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palcal

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Joined: 12/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1802

Posted: 10:37pm 01 Oct 2014

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V.KEL VK16HX
I just bought one of these on E-BAY for $12. I have got it working OK by only connecting VCC, GND, and TX.
It has 6 pins, they are marked VCC_N, GND, RX, TX, VCC, BOOT
I suspect this is incorrect, I think BOOT should be PPS.
Can some one tell me what VCC_N is. I suspect it is ENABLE and would be connected to VCC.
Paul.

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

jman

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Joined: 12/06/2011
Location: New Zealand
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Posted: 11:12pm 01 Oct 2014

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Hi Paul

Take a look here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5cdIFSfk3g
Video

Regards
Jman

palcal

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Location: Australia
Posts: 1802

Posted: 11:17pm 01 Oct 2014

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Yes I saw that. He has the pin VCC_N marked as BOOT, but if you look at his connections it is not connected. I just want to know whether to leave it floating or tie it high.
Paul

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

jman

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Posted: 11:24pm 01 Oct 2014

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Hi Paul

Here you go

VCC_N This is for enabling the uBlox module. This pin should be connected to GND or left floating for the module to be ON. If this pin is connected to the VCC, then the module will be turned OFF. This is useful to save power, i.e. once you have obtained a fix, you can turn OFF the power to the GPS module.

from here http://www.embeddedgyan.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-using-a-gps-dongle /

Regards
Jman

palcal

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Posts: 1802

Posted: 11:25pm 01 Oct 2014

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Thanks Jman
Paul
Edit.
Will give this a field test tomorrow and report on its accuracy.Edited by palcal 2014-10-03

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

Geoffg

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Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 3165

Posted: 04:59am 02 Oct 2014

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Good grief, $12.03 for a complete GPS module with antenna! How cheap can these things get?

There are masses of electronics in there. For a start there is a 24 channel receiver (that is 24 simultaneous channels) at 1.5GHz. Then it can track up to a dozen satellites at one time. Each satellite transmits its orbital parameters in the signal so the module has to continuously work out the 3D orbit of each satellite and then use the time difference between all of them to calculate your location on the 3D surface of the earth. And while doing that it has to compensate (using Einstein's theory of relativity) for the lesser gravitation up there (time is faster) and the orbital speed of the satellites relative to us (makes time run slower).

All for $12.03

Amazing.Edited by Geoffg 2014-10-04

Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net

viscomjim
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Joined: 08/01/2014
Location: United States
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Posted: 03:10pm 02 Oct 2014

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It kind of make me understand how the heck they can make this thing for the price that they do. GPS, GSM, GPRS, plus ucontroller, case, antennas, etc....

JEEEEZ

Would really like to know how your testing went. I would like to get my hands on one if it works well for you... let us know...Edited by viscomjim 2014-10-04

palcal

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Joined: 12/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1802

Posted: 08:12pm 02 Oct 2014

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I tested this afternoon against an EM-408 module that seems to be very accurate (usually within 1 or 2 metres).
I tested on the golf course with distances up to 500 metres. At times it read exactly the same and at other times was up to 10 metres different. Seemed accurate when travelling North but a bit out when going the opposite way but for $12.98 it is accurate enough for my purpose. I would probably favour the EM-408 but can't buy the TTL version any more which means I have to convert the signal.
Will test again tomorrow.
Paul.

Edit
Gave it another run this morning and it performed much better, no more than 2 metres different to the EM-408.
This is something I have noticed before with the EM-408, that accuracy changes with the time of day.
Must have something to do with the satellites.
Paul.Edited by palcal 2014-10-05

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

viscomjim
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Posted: 03:24am 22 Oct 2014

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@palcal, can you tell me if you tried to use this unit indoors or not, and if so, did you get enough signal to pull the time stamp?

Thanks!!!

palcal

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Posted: 11:16am 22 Oct 2014

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No I have not tried it with only the time. But I will this weekend and let you know.
Paul.

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

viscomjim
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Posted: 02:44pm 22 Oct 2014

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I thank you in advance!!!

palcal

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Posted: 04:36pm 22 Oct 2014

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Jim,
I tested in my workshop that has metal roof and it seems to work OK.
It has a red LED for power and a green LED that starts flashing at 1PPS when it gets a fix. Don't forget when programming it is 9600 baud.
Paul.

"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"

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