Basic Questions on EM-406A/408

GPS/GNSS Development Boards
1

I have a few questions:

  1. Do I need any addition software in order to get longitude, latitude data from this GPS module?

  2. Does EM-406A have a RS232 interface to interface with the other microprocessor?

Thanks

David

2

  1. No, after power-up, the modules start spewing out a ‘default’ set of data, which includes all sorts of stuff, including position (3 axes), speed, time, satellite info, etc. Each part of the data repeats periodically - some of it is every second, other stuff is every 3 or4 seconds, I think. You can optionally send commands to the module to tell it to only spit out certain things.

  2. Both modules output standard serial data (4800 baud default as I recall). But the output is NOT RS232 signal levels. The 406 outputs 5V levels, the 408 does 3.3V levels (note that those modules run on 5V and 3.3V, respectively). So, the GPS module can be connected directly to a UART port on an MCU, but they cannot be connected to a PC’s serial port without adding level-conversion circuitry, such as this:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … cts_id=449

Pete

3

David