Hi, I’m working on a project using two RF-24G boards. I’ll ultimately need bidirectional communications, but for now I’m testing unidirectional: I’ve got both of my boards running the same code, which chooses to enter either receive or transmit mode at start-up (based on a switch.) The controller on my board is a PIC18LF452.
If the boards have been sitting for a while they usually work fine… the transmitting board displays the pattern it’s sending on some LEDs, and the receiving board shows it as well. However, after about 10 seconds (sometimes as much as several minutes) the communications stop. The transmit board keeps displaying new patterns, but the receiver board’s pattern is frozen. I don’t know where the breakdown occurs… it could be the transmitter or receiver.
Usually when this happens power cycling doesn’t help at all. At least, not immediately. Waiting several minutes usually makes the boards work again (for a while). Since waiting a few minutes helps (with the power off), I’m thinking it must be a thermal issue, or a capacitive issue. I’m pretty sure it’s not a code issue, since the amount of time it takes until lock-up is so variable. Also, communications seem to last longer when one of the boards is the receiver, but ultimately it hangs regardless of which is which.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I could post an image of my board, it’s my first wireless design, so it might not be very good. I have a ground plane on my entire board, except for under the RF-24G… I left that area empty. Also, I accidently programmed the board at 5V once… the PIC would be fine, but could that have damaged the RF-24G this way?
Thanks,