what is the difference between xbee adapter and xbee explorer?

XBee projects like the adapter, xBee tutorials, tweetawatt/wattcher, etc. from Adafruit

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nataku
 
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what is the difference between xbee adapter and xbee explorer?

Post by nataku »

Hi,
what is the difference between xbee adapter and xbee usb explorer?
Is xbee adapter + FTDI cable = xbee usb explorer?

I am just starting to learn and xbee to my arduino projects.
Do I need additional parts to connect my xbee series 1 to the arduino board? Is the only way to connect this using a special shield or can I connect them just on the breadboard if I already has the xbee adapter?

Does the xbee adapter and xbee explorer bring the pins out from the xbee so I can connect them to the Arduino?

Thanks,

thefatmoop
 
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Re: what is the difference between xbee adapter and xbee explorer?

Post by thefatmoop »

The xbee explorer is just an ftdi usb to serial chip that directly connects to the xbee serials. An FTDI + XBee adapter should be the same as the xbee explorer. the Xbee GUI programmer (X-CTU) just talks over serial.

For additional parts - If your microcontroller is 3.3v you can talk directly to the xbee. If you're using a 5v system you'll need voltage translation which the board from adafruit and sparkfun will do.

xbee I/O pins
I don't know about the adafruit board, but the sparkfun board only does voltage translation on the serial, so you will have to do external voltage translation if you're using those extra I/O pins

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nataku
 
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Re: what is the difference between xbee adapter and xbee explorer?

Post by nataku »

Thanks for the clarification.

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