Radiocrafts RC1 0 Series, 2 00DK Series User Manual

Radiocrafts

Embedded Wireless Solutions

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK Demonstration Kit User Manual

Table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................1

QUICK START GUIDE ............................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................3

DEMONSTRATION BOARD ...................................................................................................4

POWER SUPPLY SECTION ...................................................................................................5

RS-232 INTERFACE ...............................................................................................................6

CONTROLLING CONFIG-MODE VIA THE RS232 PORT ......................................................6

CONNECTORS .......................................................................................................................7

PUSH BUTTONS.....................................................................................................................7

USING THE DEMONSTRATION KIT ......................................................................................7

ANTENNA SELECTION VERSUS RANGE PERFORMANCE................................................8

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM ................................................................................................................9

BILL OF MATERIALS ...........................................................................................................10

PCB LAYOUT........................................................................................................................11

TROUBLESHOOTING...........................................................................................................13

DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY .......................................................................................14

DISCLAIMER.........................................................................................................................14

TRADEMARKS .....................................................................................................................14

LIFE SUPPORT POLICY.......................................................................................................14

CONTACT INFORMATION ...................................................................................................14

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Quick Start Guide

How do I set up a simple link between the boards?

To do a basic communication test, do like this for each of the Demonstration Boards:

• Attach the antenna to the SMA connector

• Connect the RS232 port to a PC

• Start a terminal program on the PC (like Microsoft HyperTerminal). Make sure to

select the correct serial port, set data rate 19200, 1 start bit, no parity, 1 stop bit, no
flow control.

• Connect the battery eliminator plug to the DC jack. Put the battery eliminator in the
wall outlet socket.

The module will now be in idle mode listening for a valid data packet to arrive.

Now you can enter data in one terminal window and after approximately 2 seconds timeout,
the ASCII string is transmitted to the other module and shown in the other terminal window if
the transmission was successful.

How do I go on and change the RF channel or any other parameter?

To change configurable parameters, assert the CONFIG pin (pulling low by pressing
CONFIG-button, see Figure 1), and send the command string using the same serial interface
as for transmitting data. Parameters can be changed permanently and stored in non-volatile
memory in the module. The details for this you should look up in the RC232 User Manual.

The best way to use the configuration interface of the module is to use a terminal program
that provides the possibility to send and receive binary / hexadecimal numbers, and not only
ASCII characters.

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Introduction

The RC1xx0 and RC2x00 RF modules with embedded protocol provide a very compact
solution for a wide range of applications. The Demonstration Kit is designed to make it easy
for the user to evaluate the module and develop an application and build prototypes very
quickly.

The Demonstration Kit includes two Demonstration Boards. The Demonstration Boards
contain the RC1xx0 or RC2x00 module and associated support circuits. The board can easily
be operated using a PC terminal emulator.

This User Manual describes how to use the Demonstration Kit and provides detailed
documentation for the Demonstration Board.

The Demonstration Kit includes what you need to evaluate the RF performance of the
modules, develop your own application interfacing the modules, and can also be used to build
a prototype of your application.

Your Demonstration Kit should contain the following items:

Item
Demonstration Board (RC1xx0/RC2x00DB) 2
Antenna, 50Ω quarter-wave monopole, SMA male connector
SMA to BNC adapters 2
RS232 serial cable (1:1) 2
AC/DC battery eliminator 6VDC 2

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

Kit contents

Number of articles

2

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Demonstration Board

The Demonstration Board contains a serial port driver circuit for RS232 and the 9-pin D-Sub
connector, buttons (CONFIG, TXEN, RXEN, RESET), voltage regulator, configuration
jumpers and connectors to make it easy to interface the onboard module with various test
equipment or the host used in an application. Not all components are needed in an actual
application. Please see the datasheet for each specific module for a typical application circuit.

The Demonstration Board comes in different versions, equipped with the different variants of
the modules. Among the frequencies supported are 433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz and 2.45
GHz. For each frequency there exist narrowband versions (RC12x0-series) and wideband
versions (RC10x0-series and RC2x00). This covers the most used frequency bands, the 433
MHz band in Europe and the US, the 868 MHz band in Europe, the 902-928 MHz band in the
US and the 2 450 MHz band world wide. The actual module mounted can be seen on the
marking on the module itself.

DC jack

RX232 D-Sub

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

Supply voltage
terminal block

Antenna connector

Digital I/O
connector

RC1xx0 or
RC2x00

TXEN RXEN

Figure 1: RC1xx0/RC2x00 Demonstration Board

CONFIG

RESET

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Power supply section

The board contains a voltage regulator. You can choose between applying a 4-10V
unregulated supply voltage at the DC jack (like the equipped battery eliminator), or the screw
terminal where a battery pack or some other supply can be connected. The on-board
regulator drops the voltage to 3.0V.

Input supply voltage range is 4 – 10 V. A series diode protects the circuit against wrong
polarity.

An ampere meter can be connected in order to measure the DC current drawn by the module.
Remove the jumper on connector P15 and connect the ampere meter between the two pins
as shown in the figure below.

Remove jumper and connect
ampere meter at P15 to
measure current consumption

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

VDD output from module
available at P9 pin 5

Short here to set module
in OFF mode

Figure 2. Module current consumption measurement

As shown in the figure above there are also available connection points for setting the module
in OFF mode and for VDD monitoring, both optional connections for test purposes.

Note: The 100k pull-up resistor R2 will draw approximately 27 uA in OFF mode if not
removed. The pull-up resistor is used to keep the module in ON mode for normal use. In a
real application this pin could be controlled by a digital output, and (the pull-up) R2 could be
omitted, and hence the very low OFF mode current consumption could be achieved.

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RS-232 interface

The Demonstration Board provides an RS232 driver circuit. The serial port is configured as a
data modem and a 1:1 cable should be used to connect the board to the PC.

The RTS/CTS handshaking pair is also provided, so that hardware handshaking may be used
on this port, but this is not enabled in the default configuration from the factory. Handshaking
can be enabled by changing the configuration in permanent memory, see RC232 User
Manual, and doing the following changes:

• Remove jumper at P14

• Insert jumpers at P13 to connect CTS and RTS to the RS232 driver

Remove jumper at P14 for
enabling CTS

Figure 3: Enabling CTS and/or RTS handshake

P13 is used to set jumpers to connect the module UART interface to the RS232 PHY driver.
Normally the jumpers connecting RXD and TXD are installed, and provide UART
communication with a PC without handshaking. With the jumpers removed the modules RXD
and TXD can easily be connected to a host, for instance a microcontroller or external
development board. The table below shows the pinout and signals at P13.

Pin no. Signal Note

1 2 GND
3 4 CTS Install jumper when using hardware handshake
5 6 RTS Install jumper when using hardware handshake
7 8 CONFIG
9 10 TXD Jumper installed from factory
11 12 RXD Jumper installed from factory
13 14 GND

Note: The module CTS is set up during the first stop bit sent to the module when the buffer is
full, and the host should then halt further character transmissions to prevent character loss. If
the host can not detect the CTS quickly enough during hardware handshake, it should be
configured for two stop bits.

Controlling CONFIG-mode via the RS232 port

The module can enter CONFIG-mode by toggling the RTS-signal from the host
(microcontroller or PC). By doing so, the Demonstration Board can act as a modem without
the need for manually or with other circuitry asserting the CONFIG-pin.
Modification procedure: On the bottom side of the PCB (layer 2), solder a connection between
Pin 7 and Pin 8 on P13 as seen in Figure 4, right picture, if required (the pins might already
be connected on newest PCB revisions). Then place the jumpers as shown in Figure 4, left
picture. Config-mode is now enabled when RTS signal is asserted low. RTS can normally be
controlled via various terminal-programs.

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

Move jumpers at P13 to the
right for enabling CTS and RTS

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Figure 4. Jumper placement and solder connection for connecting RTS to CONFIG

Connectors

The Demonstration Board is furnished with many connectors for easy access to all module
signals.

P5 (and P13) bring out all the digital data and control lines used to interface the module.

P9 brings out supply voltage and ON/OFF signals. A 2.54 mm pitch pin-row can be mounted
at P9 if convenient.

P6 brings out digital I/O for future use and custom specific applications, and analogue RSSI (if
applicable for the module variant). A 2.54 mm pitch pin-row can be mounted at P6 if
convenient.

P7 brings out digital I/O for future use. A 2.54 mm pitch pin-row can be mounted at P7 if
convenient.

P8, P10 and P11 are for factory test only and not equipped on the PCB.

Push buttons

The Demonstration Board is furnished with four push buttons connected to the control signals:

S1: RXEN. Pressing this button will activate RX when using un-buffered mode.
S2: TXEN. Pressing this button will activate TX when using un-buffered mode.
S3: CONFIG. Pressing this button will activate configuration mode.
S4: RESET. Pressing this button will activate the main RESET of the module.

Using the Demonstration Kit

The Demonstration Kit is useful for providing hands-on experience with the RC1xx0/RC2x00
for both software and hardware developers.

Follow the Quick Start Guide instructions to hook up the kit.

The RC232 User Manual together with the Data Sheet for each specific module provides
information on how to change the configurations of the modules.

Important: The use of radio transceivers is regulated by international and national rules.
Radiocrafts’ modules meet the regulations in EU and US/Canada for different frequency
variants. Make sure the local regulative are according to these rules. Your local
telecommunication authorities can provide more information on use of un-licensed radio
transmitter in your country.

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

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Antenna Selection versus range performance

The choice of antenna is crucial for achieving the maximum range for any radio system. Due
to the small size of the PCB and the off-centre placement of the onboard SMA connector the
Demo Boards will not demonstrate the maximum range or omni directional radiation. To
improve this, a larger groundplane and a centred placement of the antenna above this
groundplane is required. One possible solution for maximum radiation is shown in the figure
below. With the addition of two different SMA adaptors and one sufficiently large groundplane
(radius ≥ L, length of the antenna) and a good electrical connection to the GND-layer, an
optimum performance of the antenna following the kit is achieved.

Other antenna solutions can be tested by connecting to the excisting SMA female connector
on the Demo Board via one of the methods below:

1. Solder the feeding point of the antenna to be tested directly to an SMA male
connector and fasten to the SMA female connector

2. Connect to an external antenna (or board with antenna) via a shortest possible 50
Ohm coax cable with minimum insertion loss

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

Antenna

Minimum radius of
GND plane = L

SMA female/female
adaptor in drilled
hole

SMA male/male
adaptor

Radiocrafts Demo
Board

Figure 5: Extending size of ground plane with extra PCB

Antenna length L

PCB with solid bottom
GND layer

Proper connection
betwen GND plane
and adaptor outer
shielding

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Circuit Diagram

The circuit diagram is shown below. A full resolution schematic is found in
RC1xx0DB_3_0.zip available from Radiocrafts’ webpage.

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Bill of materials

Reference Quantity Part number Description

C1 1 C_2U2_0603_X5R_K_10 Capacitor, 0603
C2 1 C_3U3_TAN_B Capacitor, tantal
C3-7 5 C_100N_0603_X7R_K_50 Capacitor, 0603
D1 1 BAT254 Diode, Si
D2 1 LED_CL150GCD Green LED
M1 1 RC1XX0 RF Module
P1 1 DSUB_9F D-Sub, 9 pin, female
P2 1 SCREW_TERM_2 2 pin terminal, screw
P3 1 DC_JACK_2.5 DC jack, 2.5mm center pin
P4 1 SMA SMA connector, straight
P13 1 CON_2X7_TH_MALE Connector 14 pins, pin header
R1 1 R_0_0603 Resistor, 0603
R2;R7-9 4 R_100K_0603_G Resistor, 0603
R3 1 R_150_0603_G Resistor, 0603
S1-4 4 PUSH_BUTTON Push button, SMD
U1 1 MAX3232 RS-232 Transceiver, SO-16
U2 1 LP2980-3.0V 3.0V low drop-out regulator
U3 1 TPS3809J25 Voltage supervisor, 2.5V, SOT-23

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

PCB layout

The PCB is a simple 2-layer board where the bottom layer is used as ground plane. The
laminate used is standard FR-4 board material. The PCB is 1.6mm thick. Full resolution
layout and assembly drawing are found in RC1xx0DB_3_0.zip.

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

Figure 6: RC1xx0/2x00DB PCB layout, top layer (1)

Figure 7: RC1xx0/2x00DB PCB layout, bottom layer (2)

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Embedded Wireless Solutions

Figure 8: RC1xx0/2x00DB PCB component placement, top side

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

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Troubleshooting

It doesn’t work

• Is the battery eliminator plugged into the wall socket?

• Do you have the correct power source? If you use an AC/DC battery eliminator check

also that it has the correct AC-voltage rating for your outlet (220V or 110V).

• Measure the supply voltage at P15. Should be 3.0V and a strap or ampere meter
must connect the two pins.

• First, measure the supply voltage at P9, pin 3. Should be 3.0V.

• Is the supply voltage correctly polarized? If not, the protection diode will prevent any

current from flowing. + and – are indicated on the PCB, on the DC jack, the tip is +
and the ring is –.

I cannot communicate with the RC1XX0 UART through the serial port

• Make sure that the RXD and TXD jumpers are inserted.

• Set up your terminal program according to the instructions in the Quick Start Guide.

Remember to select the correct COM-port and connect to this port.

• Make sure that you are using a correctly wired 1:1 cable (as the one provided with the
kit).

• Entering configuration mode (by press CONFIG button) the command prompt (“>”)
should be displayed on the terminal window. Make sure to exit the command mode
using the exit command (capital “X”).

I cannot communicate between two modules in buffered mode

• Make sure that the address mode and CRC mode is the same in both modules (set
using the “M” Memory configuration command, refer to the RC232 User Manual).

RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

• Make sure the destination address is the same as the other modules Unique ID if
addressing is used (set using the “T” Destination address command, refer to the
RC232 User Manual).

• Make sure to exit from command mode using capital “X”.

• The present configuration can be listed to the terminal using the test command “0”

(zero).

The module consumes more than the rated current in OFF mode

• Note that the ON/OFF signal pull up resistor R2 (100 kΩ) draws approximately 27 uA.
Remove this resistor when measuring the module current in OFF mode.

I cannot access configuration mode when I press the CONFIG button

• Press and hold CONFIG button while pushing the RESET button (or power up the
board). The reason you could not enter configuration mode, is most likely that some
configuration memory values have been set to illegal values. List and check all values
using the ‘0’ (zero) command. Set all values back to default values (see RC232 User
Manual or the respective Data Sheet).

• Note: If the mode is already in configuration mode it will not respond with another
prompt if the CONFIG button is pressed. Send the ‘0’ (zero) command to the module
in order to check if it is already in configuration mode.

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RC1xx0 / 2x00DK

Document Revision History

Document Revision Changes

1.0 First release

2.0 Minor updates. This revision applies for Demo Board revision 2.0

3.0 Updated according to Demo Board revision 3.0

3.1 Added chapter “Control CONFIG-mode via the RS232 port”. Added figure 4
and corrected text under figure 3.

Disclaimer

Radiocrafts AS believes the information contained herein is correct and accurate at the time of this printing. However,
Radiocrafts AS reserves the right to make changes to this product without notice. Radiocrafts AS does not assume
any responsibility for the use of the described product; neither does it convey any license under its patent rights, or
the rights of others. The latest updates are available at the Radiocrafts website or by contacting Radiocrafts directly.

As far as possible, major changes of product specifications and functionality, will be stated in product specific Errata
Notes published at the Radiocrafts website. Customers are encouraged to check regularly for the most recent
updates on products and support tools.

Trademarks

RC232™ is a trademark of Radiocrafts AS. The RC232™ Embedded RF Protocol is used in a range of products from
Radiocrafts. The protocol handles host communication, data buffering, error check, addressing and broadcasting. It
supports point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and peer-to-peer network topologies.

All other trademarks, registered trademarks and product names are the sole property of their respective owners.

Life Support Policy

This Radiocrafts product is not designed for use in life support appliances, devices, or other systems where
malfunction can reasonably be expected to result in significant personal injury to the user, or as a critical component
in any life support device or system whose failure to perform can be reasonably expected to cause the failure of the
life support device or system, or to affect its safety or effectiveness. Radiocrafts AS customers using or selling these
products for use in such applications do so at their own risk and agree to fully indemnify Radiocrafts AS for any
damages resulting from any improper use or sale.

© 2008, Radiocrafts AS. All rights reserved.

Contact Information

Web site: www.radiocrafts.com

Address:
Radiocrafts AS
Sandakerveien 64
NO-0484 OSLO
NORWAY

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mails: [e-mail]

[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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