RF missing characters I've got two arduino nano devices connected via RF 433 MHz. The modules are MX-05V and MX-FS-03V. I'm using VirtualWire for sending and receiving. The speed is set to 1000 bps.

One has got a pir sensor and sends "1:ON" when it detects movement and "1:OFF" when movement stops. 

The other is just receiving these messages, but after a while (20 messages) the text is chopped off. I only receive "1". If I restart everything the same thing happens. 

They are currently on my table (cca 20cm distance) and powered by my PC via USB. 

What can I do? Is it because the modules are from ebay and probably not the best quality?

Receive part:

// recieve

int ledPin = 13;
int rcvPin = 13;

#include &lt;VirtualWire.h&gt;
byte message[VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN]; // a buffer to store the incoming messages
byte messageLength = VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN; // the size of the message

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Device is ready");

  // Initialize the IO and ISR
  vw_set_rx_pin(rcvPin); // set pin for rx
  vw_setup(1000); // Bits per sec
  vw_rx_start(); // Start the receiver

  digitalWrite(ledPin,HIGH);  
}

void loop() {
  // non-blocking receive
  if (vw_get_message(message, &amp;messageLength)) {
    Serial.print("Received: ");
    for (int i = 0; i &lt; messageLength; i++)  {
      Serial.write(message[i]);
    }
    Serial.println();
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
    delay(500);
    digitalWrite(ledPin,HIGH);  

  }
}


Transmit part:

/*
SimpleSend
This sketch transmits a short text message using the VirtualWire library
connect the Transmitter data pin to Arduino pin 12
pin 11 to high for power
gnd connected to gnd
*/

// RF
int ledPin = 13;
int trxPin = 12;
int pwrPin = 11;

// PIR
int inpPin = 2;               // choose the input pin (for PIR sensor)
int pirState = LOW;             // we start, assuming no motion detected
int val = 0;                    // variable for reading the pin status

#include &lt;VirtualWire.h&gt;


void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Starting...");

  // PIR
  pinMode(inpPin, INPUT);     // declare sensor as input
  // RF
  pinMode(pwrPin, OUTPUT);   // Set digital pin 11 as OUTPUT pins
  digitalWrite(pwrPin,HIGH);  

  // Initialize the IO and ISR
  vw_set_tx_pin(trxPin);
  vw_setup(1000); // Bits per sec

  Serial.println("Device is ready to send.");
}


void loop() {

  val = digitalRead(inpPin);  // read input value
  if (val == HIGH) {            // check if the input is HIGH
    digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  // turn LED ON
    if (pirState == LOW) {
      // we have just turned on
      Serial.println("Motion on seonsor 1!");
      send("1:ON");
      // We only want to print on the output change, not state
      pirState = HIGH;
    }
  } else {
    digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // turn LED OFF
    if (pirState == HIGH){
      // we have just turned of
      Serial.println("Motion ended on seonsor 1");
      send("1:OFF");
      // We only want to print on the output change, not state
      pirState = LOW;
    }
  }  

}

void send (char *message)
{
  vw_send((uint8_t *)message, strlen(message));
  vw_wait_tx(); // Wait until the whole message is gone
}
In your first sketch, you have

int ledPin = 13;
int rcvPin = 13;


Did you mean both those to be assigned to the hardware LED on the Nano? (Pin 13 is the on-board LED). If so, why? With all the pins available to you.

The other thing I don't understand is your use of: 

byte message[VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN]; // a buffer to store the incoming messages
byte messageLength = VW_MAX_MESSAGE_LEN; // the size of the message


It will always just be one byte, won't it? 

Why not use available()?

http://arduino.cc/en/Serial/available

I see this was posted six months ago - no doubt you have already solved it.