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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : HC-12 old vs new module....
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| Andrew_G Guru  Joined: 18/10/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 868 |
Hi Grogs et al, My investment in HC-12s (12 off) is very minor compared with many of you but I still would like to know where I stand. My existing modules have the HC01 website and two holes clearly visible on the silkscreen side and the crystal is clearly marked: CEC 4J 30 00L The USB (2 off) versions are yet to arrive (as is Grog's tester - but won't be long). In the absence of any real test gear can you confirm that the only way I can tell which variant I have is to fire them up and see if they talk to each other? (this will be easy enough). (As Grogs is at pains to point out, a pair of either version will talk to each other but a mixture is a real PITA.) Cheers, Andrew |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
Pretty much. Do you happen to have a UHF scanner radio? I linked to one on the thread about the HC-12 tester, and they are very cheap - US$30 or so, and would probably be a good purchase. These cheap radios are fine as scanners, but I have read some nasty things about their transmit performance, but all I ever wanted it for was for the scanner so I can listen to a frequency. They are a real easy way to find out if your modules are to spec(on frequency) or not. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Andrew_G Guru Joined: 18/10/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 868 |
Hi Grogs, No to the UHF (I checked out your listing but was waiting to see how this story unfolded). I have several VHF radios and HF (SSB) receivers but no UHF. With the UHF radio you linked to; I assume one just maximises the signal at a frequency (or let it scan to it) and all you will hear will be squawks with each bursts of data? I otherwise don't need a UHF radio so is there any more-generalised kit that would do the task plus others? (If not I'll order one) Cheers, A. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
Yes, with the radio I am using, you just select the UHF band with one button, then just dial in the frequency you want to listen to and when the module transmits, you will hear an audible blurp of data at that frequency. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
@ Andrew_G, You mentioned that you bought a couple of the USB version of the HC-12. I bought a couple a long time ago (maybe 18 mths.) and never got them to work. They need a driver and I have never been able to find one. The chip they use is STM32 something. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
I figured they would just be a 2303, 2102 or 340 USB interface chip - nothing that fancy. When my two arrive, I will crack one open to see what they have used. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3319 |
My usb HC-12 did not require a special driver on Win7 (but I already had CH340, CP210x, PL2303, FTDI drivers installed). But I did have trouble initializing it. I eventually found that I had to hold down the button on the side the whole time as I plugged it in, started Rob's configuration program, established the settings, and programmed the firmware. Then it worked. I can't check now to see which chipset it uses--it's a thousand miles away. If you have a linux system available, you can plug it into that and run "dmesg | tail" to see what type it is (provided the appropriate driver is on the linux system). ... I just looked at a lua program I have running on linux (R-PiZW) which uses CH340, CP210x, and PL2303 usb serial devices on a powered hub, and checks to make sure which one is associated with which /dev/ttyUSB#. The usb HC-12 has a CP210x serial interface. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
Mine works OK on Win10, it would not work on XP and won't work on Win7 ? Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
I suspect then, going from lizby's post above, that if you were to install the CP2102 USB chip drivers, it would then pick up and access the module. XP is getting old now for anything new - even cheap stuff from China tends to use a modern-ish USB chip - or a clone of one. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
I have downloaded drivers but to no avail, I will just assume it is faulty. I will wait to see how Andrew_G goes with his and get some from the same supplier. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
Hmmmmmmmm.....interesting......  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
Edit to above.. Just plugged it in to my Win10 machine and it works OK. It shows up in device manager on Win7 and says no drivers are installed. But when I try to update the driver I point it to the driver location and it can't find the driver. I have downloaded the drivers from 2 different locations. Paul. Edit... I will see if I can take a photo of its innards and post it. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
Here is a pic. of each side of the device.   Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
It appears they are using a large QFP ST device as the USB-serial adaptor. Overkill, I would have thought.... Can you post the ST part number on the QFP chip? That would allow us to search for the device over at the ST website, and download any drivers it needs. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
Chip No. STM32F103C8T6 99089B 9U MYS 451 that is as it is printed on the chip. I downloaded the STM32 driver from here..STM32 Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
So you installed that driver, but it still would not talk to you on XP or Win7? Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Andrew_G Guru Joined: 18/10/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 868 |
Hi Paul and Grogs, I crafted a long rambling reply last night but I mustn't have pressed the "Post" button because it disappeared. In essence it said "thanks - please keep up the detective work"! My new HC-12s have arrived but not Grogster's test rig so I'll await that before I explore too much. They look the same as my older ones but the two holes are less distinct and the crystal is marked "30.000 MHZ" whereas two of the previous batch I looked at were "CEC 4J 30.00L" a third is marked "e 300 @323Q" (the @ symbol is indistinct). (I have others in devices if you need me to look??). All of my old ones "appear" to inter-connect OK but some are only transmitting - I have no idea if they receive correctly (have I just fluked it to put good 2-way ones where needed?) Grogs, is that consistent with your experience, ie they transmit OK but don't receive? My PC is running XP so I'll need to sort out the drivers when the USB HC-12s arrive. Thanks again, Andrew |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9498 |
They receive fine too, if they are the fakes. They will ignore 95% of messages transmitted from genuine ones, but if you set up two or more of the fakes, they work fine, so that means they receive fine too. Crystals marked "30.000MHZ" are suspect, and I would expect them to be OFF frequency, and therefore problematic if you try to make them work with the other genuine ones. The programmer/tester thing allows you to program modules, but to test them, you really do need some kind of frequency counter or scanner radio, to listen to the frequency you have programmed, so you can make sure that the burble from the radio is on the frequency it should be on when the module transmits. If you don't hear anything when you transmit, they are off frequency ones. This can be confirmed with the same radio - move up the band 37kHz and if you hear the transmission burble there, you know you have out-of-spec ones. EDIT: For XP, use the drivers for the E28 available for download from the downloads page of my website.  It's the same USB chip.Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Andrew_G Guru Joined: 18/10/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 868 |
Thanks Grogs. I have some E28s from Rob/you and the drivers. Bit of a bu##er about the new HC-12s having "30.000MHZ" crystals. Until the UHF radio arrives I can use your tester to program them and see how they communicate (without soldering them). I've been "requested" to go away for the weekend (no WWW except via phone) so as usual lack of response is not lack of interest. Back Sunday/Monday, Andrew. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
@ Andrew_G Not a dirty weekend for Mother's Day. ? "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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