Problems with Xbee Connect board (axe210)

Hi,
I'm trying to get these boards to work with the XBee series 2 modules. I have got two of them all wired up and I am following the tutorials word for word but still seem to have problems. For the very first tutorial it tells you how to configure the XBees, it works fine for board A (the one with the sp3232 or max3232 chip in it), but it doesnt seem to connect to board b (with the picaxe chip). I dont think its the board as when I swap the chips around and adjust the jumper it works fine. Is this normal?

Also what should the three leds be doing when turned on with no code. My leds are as foolows:

RSSI - off
STAT - on
IND - on

Is this normal?
I have tried just moving onto the second pinging tutorial and these RSSI led does not light up and the serial terminal just says "No response".

Another potentially silly question, on the board there is a space for a push button if you are using the board with a GPS, on the board under the button it says "CONNECT", I assume this is just the name of the board rather than an instruction as it mentions nothing in the manual about this.....


Cheers,
Mike

If you've got board "A" (MAX3232) talking to the PC okay and configured, one thing to do is carefully remove the "A" XBee and replace it with the "B" XBee and ensure configuraton is the same.

Alternatively you can remove the PICAXE on "B", insert the MAX3232 from "A", set the links and check that board "B" is working equally as well as "A" is.

If you have any 'sticky coloured dots' it may help to stick different colours on each board, then stick the same on the PICAXE and its XBee, the other colour on the MAX3232 and its XBee. I found that can save a lot of confusion if swapping things around. Also stick the appropriate dots on two bits of paper which show how the links should be set for each board.

The button is I believe Reset and the "Connect" is just part of the product identifier silk screening.

Thanks for the quick reply...

I have tried all the things you have mentioned and still no luck. The XBees seem to be fine and both configured correctly using board A. The picaxe chip is brand new and can be downloaded onto with no problems. If the Max chip is put onto the other board then it works fine, so its not the board, the Xbee, the Picaxe or the Max chip??? Do you know anything about the leds and which ones should come on when its powered up?

Also does anyone know if it is possible to use the XBee wizard with MacAxe Pad? I had to dig out my old PC to use it there.

It's been a while since I played with any Xbee but I recall one of the LED's ( on the PICAXE board ) should flash when it sees anything over the air. It sounds like there's a mismatch in configuration or the links on the PICAXE board are not correct ( though I'm sure the LED will flash when data received ). It could be something else but hard to say. I recall they draw a fair bit of current so it could be a power supply issue.

Unfortunately the XBee Wizard does't come with AXEpad, you have to use Windows.

I have not yet managed to get the RSSI led to flash, it is always off. I have also tried using the XBee USB breakout board from spark fun, its TX led lights up when I send something but it doesn't receive anything from the AXE210 board. Also with this set up the ping test still doesnt work.

Does it matter that I am using the XBee series 2 modules?

Does it matter that I am using the XBee series 2 modules?p

I didn't think it would but it might. Maxstream/Digi have gone through so many re-brandings, re-namings and versions of the XBee that I have to admit I'm no longer sure which are which.

One thing you could try is getting another NAX3232, setting both the same and setting up a PC to PC link which you can use with HyperTerm or other terminal emulator.

I'll just give that a try now, I have tried doing that through the xbee wizard, but I'll try X-CTU...

Hi,

I just recieved the XBee series one in the post toiday and plugged them in and they work fine! the series two must not work with the axe210 board. I'll just need to make up my own breakout board for them...

Cheers for all the help and suggestions,
Mike

Thanks for the update.

I was under the impression that all XBee modules were pin compatible so it may be a difference in configuration or pin functionality. If that's so it should be possible to use the AXE210 boards and configure the XBee's as required using X-CTU.

It would be well worth checking the respective manuals to compare pinout and pin functionality before going to the effort of building separate breakout boards.

A quick look at Data Sheet show same pinouts (with a couple of function changes), but I'm a little confused as to default transmission mode.

I would have thought that an email to digi asking for Series 1 / Series 2 differences would be quicker than wrestling with the Data Sheet. This assumes that the devices were out-of-the-box configs and obv. not electrically duff.

It will certainly be interesting to get a list of operational differences and would be a handy Data Sheet to add to Forum.

I have just found this.....

http://blog.kevinhoyt.org/wp-content/xbee-setup.pdf

It mentions how they series 2 need a slightly different configuration. I will work through this and tell you if it works ok.....


Mike

That does seem to reveal the case; XBee Version 1 are peer-to-peer by default, Version 2 are more complicated. If it's necessary to upload different firmware to one or both XBee that is a challenge with the AXE210 board as it doesn't support firmware uploading and the MAX3232 doesn't have any spare buffers. I managed to modify an AXE210 with a 9-way D, a 74HC00 and flying leads, so it could flash Version 1 firmware and that could also work for Version 2 ...

http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4477&page=2

I have run into the same problem. Seems like the Axe210 will not work with the XBee series 2 modules. I don't have the experience to figure out how to make it work by my self.
Looks like I made a big mistake when I bought the axe210.