EMX + XBee ? Which one to use?

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1

Hello,

We are building a project based on EMX (SoM) module.
From time to time it’s necessary to send some lightweight wireless data to a PC (with an XStick for example).
I guess the best solution is to use Xbee module ?
If so - which would be the best Xbee module to use in terms of libraries and connectivity ?

Thank you much
M.

2

If the price of XBee is not a problem then it’s a good choice. For your project you could use simplier (and cheaper) solutions like Nordic nRF24L01+ but you would have to find a USB version for your PC. With XBee you have the XStick. Check out the version you want to buy (or have already)

One is for Series 1 modules (802.15.4) and the other is for Series 2 (Zigbee). All of them can be controlled using this library

http://xbee.codeplex.com

3

Hello

Thanks for the answer.
So for PC part this should do ?
http://www.olimex.com/dev/sam7-nrf24-64.html ?
What about library support ? Is there anything for nrf24L01 ?

Thanks - M.

NB. Or more like this thing: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8840

4

You can control Nordic nRF24L01+ modules using this library

http://nrf24l01.codeplex.com/

With XBee the communication with PC is simplier because those modules use UART. XStick is essentialy an XBee and UART to USB converter packed in a dongle. With Noridc a similar solutions requires a CPU in the dongle that will translate talk to PC thru USB and to Noridc thru SPI. If you want to go with Nordic modules i suggest you buy an extra FEZ board that wil be used by your PC as the adapter. If however you want to go with XBee i don’t recommend buying the XStick because it’s expensive and hard to get. Its only advantage is that it looks nice :wink: What i suggest for the PC endpoint is this:

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8687

when you add XBee to it you will have the same as XStick but for lower price. You will end up having a serial port in your PC that will allow you to communicate with XBee (also upgrade its firmware). You can use the library I mentioned to write code that will work both on PC or FEZ.

5

Thank you much for your answer. So I think I’ll get Xbee. The price doesn’t seems to be that different from Nordic and looks like more standard solution.

Sincerely
M