Driving Simple RF Modules - ASK/OOK

Areal Person

Hi,

I've hooked up a simple Radiotronix RF module circuit. (My first ever)
Here's the datasheets for the TX/RX modules.

TX - http://www.radiotronix.com/datasheets/RCT-ASUsersManual.pdf
RX - http://www.radiotronix.com/datasheets/new/rcr-rp_um.pdf

These are susposed to be as simple as it gets (I think), ASK/OOK
I've never done this before so I really don't know what I'm doing.

I just want to send a hello world text string and a single number.

QUESTION:

1) What Propeller object should I use ?

2) From the Propeller, Would I use standatd data communications
···· e.g Full Duplex 8,N,1 - or what should I do/use ?

3) Is an Encoder/Decoder or other IC required to send a data string ?

NOTE: SparkFun has a (visualy) similar looking module at http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/RF/KLP_Walkthrough.pdf

They say... "These devices are simple pass-through integrated circuits. Meaning, you set up your
baud-rate (as long as its within an acceptable range of whatever pair of devices you
are using), and then start sending bytes to the transmitter. Quite simply, it just sends
your data out the transmitter and the receiver grabs it, acting as if you had a wired
serial connection between them, minus the wire!"

However, I'm not sure if my Radiotronix modules are like this ?

What do you think ?

Thanks for the help,
-Areal



▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
I have a tree growing out of my head, but

what do you expect ? I'm a programmer.

Rayman

I had bad luck with the Sparkfun modules... I got 3 pairs and just returned them (hoping for a refund) today... Mine may have just been a defective batch... But, they only really worked halfway decently when sharing the same ground wire and ft away...

Even if it did work, I'd have to implement my own error checking scheme, which can be a problem...

I just got a Bluetooth from Sparkfun and I'm hoping for better luck with it!

TreeLab

Has anybody any Propeller experience with the Parallax 912 MHz transceiver? From this site,

Expected to Ship 02/11/08
These 912 MHz RF Transceivers provide an easy way to transfer data between two Parallax Microcontrollers such as the BASIC Stamp 2, SX or Propeller Chip serially at 9600 baud. These RF Transceivers have excellent range, employ 16-bit CRC Error Checking and have a FIFO Buffer.

Each module can send and receive serial data and 2 modules are required for communication. A simple example of sending data from a BASIC Stamp 2 is: SEROUT 0, 84, [noparse][[/noparse]"Hello World"]

Features:

* 800' range
* 9600 bps serial (9600, N, 8, 1)
* 16-bit CRC Error Checking
* FIFO Buffer
* +3V to +5V Operation
* Built-In Antenna

Cheers!
Paul

Chicago Mike

I've been playing with RF transceivers for a while now with the prop. I've written an object for the EasyRadio, and based it on the Extended_FDSerial Object, though its completely undocumented at this point and still a work in progress. (Hopefully I can post it soon). To answer your questions:

I really recommend you use the Extended_FDSerial Object. Its string functions are really helpful, as that with all the RF modules, all your really doing is throwing strings back and forth. There is no real encoding or decoding per say (At least none that you have to both yourself with in your programming). The modules take care if it. You send a serial string from the prop to the transmitter, it takes it and puts it over the air, the receiver picks it up, and streams it to the receiver prop. This sounds so amazingly easy, but there are a lot of things to think about: Handshaking, error correction, and bi-directional possibilities to name a few. Its taken me quite a few months of spare time to work out a good method to handle bidirectional communication with error checking.

I'm excited to see the parallax transceivers. I shopped around a while, and I really liked the Easyradio ones at the time. When I was looking it was the only one that offered RX/TX in one package. http://www.lprs.co.uk/ .. A bit pricey in the U.S. though, but really work well.