to write little or no code to communicate. Modules are about $20. Bluetooth isn’t arranged for broadcast or one-to-many if that need arises, and I’ve found Bluetooth much more expensive and hard to deal with in M2M.