XBee Pro Series 2 Coordinator Mode

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

Ahoy!

I recently purchased 2x XBee Pro Series 2 modules and am having trouble finding information on how to set up one XBee module as a coordinator.

I'm using Mac OS X and have been able to use an application called CoolTerm.app to configure my XBee modules so far. I've seen plenty of reference to X-CTU for windows but am unable to run this myself seeing i'm using Mac OS X. CoolTerm seems to offer most of the functionality of X-CTU so i've been able to progress so far but am now stuck.

My question is; how can I set up an XBee module as a coordinator?

From what I can gather (and I hope this isn't the case) I need to update the firmware for the required module to be the Coordinator firmware rather than router/end point firmware which I think is currently installed on both modules. I've seen that this is possible through X-CTU but am wondering if there is any way to do this in Mac OS X with the right application?

I realise that XBee series 1 modules are much easier to setup, although I have no prior experience. For the time being I only have two modules but plan to add more at a later date to create a mesh network so the series 2 modules are better suited for the job.

All I want to do/know is how to set up the XBee module as a coordinator, if it's possible to do this without firmware updates and also if I need to update the firmware, is there is an application for Mac OS X that will allow me to do so? And finally, can all of the above be done without an XBee explorer and instead just using an arduino and an xbee shield?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm currently feeling a little out of my depth and rather peeved that I can't seem to find any alternative applications for Mac OS X.

Thanks for reading!

2

Hi - I've just been setting up 3 XBee series 2 (not Pro) and it was reasonably straightforward using the X-CTU on a pc. From what I observed while setting up the "coordinator" it certainly did upload to the xbee module, and I think I've seen elsewhere that you do need to use X-CTU with series 2 (which is different to series 1, as far as I am aware). Once you've got the correct firmware on the module, then you can change settings via a terminal program on you mac. Find/borrow a pc to use first though!

Good luck!