Arduino Long Range Wireless Transmitter to PC

[srnet]

For most all RF modules, including the NRF24, there is no actual limit as to how many transmitters there may be in a setup.

However, if the transmitters are all on the same frequency and communication settings then only one can transmit at the same time.

[davechapperz]

@alto777

Knowing nothing more than that there has been amazing progress in the field, I wonder aloud so to speak whether you might get further faster with the project by using cameras and image processing. And probably a bit more horsepower than an UNO gives you.

I hadn't thought about this, mainly because I believe it requires multiple cameras to do this and the cost is very high. I wanted something that I could make relatively cheap (£30-40 each) to save money and learn more about Arduino and electronics in the process.

[davechapperz]

@Paul_KD7HB

@davechapperz

I also saw that a maximum of 6 NRF24s can communicate,

BUT they cannot transmit more than a single NRF24 at a time. Were you thinking something else?
Paul

I didn't realise that. This seems to be the problem I keep running into. Is there any method that can receive transmissions from multiple devices?

I'm not attached to the idea of using NRF24s, it was just something I came across while researching.

It seems like the only option (apart from video and image processing) is to have multiple receivers for NRF24s or HC-12s at a base station with an antenna. However, would it be possible to have 11+ receivers all talking to one PC?

EDIT
Another thought, if transmission of data is quick then it could be an option to pass information along a single line path. So one player 1 sends their data to player 2. Player 2 then adds their data to player 1's data to send to player 3. Player 3 then adds their data to what they receive (player 1 & player 2 data) then passes it on. As the position is updated every second, I guess this would mean the data would have to pass onto the next unit within ~80ms. Even at speeds of 250 kbps, this should be achievable. Would this realistically work?

[Paul_KD7HB]

How many radio stations can you listen to at once on a single radio?
Paul

[davechapperz]

@Paul_KD7HB

How many radio stations can you listen to at once on a single radio?
Paul

One. So I guess the answer is no.

Another thought, if transmission of data is quick then it could be an option to pass information along a single line path. So one player 1 sends their data to player 2. Player 2 then adds their data to player 1’s data to send to player 3. Player 3 then adds their data to what they receive (player 1 & player 2 data) then passes it on. As the position is updated every second, I guess this would mean the data would have to pass onto the next unit within ~80ms. Even at speeds of 250 kbps, this should be achievable. Would this realistically work?

What about this idea?

[dave-in-nj]

LoRa mesh?

[srnet]

@davechapperz

Another thought, if transmission of data is quick then it could be an option to pass information along a single line path. So one player 1 sends their data to player 2. Player 2 then adds their data to player 1’s data to send to player 3. Player 3 then adds their data to what they receive (player 1 & player 2 data) then passes it on. As the position is updated every second, I guess this would mean the data would have to pass onto the next unit within ~80ms. Even at speeds of 250 kbps, this should be achievable. Would this realistically work?

So if one of the radios fails you get no data at all, good plan.

You seem to be wanting (or rather asking the forum to) design this system before you know the basics of what will work for you, given the distances and the data rates you can utilise.

Once you know how fast a particular radio can send the data required, over the range and circumstances required, you will know the air time of the data. Once you know this you can estimate the chances of data collisions if all transmitters are just sending at random.

Or, once you know the data rate, you can test how long it would take to poll each of the transmitters for the data required. It might be fast enough.

But unless you test to see what data rate a particular module can achieve, it seems pointless to conjecture what would be a practical system.

Get testing.

[79galinakorczak]

You need audio transmitter/receiver +stm32f103 which can handle fft up to 20 kHz, fft = multi channel receiver, audio generator with different frequency for each player, 1kHz,2kHz ..........11kHz and 11 GPS.
GPS data is used to modulate audio generator , so you have 11 Tx transmitting data on different audio frequencies and fft with 11 bins …