Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

About receivers, transmitters, transceivers, connections, antennas etc.

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bluejedi
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Posts: 35
Joined: 26 Sep 2016, 14:27

Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

#1 Post by bluejedi » 26 Sep 2016, 15:26

On the site I can only find below picture. This image lacks certain information, like the things below:
  • The Aurel transceiver has a separate pin for switching between Rx and Tx mode. I don't see it back in the image.
  • What about 3V transmitters like STX882? It needs 3V power supply, which is something different than 3.3V logic level but power is supplied to the RF modules directly from an Arduino pin (5V in this case).
  • Many receivers/transceivers have a low power sleep mode. Why is that functionality not used but is the power to the RF modules switched instead?
  • Why is power supply to the RF modules provided directly from an IO port of the Arduino Mega. Is that sufficient for every (future) RF module? Why not switch it via a transistor/FET or like? (RF modules can have power-on current usage spikes. It is therefore less wise to power them directly from an IO port).
  • Where is the information for 2.4Ghz RF modules (e.g. NRF24L01) in the wiring scheme?
  • Where is the information for 868MHz RF modules in the wiring scheme?
  • The Aurel tranceiver uses a single antenna. I expect that this is possible because it is either sending or receiving. How about other, separate, Transmitter and Receiver modules, would it be possible to have them share a single ('real') antenna just like the Aurel tranceiver?
An update of the image and more wiring info would be welcome.


Image
Last edited by bluejedi on 26 Sep 2016, 15:35, edited 3 times in total.

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Stuntteam
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Joined: 27 Jan 2016, 16:46

Re: Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

#2 Post by Stuntteam » 26 Sep 2016, 15:29

Did you check out http://www.nemcon.nl/blog2 ?

There is a wiring page for various modules:
http://www.nemcon.nl/blog2/wiring
-=# RFLink Gateway Development Team #=-
Introduction: http://www.nemcon.nl/blog2/
Generic Support forum: http://www.esp8266.nu/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

bluejedi
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Posts: 35
Joined: 26 Sep 2016, 14:27

Re: Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

#3 Post by bluejedi » 26 Sep 2016, 15:33

Yes I checked http://www.nemcon.nl/blog2. That's what I referred to as 'the site'.

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Stuntteam
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Re: Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

#4 Post by Stuntteam » 26 Sep 2016, 15:37

Ok, well.. the wiring page shows the pinout and wiring to the Mega for many different modules...

Like:
Aurel RTX MID 5v:
If you would like to use the Aurel RTX MID 5v Transceiver the pinout is:
Pin 1 = Antenna
Pin 2 = Ground
Pin 3 = Not Connected
Pin 4 = MEGA tx3/Pin 14 (TX Data)
Pin 5 = MEGA rx3/Pin 15 (-RX/TX- toggle signal!)
Pin 6 = MEGA Pin 22 (TX Enable)
Pin 7 = Ground
Pin 8 = optional: 20k resistor to ground
Pin 9 = MEGA rx1/Pin 19 (RX Data)
Pin 10= MEGA VCC (Also connect here a 100nf to ground)


RXB6:
If you would like to use the RXB6 receiver the pinout is:
Pin 1 = Antenna
Pin 2 = Not Connected / Ground
Pin 3 = Not Connected / Ground
Pin 4 = Not Connected
Pin 5 = MEGA tx2/Pin 16 (RX VCC)
Pin 6 = Not Connected
Pin 7 = MEGA rx1/Pin 19 (RX Data)
Pin 8 = Ground

and more..
-=# RFLink Gateway Development Team #=-
Introduction: http://www.nemcon.nl/blog2/
Generic Support forum: http://www.esp8266.nu/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

bluejedi
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Posts: 35
Joined: 26 Sep 2016, 14:27

Re: Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

#5 Post by bluejedi » 26 Sep 2016, 15:48

Thanks and quick response! :)
My fault, I have seen but overlooked that information.

Still leaves a few questions:
  • What about 3V transmitters like STX882? It needs 3V power supply, which is something different than 3.3V logic level but power is supplied to the RF modules directly from an Arduino pin (5V in this case).
  • Many receivers/transceivers have a low power sleep mode. Why is that functionality not used but is the power to the RF modules switched instead?
  • Is powering the RF modules directly from an Arduino IO port sufficient for every (future) RF module?
    Why not switch it via a transistor/FET or like? (RF modules can have power-on current usage spikes).
  • The Aurel tranceiver uses a single antenna. I expect that this is possible because it is either sending or receiving. How about other, separate, Transmitter and Receiver modules, would it be possible to have them share a single ('real') antenna just like the Aurel tranceiver?
I am new on board therefore many questions :mrgreen:

Thanks

akashkumar
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Posts: 2
Joined: 25 Jan 2020, 16:19

Re: Where to find detailed / better wiring and hardware information?

#6 Post by akashkumar » 25 Jan 2020, 16:41

Hello,

Warning: first post! :)

I began yesterday with experimenting with RFLink. I had first bought a set of cheap Chinese RF transceivers and later also bought RXB6 after reading the forums.

Experiments with RXB6
I first tried my experiment with RXB6 after wiring as per http://www.rflink.nl/blog2/wiring, but to no avail. I then extended with the suggested enhancements of using capacitors to reduce noise, but I still got no signal at all. I added the antenna and the shield, but still no result. I stumbled upon this page: https://diyprojects.io/how-build-rflink ... itIdWhKh3g. This one is also based on RFLink project but the wiring is a bit different. The author suggests wiring Vcc and Gnd near antenna as well. Is that needed? In any case, despite connecting that, my receiver refused to respond. I have attached the photos; if someone sees any obvious mistake, please let me know.

Experiments with cheap Chinese Set
This worked almost immediately, even without the antenna. (Soldering 17.3cm antenna didn't seem to make any difference, but then I was just testing it with 10cm distance.) I began getting data immediately although the protocol/device type received is a bit different. Is that common? For example, when I use 'SelectRemote', it actually shows PT2262 Protocol, and when I used BFT Remote control, it identified it as 'Keeloq'. Is that expected or is it noise coming in from the 'cheap' receiver?

Transmitter
This is where I am really stuck. What should be the range of the cheap Chinese transmitter with or without the antenna? I tested sending various commands back using the Protocol defined at http://www.rflink.nl/blog2/protref, essentially using the received codes, but none of them worked. I tested at around 10cm distance also, but to no avail. At this point, I am not sure whether the transmitted is faulty, or my commands are wrong. Is there any way to test the transmitter? Are there any known codes/command that I could send to SelectRemote for example, that should work?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Kind regards,
Akash
Attachments
Wiring with Vcc and Gnd of Antenna
Wiring with Vcc and Gnd of Antenna
20-01-25 14-39-04 4773.jpg (2.62 MiB) Viewed 11633 times
Wiring as per RFLink blog
Wiring as per RFLink blog
20-01-25 14-27-14 4772.jpg (2.86 MiB) Viewed 11633 times

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