LassenIQ GPS Eval kit and serial connection

GPS/GNSS Development Boards
1

I ordered the LassenIQ GPS USB eval kit.

I set it up according to the instructions and downloaded the USB/Serial driver.

It all works fine with the Trimble GPS app.

Problem is when I try to hook up HyperTerminal to it.

No matter what settings I put in HyperTerminal and the driver via WinXP Device Mgr I still get gibberish in the HyperTerminal window.

Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks in advance.

2

hi intomo,

the output of the Lassen iQ isn’t in plain english, but rather short sequences of bytes that, when you look at their binary representation (and know which parts of the sequence correspond to what), one can interpret the data the Lassen iQ is sending.

if you’re interested in the specifics, it’s all in the datasheet. if you’re writing some code (either for a microcontroller or a PC) to interpret the GPS data, you’ll likely need to familiarize yourself with the structure of the packets. if you’re writing for a dsPIC microcontroller, I posted some code a month or two ago in the PIC forum that will interpret the packets the iQ sends out automatically and return GPS location information.

i hope that helps,

silic0re

3

According to the instructions posted on the Trossen Robotics site where I purchased the LassenIQ USB Eval Kit it can be read in plain english via HyperTerminal. I wouldn’t have purchased this otherwise.

I also bought the SparkFun GPS Eval that has the 2 rs232 connections on it. Can you nudge me in the direction of a GPS module that I can attach that does return plain english that I could plug into this kit?

Many thanks

4

http://www.trossenrobotics.com/lassen-i … spx?a=blog

This is the link to what I bought.

If you look at the instructions you can see why I am confused.

Thanks

5

According to the datasheet, the Lassen iQ has two data ports. By default, the first spits out binary data, the second spits out plain english (NMEA). If you use the eval board with two rs-232 connections on it, I think one will give you NMEA output. With the USB board, you may need to change the jumpers to get NMEA output over USB.

6

Thanks! I’ll check into the jumper settings.