XBee series 2.5 configuration

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XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby Tom » Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:31 pm

Hi,

I just switched from XBee "regular" aka series 1.0 to series 2.5. It no longer works "out of the box". A series 2.5 network needs 1 "coordinator.
So if you want to have a transparant serial XBee-link, one of your XBee modules will need to be set as the "coordinator".

For more info check http://t413.com/news/fast-2-way-xbee-series-2-data
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby lukasz » Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:42 pm

Tom, where did you purchase those xbee modules?
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby Tom » Tue Nov 02, 2010 7:41 am

Those 2 were XBee Pro 2.4 GHz Series 2 from Sparkfun (as I told you once per email :-) )
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby lukasz » Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:28 pm

In case any of you run into 10% duty cycle with xbee 868 here is a workaround:
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/xbee-868-revived
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby Tom » Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:36 pm

Hehe, they just send a reset command every 6 minutes :-D

I never ran into the 10% duty cycle issue. Apparently the gluonpilot's ASCII protocol is not that inefficient...
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby Tom » Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:24 pm

I implemented the "reset" hack for XBee modules to overcome the duty cycle.
My setup stopped TX'ing after about 27 minutes without this.

Now the gluonpilot will send a reset command every 5 minutes. To do this, you need to know the guard time for entering command mode of your XBee module (GUARD_TIME "+++" GUARD_TIME --> entering command mode). Use the digi config tool to read it out. Mine was 1000ms, which is long and accounts for a total of 2,5 seconds of no communication. Make it smaller if you intend to control your plane over XBee.

Code in communication_telemetry_task() in communication_csv.c:
Code: Select all
if (c % 6000 == 0)   // reset every 5 minutes
{
   uart1_puts("\r\nResetting XBEE...\r\n") ;
   vTaskDelay( ( ( portTickType ) 1001 / portTICK_RATE_MS ) ); // guard time wait 1000ms
   uart1_puts("+++");
   vTaskDelay( ( ( portTickType ) 1001 / portTICK_RATE_MS ) ); // guard time wait 1000ms
   uart1_puts("ATFR\r\n") ;
   vTaskDelay( ( ( portTickType ) 10 / portTICK_RATE_MS ) ); // wait 10ms
}
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby Tom » Tue Dec 28, 2010 6:04 pm

Been running correctly now for 1h20 minutes, so I'll commit the change to the SVN server!
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby lukasz » Tue Dec 28, 2010 6:51 pm

Great job Tom!
I'm glad this implementation works.
I'll test this once I have xbee modules in my hand.
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby lukasz » Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:59 pm

Tom, this week I should have sparkfun XBee Explorer Regulated board.
Can I power the xbee module directly from gluonpilot or you recommend separate power source?
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Re: XBee series 2.5 configuration

Postby Tom » Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:51 pm

Hi Lukasz,

This will depend on your power output level.
The module in my funjet has 25mW output power (configured). I guess it is no problem to use the gluon power source for this. If you use 500mW output power, I'd use a separate power source.
Myself I use a separate power source, just to be sure it doesn't have any influence on the performance. The upcoming extension board has a switched power supply on board, so in this case you could use this one.
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