Do you know if you are having hardware or software issues?
How is the switch wired to the handheld unit?
How are the XBees configured?
Software. The first problem is there is a delay when I close the switch on the handheld unit. When I close the switch the corresponding LED's on the other 2 arduinos light up as much as a second later. The next problem is with the periodic signal. The third arduino will flash the periodic LED pretty rapidly (maybe 30Hz or so) but this flashing starts and stops somewhat in time with the 1 second interval prescribed in the "blink without delay" code.
The switch is a normally open single pole momentary switch. I have pin 2 connected to a 10k resistor which is connected to ground. The switch has 5v+ to one side, the other side also goes to pin 2.
I bought the xbee pro 900 XSC for the extended range. When I read the modem using the X-CTU software, it indicates that it is the XBP09-XSC and the function set is the xbee-pro xsc 9600. I see no other function set available that would allow me to designate whether it is a router or coordinator.
I'll make sure my xbee shield is providing the correct voltage to the xbee. I'll look into addressing the messages but i'm not sure how to do that yet.
Thanks for the GPS idea, but I'm already invested in this direction. If I cant get it to work I may try it.