Unstable radio connection.

Reply to Unstable radio connection. on Wed, 21 Dec 2016 07:35:11 GMT

Nikita — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 07:35:11 GMT

@Boots33 Thanks for advice! I will definitely get some extra non amplified nrf modules and think about having a separate power supply for my radio.

Reply to Unstable radio connection. on Mon, 19 Dec 2016 23:46:34 GMT

Boots33 — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 23:46:34 GMT

@Nikita said:

I power my radio from the arduino unfortunately. Also I don't have other radio modules to test my project with.

It may be worth getting a few of the non amplified nrf modules and 3v regulators so you can do some testing. The amplified versions should really have their own supply. You could also try forcing the nrf to low power mode

// Enable and select radio type attached
#define MY_RADIO_NRF24

// Set LOW transmit power level as default
#define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_LOW

I covered my radios with foil to lower the interference. None of that really helped.

I found with the foil covering you have to be very thorough, if you leave even the smallest of gaps it will allow some rf noise to escape and cause trouble. The foil must also be earthed by allowing it to touch the aerial socket. it took me a few attempts to get it right.

This is where having an extra nrf module comes in handy. you can build a simple node to be used as a range tester and then you can see if your range has improved. have a look at this post for my tester. I found it very useful in working out where to place repeater nodes as well.

There was one thing that actually worked. I have a sensor connected to the gateway that reads the temperature and sends it to itself. I use a serial-gateway to feed the data to the openhab installed on my pc. Once I disconnected this sensors from the gateway (so there is only one sensor total, on the node) everything worked fine :confused:

I can't be of much help there as I don't have any sensors on my gateway. Others do though without any problems so it should be ok. Perhaps the extra power draw of the sensors is enough to cause problems with the amplified nrf.

Reply to Unstable radio connection. on Mon, 19 Dec 2016 18:05:39 GMT

Nikita — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 18:05:39 GMT

@Boots33 Thanks for such a detailed answer!

I power my radio from the arduino unfortunately. Also I don't have other radio modules to test my project with. The distance between the node and the gateway is about 3m so it shouldn't be a problem. I covered my radios with foil to lower the interference. None of that really helped.

There was one thing that actually worked. I have a sensor connected to the gateway that reads the temperature and sends it to itself. I use a serial-gateway to feed the data to the openhab installed on my pc. Once I disconnected this sensors from the gateway (so there is only one sensor total, on the node) everything worked fine :confused: I assume there was an interference with gateway's own messages. I thought that it was possible to have sensors connected to gateway but when I do so the connection becomes unstable.
P.S. I also installed 47uF capacitor to the gateway, just in case.

Reply to Unstable radio connection. on Sat, 17 Dec 2016 20:49:58 GMT

Boots33 — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 20:49:58 GMT

@Nikita Do you power the nRF24L01+PA+LNa from its own supply, they can draw too much for for the arduino 3v regulator and become unstable.
Have you tried a standard nrf24l01+ to see if that improves reliability. is the distance too great between the nodes, can you try them close together. Being too close can also cause trouble as well.
There have been several threads on range/reception issues, have a look at these and see if you can find some help. I know the ugly fix made a huge difference for my nRF24L01+PA+LNa nodes.

Also you can see

Which are the best NRF24L01+ modules?

NRF24l01+ vs. NRF24l01+ pa + lna

NRF24L01 can't find parent on gateway