NRF24L01 Power Issue

Hi there,

Recently I have been playing around with the NRF24L01 for a new project. But I discovered while browsing that it has some kind of power issue while using it with Arduino.

There were quiet a few solution including

  1. attaching a 10 micro Faraday capacitor between +positive and negative.

  2. buying a 3.3v voltage regulator

But because I am very excited to complete this project and not patient enough to wait until parts get ship.

So, my question is that, ls it possible to use a buck converter connected to 5v pin of Arduino as input and set to 3.3v as output voltage of buck converter to power NRF24L01 module ???

Thanks in advance

What is powering the 5v on your Arduino?

Kaizen_Inventor:
So, my question is that, ls it possible to use a buck converter connected to 5v pin of Arduino as input and set to 3.3v as output voltage of buck converter to power NRF24L01 module ???

You have not told us what Arduino board you are using or how it is powered. If you are using an Uno powered by the USB cable I would expect that the 5v pin should be capable of providing enough current.

Another option that works well is to power the nRF24 from a pair of AA alkaline cells (3v) with the battery GND connected to the Arduino GND.

...R
Simple nRF24L01+ Tutorial

bluejets:
What is powering the 5v on your Arduino?

It is powered by my laptop usb port.

Kaizen_Inventor:
I don't see that line written anywhere maybe you should go and read again.

Isn't that why @bluejets asked the question ?

...R

Robin2:
Isn't that why @bluejets asked the question ?

...R

If so the I am really sorry about it. The Arduino is powered by by laptop usb port. Also I had a question that will it be safe to connect it directly to 5v pin because the module datasheet shows that it requires 3.3v.

Kaizen_Inventor:
Also I had a question that will it be safe to connect it directly to 5v pin because the module datasheet shows that it requires 3.3v.

No. You will destroy the nRF24 module if you connect its Vcc pin to 5v. It is OK to connect the data pins to the Arduino's 5v I/O pins.

...R

After some issues with the rf24, mainly being my lack of programming knowledge, I got a few modules working.

It will work with the adapter board, which will require a 5V input and stepped down to 3.3V.

I’ve also got a board working without the adapter, with the rf24 module being powered directly from a Pro Mini and an external power source at 3.3V. I used a 47uF capacitor between the pos and neg and it seems to work perfectly. The project is running on 2 AA batteries now with no issues so far. But the Pro Mini is put into sleep mode for just short of a minute at a time.