Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

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wbp
 
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Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by wbp »

Can I wire a Bluefruit EZ-Link to a DB-9 connector and use it as a wireless serial cable? From what I've read it sounds like this should work, but the descriptions lean toward connecting to things like Arduinos.

Thanks,
William

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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

You would need to convert the DB9 signals to/from TTL Serial levels. The EZ_Link expects 3-5V levels.

waltr
 
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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by waltr »

What he means is that the standard on the 9-pin DB connector is RS232.
Wiki has a good description of RS232 so look it up and read.

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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by wbp »

ah yes, of course, now it comes back. So add one of these:
http://www.nkcelectronics.com/RS232-to- ... p_369.html

waltr
 
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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by waltr »

Yep, that board uses a ICL3232 or MAX3232.
The older common chip is the MAX232 but there are many variations available.

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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by wbp »

It works! I connected a BlueFruit EZ-Link to the NKC Electronics RS232 to TTL converter, wiring up only 4 pins. Paired the BlueFruit to my Laptop, which was about as easy as it can be, and plugged my new gadget in to a customer video projector. The communication (at 19200 bps) was flawless.

This is great news! High end projectors are often located in a separate room with a special glass window - because the fans in the projector are quite noisy - and connecting to the projector is difficult at best. I've tried a bunch of wireless RS232 adapters and returned every one of them until now.

I discovered that the "Vin" pin of the BlueFruit would power the NKC adapter. I followed Adafruit's suggestion and used a Li-Poly battery (1200 mAh) to power the device. I have not measured the total current draw yet but it ran for over 4 hours yesterday without any problems.

This weekend I'll test this with my telescopes. Since they both run at 9600 bps I don't expect to have problems. The data sent and received calibrating a projector is far more of a test than the simple commands sent to a telescope...

Nice job Adafruit!

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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by adafruit »

Thanks, good to hear :) Please post up a photo of your setup, it sounds cool!

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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by wbp »

Here's a pic of the working prototype. Eventually I will put it in a small box...
Bluefruit EZ-link with NKC rs232/ttl converter
Bluefruit EZ-link with NKC rs232/ttl converter
bluefruit ezlink.20131226_185943r.jpg (352.18 KiB) Viewed 991 times

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Re: Bluefruit EZ-Link as wireless serial cable

Post by catohagen »

Nice work!

Would buy a package like this if awailable

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