Only dots on the X-CTU terminal

Hi there,

I am sending data from xbee pro s1 module to the same type of xbee receiver. The receiver’s being mounted on the xbee usb explorer from the Sparkfun.
16-bit data has been separated into two packages for each of them is 8-bit size.

My problem is that the received data shown on the xctu terminal are only dots, however, when I checked the hex number of them, they are all correct.
More strangely, I found that the Xbees would not work(transmit data) when the data value is 0…e.g. The wireless transmission would stop at the point where the data is 0!
Can you please tell me how could that happen? It is so weird for me.

Thank you!

If you are viewing HEX and the data shows up correctly, then I would imagine that you are sending the data as HEX instead of ASCII. There’s nothing wrong with the radios, since they are simply sending what they are given.

If you receive a series of dots and when you view HEX they are all the same (i.e. 0x60 over and over again), then this indicates a baud rate mismatch. Double-check that the baud rate of the XBee (BD parameter) matches the baud rate of the terminal window you have open.

Hi Chiablo, Thanks a lot for your reply. yes indeed, i was sending the Hex data since I have 16-bit(int16_t) size data and xbee can only transmit a 8-bit(char) at a time, so I split int16_t size into two package. Any suggestions how to fix the dots issue? I checked the baud rate of them both were 9600 and the Hex value were changing as well.

I guess those are non-alphanumeric values. XCTU can’t type them, hence you are seeing dots only.

Try using the Show Hex option in XCTU/s Terminal tab.