Hi Paul, yestarday evening i was very happy because I've follow your indication with success. to be hones I don't know why I've tried to run the same program this morning and won't work ... 
again ... what I've did is wait until is pressed, when is pressed send out data, wait until have an answer and then blink each n times based on the keypressed ... from your stand point is there error in my code ?
Trasmitter:
#include <VirtualWire.h>
#include <Keypad.h>
const byte ROWS = 4; //four rows
const byte COLS = 4; //four columns
const int ledPin = 13;
//define the cymbols on the buttons of the keypads
char hexaKeys[ROWS][COLS] = {
{'1','2','3'},
{'4','5','6'},
{'7','8','9'},
{'*','0','#'}
};
byte rowPins[ROWS] = {8, 7, 6, 5}; //connect to the row pinouts of the keypad
byte colPins[COLS] = {4, 3, 2}; //connect to the column pinouts of the keypad
//initialize an instance of class NewKeypad
Keypad customKeypad = Keypad( makeKeymap(hexaKeys), rowPins, colPins, ROWS, COLS);
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600); // Debugging only
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
Serial.println("setup");
// Initialise the IO and ISR
vw_setup(1200); // Bits per sec
vw_rx_start(); // Start the receiver PLL running
}
void loop()
{
//delay(80);
char customKey = customKeypad.getKey();
char msg[1];
msg[0] = customKey;
if (customKeypad.getState() == PRESSED)
{
if (customKey != NO_KEY)
{
Serial.println(customKey);
// digitalWrite(13, true); // Flash a light to show transmitting
vw_send((uint8_t *)msg, strlen(msg));
vw_wait_tx(); // Wait until the whole message is gone
Serial.println("Sent");
// digitalWrite(13, false);
customKey = NO_KEY;
uint8_t buf[VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN];
uint8_t buflen = VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN;
// Wait at most 200ms for a reply
vw_wait_rx();
//if (vw_wait_rx_max(265))
//{
char testo[buflen];
char testo1;
if (vw_get_message(buf, &buflen)) // Non-blocking
{
int i;
// Message with a good checksum received, dump it.
Serial.print("Got: ");
//for (i = 0; i < buflen; i++)
//{
// testo[i]= buf[i], char();
// Serial.println((char)buf[i]);
testo[0]= buf[0], char();
Serial.println(testo[0]);
Serial.print(" ");
//}
// Serial.println(testo[0]);
Serial.println("");
//Serial.println(testo);
//Serial.println("");
switch (testo[0])
{
case '1':
Serial.println("Im number 1");
digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
delay(250);
digitalWrite(13, LOW);
break;
case '2':
Serial.println("Im number 2");
volatile int b;
volatile int c;
b = 1;
c = 3;
asled(b,c);
break;
case '3':
Serial.println("Im number 3");
volatile int d;
volatile int e;
d = 1;
e = 4;
asled(d,e);
break;
case '4':
volatile int f;
volatile int g;
f = 1;
g = 5;
asled(f,g);
break;
case '5':
volatile int h;
volatile int i;
h = 1;
i = 6;
asled(h,i);
break;
case '6':
volatile int l;
volatile int m;
l = 1;
m = 7;
asled(l,m);
break;
case '7':
volatile int n;
volatile int o;
n = 1;
o = 8;
asled(n,o);
break;
case '8':
volatile int p;
volatile int q;
p = 1;
q = 9;
asled(p,q);
break;
case '9':
volatile int r;
volatile int s;
r = 1;
s = 10;
asled(r,s);
break;
case '0':
Serial.println("Im number 0");
break;
case '*':
Serial.println("Im number *");
break;
case '#':
Serial.println("Im number #");
break;
}
}
//}
else
Serial.println("Timout");
}
}
}
void asled(int a,int cont)
{
for (a = 1; a < cont; a++)
{
digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
delay(250);
digitalWrite(13, LOW);
delay(250);
}
}
Receiver:
#include <VirtualWire.h>
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600); // Debugging only
Serial.println("setup");
vw_setup(1200); // Bits per sec
vw_rx_start(); // Start the receiver PLL running
}
void loop()
{
//const char *msg = "hello";
uint8_t buf[VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN];
uint8_t buflen = VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN;
// Wait for a message
vw_wait_rx();
if (vw_get_message(buf, &buflen)) // Non-blocking
{
int i;
char testo[buflen];
char msg[1];
Serial.print("Got: ");
//for (i = 0; i < buflen; i++)
// {
// Received the string and assign to another variable
// testo[i] = buf[i], char();
testo[0]= buf[0], char();
Serial.print(" ");
// }
// check the string and do something if are equal ...
Serial.println(testo[0]);
// Serial.println("");
// Serial.println(testo);
// Serial.println("");
msg[0] = testo[0];
// Send a reply
vw_send((uint8_t *)msg, strlen(msg));
vw_wait_tx(); // Wait until the whole message is gone
Serial.println("Sent");
// digitalWrite(13, false);
}
}
Sure I've seen that was working yestarday ...
thanks for yout advise,
Andrea