XbeeFaradayCageProblem?

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Hello all,

Excuse my ignorance about electronics and radio transmission.

I builded a system with 2 x (XBee1mW + XBeeshield + arduino + sensor + battery) sending data to 1 x (XBeemW + XBee Explorer USB + MacBook). The system is working very well in some places. I tested on a quite big rehearsal room, in this room there is a metallic lighting grid on the ceiling, a metallic grid under the floor. 3 walls of this room are half covered with a metallic plate, the 4th wall is a big mirror.

In this room, my system stops working when the XBees are more than 150 cm (60 inches) away from the Xbee connected to the computer. The rx led from the XBee Explores starts blinking instead of staying continuously on. I stop receiving usable data from sensors.

Any idea why this happens? Is it any kind of Faraday 'Cage effect', can it be a radio emitter in the building or outside of it? Is it from the batteries, I'm using 4 x(AA1,5V duracell batterys) per arduino, should I try with 4 x (energizer 3000mAh AA)?

Any idea how can I overcome this issue expressed above?

I would like any advice in order to understand if I'm facing an Impossibility or a wrong Setup:)

Thanks in advance to any information that leads me to understanding or solving.

Greeitngs,

André

2

Hmm... Strange. I would think that if the arduino and the mac book are both in the same room, than they should work still - Faraday cage or not. I think the entire room needs to be surrounded in order for a Faraday cage to be present.

3

No, that's not a Faraday cage problem. Sounds more like an extremely electrically noisy environment. You probably have a ton of rf noise from the various lights and equipment that is making it almost impossible for the XBees to talk. Take them outside and try it again to be sure. You should get around 15 to 30 m through normal house walls and such and really good range outside. If it works outside, you've got extremely high rf noise inside.