Testing an nrf24l01 module with raspberry pi using poor mans (2.4Ghz)wifi scanner

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NRF24l01 modules from nordic offers an inexpensive solution for building two way wireless communication between micro-controllers. But often it is very difficult for a beginner to quickly test them and in many cases there will be minor issues which brings a lot of headaches for a beginner.

In this article, i will explain a very simple solution to wire these modules with a raspberry pi Rev 2 and build a poor mans wifi scanner ( a port from the arduino version , explained here). This is also a quick way to check that the wirings are correct and nrf module is working properly before going to a wireless link which uses multiple nrf modules

Poor mans wifi scanner using nrf24l01 -Raspberry pi version

There are eight/ ten connectors on the ntf modules (see here). Here we use 7 of them which includes 2 power supply lines. The connection is shown below

1) Power supply is 3.3v (important , else you will damage the module)

2) Ground should go to ground

3) SPI pins should go to corresponding GPIO (MOSI, MISO and CLK) see figure

4) CE and CSN see figure below

Connecting an nrf24l01 module to raspberry pi - [click to get a zoomed version]

After connecting the module to the raspberry pi, apply power to the pi (Note: Always unplug the Pi before playing with the GPIO pins)

I have uploaded all the codes on github , so you can easily install the software by 

 #install git  
 sudo apt-get install git  
 #move to home  
 cd ~  
 #clone the nrf24scannerPi repos  
 git clone https://github.com/riyas-org/nrf24scannerPi  
 cd ~/nrf24scannerPi  
 #install build-essential for compiling  
 sudo apt-get install build-essential  
 make  

Now run the program by typing sudo ./scanner which will output the 2.4ghz activity around you

scanning wifi channels with a single nrf24l01 module and raspberry pi

If you don't want to install git and compile the source, you can still test it by downloading the compiled binary here (unzip and do a chmod +x scanner followed by sudo ./scanner)