Serial not working when powering with 3V coin cell

Using Arduino IDE 1.x
1

Hey folks,

I have an Arduino Uno and an XBEE shield that I'm using for wireless data read-out. When I power the transmitter board with a wall adapter or with a USB from my laptop, the XBEE communication works. I can see the TX and RX LEDs blinking on the XBEE Shield and I receive the data on my receiver module. However, when I switch to power the board with a 3V coin cell battery, the TX and RX LEDs don't blink and I don't get any data on the receiver XBEE. With the coin cell, I know the board is on because the power LED is on, albeit dimmer than with the 5V sources. Thoughts or suggestions?

Will

2

Bigger capacity battery.
Coin cells are designed to dribble out current and last a long time.
Arduino + Xbee is more current drain than the battery can suppply.
Put a meter on it, think you'll find the 3V is low.