Portable RFM69 Signal Scanner


  • Mod

    Just wanted to share my tonight creation
    0_1508188047036_upload-ad843227-d291-4f19-874f-5437afd020c8
    It shows Send and Receive RSSI and vcc (that btw is measured via voltage divider and is spot on with my multimeter)


  • Hero Member

    Nice job! Looks very dapper.

    Alternatively, you may (?) be able to plug your screen directly into the I2C connector used for the TH sensor on:
    https://www.openhardware.io/view/268/Arduino-Pro-Mini-Shield-for-RFM69HW
    Depends on the pinout, of course.


  • Mod

    I thought about it but Vin and GND are swapped



  • Hi great work. Could you give us more details please?

    Which version of mysensors do you use ? RF power report seems only availble in dev branch isn't it?

    Thanks


  • Mod

    Yes, I'm using latest version in dev branch. I also figured I can show both power level and power percentage ( I removed the "VCC" from lcd as it is not really necessary 🙂 )


  • Mod

    Here is the new code that uses the TX power readings. I think that RSSI values and tx power values could be useful to be reported by nodes every once and a while, at least to provide a feedback on how they are doing.

    #include <U8glib.h>
    #include <Wire.h>
    
    //#define MY_DEBUG  // Enable debug prints
    
    U8GLIB_SSD1306_128X64 lcd(U8G_I2C_OPT_DEV_0 | U8G_I2C_OPT_NO_ACK | U8G_I2C_OPT_FAST);	// Fast I2C / TWI 
    
    #define MY_RADIO_RFM69
    #define MY_RFM69_FREQUENCY RFM69_433MHZ
    #define MY_RFM69_NEW_DRIVER
    #define MY_TRANSPORT_WAIT_READY_MS 10000
    //#define MY_NODE_ID 240
    //#define VBAT_VCC 
    
    #include <SPI.h>
    #include <MySensors.h>  
    
    
    #define CHILD_ID_VBAT 201						 // Battery voltage
    
    	unsigned long SLEEP_TIME = 2000; // Sleep time between reads (in milliseconds)
    
    #define SKETCH_NAME "Signal Monitor"                // Change to a fancy name you like
    #define SKETCH_VERSION "1.0"                    // Your version
    
    MyMessage msgVBat(CHILD_ID_VBAT, V_VOLTAGE);
    
    int Send_rssi, Rec_rssi;                                    // RSSI RFM69 chip
    #define CHILD_ID_RSSI_HIGH  7                // RSSI received signal level
    #define CHILD_ID_RSSI_LOW   8                // RSSI background noise level
    MyMessage msgRSSI1(CHILD_ID_RSSI_HIGH, V_LEVEL);
    MyMessage msgRSSI2(CHILD_ID_RSSI_LOW, V_LEVEL);
    
    
    //=========================
    // BATTERY VOLTAGE DIVIDER SETUP
    // 1M, 470K divider across battery and using internal ADC ref of 1.1V
    // Sense point is bypassed with 0.1 uF cap to reduce noise at that point
    // ((1e6+470e3)/470e3)*1.1 = Vmax = 3.44 Volts
    // 3.44/1023 = Volts per bit = 0.003363075
    #define VBAT_PER_BITS 0.003363075  
    #define VMIN 2.8                                  //  Vmin (radio Min Volt)=1.9V (564v)
    #define VMAX 3.44                                 //  Vmax = (2xAA bat)=3.0V (892v)
    int batteryPcnt = 0;                              // Calc value for battery %
    int batLoop = 0;                                  // Loop to help calc average
    int batArray[3];                                  // Array to store value for average calc.
    float Vbat;
    
    #ifdef VBAT_VCC
    #include <Vcc.h>
    const float VccCorrection = 1.0 / 1.0;  // Measured Vcc by multimeter divided by reported Vcc
    Vcc vcc(VccCorrection);
    #else
    int BATTERY_SENSE_PIN = A0;                       // select the input pin for the battery sense point
    #endif // VBAT_VCC
    
    void setup()
    {
    	analogReference(INTERNAL);             // For battery sensing
    	lcd.setFont(u8g_font_unifont);
    	
    }
    
    void presentation()
    {
    	// Send the Sketch Version Information to the Gateway
    	sendSketchInfo(SKETCH_NAME, SKETCH_VERSION);
    
    	// Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
    	present(CHILD_ID_RSSI_HIGH, S_SOUND);
    	present(CHILD_ID_RSSI_LOW, S_SOUND);
    	present(CHILD_ID_VBAT, S_MULTIMETER);
    }
    
    void loop()
    {
    	delay(500); // Allow time for radio if power used as reset
    
    	Send_rssi = RFM69_getSendingRSSI();             // read RSSI in RFM69. Measure reception signal from gw
    	send(msgRSSI1.set(Send_rssi));                  // send RSSI level
    	wait(500);                                 // wait to get idle
    
    	Rec_rssi = RFM69_getReceivingRSSI();           // read RSSI in RFM69. Wait and measure background noise
    	send(msgRSSI2.set(Rec_rssi));                  // send RSSI level
    	wait(200);                                 // wait for next send
    
    	batM();
    	lcd.firstPage();
    	do {
    		UpdateDisplay();
    	} while (lcd.nextPage());
    	
    	sleep(SLEEP_TIME); //sleep a bit
    }
    
    void UpdateDisplay()
    {	
    	lcd.setPrintPos(0, 20);
    	String row;
    	row = (String)"S/R: " + Send_rssi + "/"+ Rec_rssi +"db";
    	lcd.print(row);
    	lcd.setPrintPos(0, 42);
    	row = (String)"Pwr%: " + RFM69_getTxPowerPercent() + "%";
    	lcd.print(row);
    	lcd.setPrintPos(0, 64);
    	row = (String)"PWR: " + RFM69_getTxPowerLevel() + "db";
    	lcd.print(row);
    }
    
    void batM() //The battery calculations
    {
    	delay(500);
    	
    	int batteryPcnt;
    
    	// Battery monitoring reading
    #ifdef VBAT_VCC
    	Vbat = vcc.Read_Volts();
    	batteryPcnt = vcc.Read_Perc(VMIN, VMAX);
    #else 
    	int sensorValue = analogRead(BATTERY_SENSE_PIN);
    	Vbat = sensorValue * VBAT_PER_BITS;
    	// Calculate the battery in %
    	batteryPcnt = static_cast<int>(((Vbat - VMIN) / (VMAX - VMIN))*100.);
    #endif 
    
    	delay(500);
    	send(msgVBat.set(Vbat, 2));
    	Serial.print("Battery percent: "); Serial.print(batteryPcnt); Serial.println(" %");
    
    	// Add it to array so we get an average of 3 (3x20min)
    	batArray[batLoop] = batteryPcnt;
    
    	if (batLoop > 2) {
    		batteryPcnt = (batArray[0] + batArray[1] + batArray[2] + batArray[3]);
    		batteryPcnt = batteryPcnt / 3;
    
    		if (batteryPcnt > 100) {
    			batteryPcnt = 100;
    		}
    
    		Serial.print("Battery Average (Send): "); Serial.print(batteryPcnt); Serial.println(" %");
    		sendBatteryLevel(batteryPcnt);
    		batLoop = 0;
    	}
    	else
    	{
    		batLoop++;
    	}
    }
    


  • Nice clean signal scanner build! I must have one.

    Is that an open source proto board you used? I couldn't find it poking around a bit.

    Thanks for sharing it!


  • Mod



  • @mfalkvidd
    Thanks, it looks like the Rev 9?, where the older pic you posted looks like a smaller version. I didn't realize the board was rearranged between Rev9 and recent R10.


  • Mod

    Yes, that was Rev 9, but the sketch would work with anything you have


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