WTB: ZigBee Wireless development kit - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: neonhomer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2015, 03:13:25 pm
content: I am looking for a ZigBee Wireless developers kit. I would prefer the one from Telegesis using the ETRX357 chips.http://www.telegesis.com/products/etrx3-based-products/etrx3-zigbee-development-kit/The problem is the kit is expensive. I'm trying to do some testing with ZigBee, and I remember back when companies used to send these out for free. I called Telegesis and they said that they no longer do that.What I am looking for is a stand-alone ZigBee solution for range testing. So it wouldn't have to be the Telegesis kit, but that's the one I'm most familiar with.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2015, 03:27:57 pm
content: I assume now that ZigBee is dying suppliers don't have an incentive to push hard in that market.

author: bitslice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2015, 06:36:05 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on October 16, 2015, 03:27:57 pmIs itit seemed like a good idea to meI've got one of the TI dev kits somewherehttp://www.ti.com/tool/cc2650dkalthough I haven't got as far as plugging it in yet...I've seen a few reasonable offerings on eBay for it.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2015, 07:42:40 pm
content: Quote from: bitslice on October 16, 2015, 06:36:05 pmGood for what? Millions of zigbee radios have gone into smart meters, where hardly any are actually used. Most people want a radio they already have the matching radio for, like BTLE.Quote from: bitslice on October 16, 2015, 06:36:05 pm"The CC2650 is a wireless MCU targeting Bluetooth Smart, ZigBee and 6LoWPAN, and ZigBee RF4CE remote control applications.". Bluetooth is very popular, and 6LoWPAN is really growing.

author: bitslice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2015, 09:18:59 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on October 16, 2015, 07:42:40 pmWhy would they not be used after being installed in smart meters? I thought that wireless readings was the whole point.I've seen Zigbee pop up in home automation designs, it seems a reasonable application of mesh radio to me?If I wanted a point-to-point link I'd probably look at something else, if I wanted a doorbell, again I'd pick another technology.Ah, you mean why not just use the bluetooth inside an iPhone?Yeh fair point, although I'd see them as slightly different applications myself.

author: neonhomer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2015, 12:35:55 am
content: At work, we are beginning to use ZigBee Pro in wireless thermostats. I tried to use some of our equipment to do some experimenting, but they have custom firmware on them, so I am unable to use it. Example.. I have a BAG of about 20 of the Digi XBee boards. Can't use any of them because my XBee Explorer board and the X-CTU software won't even see the boards.So that's why I was trying to get a development kit.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2015, 05:09:06 am
content: Quote from: bitslice on October 16, 2015, 09:18:59 pmSome places put zigbee into meters for reading the meter, but coverage at 2.4GHz is so poor that generally fails. Most meter reading is through proprietary sub-1GHz radios, or PLC. Proprietary wireless is the most common. 6LowPAN is starting to get some traction, but its not clear how far it will get. Most zigbee in meters is for things like in home displays, but people aren't using those radios. Most people who actually bother to monitor their smart meter do so through a utility's web site. If people are going to read the meter directly from something in the house they want a wifi or bluetooth interface their phone or computer can connect to.Quote from: bitslice on October 16, 2015, 09:18:59 pmIf you add BTLE to an appliance, you download an app for your phone and you are done. If you add zigbee to an appliance, you now need to buy another appliance to talk to it. This doesn't play very well in a world where everyone's pocket contains a device with a better display and input scheme than anything you are going to put in a reasonably priced proprietary display device. I don't know of a home automation device with zigbee that has achieved any real traction in the marketplace.

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2015, 11:36:33 am
content: I thought the whole point with mesh network is that, it's not the range of the single device that is interesting, but with more devices you expand and cover an big area.Who on earth would want an zigbee based meter-reader and nothing else?the cc2650stk states that range is about 100 meters, so with some other devices that already exists on the market, like light-bulbs, sockets, switches etc with zigbee you would cover an big area.

author: neonhomer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2015, 10:34:25 pm
content: We actually use ZigBee in our thermostats. So we can put a coordinator and then a tstat nearby, and as long as the t-stat can see the next one, we're good.What I am looking to do with a development kit is to make a range tester of sorts. I know they make these, but they are expensive and really don't give the full story.If I can roll my own, I can use a old tstat casing and my laptop to do range checks, without having to have the actual tstat and coordinator to do it. (Which is also expensive.)I see companies sending dev kits out to YouTubers all the time... was just hoping someone else was as lucky and could help me out.

author: SteveyG
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 19, 2015, 08:29:12 am
content: Quote from: neslekkim on October 17, 2015, 11:36:33 amcoppice is talking out his derrière. Zigbee is widely used and certainly being designed into future devices.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 19, 2015, 09:45:08 am
content: Quote from: neslekkim on October 17, 2015, 11:36:33 amYou might get 100m line of site, but what happens when walls are in the way? You need to see from node to node to form a mesh. The only test system I've seen where zigbee got the meters talking to each other properly had 3W PAs on the transmitters, and that was in a dense area where the hops were relatively short..The US is typical of most current metering. Most meters there use a proprietary sub 1GHz mesh radio system for reading, and zigbee for in home displays. Except, hardly anyone has an in home display, so the zigbee radio is usually idle.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 19, 2015, 09:46:18 am
content: Quote from: SteveyG on October 19, 2015, 08:29:12 amCan you quote chapter and versus for these large scale current and future uses?

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 19, 2015, 11:59:27 am
content: Quote from: coppice on October 19, 2015, 09:45:08 amWhy are you focusing only on metering?What about sockets that can turn them self on/off via zigbee, controllable/dimmable lightbulbs via zigbee, pir sensors, and so on, everyone on the same (in house) zigbee mesh?, what has 100meters to do with it then?Atleast here, metering is not so interresting, power is cheap, but ability to control when you turn off/on sockets, lights, kitchen-stoveguards, smoke-alarms etc, that is very interresting.