Wireless Transceivers for 200m distance (including hinderances)
genius
Posts: 3
I am searching for a reliable RF transceiver chip for distance up to 200 meters including hurdles. Hurdles may be walls or humans.
I have a number of operator units each having a transceiver and communicating with the main transceiver. Please suggest if any such transceiver is available. Thanks.
I have a number of operator units each having a transceiver and communicating with the main transceiver. Please suggest if any such transceiver is available. Thanks.
Comments
Welcome to the Parallax forum!
A lot depends upon what kind of antenna you can use. If the operator units are stationary, a directional antenna can provide reliable comms with some pretty wimpy transmitters and shield the receiver from omnidirectional noise. Can you divulge more detail about your situation? Are you sending data, audio, video, or ... ? How fast do you need to send?
-Phil
I've been looking into stocking the 900 mHz XBees for this purpose since they're supposed to work up to a mile. Haven't worked with them yet, but I bet they'd be an appropriate solution.
You might also get by with the 60 mW XBee units which we stock. They're in short supply due to a factory flood in Thailand.
Ken Gracey
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Accessories/CommunicationRF/tabid/161/ProductID/717/List/0/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName,ProductName
. . . except it has the low power XBees. Therefore, just buy the individual pieces and substitute the XBee devices for th 60 mW versions.
The book is a free download so you can have it anyway - no need to get a printed copy in the XBee Starter Kit.
Thank you Phil for your kind response.
1. The operator units are not stationary.
2. I wish to send alphanumeric data.
3. I need transceivers because I have to send as well as receive.
Can you recommend some suitable transceiver along with antenna please ? Would be very grateful.
Thanks Ken Gracey. 1 mile range for 900 MHz XBees is line of sight without any hindrance and in the presence of hindrance like humans, the range will be substantially reduced and thus this solution will fail for 200 meters range.
What is the range of the 60mW XBees units?
@Leon - You beat me to the punch!
Any of the reported ranges are going to be "line of sight" because any other report will depend on so many things.
Respectfully: Why would you assume that the 900 MHz units "will fail for 200 meters range"? That's only about 650 feet, or a little over 1/10th of a mile. I had no problem communicating with a standard 60 mW XBee Pro that was sitting inside a building at a range of about 400 feet, and reasonably good communication out to 500 feet. I think there's a very reasonable chance that the 900 MHz units will work out to 200 meters, depending of course on the exact nature of your obstacles.
Can the mobile transceivers be mounted in a fixed orientation (e.g. atop a forklift cage, instead of on someone's person)?
-Phil
I know I've mentioned this before on the forum somewhere. I walked down our street with a 900MHz XBee (the other remained in my house). The transmissions went through fine as I walked down the block. When I turned the corner bringing all the houses on the block (about 8 houses) in between the two XBee, I lost the signal. I'm pretty sure they worked 200 meters away as long as there weren't too many obstacles between.