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Forum Index : Electronics : Data Transceivers
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Gill Senior Member  Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
Having lots of fun playing with the new acquisitions. They are two data transceivers I bought for my current mill project. The mill is a little over complex and will need a lot of tuning. I don't fancy waiting for the wind to drop, raising and lowering the crank up tower just to reprogramme the picaxes only to wait for wind again. I've played with transmitters and receivers before (see old posts) but was one way data only. Enter the new kid on the block, Hope RF's HM-TR as distributed by MicroZed. 
It transmits and receives, so now I can do the reprogramming without having to go outside. With that done, I then receive all masthead data for logging the effect of the changes. What a breeze! 
Unlike other RF gear, this one wires up direct to the RS232 and doesn't need a picaxe at the computer. No interfacing or special coding, what goes in, comes out. 
Range is 300 odd meters and that's with some obstructions. I understand others have got much further. I suits all picaxe so is great for windmill experiments and data logging especially from above the slip rings. 
At a bargin $45 it sure has solved a major concern for me, so thought to pass the word around about the latest and greatest. was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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Cliff Wylie Newbie  Joined: 21/09/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
Hi Gill I have a couple of the Hope devices running only in one direction. Will be most interested to see how you get on,seems to be a lot of interest in them on the Picaxe forum. |
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sPuDd Senior Member Joined: 10/07/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 251 |
Looks like a very nice module, and well priced considering its specs. I can see myself getting a few of those. 
I take it that in configure mode you install a bit of software and configure the data settings. Should be a mostly once off thing though I would expect. It should work ...in theory |
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| Gill Senior Member Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
Yeh sPuDd, that's it. Download the little .exe file from the Hope RF site, set the module to configure and run the software. Here's a pic of the config utility for the type of settings to play with. 
I just run default except baud rate @ 1200(picaxe output rate). No need to fix something that is working fine. Like you say, once setup there's no need for the utility again. was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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| Dinges Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2008 Location: AlbaniaPosts: 510 |
Thanks for the heads up! I can think of a few uses for such wireless RS232 modules myself. Will have to look into acquiring a set soon. |
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| Gill Senior Member Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
G'day Cliff, Welcome to the forum and good to see you've had a play with some of the little radio modules. Was it related to windmill use? I shied away from two separate RX and TX units, wanting to stay focused on the mill and not comms issues. From seeing these talked about on the picaxe forum I jumped right in, grabbed a couple, and glad I did. It'll be interesting to see how they go with the other data transmission I'm running. Time will tell if they can work together.  was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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| Cliff Wylie Newbie Joined: 21/09/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2 |
No Gill not for windmills, bit into solar though. I had a few problems with my modules at first. I would turn them off and when I turned them on again no go. Check them with the setup program and most times the baud rate had changed reset them and away they would go. Have not come to any conclusions except I dont them turn off unless they are in an idle state. I am only using them in one direction to record temperature and display it on an lcd every 2 seconds. Get at about 100mtrs range through the house and a few trees. Regards Cliff |
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Bryan1 Guru  Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1209 |
Sheesh Gill for $45 you can get 2 each of the 433mhz rx-tx modules then 2 PIC'S can talk to each other all day long using a simple matched routine. Add a few more PIC'S and the master PIC can talk to all the others either giving commands then recieving whatever data you want. Then it's a simple matter to hookup a MAX232 chip and get the master PIC to talk to the computer. I did have a look at the picaxe for my son and he reckoned the basic oshonsoft pic compiler looked better and I agree for the cost of a couple of picaxe chips you have a basic compiler for most 16f-18f pics. Something to ponder Cheers Bryan |
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| Gill Senior Member Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
Cliff, My first reaction was that you'd left the config pin floating instead of tying to 0v but I read in the picaxe forum where that was not the case. Certainly something to look out for. Let's hope it's a one off problem. For one way TX to RX you could have done it cheaper with the Jaycar or Oatley modules. $20 for the two, but the new Big Boy Toy is funner, hay?! 
Bryan, Yes, a lot of scope with these units, seemingly endless possabilities. The module has a MAX232 built in so even better. How about one day posting some HomeGrown PIC projects to inspire us?  was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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| Robb Senior Member Joined: 01/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
Be sure to check to see if they are suitable for use on a given frequency in your area.
ACMA radcom database |
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| Gill Senior Member Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
Robb, As I understand it these low power devices are covered by class licence as they fall below the power level and are within the band as set for such devices so the search you linked to is not applicable. If I am missing something here perhaps you could present the relevant info? Your warning may have some importance in countries other than Australia and New Zealand as not all countries have similar legislation though most follow the general pattern if not to the letter. was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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| Robb Senior Member Joined: 01/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
The Australian legislation states that .........Should interference occur, the onus is on the user of a LIPD to take measures to resolve that interference, for example, by re-tuning or ceasing to operate the LIPD......... The 433-434Mhz lipd band is shared by the australian 70cm amateur radio band. That section of the band is normaly used for repeater inputs. Many repeater operators resorted to CTCSS to try and deal with the problem of lipd users ignorant to the issues they cause. So yes they are legal in that band but with terms and conditions as I understand it. |
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| Gill Senior Member Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
Thanks Robb, It's good to be aware that no one has 'carte blanch' use of the air waves and civility is always the best approach in such matters of conflicting band usage. If an awareness of the legislation is good, then it is just as good to know that legislation has no age restriction, examination to pass or requires a pre purchase or pre operation procedure to validate or approve such use prior to doing so. Same as CB radio. A bit like riding a bike really, no test or licence, just don't do anything silly, watch out for others and don't play chicken with big trucks. Child's play!
73's de VK4VGA was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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| Gill Senior Member Joined: 11/11/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
I see Stan Swan has a feature article in the October issue of Silicone Chip magazine. He does focus his introduction on telemetry where the 2way ability of the device can ensure a more accurate data transmission over that of one way only transmissions. I like the ability to change things like operating/measurement parameters from one end and receive new data back. Perhaps we'll see other applications in his next article. was working fine... til the smoke got out. Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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