The XBee module has an odd connector. It’s 20 pins in two widely-space rows, with 2mm spacing. Nice and efficient, but doesn’t fit into my gridlike 10th inch world view.
I mean, it’s fine, if you’re spinning a board…
But if you’re just dinking around, it’s nice to have it fit into that 10th inch protoboard world.
Thankfully, Sparkfun Electronics sells little adapter boards and the exotic 2mm-spacing female headers. A breakout board and all the connectors runs about $5.50 from them. (From Digikey, just the 2mm female headers are, like, $4.00 each. Sometimes their pricing confuses me.)
Here’s an XBee module connected to 3v, and a resistor, and an LED, and nothing else. Boots into receive-mode, and the led blinks in response to a button on a second module.
Also, bonus points to Sparkfun for shipping my whole order in a single heatsealed baggie in a very small cardboard box by US mail. Valuable service!