Understanding the Channel command and how it works

In the IEEE 802.15.4 2.4GHz standard, there are a total of 16 available channels to operate on. Unlike WiFi, the first channel in the 802.15.4 IEEE standard starts with channel 11 (0x0B) and ends with channel 26 (0x1A). 

 

In order to set the Channel on the Zigbee standard, the Coordinator uses a function to Scan the available channels to determine which channel to form the network on. With the Digi XBee modules running the Zigbee standard, Digi offers the SC or Scan Cchannel command. 

 

The Digi XBee SC command uses a Bit Mask (16 bits) to enable which channels the Digi XBee modules will use to scan.  Using this Bit Mask, Bit 0 represents Channel 11 or 0x0B and bit 15 represents channel 26 or 0x1A.  To enable a channel, place a 1 in the Bit representing the desired channel.   For Example, if I wanted to enable Channel 0x0B or 11, the SC value would be 1. 

 

SC=1 is channel 11 (0x0B)

SC= 2 is channel 12 (0x0C)

SC= 4 is channel 13 (0x0D)

SC= 8 is channel 14 (0x0E)

SC= 10 is channel 15 (0x0F)

SC= 20 is channel 16 (0x10)

SC= 40 is channel 17 (0x11)

SC=80 is channel 18 (0x12)

SC= 100 is channel 19 (0x13)

SC= 200 is channel 20 (0x14)

SC=400 is channel 21 (0x15)

SC=800 is channel 22 (0x016)

SC=1000 is channel 23 (0x17)

SC= 2000 is channel 24 (0x18)

SC=4000 is channel 25 (0x19)

SC=8000 is channel 26 (0x1A)