Project - RFM69 Driver for NETMF / Gadgeteer Mainboards

Terrence · December 21, 2016, 9:16pm

@ RoSchmi - I have a couple Feather f=rfm69s and 3 raw radios, not breakouts.

RoSchmi · December 22, 2016, 7:04am

@ Terrence - then I think, you have everthing you need. Feather RFM69 as the transmitter, Gadgeteer or FEZ NETMF Board with raw radio as receiver.

Sprigo · December 22, 2016, 7:16am

Can’t wait to have a play with this as it could be a perfect fit for my current project replacing the XBee’s.

Mr_John_Smith · December 22, 2016, 8:59am

So this driver needs to work on IoT as well. Would bit banging be acceptable?

RoSchmi · December 22, 2016, 9:23am

Please, can you explain a litte bit more of what you are thinking.

Mr_John_Smith · December 22, 2016, 9:27am

@ RoSchmi - I was thinking it was only for .netmf If it’s going to be for IoT with it’s hard to get to bare metal then I will need to make some seperations in my version of the driver. I consider this a requirements change.

Terrence · January 4, 2017, 3:07pm

@ RoSchmi - Here is a guy who is working on getting the RFM12B to work on Windows 10 IOT Raspberry Pi. Hoping his code might help the overall movement.

SmithJones · February 11, 2017, 5:15pm

Great work! I’m going to take a shot at porting this to Win 10 IoT Core. I’ll post back if I get something working.

RoSchmi · February 11, 2017, 7:35pm

Thanks, very interested to see your code.

SmithJones · February 14, 2017, 8:58pm

Successfully built the library for Win IoT 10 Core. Most of the conversion was straightforward (things like converting “Ticks()” to System.Environment.TickCout; converting the Thread-ing calls were a little more work, but not much…). I’ll start testing tonight or tomorrow.

There’s one material change. Win IoT Core doesn’t have an InterruptPort class nor InterruptPort’s DisableInterrupt()/EnableInterrupt() members. You can instantiate a Gpio pin in Win IoT, set the pin’s DriveMode to Input (InputPullHigh in this case/if the pin supports it), and attach a handler to the pin’s ValueChanged event which is nearly the same as attaching to an InterruptPort’s OnInterrupt event. In the ValueChanged handler, you can determine if the pin’s Edge is falling or rising (I think we’re interested RisingEdge in the RFM69 class). But I think the Gpio “interrupt” pin could still receive input while the ValueChanged handler is executing. I’ll take any guidance anyone cares to offer about handling interrupts properly in Win IoT.

Similar issue with OutputPort; there’s no OutputPort class in Win IoT, but you can configure a Gpio port as output, set the initial state to false (Low), etc. So I think the reset pin will work just fine.

A few other async/threading related-clean ups, but I’m hopeful I’ll have something to share in a few more days.

Terrence · February 15, 2017, 8:09am

@ SmithJones - I can’t provide any technical help on this, but I am looking forward to checking out your library. I think RFM69 is the right radio (low power, long distance) for IOT telemetry data transport back to the gateway.

SmithJones · February 16, 2017, 10:39pm

The sound of a Raspberry Pi running Windows 10 Iot Core (with a “naked” Adafruit RFM69 radio attached) transmitting messages to a remote RFM69 receiver. Still a lot of cleanup to do, but it’s working.

Terrence · February 17, 2017, 9:37am

@ SmithJones - That is a beautiful sound.

Terrence · March 20, 2017, 10:28am

@ SmithJones - Any updates on your Win10 Pi radio code?

stotech · June 1, 2017, 1:24am

I need to setup some wireless water monitoring stuff over 1000acres of land. I was hoping to use G120 and Adafruit RFM69HCW Transceiver Radio Breakout - 433 MHz [RadioFruit] : ID 3071 : $9.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
Before I go shopping. Did this ever get finished?
Edit: Actually should use these Adafruit RFM96W LoRa Radio Transceiver Breakout - 433 MHz [RadioFruit] : ID 3073 : $19.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
Does anybody know if the code is the same?

RoSchmi · June 1, 2017, 8:13am

@ stotech - the driver used to work. What will be the distance between the sensors and the gateway in your application. How many sensors?

I suppose that the code will not work with the LoRa modules.

Terrence · June 1, 2017, 11:09am

@ RoSchmi - I am interested in using the driver with Win10 IOT on a RPI. Will the diver work in that situation?

Actually I guess this should have been addressed to alias @ SmithJones

RoSchmi · June 1, 2017, 12:26pm

@ Terrence - the NETMF/Gadgeteer adaption of the driver will not work on RPi with Windows IOT. Unfortunately there are no new posts from @ SmithJones.
Concerning RPi and Linux I just saw this post:
http://jeelabs.org/2015/05/20/rfm69-on-raspberry-pi/
Personally I’m at the moment not interested in trying to make a driver for RPi and Windows IOT, unless… someone makes a very good offer :whistle:

Terrence · June 1, 2017, 1:09pm

@ RoSchmi - I understand. I guess I just need to get on board with the Arduino crowd and use the LowPowerLab driver and code.

Thanks.

RoSchmi · June 1, 2017, 2:18pm

@ Terrence - Yes, if you need less than let’s say 50 units and want to stay with RPi and Windows IOT it’s probably the better way to connect an RFM69-Arduino like the Moteino to the RPi through a serial port and let the Moteino/Arduino do the RF stuff. The advantage of the stable library will pay off the higher price.