XBee shield UNO tribulations

Wireless & IoT
1

Hi everybody,

The problem I have is communication between XBee (on the [USB explorer connected to my PC) and the XBee (on the XBee [Wireless Shield mounted on the [UNO).

If anyone can help me with that step I would really appreciate it.

The [XBees (versions) and parts I ordered are the same as in this [Instructable, so I’m sure it’s not a hardware problem because it works there. When i was assembling the XBee shield all i soldered was the shield stacking headers, and my UNO is straight out of the box (no jumpers or extras)

Here is my current XBee setup, first for the coordinator(PC) and second for XBee (UNO), both have the latest firmware. and identical Baud rates on the XBees and serial port COM7

[<LINK_TEXT text=“https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3R-u … ter_01.jpg”>https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3R-uSa1zPcA/TpK2Wt9hH5I/AAAAAAAAAFI/i2s2xTgqG5k/s144/xbee_coordinator_x_ctu_master_01.jpg</LINK_TEXT>

[<LINK_TEXT text=“https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SSCG … ter_01.jpg”>https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SSCG_4LIVyM/TpK2YRLPgWI/AAAAAAAAAFM/CvwvDiH-z58/s144/xbee_end_device_x_ctu_master_01.jpg</LINK_TEXT>

Here is a video showing that I think that the XBees are paired correctly because when I type out commands in the X-CTU terminal the red LED (DOUT) on XBee shield blinks faintly, so there must be some signals getting through.

[<LINK_TEXT text=“https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PL7m … st_v01.jpg”>https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PL7mcpNJtqA/TpK2U6YwYTI/AAAAAAAAAFE/9ljl4-ol09c/s400/xbee_signal_test_v01.jpg</LINK_TEXT>VIDEO ON PICASA

But when I try to upload a simple ‘Blink’ sketch to the UNO I get this error

[<LINK_TEXT text=“https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5wCI … ode_01.jpg”>https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5wCIh7X9vx8/TpK2aah13AI/AAAAAAAAAFU/9fJFoNJWVKg/s144/arduino_error_fail_code_01.jpg</LINK_TEXT>

I tried it with Shield set to either “DLINE” or “UART” & power cycling between takes, still same error

I’m sure my arduino program is set correctly, when i connect through USB everything works as expected:

[<LINK_TEXT text=“https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nstq … ype_01.jpg”>https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nstqidEYSwI/TpK2Zc4GAwI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/HQMVi_1vZh0/s144/arduino_board_serial_type_01.jpg</LINK_TEXT>

I’m really at my wits-end, can you please take a look and tell me if there are any differences from your setup or any steps I might have missed? (let me know if the links are broken,)

Thanks in advance guys , any help would be appreciated. :D](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/L6HdWI74fi34x5NsdpI9Ww?feat=directlink)](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gPt5FMU725EIjCo-61rpjw?feat=directlink)](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/49aoiP5sAJKv4-pNnsT1dg?feat=directlink)](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ajyfThuuR_nxNhUsXN1FCA?feat=directlink)](https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/alD2dj9QJ_-fRxfHIUrBWA?feat=directlink)](http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-a-PS3-Controller-to-control-an-Arduino-NXT-Bot/)](XBee 1mW Wire Antenna - Series 1 (802.15.4) - WRL-08665 - SparkFun Electronics)](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9950)](SparkFun XBee Shield - WRL-12847 - SparkFun Electronics)](SparkFun XBee Explorer USB - WRL-11812 - SparkFun Electronics)

2

Hi illacom,

Just a few thoughts:

  • If the sketch isn’t uploading, the problem is right there… nothing to do with the XBees.

  • Can you get any sketches to upload under any conditions?

  • You definitely want to be on DLINE, not UART.

  • Make sure it compiles. Even copy-and-pasted straight from the source, they don’t always.

  • Make sure your COM port is squared away. Before plugging in, check your Arduino IDE to see how many COM ports are listed. After plugging in, you should have one new one: make sure that one has a check in the box.

Hope this helps!