XBee Range Testing
So now we go onto Range Testing and this is where I imagine the range is tested...
So click on the Range Test Tab and this is what I first see:
Under the vertical RSSI lettering, check the checkbox to monitor signal strength. Click Start. The software will repeatedly send packets and display the signal strength and percentage of correctly returned packets as well as the packet itself. Click Stop once you’ve seen enough:
Super cool - seems like 100% of the messages are making it there and coming back correctly. RSSI is the Received Signal Strength Indicator value. This value will be between -40 dBm (the highest recorded value) and -100 dBm (the minimum sensitivity of the XBee). Looks like we did pretty well! Oddly enough, the receive window didn't show what was being transmitted - not sure if that's supposed to happen.
Now to show that something changes when there is a problem: Test for interference of the signal by placing your hands over the Base XBee, blocking line-of-sight with your body, placing a metal box over an XBee, or moving the Remote XBee to a further location or a different room or floor in the building.
So all I did was cup my hand over the transmitting XBee and you can see that the RSSI dB is lower than before. Wicked!
Question:
Now I asked Roy why the properly received stuff wasn't being displayed in the window and he wasn't sure why as his program showed the transmitted text. The test/query worked, sending packets of text via terminal works...Anyone have any idea?
@atdiy/@tymkrs