am i able to use the XTend 900 1W RPSMA - 40 Mile Range with a high gain antenna in place of the XBee Pro 900 Wire Antenna with the XBee Adapter kit - v1.1 for wireless telemetry with the ardupilot mega to utilize the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum in any way ? or is this unit for ground only ?
new to this still trying to get my head around it all i was told to expect interferency and to get fhss with a long range unit to get past it
any info to steer me in the right direction would be great
christopher anderson , kingaroy qld
Replies
hi
I have some of these Xtend modules and would like to know if they can be interfaced with the ardumega,
Has any one got these to work
Steven
The -SI = RPSMA antenna connector
-MI = MMCX antenna connector
So,in X-ctu, using the XT-09 "9XTEND 9600/115K HOPPING" function set, VERSION "206C"
There are seperate Baud settings for the serial interface and for the RF data transmittion rate.
The default settings are : 115200 BPS for the RF data rate [ BR=1 ] and
: 9600 BPS for the serial port data rate [ BD=3 ]
Also the RTS ,pin 10 GPI1, is by default turned off [ RT=0 ] , not active
CTS is an output so that won't stop data from coming out.
BTW... The Default TX power level is set to 1 Watt [ PL=4 ] (I would lower this while working indoors.)
At 1 watt the current draw is ~730mA
When changes to the radio parameters are made, one has to be sure to WRITE [ WR ] so the chages get stored in non-volitile memory. Otherwise the settings will revert to the pervious [stored] settings.
Both of the Radios should have the same data baud rate and RF data rates.
The RF data rates MUST be the same for the to comunnicate.
If the serial baud rate is greater than the RF baud rate, a buffer over-run could result, and data would be lost.
Data would be lost ,but data, garbage or not, would still emerge.
To start: I would load default settings, changing only TX power level to 10mW [ PL=1]and the RF [ RF=0 ] and Serial [ BD=3 ] baud rates to make them both 9600.
Don't add masks or assign a VID or any address settings
With the interface boards and the loop-back adapter that came with the development kit on the you can verify that
the settings work by using the range test.
If the radios work with the interface boards the will work with a uP. Provided the logic levels are compatible
The I/O signals are VCC-0.7V for high level.
The only pins Req. for basic opperation are 1.GND 2.VCC 7.SHDN=HIGH and 6.DI or 7.DO to opperate.
Any other unused pins are left unconnected.
The data line coming in to the Xtend module should be high (Vcc) when idle, (no data).
I'll check in tomorrow.
The X-Tend radio won't easily work with the X-Bee adapter kit. There are so many physical differences that it would not be worthwhile.
The pins also function differently from the X-Bee.
You can buy the x-tend serial interface board separately [Digikey p/n XTIB-R-ND].
The development kit has two interface boards.
You will want at least one of those interface boards to configure the radio.
The x-tend radio is a robust device.
For 900 MHz it is fast! 10 mSec latency if you don't use AES, & a 115.2Kbit/sec data rate.
You need 5V & 730mA to transmit at 1Watt, the interface board needs 9volts.
Depending on the data rate required, I would start with X-Bee pro 900. It's a lot less expensive.