easy intro to zigbee not more then $20 a device.. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: tommalone
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 12:08:40 am
content: so I am getting back into electronics after man a year away (studied when I was but a boy).I want to build up a few zigbee devices, basicly one controller and two controlled devices which will control my window blinds. Basicly either pull one of two control wires high to go up or down...My question is what is the simplest zigbee device you can get to play around with which will not brake the bank.Or does someone have a better suggest to implement the radio link?

author: rmacintosh
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 01:27:09 am
content: Well what you describe would require multiple zigbee devices.ie. 3x xbee's at $23 a pop.https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10414Or you could go cheap and by the 433 or 315 Mhz RF receiver/transmitter devices.ie. 2x receivers and 1x transmitter roughly $14 for all 3.https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10533https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10535But that wouldn't necessarily be a simple beginner project (compared to say...using an xbee) as you need to encode/decode the data as well as create some addressing technique in software.It's just that it is 1/4 the price.

author: jgarnold
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 04:28:46 am
content: Mouser has them for $17...http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=XB24-Z7WIT-004These are the Series 2 modules, which is what I use in my projects. You need one "coordinator" node and then one or more "router" nodes. You can also have "end" nodes which are allowed to sleep. All of the Series 2 modules are shipped with the router firmware installed, so you'll have to use the XCTU software to install the coordinator/end firmware and initialize other parameters. Supposedly, the Series 1 modules are easier to use out of the box, but I don't understand the network structure when there are more than two modules involved. The network structure used by Series 2 is much easier for me to understand... it's a simple top-down tree shaped network.You'll also need to purchase an XBee USB interface for installing firmware and changing internal parameters with XCTU...https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11812-Jeff

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2014, 04:49:25 am
content: Why use a dead protocol like Zigbee? The only people doing serious fresh work with it are the smart meter people, and they wish they had made a wiser choice. You can see the state of the Zigbee radio protocol just by looking at the list of their most recent specs. They are all applications protocols, like SEP (smart energy profile), designed to run across a Zigbee radio channel OR an IP one. Most people use these protocols over IP.Bluetooth used to be hopeless for these little control applications, as its battery life was so poor. Try looking at BTLE. Its power consumption is much more in line with the needs of small controllable devices, and you can control things from your phone.

author: tonyarkles
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2014, 03:16:39 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on October 25, 2014, 04:49:25 amCan Bluetooth LE do device-device communication? Or is it restricted to device-host communication? My understanding is that it can't, and that'd be one of the few remaining reasons to use it