What radio to use? NRF24L01+, RFM69, RFM73 ?
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I am still not sure of how to build my Mysensor wireless network.
I was first thinking of just going with the standard NRF24L01+, but I have noticed some range issues in my house. For my first project I want to use them to control my wireless lightbulbs and it kind of work but I have noticed that it does not register every "switch-flick" I make.So I was thinking that as I do not have any current sensors to replace I might go with RFM69 as I noticed that they where supported in the 1.5 version of mysensors.
Now I also found RFM70, and RFM73 on ebay. Are these radios also supported by mysensors? And witch is better?
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I went with RFM69x because it has the most range, and it has a "Listen-Mode" that none of the others have, and it can even demodulate OOK.
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The RFM73 and RFM75 appear to be nRF24L01+ derivatives (not identical but very similar); still in the 2.4GHz band but with a little more power so they might have better range.
The RFM69* is a completely different family - operating at either 433MHz or 868/915MHz (same chip, different passives), and with a lower speed, narrower bandwidth - and very different electronics (both the analog/RF and the digital registers). It should have much longer range, because of the power, the limited speed, and the lower frequencies (which penetrate better).
I am still interested in the nRF family because I've invested in it, and it's used here anyway for other things (higher bandwidth applications). But if one was ONLY going to build MySensor nodes, the RFM69 family could be very attractive because range is probably more important than bandwidth for our purposes here.
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Ok range is definitely a priority. But if you compare the long range version of NRF24L01+ and the RFM69, does RFM69 still offer advantages in range (penetration of walls) and power consumption in sleep and send ?
Also does the differnent Mhz versions of the RMF69 differ in range or penetration ?
And how do you connect the RMF69 to the arduinos? In every build-sketch I have seen here on the mysensors build-page there is a link to how to connect the radio NRF24L01+. but no info of how to connect the RFM69.
Does the sketches also have to be modified to use the RFM69 radio?
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Ok range is definitely a priority. But if you compare the long range version of NRF24L01+ and the RFM69, does RFM69 still offer advantages in range (penetration of walls) and power consumption in sleep and send ?
Also does the differnent Mhz versions of the RMF69 differ in range or penetration ?
And how do you connect the RMF69 to the arduinos? In every build-sketch I have seen here on the mysensors build-page there is a link to how to connect the radio NRF24L01+. but no info of how to connect the RFM69.
Does the sketches also have to be modified to use the RFM69 radio?
@Cliff-Karlsson said:
But if you compare the long range version of NRF24L01+ and the RFM69, does RFM69 still offer advantages in range (penetration of walls) and power consumption in sleep and send ?
I have some of the long range NRF24L01+, and, to be frank, was very disappointed. Perhaps YMMV.but I've given up on it.
Also does the differnent Mhz versions of the RMF69 differ in range or penetration ?
Perhaps theoretically, but it's largely academic: if you live in the US you probably want the 915Mhz version for regulatory reasons, whereas I get the impression Europe may be just the opposite.
And how do you connect the RMF69 to the arduinos? In every build-sketch I have seen here on the mysensors build-page there is a link to how to connect the radio.
I'ver only ever seen it done one way.
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One more question after reading a litte more on the RFM69. The RFM69HW offer great range but draws alot of power so I guess I would not be ideal to use in battery powered sensors witch transmits every 60 sec or so.
But If I use a RFM69HW just in the controller and then use the ordinary RFM69 in the sensors I guess that even large houses with alot of walls would be covered?
Or am I wrong thinking that if the controler is using a strong radio all the sensor nodes will connect fine even with a very weak radio?
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A lot of questions now, but is there a ny description of how to connect the RFM69 to an arduino and also what has to be modified in the existing sketches here on mysensors.org to use the RFM69 ?
Also do I have to do anything special to the controller (rpi+nano) to have it use the RFM69?
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One more question after reading a litte more on the RFM69. The RFM69HW offer great range but draws alot of power so I guess I would not be ideal to use in battery powered sensors witch transmits every 60 sec or so.
But If I use a RFM69HW just in the controller and then use the ordinary RFM69 in the sensors I guess that even large houses with alot of walls would be covered?
Or am I wrong thinking that if the controler is using a strong radio all the sensor nodes will connect fine even with a very weak radio?
@Cliff-Karlsson I could be wrong but it's my understanding that those numbers are for transmit power so I don't think it hurts anything to have an HW in the gateway but I don't think it helps particularly. My guess is that most of these things have more to do with antenna design and orientation than anything. My plan is to have my gateway have the best antenna and orientation I can since it's stashed away in a closet. The sensors (which will be visible) will use smaller antennas and since their orientation is determined more by their location, they are at a disadvantage. So in that case a higher power gateway might allow them to receive information more easily while the better antenna in the gateway allows it to pick up weak sensors more reliably. That's my theory anyway...
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Originally I purchased the HW version, because I thought I could just scale back to whatever power level I wanted. However, since then I've learned that the PA needs to be turned on for it to work at all, so now I'm not sure what the actual power range might be, but I'd guess it's higher than for the ordinary W version.
I should think it would make sense to have your gateway use the HW version, just in case in the future any of the sensors are distant and also require the HW version.
At the end of the day, it will always depend\ on what you want to do. Some people claim to be perfectly happy with the NRF24L01+, which can also be cheaper, depending on where you buy it. It may turn out to be the sort of thing you need to buy and try in order to really know whether it fits you or not.
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@NeverDie said:
make sense to have your gateway use the HW version, just in case in the future any of the sensors are distant and also require the HW version.
At the end of the day, it will always depend\ on what you want to do. Some people claim to b
Ok, I am trying to find out what the different versions mean. Does the RFM69-RFM69HC-RFM69HW series just differ in range and possible power-consumption? Where RFM69 has the shortest range and the HW have the longest range?
Also I have not found any info of how to connect the RFM radio to the arduino, are there any more info on that part?
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@Cliff-Karlsson I think that :
- H version stands for High power.
- C version is pin compatible with RFM12.
RFM69 uses SPI so the connections are :
Arduino RFM69
10 <-------------------> NSS
11 <-------------------> MOSI
12 <-------------------> MISO
13 <-------------------> SCK
DI00 <-------------------> 2
GND <-------------------> GND
3.3V
ANA : antennaNSS, MOSI and SCK are inputs so you need to adapt level if you use 5V arduino
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That's right. There are really just two types of RFM69x: the regular kind like the RFM69W, and the high powered kind like the RFM69HW. The other variants are just variations in pinout so as to retrofit to the pinouts of older generation RF chips. If you're starting from a blank page, those won't matter to you.
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@fets said:
s so you need to adapt level
I just got my rfm69hw´s and connected it to an arduino nano for a couple of seconds before i realized that I needed to adapt the level. Is it possible that it survived this mistake?
I have nov connected a IIC I2C Interface Level Conversion Module 5-3v
I connected NSS,Mosi,SCK and GND to the "B" side and connected the arduino nano to the "A" side. Is this correct? -
@Cliff-Karlsson seems correct.
Personnaly I use 3 * 2 resistors (10k and 4.7k) for NS, MOSI and SCK rfm69hw inputs.
Don't forget to change MyTransportRF69 contructor to use high power RFM69 ;) -
@fets said:
H version stands for High power.
C version is pin compatible with RFM12.
RFM69 uses SPI so the connections are :Arduino RFM69
10 <-------------------> NSS
11 <-------------------> MOSI
12 <-------------------> MISO
13 <-------------------> SCK
DI00 <-------------------> 2
GND <-------------------> GND
3.3V
ANA : antennaNSS, MOSI and SCK are inputs so you need to adapt level if you use 5V arduino
I have connected a RFM69HW to my arduino nano+rpi gateway and have connected a RFM69W+Mini Pro 3.3V to a soil sensor but nothing shows up in Domoticz. Do I have to do anything else? Do I need a external antenna? The two RFM's is only like 1m apart.
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Do I need to alter the code for the gateway or the sensor-sketches?
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@fets said:
H version stands for High power.
C version is pin compatible with RFM12.
RFM69 uses SPI so the connections are :Arduino RFM69
10 <-------------------> NSS
11 <-------------------> MOSI
12 <-------------------> MISO
13 <-------------------> SCK
DI00 <-------------------> 2
GND <-------------------> GND
3.3V
ANA : antennaNSS, MOSI and SCK are inputs so you need to adapt level if you use 5V arduino
I have connected a RFM69HW to my arduino nano+rpi gateway and have connected a RFM69W+Mini Pro 3.3V to a soil sensor but nothing shows up in Domoticz. Do I have to do anything else? Do I need a external antenna? The two RFM's is only like 1m apart.
@Cliff-Karlsson said:
Do I need a external antenna? The two RFM's is only like 1m apart.I never tested without antenna. I used simple wire the length dependinf of your frequency?
Did you look at your arduino serial outpout ?
If there is nothing, it may that because RFM69 init failed -
Yes you should put an antenna on. It doesn't have a PCB trace antenna. A simple piece of wire, typically cut to 1/4 wavelength, will work fine.
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Ok, I have some thin insulated copper wire, will that work? And how long wire will I need for the 868mhz frequency?
But just to be clear, do I need to alter the gateway or the sensor sketches in some way to have it use the rfm radio?
