It's worth getting these: https://www.amazon.com/Makerfire-NRF24L01-Breakout-Regulator-Wireless/dp/B01IK9GCPE/ to make using them easier.
Audio wave form imitator circuit
- Thread starter LikeTheSandwich
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How would that make it easier? I plan on just soldering it to a perf board anyway and using an MCU that has a 3.3V regulator already.
Seems like that breakout would make it more difficult for me, unless I'm missing something (which happens a lot).
If you use a perfboard with no connected holes, you will be fine, if not, at least these: https://www.amazon.com/Makerfocus-nRF24L01-ESP8266-Breadboard-Breakout/dp/B01N5AK6E1/
The pins are staked and they don't fit protoboards or patterned perfboards (two pins end up in the same line).
Yeah, I'm using totally unconnected perf boards, but I think next time I'll use these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZYTZ48...abc_9CZDXHCP4034HRTC3ADW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Those look to be the most useful type I've ever seen, and they're still pretty cheap.
Just to be clear, here's the board alone, and one to the latter adapters. You don't need them if you are not using a protoboard or protoboard laid out like one, but if you want to use them in a protoboard to test, etc., they make life much easier.
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So I received my Qiachip TX118SA-4 ASK RF Modules and they work perfectly. The on-air time for a single transmission is very short, on the order of 125ms or less. The receiver latches quickly, though I wouldn't count on one packet you can still send several in no time to speak of.
There is a little oddness I don't have time to investigate further yet. When you stop transmitting, RTL_433 decodes a smoke detector in learn mode. This is consistent, not occasional.
Otherwise, very easy to use and at least on the breadboard, very reliable.
There is a little oddness I don't have time to investigate further yet. When you stop transmitting, RTL_433 decodes a smoke detector in learn mode. This is consistent, not occasional.
Otherwise, very easy to use and at least on the breadboard, very reliable.
Seems cool. But for the price and the easier restrictions, using 2.4GHz modules seems like the way to go. With the timing restrictions on the 433MHz, I'd have to either synchronize them or reply on interrupts, and as it's not continuous there's some sort of risk there.
A little further testing suggests it is very sensitive to the antenna connected to the board. To make it reliable, I think I would have to improve the antennas, they are pretty lame. But, it works!
It’s stunning how cheap things can be sometimes. These are mind boggling
OK So I got the 2.4GHz modules, and they worked great last night, and now they don't, and I don't even know where to begin troubleshooting. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Can you be more specific about what "don't work" means?
The only "more specific" I can get is that "radio.available()" on the receiver unit returns only false continually. I have no idea how to troubleshoot beyond that. The connections are all electrically continuous, so it's not that. I've also tested several different modules, same thing.
Well, I can only talk about generic troubleshooting and debugging then. Obviously, something changed. You tried other hardware with the same result, so we can assume it is unlikely to be the module. That leaves the MCU and the software running on it.
If you can try a different MCU, do that. If you can't, try other pins on it, or a different interface. Check your wiring again, all of it, not just what you think is relevant.
If you made any changes to the program between working and not, remove them. Reduce the program to the simplest test case.
Yes, I did reduce it to a simple test case. I did change the wiring, that's when the problem started, but now I've changed it back. I do have other MCUs, I'll try that a little later just in case, but I have an appointment to take my kids around town with the go kart.
Found one issue, not sure why I didn't find it in my earlier tests, but I had two of the pins shorted. All fixed now.
Holy friggin' cow, this has been such a friggin' pain. I had gobs of problems, mostly relating to bad solder joints (apparently I suck at soldering), but also apparently I have a bad MCU, and also apparently these NRF24L01 modules don't work (or maybe just the libraries I have) with the off-brand Arduino Nanos that I have. But they work a little bit sometimes. But I have no clue why. They work fine with my Seeeduino Xiaos (when they're wired properly), but not the Nanos. So there's like 2 full days of (mostly) wasted time. Next time, I'm gonna spend the extra and get ESP modules or something to avoid these issues because $5-$10 extra is definitely worth the 2 days of troubleshooting it saves. Holy friggin' crap, that was ridiculous.
Sorry to hear you had so much trouble. I think there's a chance the problem is with the power supply. The nRF2401L+ is very power hungry and the board's regulator might not be enough. That's one reason for the adapter boards I pointed out earlier, to get them enough current.
I've read most people have had no issue as using Nanos and Unos with them. I discovered that some pins on my devices may be faulty. I have it working again by changing the pins, using a larger cap, and an external power source. Definitely gonna splurge on an ESP32 or something comparable next time.
Well I finally did what I should've done in the first place: I bought a $10, 27MHz RC car from Walmart and I'm gutting it for the receiver, and installing a latching switch in the controller.
Range? Most of those remote cars have a range line of sight of about 50 to 100 feet.
Ron
