XBee: Can I get both API and Passthough?

Wireless & IoT
1

Background:

I am building a calibration rig that needs to spin while querying the device to be calibrated and measuring an analog signal, so it would be nice if I could do this with out a wire that could get tangled. I have used Xbee as a pass-through device, which would be perfect for querying my device. The Xbee also has the 10-bit ADC which is good enough for the analog sample. The Xbee is perfect except I have not been able to get both functions to work with the same firmware.

I can do whatever parsing I want on the coordinator end, but the device that is talking with the end device Xbee is a closed system so it can only handle the preset commands that it is expecting. I guess I could use 2 XBees w/ AT firmware for the pass-though and 2 more with API firmware for the ADC sample, but that seems silly.

Question:

I am using the XBP24-B (the bottom reads XBP24-BWIT-004…) is there a way I can query one of my analog lines, then put the Xbee in a pass-though mode (or a mode where I can send a character though the end device UART then have the UART send what it received on UART back to me)?

Thanks for your help.

2

Update:

I have:

End Device w/ AT firmware

Coordinator w/ API firmware

I can query the ADC using by sending the AT command “IS” using the 0x17 API structure.

I can receive any characters received on the end device UART at the coordinator wrapped in the 0x90 API structure

All I need to do now is figure out how to send a character to the end device from the coordinator such that it is sent out on the end device UART. Basically does any one know which API structure will tell the end device to send a character/data (or series of characters) out on the Dout UART line?

3

You have it figured out. Use AT mode at the remote and API mode at the base.

To send data to the remote you build an command 0x10 or 0x11 API packet. Look these up in the XBee Manual.

4

waltr:
You have it figured out. Use AT mode at the remote and API mode at the base.

To send data to the remote you build an command 0x10 or 0x11 API packet. Look these up in the XBee Manual.

Sweet thanks, building the 0x10 structure worked perfectly.