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Hi everyone, I'm very happy to announce something that 3D Robotics has been working on since late last year in cooperation with a few very talented developers. Today we are announcing the 3DR Radio telemetry system, an open-source alternative to XBee telemetry set-ups, with superior performance, great range and a much lower price (half the price of the equivalent Xbee kit).

This is a 2-way, half-duplex wireless communication system with a standard TTL UART interface, based on HopeRF's HM-TRP data link modules, and custom firmware that improves upon the module's original features and performance.

The SiK firmware includes a bootloader that permits radio firmware updates over the serial interface, and radio firmware with configurable parameters. Updates and configuration are fully supported in the APM Mission Planner (press control-A to bring up the window below), and also possible through AT commands.

From the wiki:

• light weight (under 4 grams without antenna)
• available in 900MHz or 433MHz variants
• receiver sensitivity to -121 dBm
• transmit power up to 20dBm (100mW)
• transparent serial link
• air data rates up to 250kbps
• MAVLink protocol framing and status reporting
• frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)
• adaptive time division multiplexing (TDM)
• support for LBT and AFA
• configurable duty cycle
• builtin error correcting code (can correct up to 25% data bit errors)
• demonstrated range of several kilometres with a small omni antenna
• can be used with a bi-directional amplifier for even more range
• open source firmware
• AT commands for radio configuration
• RT commands for remote radio configuration
• adaptive flow control when used with APM
• based on HM-TRP radio modules, with Si1000 8051 micro-controller and Si4432 radio module

Kit price is $74.99:

• 3DR Radio kit 915MHz
• 3DR Radio kit 433MHz

Individual radios are $35.99 (USB) and $31.99 (pins):

• 3DR Radio USB 915MHz
• 3DR Radio Pins 915MHz
• 3DR Radio USB 433MHz
• 3DR Radio Pins 433MHz

Kits and radios are available for purchase today, and they will start shipping next week.

Coming soon: a 3DR Radio XBee footprint adapter for both frequencies, compatible with our USB XBee adapter and Sparkfun's XBee Explorer boards.

We will also be releasing a version of the radios on both frequencies with an Xbee-compatible footprint, so you already have Xbee adapters, you can use them. 

We hope you enjoy using these radios as much as we have during development, the simpler hardware and configuration tools compared to XBee provide a much smoother experience. We look forward to hearing your comments!

Huge thanks to the developers who made this happen: Team leaders Andrew Tridgell and Mike Smith along with Michael Oborne, Seppo Saario, Marco Robustini and others.