Problems with transmission between ATtiny85 and Arduino Uno with 433MHz RF modules and Manchester

Question

I am trying to transmit from an ATtiny85 running at 16MHz internal clock to an Arduino Uno with the Manchester Library.

The problem is that the Arduino is not receiving any data.

I have hooked an oscilloscope to the ATAD/DATA pin of the transmitter, and I can see data being transmitted. I have also done the same thing on the DATA pin of the receiver, and it shows data being received. But the Arduino Uno is not detecting anything.

I have tried having an Arduino Uno sending data to itself, which does work, but the data gets dropped very often.

Here is the source code of the transmitter:

#include <Manchester.h>

#define TX_PIN 3  //pin where your transmitter is connected

uint16_t transmit_data = 2761;

void setup() {
  pinMode(1,OUTPUT);
 man.setupTransmit(TX_PIN, MAN_1200);
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(1,HIGH);
  man.transmit(transmit_data);
  delay(200);
  digitalWrite(1,LOW);
  delay(200);
}

And this is the code on the receiver:

#include "Manchester.h"

#define RX_PIN 4
#define BUFFER_SIZE 22

uint8_t buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  man.setupReceive(RX_PIN, MAN_1200);
  man.beginReceiveArray(BUFFER_SIZE, buffer);
}

void loop() {
  if (man.receiveComplete()) {
    uint8_t receivedSize = 0;
    // do something with the data in 'buffer' here before you start receiving to the same buffer again
    receivedSize = buffer[0];
    for(uint8_t i=1; i<receivedSize; i++)
      Serial.write(buffer[i]);
    Serial.println();
    man.beginReceiveArray(BUFFER_SIZE, buffer);
  }
}

This is the code I used to test with only the Arduino Uno:

#include <Manchester.h>

#define RX_PIN 7
#define TX_PIN 8  //pin where your transmitter is connected

uint16_t transmit_data = 2761;
int lastTransmit = 0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  man.setupReceive(RX_PIN, MAN_1200);
  man.setupTransmit(TX_PIN, MAN_1200);
  man.beginReceive();
}

void loop() {
  if (millis() - lastTransmit > 200) {
    man.transmit(transmit_data);
    lastTransmit = millis();
  }

  if (man.receiveComplete()) {
    uint16_t m = man.getMessage();
    Serial.println(m);
    man.beginReceive();
    //start listening for next message right after you retrieve the message
  }
}

Answer 1

You set receivedSize to zero at instantiation, then load it with buffer[0], which also appears to be zero. You should check that value to ensure it's correct and that it's at least 2 as 1 isn't less than. Otherwise when you go into the loop, i is 1 and receivedSize is zero (i is > receivedSize.) So it fails to enter the loop, so no write.

uint8_t receivedSize = 0;

receivedSize = buffer[0];
for (uint8_t i = 1; i < receivedSize; i++)
     Serial.write(buffer[i]);

There may also be a logic problem. If you receive one byte, the receivedSize will be 1 and it still won't print. Keep in mind that the array goes from 0 to limit and your 'data' lives starting in buffer[1]. Meaning if 6 characters are in the buffer only 5 (1 thru 5) will print. It may be much more clear to add the index at the position 'buffer[i + 1]' then the i can run it's normal 0 to n.