Sparkfun XBee Explorer Regulated

This gadget is the bees knees. It provides regulated power (3.3V) from a 5V source (hence the name) and signal level conversion for in/out to Arduino. Basically makes it simple to work with the XBee on a protoboard. Nearly impossible to experiment with a XBee unless you have something like this available. Once you get the XBee programmed on a USB converter board, this solution is small and elegant for you to prototype with.

This is my second purchase of this Sparkfun product and both of them worked right out of the box. Just be aware that you have to solder the connector to the pwb to get it operational.

This has worked great, I'm using it to send LED status from a sump pump which is about 40 feet outside of my house. I'm thinking I could have used a lower powered version next time.

This board is a great little gadget that works just like their blue counterparts from Parallax (minus some minor LED color and activity changes). Everything in the description is correct though some things aren't mentioned. First, positively, the board has 4 additional slots for header pins to make quick 5V, GND, DIN, and DOUT connections (something the blue boards do not have). Secondly, neutrally, this board is not one of the versions that comes with a reset button (not something many need, but find convenient). Finally, I was disappointed to find the package does not include any header pins for making connections. This is a problem since they are necessary in order to solder these up for applications or breadboarding. Headers are cheap, though, so I don't mind so much and am happy with this product.

It works

ok

Couldn't get this to work with my XBee radios. Only after three weeks of working with the folks at Digi, did I find out that the FTDI doesn't connect the lines needed to sense and download the right signals to communicate with X-CTU. I wouldn't recommend this at all.

This is NOT the board you want to use if you've never soldered header pins before. The pin holes are very close together and difficult to solder without making some big mistakes. Good luck.