Have you verified that data is flowing through the FTDI cable?

The easiest way to do this is by bridging tx and rx with a jumper wire,
opening a connection in a terminal program (X-CTU will work), turning
off local echo and seeing if the stuff you type appears in the window.

If it doesn't, you've got some fundamental underlying problem with the
serial converter. If it does, it's the explorer board.

Mike

On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 3:37 PM, Phil Keller <phil@pkeller.net> wrote:

>    I purchased a couple of XBee S1 modules, one XBee explorer regulated,
> one Xbee explorer USB, a 3.3(I/O)/5v(Vcc) and a 5v only (I/O & Vcc) FTDI
> adapter cables from SparkFun. The explorer regulated has an onboard
> regulator to produce 3.3v Vcc from the 5v Vcc as well and level
> translation from 5v to 3.3 for the I/O.  I have been unsuccessful in
> getting either of FTDI cables to work with the explorer. When I try to
> establish the connection in XCTU the SW indicates that it is unable to
> detect the module. So far I have:
>
> - Verified that the signals are where they should be.
> - I reversed the Tx & Rx pins (didn't work either way)
> - Held open the CTS
> - The FTDI is providing Vcc =3D=3D 5 to the Explorer.
> - Asked on the SparkFun forum
>
>   The S1 modules work fine with the USB explorer.
>
>   The write-up from Sparkfun indicates that the 3.3 signals can be used
> by the explorer, but being a skeptic I purchased the 5v version without
> success.
>
>   Has anyone used the FTDI cable with the XBee explorer? Did it work out
> of the box or did you need to make some modifications?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions/guidance,
>
> -Phil-
>
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