Which Battery Power Source for XBee Pro + Arduino ?

Wireless & IoT
1

Looking for suggestions to battery power source XBee Pro modules:

  1. I am supposed to use three 1.5 battries (AA batteries) along with a 3.3V regulator chip to power the XBee Pro ?

which regulator should I be using in this case ?

  1. or I am supposed to use a 3.3V battery to power XBee Pro ?

in this case which battery should I order ?

I’ll be using Xbee Pro in combination with Arduino mini pro (3.3v i believe)

Any other ideas appreciated too

TIA !

2

If the Arduino mini pro has a 3.3V regulator then you could power the XBee from the Arduino board.

You won’t find batteries that output a constant 3.3V over their life time so you do need a voltage regulator. Look for a LDO (low drop out) regulator. I think SparkFun may have one.

3

I’ve used a 3.3V regulator fed by a 6V battery.

4

Is it possible to use directly 2AA batteries connected to a stan-dalone Xbee pro ?

5

I don’t think you’re going to be able to reliably run the XBee directly from batteries (though I haven’t tried it myself). You will need a more stable supply.

When you choose a regulator, be sure to pay attention to the amount of current it can supply. When transmitting at full power, an XBee Pro requires 215 mA. Be sure your regulator can supply it (hint: the built-in one on the Arduino Pro Mini cannot. Don’t try it. I did).

I am currently running an XBee Pro connected to an Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V, using this regulator as the supply:

http://store.fungizmos.com/index.php?ma … cts_id=225

and a Sparkfun 1100 mAH Lipo as the power source.