Unable to communicate with airplane side xbee modem

[Bryan K]

I have been researching this all day and I cannot figure it out.

 

I bought the Xbee kit from DIY Drones a few weeks ago, and the system worked great right off the bat, but now I am having problems with it. I downloaded X-CTU and I was able to get in and connect to my computer side Xbee, but I am unable to connect to the plane side Xbee. I have tried every different baud rate, but no luck. I have tried to test, write and read, but no luck connecting. I have been trying to go through the forums and figure out what is wrong and how to fix it, but I cannot find the right forum or it doesn't exist. Please help me figure out what I need to do.

 

P.S. The RSSI light stays lit on the USB Xbee adapter on the Xbee that I can't connect to, but not on the one I was able to connect to. Is this normal or is it significant?

[Chris Anderson]

Try the "unbricking" instructions in the manual (bottom of page).

[Bryan K]

I have tried that and more and I am unable to connect to the modem at all.

[Chris Anderson]

You've put the air-side Xbee in the USB adapter and you can't get X-CTU to go through the firmware reloading process? And you've tried several times?

I've never heard of an Xbee actually going bad permanently, but I suppose it's possible. However, it's much more likely that you just need to give unbricking a few more goes. I know these modules are set up at the DIYD factory, so they were certainly working once. If you still can't get it working, email customer support.

[Bryan K]

Yes, I have tried several times, with several different combinations. It definitely worked when I first got it, and the other Xbee connects just fine which is why it has been so frustrating that I can't duplicate the process on the other one.

 

I feel that there must be some significance of the RSSI LED coming on the second you plug it into either the USB adapter or the Xtreamebee board and solidly staying on.

 

If I don't here any suggestions back from anyone within the next day I guess I will try to contact customer support.

[Hein du Plessis]

Hi Bryan

 

I have exactly the same problem. Let me know what customer support says?

[Toby Mills]

Have you set the baud rate on the first page of x-cut back to 9600?
You have to follow the firmware reload instructions to the absolute letter.

[Hein du Plessis]

I've tried all baud rates. I can't even connect. My ground-based Xbee reloaded fine. It's so strange?!

[Andre S]

You could try the following (just an idea): Connect it to the PC via the USB board, open x-ctu and inside x-ctu open the serial console. Then type first "+++" (and no return!!) you should see an "OK" after some seconds. If that comes you successfully put it into command mode and you may be able to reset it to factory settings. I don't quite remember the right command but google is your friend. You may need to repeat this for the various baud settings in order to find the right one.

[Hein du Plessis]

Thanks but no go :(. Typed in +++ in the terminal and nada after a long while:

 

This is how it's plugged in and the active LEDs (Red, power is not visible in the pic, but it's on):

 

Hope it helps.. ;)

[Rigel]

Ok, so I'm having the same problem on two Xbees!

The first unit worked for about 4-5 times.  When it went out  I simply assembled my second one which worked fine for about 4-5 linkups as well.  Unfortunately for me, I can't get the modules separated from the adapters.  Solder wicked up and soldered the module to the headers. 

Any way of unbricking with the modules attached to the adapters?

[Chris Anderson]

No, you must remove them from the adapters. The latest code from the Mission Planner has special code to avoid this in the future. 

[Justin]

"Solder wicked up and soldered the module to the headers."

 

I've got the reverse of that problem: when soldering on the headers, the solder went up into several of the pins and rendered them useless. It only takes a few and the header is gone and removing it without PCB damage is very hard. I was thinking of doing the next one with the xbee installed - but then I'd get your problem :

 

Not sure I know how to reliably avoid this problem when soldering the header. They are very small and there is nothing to resist even a small amount of solder just walking up the pin.