Sending decimals using radio.write(); with Arduino - c

Question

I'm adapting a sketch I found to send sensor data over a wifi chip (Nrf2401), and although I get the message through, the value I send contains decimals (e.g. 24.59), but the received message will only be 24.
I'm sure there's something wrong on the transmitter part of the code, but I can't see what.
Here's my code:
#include <RF24.h>
#include <RF24_config.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <OneWire.h>
#include <DallasTemperature.h>
OneWire oneWire(4);
DallasTemperature sensors(&oneWire);
// ce,csn pins
RF24 radio(8,7);
unsigned char data[3] = {
0};
unsigned long count=0;
void setup(void)
{
sensors.begin();
Serial.begin(57600);
Serial.println("**************V1 Send Sensor Data***********");
radio.begin();
radio.setPALevel(RF24_PA_LOW);
radio.setChannel(0x4c);
// open pipe for writing
radio.openWritingPipe(0xF0F0F0F0E1LL);
radio.enableDynamicPayloads();
radio.setAutoAck(true);
radio.powerUp();
Serial.println("...Sending");
}
void loop(void)
{
sensors.requestTemperatures();
float currentTemp;
currentTemp = sensors.getTempCByIndex(0);
//assign 'T' to represent a Temperature reading
data[0] = 'T';
data[1] = currentTemp;
count++;
// print and increment the counter
radio.write(data, sizeof(float)+1);
Serial.print("Temperature sent: ");
Serial.println(currentTemp);
// pause a second
delay(500);
}
In this example, when I print currentTemp, it will display the decimals, but if I print data[1], it won't.
What am I missing?

Answer 1

You are assigning data [1] = currentTemp. Current temp is a float, not a character so this won't work. Decimals are lost because the float will be cast to a char in the assignment. Make data into a larger buffer and use sprintf to print currentTemp if you want to use it as a string. Really you should be writing just currentTemp to the radio and formatting on the other end, which will make the operation faster and require less bandwith to transmit (not to mention that transmitting and formatting are different concerns and should be separated, not coupled, when possible).