Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

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

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cmcd2820
 
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Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by cmcd2820 »

I have a RPi running as a weather station on top of my house. It connects via wifi and 95% of the time I can SSH to it, but every once in awhile I need to power cycle or troubleshoot a problem that requires me to to carry a laptop up to the roof and plug into the GPIO pins with my TTL->Serial USB cable and then use Putty to get to the console. I would like to have a wireless console connection from my Debian server to the RPi. They are physically close, so I am sure I can use the lower power XBee modules, I just need to know what adapters/kits/cables to best have a permanent connection from the RPi to my Server. The server has either a DB9 or USB available. The RPi has a Pi-plate on it. The RPi setup has 5v DC regulators in it.

If you can provide a BOM with the adafruit part numbers, that would be awesome.

Thanks,
-Chris

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Do you think an EZ-Link would do the job for you? It would be equivalent to a USB console cable:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1588

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cmcd2820
 
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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by cmcd2820 »

Probably not. Looks interesting, but when I say "physically close" I mean they are on the same side of the house. One inside, one outside on a pole 30 feet in the air. I don't think bluetooth would make it.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

For starters, you would need a pair of XBee modules. The Series 1 are probably the simplest to set up: http://www.adafruit.com/products/128
Since both ends have USB ports, a pair of USB adapters would be the simplest way to interface: http://www.adafruit.com/products/247
Then just a pair of USB A->Mini-B cables: https://www.adafruit.com/products/260

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cmcd2820
 
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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by cmcd2820 »

That looks simple, but I don't think the RPi side would work. I need to come off the GPIO pins to be able to get to the console, long before the kernel is loaded and USB is working.

Could I use XBee Adapter kit - v1.1 http://www.adafruit.com/products/126 and come straight off the GPIO pins and straight into the serial port on the Desktop unit? And save $20?

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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

That should work. Not sure about the $20 savings though. The Adafruit adapter is $10, compared with $20 for the parallax one, so you would save $10 there.

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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by cmcd2820 »

I got $20 from substituting two Adafruits for both of the Paralax boards. 2 x $10. That way I can just use straight serial all the way through without worrying about any USB conversion or drivers on either end. A true wireless serial connection.

Right?

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Re: Raspberry Pi remote console with Xbees

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The server has either a DB9 or USB available.
You will need either a USB/Serial converter or an RS232/TTL level converter. You can't connect the RS232 signals from a DB9 directly to a TTL device.

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