|
|
Post by bullbaiter on May 25, 2017 17:22:59 GMT
Great work on this site everybody! Glad i found it, without it i would have given up before i began!!!
Built a RFM69 ethernet gateway following the guide on this site. Have a node with basically just the RFM69 chip hooked to it.
On the node i get "transmitting at 433mhz".... but after that i get nothing else.... it just sits.
If I open the serial connection on the gateway i see "Node 2,99,0,0,0" just once... (node 2 is the node i'm working with)
I've rebuilt the node 3x using different RFM69 chips and arduino boards but still get the same result.
I do get that the Gateway connects to mosquitto because the LED lights up and i do get the "connection ok" message when the gateway is just in debug mode and not debugradio.
Should i be seeing anything else between the two at this point?
Thanks in advance.
|
|
|
|
Post by papa on May 25, 2017 21:27:55 GMT
Welcome, bullbaiter, to DIY Home Automation which is often a thrill, but sometimes, especially at the beginning, may be maddening. Yes, you should be seeing more on the Serial Monitor from Gateway & Node 2 as you can see in posts like this.What "guide on this site" did you use to build gateway & node, Building a Home Automation Network (Beginners ??) or something else? When you built the gateway & nodes, did you use Arduino compatibles (like a Buono Uno) that sends 3.3 volts through the digital pins (D2, etc)? When you built the gateway did you disable the VCC pin in the Arduino's ICSP cluster so the Ethernet Shield is not feeding harmful 5 volts to the RFM69 radio? See this post where VCC & ICSP are mentioned. When programming the gateway, did you do the two important library edits (in w5100.h & Ethernet.h) that help make gateway <> node communication reliable? Which node did you build, the bare bones node that I recommended as a start? Please use the above clues to troubleshoot & let me know your answers & results. (With each question / clue, I included link references.) |
|
|
|
Post by greginkansas on May 26, 2017 1:15:06 GMT
Do this one first, gets everyone
When programming the gateway, did you do the two important library edits (in w5100.h & Ethernet.h) that help make gateway <> node communication reliable?
have fun
|
|
|
|
Post by bullbaiter on May 26, 2017 18:13:26 GMT
thanks for the suggestions... please see the answers below to your questions. (you have the site so well crafted I already followed each of these instructions and posts before posting this problem. Without it i wouldn't have gotten this far!)
What "guide on this site" did you use to build gateway & node, Building a Home Automation Network (Beginners ??) or something else? --- this is the link i followed: Building a Home Automation Network (Beginners ??) , it's the first pinned topic in this forum.
When you built the gateway & nodes, did you use Arduino compatibles (like a Buono Uno) that sends 3.3 volts through the digital pins (D2, etc)? --- i believe so, i'm using these "NEW UNO R3 ATmega328P CH340 Mini USB Board for Compatible-Arduino" bought off ebay. I checked the voltage on D2 and it was 3.28v
When you built the gateway did you disable the VCC pin in the Arduino's ICSP cluster so the Ethernet Shield is not feeding harmful 5 volts to the RFM69 radio?
See this post where VCC & ICSP are mentioned. -- yes i did disable that pin
When programming the gateway, did you do the two important library edits (in w5100.h & Ethernet.h) that help make gateway <> node communication reliable? --- yes, i did this first within osx since i was using it for the ide, then thinking that may have had something to do with it used win10 with notepad++
Which node did you build, the bare bones node that I recommended as a start? -- yes, nothing is on the node except the RFM chip
I also just rebuilt the gateway thinking that may have been it but now i don't even get one packet sent/captured... or at least the Node 2,99,0,0 no longer shows at all on the gateway. I'm wondering if it's the RFM69 chip on the gateway... it's the only thing i haven't swapped out.
*** updated, swapped out the RFM chip on the gateway and still no luck.. this time i checked D2 and am getting 0volts through it on the gateway but 3.3v on the node, not sure if that's expected
*** update to the update. Swapped out the arduino board on the gateway and still no luck (trying to rule out hardware)
|
|
|
|
Post by papa on May 27, 2017 0:58:32 GMT
bullbaiter, sorry you're having troubles. Thanks for answering the questions & describing things you've tried. Sounds like you've followed directions well. At this point, the only thing I wonder about is "i'm using these "NEW UNO R3 ATmega328P CH340 Mini USB Board for Compatible-Arduino" bought off ebay" Others have had issues with the CH340 boards. See this thread (especially the computourist post on Nov 17, 2016) & this thread. In my documentation, I added a caution about this issue. Basically the RFM69 radio takes a fair amount of current that the CH340 boards may not be able to provide. That's an advantage of the Buono Uno boards I use. They not only supply 3.3 volts, but also with sufficient current for the radio. When computourist used an 3.3 volt Arduino Pro Mini he supplied it 3.3 volts via a 5 volt power adapter through a 3.3 voltage regulator. Regarding a beefed up power supply, see this computourist schematic for the gateway & one for a node. For your purposes in those schematics, just pay attention to the upper left corner regulator, the capacitors to the right & how the produced 3.3 volts connects to VCC on the Arduino & on the RFM69 radio. Better yet, here's a schematic computourist gave for just the power supply. Connect the 3.3 volt current output from the regulator & capacitors to any connection like VCC or 3.3 volts that needs it. Here's computourist's confirmation that the Buono Uno does not need such an extra power supply. Sounds like you may need to do something similar to computourist or use a Buono Uno. |
|
|
|
Post by bullbaiter on May 27, 2017 2:56:45 GMT
Man, i was hoping that wasn't it. Thanks for that link ... i hadnt heard of issues with that chipset. Guess it doesn't pay to cheap out! Thanks for your help, i'll grab a couple of buono unos from the link in your post.
|
|
|
|
Post by greginkansas on May 27, 2017 12:52:29 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by bullbaiter on Jun 24, 2017 20:28:04 GMT
Finally got time to work on the setup with the board you recommended. Used the recommended boards and boom! On first try received the expected output on the serial console for both bare node and gateway! Now, on to making it do something and talk to openhab!
Thanks for your help!
|
|
|
|
Post by papa on Jun 25, 2017 1:39:39 GMT
Excellent. I celebrate your success. Enjoy & stay in touch.
|
|
