I'm starting to really enjoy messing with PICs and have an idea that involves one PIC transmitting to another pic that is receiving. I did a fair bit of googling on the subject and seem to have to narrowed it down to the xbee. However, this module seems a little overkill(and expensive) for what I need. So what I'm wondering is if there are any other solutions out there that meet the following:
1. Standard USART interface/Easy interface with PIC.
2. Not surface mount(although I might consider building a breakout board if a good solution exists).
3. Doesn't need to be transceiver, just need receiver transmitter pair.
4. ~25ft range.
The xbee does fit these requirements but the price(~$45 for pair of transceivers) and size make me wonder if there's something simpler and cheaper out there.
www.sparkfun.com They sell some pretty cheap transceivers (which you should consider 2 way communication is highly useful) but they still sell dirt cheap tx/rx pairs as well.
xbee's are license free aren't they? They use the 2.4ghz spectrum right? The lower frequency of the cheaper modules is not a bad thing either, makes the antenna a little more tricky but you said you didn't need range but it'll be more tolerant to objects in the way, and microwave ovens =)
With the Microchip module you need to run your own stack, though. It's not a replacement for Xbee. Well, I guess it is, if you don't mind running your own stack.
I was going to order a couple on my last Digikey order, but the cost of the order was starting to climb too high without them.
Xbees are good when you start building a network of more than 2. This is an amazing device - since you can control it over the air, you don't even need an MCU for the remote sensor, the thing can make simple analog measurements or change state of it's digital pins, transmit it back and go to sleep by remote command.