CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap)

[Yveaux]

@yveaux said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

I see a few solutions to this ploblem (lowering the nRF24 VCC or changing the resistors on the voltage dividers) which I'll give a try and report back.

Lowering the nRF24 VCC is not feasible as it will also impact the signals going to the ATMega below minimum levels.

I replaced 4 10k SMD resistors R5, R6, R7 & R8 by 4k7 types:

@รอเร-อ This patch makes both regular and amplified nRF24 modules work correctly! The IO levels to the nRF are raised to 3.3V at 5V Arduino supply.

Btw. I ordered 2 of these IO shields (red version, by 'Robotale' according to silkscreen) and the quality is horrible...
It's nearly impossible to push the Nano in the socket, it was full of (near) solder shorts, the silscreen is barely readable and one of the boards contained a short to GND on the RX line, making it impossible to program (geen circle):

[รอเรือ]

@yveaux said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

This patch makes both regular and amplified nRF24 modules work correctly!

Dear @Yveaux

Thanks for all the work you've put into investigating this issue.

I have a different brand of the Nano IO Shield but the quality is equally very low. I guess I'll need to inspect them carefully before I use them. I guess I have 10 of them and I will try to apply the HW patch you've suggested but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it, I don't have any SMD resistors and they are to small to work with for me. I'll need to give it a try anyway.

Thanks again and merry christmas btw :santa:

[Yveaux]

@รอเร-อ shorting the mentioned resistors (with eg a solder blob) will probably also work, but then you'll exceed the maximum 3.3v on the CE line for amplified modules. However, many people run amplified modules at 5v signal level without issues.

Merry Christmas to you too!

[รอเรือ]

@yveaux

I've managed to replace the SMD resistors according to your suggested hack described above. It wasn't easy though. Anyway, it seems to work well. Thanks!!!

[Yveaux]

@รอเร-อ great to hear you managed and got it to work!
Thanks for reporting back :+1:

[alowhum]

They are getting really expensive now.

Are there any good cheap modules to recommend now?

Perhaps the RobotDyn modules? They are $1,80, plus $1,80 for shipping. If you buy a few this can save some money. Has anyone tried this one?

[gohan]

That's still on the cheap side, it is still probably a clone. You can consider going with rfm69 radios, they work better

[alowhum]

@gohan I'm building a system that allows beginners to create a MySensors installation without doing any soldering. Unfortunately there is no 'plug and play' version of the RFM69 (that I'm aware of) that can replace the NRF24.

[gohan]

Rfm69 adapter still requires some soldering

[alowhum]

@gohan Exactly, and the project I'm working on is "no soldering and no programming required (unless you want to)".

I guess I'll try ordering one of these modules and see if it can handle full power.