Connecting an XBee

Lynxmotion Electronics & Software
1

A while back I purchased a SSC-32U which works fine in USB mode but now I need to have it work with the XBee. I am having trouble connecting. In the specs for the SSC-32U it states that the blinking frequency of the RSSI led has meaning. Is this explained somewhere? Also, is there a software tool that allows me to see the state via the USB.

Thanks,

2

Hi,

The SSC-32U manual (page 14) specifies the following:

Therefore, you would need to check the documentation for the specific module (and firmware version) you are using, as this information may be different for each of them. The general idea of RSSI is to relate the signal strength of the last received data packet. In the case of most XBee modules, the RSSI LED will usually get brighter as the signal gets stronger.

There is multiple ways to communicate with software and your XBee modules. One possibility is to connect an XBee module on your SSC-32U and another by USB to your computer. Once you have established a wireless connection between the XBee module on your SSC-32U and the one on your computer (established a VCP, or Virtual COM Port), you can use our free diagnostic tool Lynxterm to test the wireless connection with your SSC-32U. Simply download and run the software. Then, click the SETUP button on the top left and change the COM port to the appropriate one (can be found in Device Manager under the Ports (COM & LPT) category) and the baud rate to 9600. Once connected, simply type VER followed by return] in the black text box. The SSC-32U should respond with its firmware version.

Which state are you interested in receiving by software?

Sincerely,

3

Thanks for your response. My version is SSC32-V2.50USB.
I am able to connect and I made sure that the baud 38400 which is the default baud rate for the XBee. I don’t have a Bluetooth on my PC but had written a program on my Linux for talking to the USB that works fine. However when I send the same commands via USB I am not getting a response. I am paired so that is not the issue, is there something slightly different in the protocol that I am missing. The data, stop, and parity is also set correctly.

Thanks,
Bill LeClair

4

Hi Bill,

You may want to set the SSC-32U to 9600 baud rate as the factory default baud rate of all Digi products (and other XBee clones) we tested was 9600, not 38400.

For the commands, you are using the ones found on pages 24-26 of the SSC-32U manual?

Sincerely,

5

Thanks for your help, I am able to control it from my cell phone now.