Neo-6M GPS Module¶
In my next test, I tried to catch the time via GPS.
I used a Wavgat Neo-6M GPS module.
Wiring¶
The module communicates with a serial interface. Connecting the module with the Arduino Nano is also very simple.
| NEO-6M | Nano |
|---|---|
| RXD | D3 |
| TXD | D4 |
| GND | GND |
| VCC | 5V |
The input pins on the Arduino can be defined in the sketch. I used D3 and D4 with no special reason.
First Test¶
Installing the TinyGPS Library¶
First I tried the TinyGPS Library which can be installed with the Arduino-IDE Library-Manager.
Programming¶
I used the test_with_gps_device example sketch.
The TXD and RXD pins can be set in the SoftwareSerial definition.
SoftwareSerial ss(4, 3);
And the SoftwareSerial Baudrate had to be changed to 9600 baud for the Neo-6M Module.
ss.begin(9600);
The complete sketch can be downloaded HERE
Testing¶
After programming and opening a serial monitor, I’ve got the following output
14:32:42.285 -> Testing TinyGPS library v. 13
14:32:42.285 -> by Mikal Hart
14:32:42.285 ->
14:32:42.285 -> Sats HDOP Latitude Longitude Fix Date Time Date Alt Course Speed Card Distance Course Card Chars Sentences Checksum
14:32:42.285 -> (deg) (deg) Age Age (m) --- from GPS ---- ---- to London ---- RX RX Fail
14:32:42.285 -> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14:32:42.324 -> **** **** ********* ********** **** ********** ******** **** ****** ****** ***** *** ******* ****** *** 51 0 1
14:32:43.364 -> **** **** ********* ********** **** ********** ******** **** ****** ****** ***** *** ******* ****** *** 256 0 1
14:32:44.372 -> **** **** ********* ********** **** ********** ******** **** ****** ****** ***** *** ******* ****** *** 426 0 1
14:32:45.402 -> **** **** ********* ********** **** ********** ******** **** ****** ****** ***** *** ******* ****** *** 596 0 1
14:32:46.416 -> **** **** ********* ********** **** ********** ******** **** ****** ****** ***** *** ******* ****** *** 766 0 1
I don’t know why, but I wasn’t able to run the module with that library.
Second Test¶
Installing the TinyGPS++ Library¶
I’ve found another Library on Github called TinyGPS++
After downloading GITHUB-LINK, the library has to be extracted into the sketchbook/libraries folder
Programming¶
For this library are also examples available. I used the FullExample sketch.
As above, the RXD, TXD and Baudrate can be defined in sketch
static const int RXPin = 4, TXPin = 3;
static const uint32_t GPSBaud = 9600; //9600 baud for NEO-6M Module
The complete sketch can be downloaded HERE
Testing¶
After programming and opening a serial monitor, the output looked much better
11:36:23.021 -> An extensive example of many interesting TinyGPS++ features
11:36:23.021 -> Testing TinyGPS++ library v. 1.0.2
11:36:23.021 -> by Mikal Hart
11:36:23.021 ->
11:36:23.021 -> Sats HDOP Latitude Longitude Fix Date Time Date Alt Course Speed Card Distance Course Card Chars Sentences Checksum
11:36:23.021 -> (deg) (deg) Age Age (m) --- from GPS ---- ---- to London ---- RX RX Fail
11:36:23.068 -> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:36:23.068 -> **** ***** ********** *********** **** ********** ******** **** ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 0 0 0
11:36:24.052 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 00:00:00 785 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 162 0 0
11:36:25.086 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 00:00:00 791 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 324 0 0
11:36:26.057 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 00:00:00 797 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 486 0 0
11:36:27.075 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 00:00:00 803 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 648 0 0
11:36:28.103 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 00:00:00 810 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 810 0 0
11:36:29.087 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 00:00:00 815 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 972 0 0
and after less then 3 Minutes, the Time was synced
11:39:02.347 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 09:39:14 367 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 26947 0 0
11:39:03.333 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 09:39:15 224 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 27144 0 0
11:39:04.353 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 00/00/2000 09:39:16 384 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 27341 0 0
11:39:05.372 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 04/01/2021 09:39:17 383 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 27544 0 0
11:39:06.359 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 04/01/2021 09:39:18 390 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 27747 0 0
11:39:07.389 -> 0 100.0 ********** *********** **** 04/01/2021 09:39:19 395 ****** ****** ***** *** ******** ****** *** 27950 0 0
Indoor Test¶
I did the above tests outdoor with my laptop. Let’s see, how it is indoor…