I am working on a RC project which uses a 433mhz transmitter and receiver.
I got all of my hardware put together.
I got the setup and code from a guy on instructables (LINK TO PAGE).
The formations and codes are on the page mentioned above but here they are anyways:
transmitter:
one difference with the transmitter is that I have used an 9v battery and a plug for it that leads to the power input port of the arduino.
I tried to connect it like in the picture because maybe the transmitter didn't get enough power but that wasn't the case. I got the same result as when I used the plug.
receiver:
The only difference with the receiver I have is that I don't use an arduino pro micro.
I am using an arduino R3 the same one as in the transmitter.
because there isn't a 16th pin on the arduino I was confused for a little while.
but I reconnected it to a different pin on the arduino and in the code (there might be a small chance the problem lies here because pin 16 on the pro micro might be special I looked that up but didn't find anything maybe you know? also I put the RAW wire into the 5v pin on the arduino. maybe that needs to be the VIN pin).
I already made the code different so that all the buttons are being send.
But I had it setup with exactly the setup in the pictures and code and it still didn't work.
I personally think it has something to do with the receiver and transmitter.
It sends and receives up close fine like it should but when I'm 30cm away it stops working.
I tried standing 4m away from the receiver and that didn't work too.
please help I searched everywhere to find an answer.
the antenna's are just a piece of wire, soldered to the receiver and transmitter.
Just like the guy on instructables did.
some other guy (I couldn't find the video sorry) had the same receiver and transmitter and he made it work within a range of 10m (which is perfect for me) in a noisy place and about 20m in a pretty silent place.
he also said he had found info somewhere about the transmitter and receiver which read that you could get a range of about 150m max with the hardware.
Provided that your problem is lack of transmission power, check these items:
Transmitter modules come in several power/distance ranges. Make sure that you have a large distance type.
Attach appropriate antennas, to both the transmitter and receiver.
Use a stronger power source for the transmitter.
As for the radio modules and distance- I was actually out last night testing. With no antenna on either, I got 20meters of reliable communication. I was just turning on and off an LED.
With a 173mm piece of 20AWG magnet wire soldered to the transmitter, I got 200meters of reliable communication. No added antenna to the receiver.
My setup was one Nano with receiver, LCD (showing character string of message and counting), and LED (coded to toggle); another Nano with transmitter, with a button to transmit once, an LED to show transmission happening, and the antenna. The receiving Nano was behind my kitchen window and I walked away from my house. Had to change the LED from blue to green because I stopped being able to see the faint blue before it actually stopped working.
to Drdiettrich: the 9v should be enough the product info reads that the min power needed for optimal range should be between 3v and 12v.
to Isaac: same. and the calculators are awesome thnx
to INTP: thanks for the info on the raw pin should work couldn't find that info anywhere (I searched for "RAW pin to arduino R3).
I can't find the 20 AWG magnet wire anywhere (maybe I'm just bad at searching though) do you have a link?
thanks too.
and to everyone: I stripped the whole setup and build it with just the arduinos and receivers.
It worked only the max was 6m (well it is better than 30cm though).
(maybe I had the same guy as INTP).
the program simply synchronizes the LEDs on the arduino with blinking.
I am now slowly putting it all back together again.
Those inexpensive modules work much better with a balanced dipole antenna than a 1/4 wave piece of wire.
I get over 300 meters line-of-sight range with the setup shown below, and 5V on each module (RX and TX). Connect one interior end of the dipole to "ANT" and the other to "GND", with short wires if necessary. The end-to-end dipole length should be about 33 cm.