From p. 23 of XBee/XBee-PRO S1 802.15.4 (Legacy) User Guide:
“WARNING! When operating at 1 W power output, observe a minimum separation
distance of 6 ft (2 m) between devices. Transmitting in close proximity of other devices can damage the device’s front end.”
Using XBEE Pro S1 with whip and 802.15.4 USB Adapter I am experiencing a lot of inconsistencies with finding radios and communication.
Do all modules need to be separated by 6ft. or just the end devices? Does this damage the device or cause interference?
The S1 (802.15.4 or Digi Mesh) is not an 1W product. The notice you are pulling this for was for the XBee and XBee PRO SX products which operate at 1W.
However, if you are mounting them so they are only a few feet apart and they will remain this way, then yes, lowering the power level only makes sense. Now if they are moving around and the distances changes often, then I would not be concerned with it. Then again, I have been running them within 6" to max distances since they came out around 15 years ago.
That does not belong to that product or that manual. That is a carry over from the XBee PRO SX. You will notice that it is referencing operating at 1W. The XBee and XBee PRO 802.15.4 product does not operate at this level. Only the XBee PRO SX does.
I noticed it was referencing 1W. So there is a typo in the manual? What should it say?
Here is my question again:
Does anyone know how far XBee Pro S1 modules with whip antenna (XBP24-AWI-001 revN) and/or XBee USB Adapter S1 Pro need to be separated when configured to 63mW as to not cause damage or interference with each other?
These are installed in autonomous devices that are kept in a bag (powered on) until deployed. They are tested on a table in close proximity and we have been having intermittent issues recently.