Hi everyone,
I am working on an university project, and I'm looking for some guidance on a problem I am encountering. Basically, I am trying to read data via a receiver radio connected to an Arduino Pro Micro. The data is being transmitted via a transmitter radio connected to my laptop. In all, this is a remote control system, in which the user can control the Arduino from his/her computer, wireless. This is the radio pair I am using.
http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-sik-telemetry-radio.html
The setup is as follows: The transmitter radio is connected to my laptop via USB cable. There, I can use any serial port emulator to write data for transmitting. This works without any issue. On the other side, I have the receiver radio connected to my Arduino board. Radio RX and TX goes to Arduino RX and TX, respectively. However, as I transmit data via the transmitter, the receiver does not respond. Thus, the output from the Arduino is always -1.
This is what is confusing me: I've programmed both radios to be communicating at the same channel. I know they are talking to each other because both have solid green LEDs, which mean they are hooked up. If I connect both to my laptop, or both to different laptops via USB cable, I can transmit and receive data no problem. Red and orange LEDs flash when transmitting and receiving. The problem occurs when I connect the receiver radio to my Arduino board and try to read its values through the RX and TX pins. I get nothing. Although the green LED remains solid, the red and orange LEDs don't flash on the receiver. This means that the receiver isn't receiving.
Also confusing me is: I can successfully write values to the transmitter via Arduino. I've connected the transmitter RX and TX to Arduino TX and RX, respectively, and have the Arduino write different numbers for it to transmit. I can also read the values from the receiver, plugged into my laptop via USB cable.
I'm taking a guess here, but the problem seems to be with the RX pin and the micro USB on the radio. For some reason i cannot read received values via the RX pin. And the receiver radio doesn't seem to respond if I don't plug it into my laptop via USB. I've swapped the RX and TX pins around, swapped the radios around, and changed Arduino boards, all to no avail.
I'm wondering, with the same connections, how come I can so easily use an Arduino to write values to the radio to transmit, but cannot use an Arduino to read these values?
Here is the code I'm using or the receiver radio:
//receiver on Arduino Pro Micro
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
const byte rxPin = 0;
const byte txPin = 1;
SoftwareSerial mySerial(rxPin, txPin);
void setup() {
mySerial.begin(57600);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
Serial.println(mySerial.read());
}
I'm obliged to any advise! Thanks!