I am having some interesting problems while trying to use the nRF24L01+ module. My current module has the antenna extension but not the adapter. The radio does not respond but a couple days ago it did but didn't work correctly. I have spent a few days trying to figure out how to fix the problem but haven't found a solution. I have one of them hooked up to my Arduino Mega and then the other one hooked up to my Arduino Nano. I have checked the wires and tried different code from different sources but cannot get it to work. I tried attaching a capacitor and even used an external source and cannot get it to work. Link to product
UPDATE:
I can smell something close to solder smoke from my Mega but haven't done anything to it. I unplugged it then plugged it back in and the orange light fades. Is this normal?
UPDATE2:
I unplugged everything from the mega and the light still fades, did I break my Mega?
Rule #1 A power Supply the Arduino is NOT! Use an external power supply for it. IF your lucky your Arduino only got hot but you could have fried it, only time will tell. Be sure to connect the ground of the external power supply to the Arduino.
Have uou seen these power adapters. I use homemade vrrdions eith good success.
Once you get enough power to those modules, be aware that those higher power modules may not work if they are too close together. Move them a few meters apart.
I have ordered new transceivers that should be delivered by tomorrow. They do have the power adapters you listed and I will see if it makes a difference. @gilshultz One time before I had the power and ground switched and the Mega got really hot but it worked afterwards. Thank you for the advice, I will be more careful in the future with the Arduino power supply. Another thing I was wondering though is that in some tutorials they use the 5V power supply with the adapters for the nRF24L01+, would that be ok to do if I am using the adapter?
Those adapters have a 5V to 3.3V regulator on them so they require 5V.
The reason for the adapters is that the 3.3V regultors on the Uno, Mega and, especially, the Nano will not supply the current that the radio modules need.
So the power adapters arrived, I plugged everything into the ports, and I am using the official example code from the library("Getting Started"), and it doesn't work. My Mega works but my Nano says radio hardware is not responding. I checked the ports and the ports are fine. I might need a new Nano but this Nano is new and it should work.
Here is my list of tips to getting those radios to work.
If you read and, closely, follow Robin2's simple rf24 tutorial you should be able to get them working. That tutorial sure helped me. The code in the examples has been proven to work many many times. If it does not work for you, there is likely a hardware problem.
Run the CheckConnection.ino (look in reply #30 in the tutorial) to verify the physical wiring between the radio module and its processor (Arduino).
It is very important that you get the 3.3V supply to the radio modules to supply enough current. This is especially true for the high power (external antenna) modules. I use homemade adapters like these. They are powered by 5V and have a 3.3V regulator on the board. Robin2 also has suggested trying with a 2 AA cell battery pack.
If using the high powered radios make sure to separate them by a few meters. They may not work too close together. Try the lower power settings.
Reset the radios by cycling power to them after uploading new code. I have found that to help. They do not reset with the Arduino.
UPDATE: Robin the wizard strikes again. If you follow his tutorial and use his code, it works. Make sure you revert the version to 1.1.7 and it works. Here is the link for the post.
