Discussions

XBEE modules instead of 3DR radio telemetry

Posted by Bhavik Shah on November 11, 2013 at 3:10pm

Hi,

Without knowing, we bought the xbee s1 pro modules instead of the 3DR radio telemetry kit for our communication to work with APM 2.5 board. Can anyone tell us if the xbees are compatible with the APM or do we have to buy the 3DR radio telemetry kit? 

If they are compatible, what is the correct instructions to communicate them?

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Charles lakins November 22, 2013 at 6:29pm

    I love my 900 xbees, 

  • Søren Kuula November 11, 2013 at 10:33pm

    Hi,

    Yes that will work. You can find on Google info on how to pair 2 XBees to make a transparent data link without accepting data from 3rd XBees.

    With the right antenna on the ground XBee you will get waaay better results than with 3DR radios (the ones I had anyway). I had 15 km once but it was not a very solid link any more..

    Regards

    Soren

  • Chris Card November 11, 2013 at 7:09pm

    I know that your question was directed to TCIII, So I apologize for butting in.

    There is a parameter called  " TELEM_DELAY "

    You can find it in the   Advanced Parameters list   in Mission Planner.

    3692878318?profile=original

    I have had good success with the Xbee radios. 

    If an Xbee gets bricked, it means that you'll have to re-install the radios' firmware.

    While, in my personal experience, the 3DR radios are capable of greater data rates, are have fewer lost packets and can be configured much more easily, the Xbee is a durable radio and it is a 100% legally approved radio.

  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III November 11, 2013 at 5:29pm

    @Bhavik,

    I have used the Xbee 900MHz Pros with the APMs and they do work well. I have a Xbee 900MHz Pro adapter board that I used to connect the Xbee to the APM. It has the same pinout as the APM telemetry radio and works with the APM telemetry radio adapter cable. Be sure to setup the telemetry radio bootup delay or you will brick your Xbee.

    Regards,

    TCIII ArduRover2 Developer

  • Chris Card November 11, 2013 at 3:32pm

    Yes they will work.

    The newer wiki pages shamefully no longer includes the XBee radio setup in the current guide. I could find no evidence of it.

    Fortunately the old guide still exists.  It is HERE   Bookmark it because it is hard to find.

    Since the guide is older, it does not make reference to APM 2.5 & newer radios, but by comparing the new wiki info with the older one, you should be able to get it working fairly easily.

This reply was deleted.

Activity