Thank you both for the reply. I will look at both solutions because time is running out and I don't want to complicate things any further. I am actually looking at adding the door wreath to the project though, and that is going to have a BeagleBone Black or single core RPi in it. I see there are open-source controllers out there that run on Linux so I am optimistic about that. I would imagine that I need to have a Pro Mini attached to whichever I use that functions as a gateway? Maybe a ESP8266 but that would probably be overkill considering a BBB or RPi can use a wifi dongle.

hek - do you have any links to info about how to set that repeater up?

Thanks again! I appreciate the replies!

I am pretty new at this so please bare with me. I am not doing a full all-out home automation just yet. All I want to do is send data from one Pro Mini to another to sync RGB LED effects from both systems. So far, I have been able to send data from a modified MockSensors sketch to a modified SerialGateway sketch, but I want to know how I can retrieve variable information from the payload within my modified SerialGateway sketch. The serial output through my serial FTDI interface shows the desired variable data with amazing stability. Now I need to access that variable data so I may act on it in my modified SerialGateway sketch.

For anyone reading this that has not discovered it yet, the FastLED library will not work with the WS2812B if you choose pin 3 for your data stream. After reading posts here, changing the pin to 5 seems to work nicely. This was a relief for me since I thought that the FastLED library conflicted with the MySensors libraries.

Also, I am not using a controller. I'm not even sure if I NEED to use SerialGateway to talk to a sensor node. In this case, the node isn't even a sensor. Just another Pro Mini running WS2812B LED effects. Just to include all info... the two Pro Mini's are running LED effects for two driveway wreaths. I want them SYNCED because I want the color schemes to change together.

So ALL I really need is for one to be the master, sending a number when the effects transition to another scheme. The number will probably be something like 0-15. The slave Pro Mini would get this number to set its effects to the same scheme.

I know this may seem simple to most of you. I can't WAIT to dive into sensor networks and controllers using the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black. But for now, I just need these two wreaths to be on the same effects page so to speak.

So a point in the right direction, maybe examples of how two Pro Mini's can transfer data back and forth using the NRF24L01 and these libraries here. I already successfully tested them talking to each other, but I need to know how to access the transferred data and use it.

Thank you SO MUCH for your time and newbie consideration.

OK, this worked and I am encouraged! I haven't figured out how to get the status LED's to work yet though, since they just stay on (after enabling it in the config H file). Unless I missed it though, I do not know what the fields are that are output via serial. If I do not find the info, I guess I could just reverse-engineer the software to figure out how to send simple data back and forth from each unit. Pretty cool library! Heavy though, but not as heavy as expected. I still have room for my RGB LED effects processing.

Now I just need to see if my interrupt handling using timer1 is going to hose this library. Any thoughts?

Thank you! That helps a lot! I will use this for sensor data gathering later, but for now, I just want to sync two Pro Mini's via a serial data link. Specifically, two wreaths I have doing RGB WS2812B effects. I want them timed together. One needs to just send a byte or two saying it is on a specific effect.

Thank you guys!

Greets All!

I have an issue doing a simple A to B serial gateway test between two Pro Mini's. Before I tear into the sketches and also my scalp, I figured this is a good time to post about this.

I have two Pro Mini's and two NRF24L01's. I have double and triple checked the connections AND the voltages and they are solid. I also made sure I have decoupling caps on the power feeds. I upped the serial gateway sketch into both Pro Mini's and when they run, I get a dim green light on the board, like it is lit by a 50% duty cycle square wave or something. Each outputs via serial (through a usb FTDI adapter) at 115200 the expected output. But that is it. Nothing more.

To test if they are connected and data can propagate between them, I figured I would set one to echo what is sent from another. Mostly because I only have one FTDI USB thing and not two. This way, I know it gets sent and can see it get sent back.

I watched the video, read the "get started" stuff, but I did not see anything about a ping test, or echo tests to see if two (or more) of these things are working.

Any suggestions? I tried the RadioHead solutions and failed at those. INIT FAILED I kept getting.

I'm kinda new (haven't you figured that out already? lol) at the NRF24L01 thing, but not new at all at using the wonderful Pro Mini. I'm sure the MySensors library is awesome, but I need more info.

Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I did not include it in this post (on my laptop) but I would be happy to include the output I get through the hard serial in my Arduino IDE.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration!!