HELP !! cannot make Sensor work with RFM69

[Fabien]

MISO, MOSI, etc ... are 5V outputs and RFM69 unlike NRF24 is not 5V tolerant even if it's powered with 3.3V

[christophe cluzel]

@Fabien understand your point and I may have fried it with the UNO, but I doubt it is the cause as I had exactly the same output with my first build with a Pro mini 3.3v, every pin were 3.3V and the debug looked exactly the same. I tried with the UNO after countless attempts with 3.3V boards. But taking your point I will try again with a different radio module and a 3.3V.

Any other ideas?

[christophe cluzel]

Hi,

Following @Fabien idea, I tried with a different RF69M module I had spare with a Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V, I also added a Capacitor of 10uF between the 3.3V of Radio and GND. And I still get the same message.... Arrrgggggg

[Fabien]

Ok try t add this in your Gateway sketch (before MySensors.h) :

#define MY_RF69_IRQ_PIN 4  // GPIO 4
#define MY_RF69_IRQ_NUM 4
#define MY_RF69_SPI_CS  15  // GPIO 15

I have exactly the same setup on gateway, working fine.

[christophe cluzel]

@Fabien I tried yesterday but it doesn't seem to work. I will try again tonight as I did the test in a rush and may have overseen something.

I just thought about something, could it be possible that the RFM69 doesn't get enough power ? I will try with a separate power source tonight to rule out this.

Thx

[maman]

@christophe-cluzel Yes, I got the same problem, I have been 3days to find out the solution, but no result.
I configure the RFM69 with ESP8266 as a gateway and Promini as a node.
The pin connections same with yours.

I realy need help to solve the problem

[christophe cluzel]

OK I tried again, recheck the wiring, move DI0 to GPIO5 and added the following in the sketch of the Gateway

#define MY_RF69_IRQ_PIN 4  // GPIO 4
#define MY_RF69_IRQ_NUM 4
#define MY_RF69_SPI_CS  5  // GPIO 5

Put the RFM69 in a separate power source, added a 100uF capacitor for the radio.

And still the same result.....

I am litteraly loosing my mind, cannot figure out what else to do...

[christophe cluzel]

What I just realized is that neither on the Gateway Debug nor the Node Debug I see the following message :

TSM:RADIO:OK

how do I know that the Arduino or the ESP is communicating or seeing the RFM module ?

[christophe cluzel]

I am trying a different approach, I order NRF24L01+ to try tonight and see if I am getting better success with different modules...

[maman]

Using NRF24, actually, mysensors system is no problem. The node (ATMEGA328) and the gateway (ESP8266) can work properly. Now we have 3 nodes and one gateway, working properly. We use MyController.org software deployed in cloud server as the controller.

We want to work on RFM69, because the radio can use 433MHz, while NRF24 use 2.4GHz.
This is the crowded frequency.

[christophe cluzel]

@maman I agree, but I am trying to get my project starting to be fair I do not live in a Mansion and my further sensor will be the one in the Garden for the weather station and the Watering system. So maybe the NRF24L01+ will be ok.

I will keep working in parallel on the RFM69, but right now I feel that I am just wasting time and getting nothing achieved.

I have new RFM69 on Order (RFM69HW instead of the RFM69CW I currently have) I am quite hoping that getting to a differet version of the RFM69 will solve the problem...

[scalz]

hmm..something is wrong with your hardware or settings, with pro mini or esp it should work..

What frequency do you want to use?
and maybe a dumb question, but in case.. have you soldered an antenna on your rfm69 modules?

[christophe cluzel]

@scalz I use 868 Mhz, I soldered antenna (82 mm), trust me there is no dumb question :)

I get what you say, it should work but I cannot figure out what is wrong

[maman]

I want to use 433MHz
I have soldered wire antenna (about 17 cm)

[christophe cluzel]

@maman Switching to NRF24 worked like a charm first time. node and gateway are communicating and everything is visible in Domoticz.

I will run range test tonight, if Range is ok I will keep the NRF24 as I am loosing the will to live with RFM69 (I'll still try again when I receive my new modules.)

Thanks

[maman]

@christophe-cluzel Good luck. Using NRF24 & mysensors library, make IoT project is easy to be implemented. Thanks for mysensors team that have been developed this great library.

In the previous project, we have tested the range of NRF24. In the open-space, the 100m range can be easily achieved. If it is not enough, there are many modules of NRF24+PA+LNA that can have range for more than 1km.

My concern is the use of frequency at crowded 2.4GHz.
In my previous work, I installed my NRF24-based lamp controllers in an exhibition. In that place, the commitee provided a free wifi services. Before opening of the exhibition, we have tested the lamps controllers and working properly. However, during exhibition, the controller was not working. I suspected that this was due to no available channel at 2.4GHz band at that exhibition place. So, if there an option, I want to avoid the use of 2.4GHz band.

So, I still hope to use RFM69. May be someone have used this RFM69 module, and can share the pin connections and #define configuration in the arduino sketch.

Thanks

[mpp]

@christophe-cluzel have you had a chance to get the rfm69 modules to work?

[webzter30]

Did you get this working?

[melwinek]

I also have a problem with rfm69. NRF24 always works. RFM69 can operate for hours and then disconnect and can not connect to the gateway for a long time.