nRF24L01 only works on one Arduino

I want to implement nRF24L01 modules for a project of mine. I couldn't get them to talk using a number of different demo sketches. I eventually tried the GettingStarted sketch included in the RF24 library. On my Uno R3 it works, asking me which role it should take and to start transmitting. On my Leonardo it just says "radio hardware is not responding".

I tried swapping the nRF24L01 modules and nothing changed. I double checked the cable connections. I burned the Leonardo's bootloader again and uploaded a different sketch. That went fine but when I uploaded the GettingStarted sketch the error was the same.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

Below is the unaltered GettingStarted sketch I used:

/*
 * See documentation at https://nRF24.github.io/RF24
 * See License information at root directory of this library
 * Author: Brendan Doherty (2bndy5)
 */

/**
 * A simple example of sending data from 1 nRF24L01 transceiver to another.
 *
 * This example was written to be used on 2 devices acting as "nodes".
 * Use the Serial Monitor to change each node's behavior.
 */
#include <SPI.h>
#include "printf.h"
#include "RF24.h"

#define CE_PIN 7
#define CSN_PIN 8
// instantiate an object for the nRF24L01 transceiver
RF24 radio(CE_PIN, CSN_PIN);

// Let these addresses be used for the pair
uint8_t address[][6] = { "1Node", "2Node" };
// It is very helpful to think of an address as a path instead of as
// an identifying device destination

// to use different addresses on a pair of radios, we need a variable to
// uniquely identify which address this radio will use to transmit
bool radioNumber = 1;  // 0 uses address[0] to transmit, 1 uses address[1] to transmit

// Used to control whether this node is sending or receiving
bool role = false;  // true = TX role, false = RX role

// For this example, we'll be using a payload containing
// a single float number that will be incremented
// on every successful transmission
float payload = 0.0;

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(115200);
  while (!Serial) {
    // some boards need to wait to ensure access to serial over USB
  }

  // initialize the transceiver on the SPI bus
  if (!radio.begin()) {
    Serial.println(F("radio hardware is not responding!!"));
    while (1) {}  // hold in infinite loop
  }

  // print example's introductory prompt
  Serial.println(F("RF24/examples/GettingStarted"));

  // To set the radioNumber via the Serial monitor on startup
  Serial.println(F("Which radio is this? Enter '0' or '1'. Defaults to '0'"));
  while (!Serial.available()) {
    // wait for user input
  }
  char input = Serial.parseInt();
  radioNumber = input == 1;
  Serial.print(F("radioNumber = "));
  Serial.println((int)radioNumber);

  // role variable is hardcoded to RX behavior, inform the user of this
  Serial.println(F("*** PRESS 'T' to begin transmitting to the other node"));

  // Set the PA Level low to try preventing power supply related problems
  // because these examples are likely run with nodes in close proximity to
  // each other.
  radio.setPALevel(RF24_PA_LOW);  // RF24_PA_MAX is default.

  // save on transmission time by setting the radio to only transmit the
  // number of bytes we need to transmit a float
  radio.setPayloadSize(sizeof(payload));  // float datatype occupies 4 bytes

  // set the TX address of the RX node into the TX pipe
  radio.openWritingPipe(address[radioNumber]);  // always uses pipe 0

  // set the RX address of the TX node into a RX pipe
  radio.openReadingPipe(1, address[!radioNumber]);  // using pipe 1

  // additional setup specific to the node's role
  if (role) {
    radio.stopListening();  // put radio in TX mode
  } else {
    radio.startListening();  // put radio in RX mode
  }

  // For debugging info
  // printf_begin();             // needed only once for printing details
  // radio.printDetails();       // (smaller) function that prints raw register values
  // radio.printPrettyDetails(); // (larger) function that prints human readable data

}  // setup

void loop() {

  if (role) {
    // This device is a TX node

    unsigned long start_timer = micros();                // start the timer
    bool report = radio.write(&payload, sizeof(float));  // transmit & save the report
    unsigned long end_timer = micros();                  // end the timer

    if (report) {
      Serial.print(F("Transmission successful! "));  // payload was delivered
      Serial.print(F("Time to transmit = "));
      Serial.print(end_timer - start_timer);  // print the timer result
      Serial.print(F(" us. Sent: "));
      Serial.println(payload);  // print payload sent
      payload += 0.01;          // increment float payload
    } else {
      Serial.println(F("Transmission failed or timed out"));  // payload was not delivered
    }

    // to make this example readable in the serial monitor
    delay(1000);  // slow transmissions down by 1 second

  } else {
    // This device is a RX node

    uint8_t pipe;
    if (radio.available(&pipe)) {              // is there a payload? get the pipe number that recieved it
      uint8_t bytes = radio.getPayloadSize();  // get the size of the payload
      radio.read(&payload, bytes);             // fetch payload from FIFO
      Serial.print(F("Received "));
      Serial.print(bytes);  // print the size of the payload
      Serial.print(F(" bytes on pipe "));
      Serial.print(pipe);  // print the pipe number
      Serial.print(F(": "));
      Serial.println(payload);  // print the payload's value
    }
  }  // role

  if (Serial.available()) {
    // change the role via the serial monitor

    char c = toupper(Serial.read());
    if (c == 'T' && !role) {
      // Become the TX node

      role = true;
      Serial.println(F("*** CHANGING TO TRANSMIT ROLE -- PRESS 'R' TO SWITCH BACK"));
      radio.stopListening();

    } else if (c == 'R' && role) {
      // Become the RX node

      role = false;
      Serial.println(F("*** CHANGING TO RECEIVE ROLE -- PRESS 'T' TO SWITCH BACK"));
      radio.startListening();
    }
  }

}  // loop

Exactly which pins on the Leonardo is the RF module connected to ? The 3 SPI pins are on the ICSP header alone, not on the edge connector

Thanks, that was the problem.

I am glad that it worked

Good luck with the project

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.