SparkFun Forums

[a.ord.19]

Hi,

I am transmitting using the Iridium modem and have an issue.

My code is based on the A Better Tracker example by Paul Clark, see https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_Ar ... balTracker

The modem will transmit and after some transmits, it will send the error

Transmission failed with error code 3

and also

***modem.clearBuffers failed with error 3***

When it tries to transmit anytime after these errors it will give

***modem.begin failed with error 5***

Any clue as to why this could be happening?

Thanks

[TS-Russell]

Do the example codes behave the same? (do they throw the same error after x messages?) Test it using the default sketches and circle back

[a.ord.19]

Hi,

I tested the example15_BetterTracker (https://github.com/sparkfun/SparkFun_Ar ... terTracker)

The only change was on line 82:
#define DEF_TXINT 5// DEFault TX INTerval (Minutes)

Instead of 5 I used 130

The same issue: Sending messages, then:
Transmission failed with error code 3
Clearing the MO buffer.
*** modem.clearBuffers failed with error 3 ***
Putting the 9603N to sleep.

And after this all messages show:
Starting modem...
*** modem.begin failed with error 5 ***
Getting ready to put the Apollo3 into deep sleep...

[a.ord.19]

Do the example codes behave the same? (do they throw the same error after x messages?) Test it using the default sketches and circle back

Yes they do. The only change was the transmission delay (I was using 140 minutes). Same errors: first error code 3 and then error code 5. I tried resetting the rx before waking the modem, and still had the same issue. It is also not deterministic: sometimes it takes a while (more than 10 send attempts (either successful or unsuccessful)) to get to error 3, while other times it happens in the third attempt.

[TS-Russell]

Maybe try clearing the buffers more often? Can you send smaller messages more often?
Are you using the additional supercapacitors? https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ar ... e-assembly

[a.ord.19]

Maybe try clearing the buffers more often? Can you send smaller messages more often?
Are you using the additional supercapacitors? https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ar ... e-assembly

I tried clearing the and re defining the modem class, clearing the rx multiple times. I was using supercapacitors and had the same problem, removed them and the problem persists. If send more often I have not had the issue, but have not tested extensively (because it could be expensive). When I reset the controller everything works fine again, so maybe it is not a hardware problem... my current workaround is to perform a software reset and catch it during init so it will not repeat unwanted instructions... but it is not ideal.