MarkT:
The output of analogWrite is from a separate, asynchronous piece of hardware called a counter/timer.This continually outputs pulses all the time, the call to analogWrite merely changes the width of future pulses.
It doesn't wait, it doesn't take immediate effect, and so outputing a single pulse is not feasible using analogWrite.Trying to encode 8 bits as an RF pulse length is fraught with issues, such as the bandwidth of TX and RX, noise,
interference, AGC pumping, and probably others. Old fashioned used such schemes for analog data, and you
had to put up with some jitter and noise, but that's not a shop stopper for RC models.Trust the people who've worked with wireless all their lives and use a packet transceiver to communicate digital/binary data. The RF12 module is cheap and there are libraries to support it. Transceivers have
checksums, packet start recognition, and other support to make data communication reasonably robust even
in such cheap ISM modules.Anyway what is this byte?
Thanks @MarkT I needed to know. Sitting here with a pad and a pen isn't quite as good as being able to fail with real hardware.
I'm very happy to take expert advice with an explanation. That's why I asked, and part of the fun of learning is getting a good answer. (Otherwise I'd have tried it, failed and then asked "Why doesn't this work?", and still appreciated the answer).
It just looked like a neat fit to the problem. The byte is half a dozen flags (trailer light signals) that I want to move by wireless (because it is fun) rather than by the current dodgy cable (with too many unprotected connectors in it).
I didn't want to 'waste' resources continually resending the same data, even at a low rate. And using an HC-12 seems like delivering newspapers with a Rolls Royce.
There are many solutions to the problem. Many are cheaper or easier or more efficient, but this looked like fun. And "if it ain't fun, I don't do it".
Pogo