Hey guys, I maintain a rather large (building wide) Zigbee network with some sensors for data collection. We are using the 900Mhz Zigbee Pro modules and it works pretty well. Digi makes a device called a point manager that acts as a bridge between Ethernet or serial. I've used a few hooked to the M100 as wireless modems and they work pretty well. The only downside is cost.
Not to change the subject but recently I've gotten into the ESP8266 WiFi modules. Posted about them a while back on here. They are basically $4 wifi to UART devices with some GPIO ports and programming capability. I put one with a Lipo battery inside one of my M100s. I used the Originate Anser switch on the side as a power switch, wired in the LIPO charger circuit to the DC jack and hooked the battery low light to the full charge indicator. I soldered the TX/RX wires directly onto the UART inside the M100 since it has TTL levels. This also lets me continue to use the serial port on the back when the ESP8226 module is off. Works pretty well. You use AT commands to connect to other network devices. For example to "telnet" to my home linux machine I type ATDT192.168.1.82 from the terminal and I'm in. Just another cheaper than Xbee option to consider that uses an already established medium like WiFi. Brian On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 1:51 PM, MikeS <dm...@torfree.net> wrote: > Mesh Networks are how folks are setting up private wireless LANs using > WiFi; don't know how relevant it'd be to a Zigbee network, but it might > give you some ideas: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network > > m > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Andrew Roach <ajroac...@gmail.com> > *To:* Model 100 Discussion <m100@lists.bitchin100.com> > *Sent:* Monday, April 27, 2015 1:32 PM > *Subject:* Re: [M100] Xbee and m100 > > I know what you mean there! > > Maybe one of the radio guys will chime in. > > On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 1:28 PM Shaun M. Wheeler <cj.speake...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Nothing more than a couple of (somewhat legible) diagrams. We drew up a >> convoluted system that relied on an antenna rotator, directional antenna, >> GPS, and a bunch of cron jobs in Linux. >> >> I might add, none of us really know what we're doing, radio-wise, we were >> going to learn on-the-fly ;) >> >> Can't remember what the GPS was for, though. Probably made sense after a >> few beers... >> On Apr 27, 2015 12:20 PM, "Andrew Roach" <ajroac...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> See, I knew I couldn't be the only person who started scheming like that >>> when I found out the theoretical range on these modules. >>> >>> Did you ever get any further than considering/discussing? >>> >>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 1:19 PM Shaun M. Wheeler <cj.speake...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> We also considered an XBee uucp network as well, which could have been >>>> implemented natively on a number of machines of vintage, although I'm not >>>> aware of any such thing for the Model T. >>>> On Apr 27, 2015 12:11 PM, "Andrew Roach" <ajroac...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> That was immediately my other thought. A fido style Xbee/raspi BBS >>>>> network. >>>>> >>>>> I know some kids at the local college who'd help me put it together, >>>>> if I could prove it was viable from a transmission power perspective. >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 1:10 PM Andrew Roach <ajroac...@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Yeah, I was expecting that the whip would give me a significantly >>>>>> reduced range. >>>>>> >>>>>> I'm going to order some and experiment. It'd be really neat to hack a >>>>>> system like this together. 5 miles is my target (which would be 1/8 of >>>>>> the >>>>>> max point-to-point range. >>>>>> >>>>>> My concern is that I might be able to get 5 miles omni-LOS, but that >>>>>> without a clear line of sight I'd be down to half a mile or so. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 12:54 PM MikeS <dm...@torfree.net> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> The challenge in your project would probably be the antenna; it's >>>>>>> largely the 'directional' aspect of the antenna that gives you the >>>>>>> point-to-point distance and an omnidirectional whip would give you a >>>>>>> drastically shorter range. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Antenna height and any obstacles in the path are also major factors >>>>>>> affecting distance. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> There's a pretty active long distance WiFi community out there; >>>>>>> here's a pair of Linksys WRT54Gs communicating over 300+ km: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/487/402 >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Worth experimenting! >>>>>>> >>>>>>> m >>>>>>> >>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>>> *From:* Andrew Roach <ajroac...@gmail.com> >>>>>>> *To:* Model 100 Discussion <m100@lists.bitchin100.com> >>>>>>> *Sent:* Monday, April 27, 2015 12:19 PM >>>>>>> *Subject:* [M100] Xbee and m100 >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I have been reading about the Xbee Xtend 900MHz Pro. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> This is a wireless serial modem with a transmission range of up to >>>>>>> 40 miles LOS (with a high gain directional antenna) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I'm not super familiar with RF, but I know there are a fair number >>>>>>> of Ham guys on the group. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> If I was to build the proper circuits to connect the Xbee to my PC >>>>>>> and my m100, with an omnidirectional whip antenna, could I conceivably >>>>>>> be >>>>>>> broadcasting a serial connection to a bubble of 5 miles, or so, around >>>>>>> my >>>>>>> home? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Does that sound possible? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> If it is possible, then would it also be conceivable that I could >>>>>>> concoct some kind of router at the receiving end, and have other people >>>>>>> sharing this connection using m100s and HP-200LXs connected to these >>>>>>> xbee >>>>>>> modules? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> My mind is all aflutter. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>
