1. 2 Xbees
2. 2 Sparkfun Explorer boards
3. 2 USB cables
4. XCTU installed

Install XCTU and connect a XBee to one USB port. Click the add radio module on the top left, the icon has a '+'. Select the USB serial port and press finish. The Xbee should appear on the left side of the XCTU interface. Click the Xbee and a screen should pop up on the right side.

Now connect the 2nd XBee and repeat the process. There should be two Xbees on the left side of he screen. Under the “Function:” for each XBee, one should be “ZigBee Router AT” and another should be “ ”. If this is not the case, click on the XBee that you want to change and click the “Update” button. Switch the XBee to “Coordinator AT” or “Router AT”, select the option with “newest” under firmware version and then press update. It may take some time (maybe because Intel Pentium can't handle).

Sometimes the XBee may disconnect but don't worry, just reconnect search for the Xbee again and reconnect. The settings you just changed should not reset. Under “PAN ID”, create a name for the XBee and change both XBees to the same name. This will enable it to communicate. Save the settings by clicking on the pencil.

When one Xbee is set as a Router AT and the other one is a Coordinator AT, you are now ready to send a packet. On the top right of the screen, Click on the computer icon. This is the screen from which you can write things and send it as a packet. First open the serial connection in the top left. Click add a new packet and type the message you want to send. Add the packet. Now when you're ready to send the packet. Send the packet and you should see your message on the console screen.

Contributing authors:

Created by nlam on 2016/03/05 03:25.