cubeberg 540 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 So I recently purchased some "NRF24L01+" boards on eBay. I didn't notice until after the fact that they're chip-on-board and are missing a TON of the components that you typically see on these modules. I found some discussions online about these types of boards - http://www.avrfreaks.net/forum/help-identifying-nrf24l01-compatible-modules. The eBay seller swears that they're genuine NRF24L01+ - but I seriously doubt that - I just need proof. So my question - what's the best way to test these to prove one way or another? I honestly haven't plugged them in - but my first test will probably be some of the Energia examples that @spirillis created and see if anything comes up in a comparison vs the other chips I've got. I'd really like to prove one way or another if they're compatible with my existing NRF24L01+ network. I also noticed there was a recent hackaday post - part of what got me really thinking: http://hackaday.com/2015/02/23/nordic-nrf24l01-real-vs-fake/ You can see the auction here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251637619187?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spirilis 1,265 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Probably another way to get the cheap SI24R1 modules out into the open. If they are, my library should work, they should work with other nRF24L01+'s and they do have the +7dBm TX power mode that is unique to the SI24R1. If that Hackaday article is to be believed, they probably have lower RX sensitivity than genuine nRF24L01+ parts. Fact is, I have considered/wondered if ALL my "nRF24L01+" cheap modules are in fact intentionally mislabeled SI24R1's (after reading that article) ... but I haven't cared enough to go spend money at sparkfun for a genuine nRF24L01+ module yet. bluehash 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cubeberg 540 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 That's an excellent point @@spirilis - I've always bought cheap modules off of eBay - so very likely they're not. I wonder how much that's affecting my battery life since that seems to be one of the differences. The one thing that does worry me is the lack of components - I really wonder why they're missing on the COB version. Could be just a cost cutting measure. I'll have to do some range/reliability tests and see if I can come up with any differences. Granted - the ranges I'm dealing with in my house are minimal compared to what the modules should be capable of but it would be interesting to see if I can find anything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spirilis 1,265 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 That's an excellent point @@spirilis - I've always bought cheap modules off of eBay - so very likely they're not. I wonder how much that's affecting my battery life since that seems to be one of the differences. The one thing that does worry me is the lack of components - I really wonder why they're missing on the COB version. Could be just a cost cutting measure. I'll have to do some range/reliability tests and see if I can come up with any differences. Granted - the ranges I'm dealing with in my house are minimal compared to what the modules should be capable of but it would be interesting to see if I can find anything. I see what you mean now - looks like the RF balun components are missing. Maybe they figured out it works "good enough" without them... I bet it's a YMMV thing. Or it's a bad batch, and they're selling them at rock bottom price w/o stating as such... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Could you make a determination by: measuring the current consumption of a module? or measuring the RSSI of a module? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cubeberg 540 Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 I should have done some testing - but I just returned them to the vendor - other than my cheap RS multimeter - I don't really have the equipment to do much in the way of testing. Thankfully they refunded no problem - didn't even have to pay for shipping back. My guess would be they'd be so noisy - I wouldn't know what was going on until everything @ 2.4G stopped working in my house. I've already got 10 sensors as it is Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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