Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Radford on March 22, 2012 at 3:23pm

Yup I have - but only on the bench so far, not tested in the field yet. Connection @ 57600, with the module you link to on the APM, with the 'active' breakout board that does the level shifting. On the PC end, I use the USB version, which saves messing about with an ftdi etc. You may not need the level shifting, I read somewhere they are 5V tolerant, however you probably still need a 3V power supply. 

You need to configure the modules to run at 57600, they are 9600 by default. Download the configurator app that they have linked, it's easy. 

To test the link at any baud rate, just jump rx to tx on the remote module, and connect with a serial terminal at the correct baud rate and it should be a loop back

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Permalink Reply by Quentin Mayberry on March 22, 2012 at 3:34pm

Thanks got them running now (hadn't pressed the reset button on the apm - doh)!

I can use any baud rate it appears and the faster 115k seems to lose less packets on the mavlink crc check for some odd reason.

It will be interesting to see how they perform in flight.

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Permalink Reply by Quentin Mayberry on April 5, 2012 at 1:00am

Hi Jason, I tried various different configurations and eventually have gone back to the original as it loses less packets and gives the best response. It also keeps the link up at around 92% if I set the planner flow rates to 3,3,1,3,3 for arducopter.

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Permalink Reply by Rob Haines on April 5, 2012 at 3:37pm

Hi, i cant get my XRF's to connect at all. I've got the same settings as above and they are in different rooms.

Do you have XRF Tx connected to Rx or TX on the APM?

Cheers

Rob

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Radford on April 6, 2012 at 12:43am

Test the units themselves first.On the APM XRF just connect RX to TX - ie not connected to the APM at all. Then test with a serial terminal program that you get characters repeated that you typed in.

And get the USB XRF module for the GCS side - it makes life a lot easier.

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Permalink Reply by Quentin Mayberry on April 6, 2012 at 3:55am

What breakout boards are you using for the XRF'S Xtreambee or red sparkfun?

I found that the sparkfun boards were not compatible with the APM 2, so ordered a couple of xtreambee boards and it then worked. http://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/XtreamBee-Board-p/tel-xbee.htm

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Permalink Reply by Rob Haines on April 6, 2012 at 4:41am

Yup linking the Tx and Rx on the apm XRF echos back.

I've got their XBBO breakout board for the APM and the FTDI USB interface on the PC end.

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Permalink Reply by Quentin Mayberry on April 6, 2012 at 4:58am

have you got an APM 1 or 2?

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Permalink Reply by Rob Haines on April 6, 2012 at 8:39am

I've got APM2

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Permalink Reply by Quentin Mayberry on April 6, 2012 at 6:08am

Jason, I am assuming the baud rate is set to 57.6k. If not that may explain the issue with the connection to the APM (that can be changed in the config page of the apm planner if it is a different baud rate).

Also, make sure that after you make a hardware change to the board, that you reset it to recognise the change (i.e. connecting the XRF). I am told that is not always necessary, but my APM 2 doesn't recognise the change until it is reset! My XRF's wouldn't talk to each other when connected to the APM, but would when not. In the end I pressed the rest button on the APM and all has been well since.

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Permalink Reply by Ravi on April 6, 2012 at 7:07am

can someone suggest, what is the utility for configuring for XRF boards. ravi

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