I'm using this as a replacement for a much earlier generation GPS engine/antenna. Sat acquisition time for this unit is very fast in comparison and a wealth of data is provided over the one-wire (two counting the gnd) serial port interface. The unit is also significantly more sensitive (as well as being about 1/2 the area) as well. The only potential gotcha to watch for is many or most older generations use a default 4800b setting for serial communications. This unit has a default of 9600. You can change the setting of the unit by uploading (over the same single wire used to RX data) or more simply - just change the Arduino (if thats what you are using) sketch code to initialize the serial port to 9600b. I ordered two more of these useful, high-performance units..

I bought several of these modules. I have been testing them on a pcDuino, tied into /dev/ttyS1. I have written my own programs to parse the NMEA messages and to update a Google Map. The module works well, except that I find it does not seem to register movement very quickly. I have the pcDuino running on a Voltaic battery and am using a hotspot to provide mobile power and connectivity to the database server. It seems like it eventually catches up to my new location, but doesn't register along the path as I would like.

The first time i plugged it in it was able to draw a dot in google maps that corresponded to the very room of the house i was in within 5 seconds! for 15 bucks it's a great deal. Now it keeps track of where my cat is.

Used with a Raspberry 4.4.8, GPS TX port on RPI RX port, here is the python code :

import serial import sys ser = serial.Serial(port='/dev/ttyS0', baudrate=9600, timeout=None,parity=serial.PARITY_NONE, stopbits=serial.STOPBITS_ONE,rtscts=False,xonxoff=False,dsrdtr=False) while True : try: data=ser.readline() print data, except: print "Unexpected error:", sys.exc_info() sys.exit()

which gives : PRMC,1$GPRMC,183902.00,A,4852.08237,N,00238.17086,E,0.101,,140317,,,A75 $GPVTG,,T,,M,0.101,N,0.187,K,A2D $GPGGA,183902.00,4852.08237,N,00238.17086,E,1,10,0.80,40.2,M,46.2,M,,66 $GPGSA,A,3,29,31,25,26,02,14,21,12,05,23,,,1.31,0.80,1.0405 $GPGSV,4,1,13,02,18,042,25,04,43,294,30,05,06,077,30,12,12,101,29*70 and so on... So long chaps

Wow, this was a great deal. It worked really well too. I hooked it up to my arduino 3.3 volt power output, ground, and the rx pin on my arduino and downloaded the example serial communication sketch to the arduino board. I had it spitting out nmea 0183 sentences to the serial monitor in less than 5 minutes. I just need to find an application to use it in now. There is also an arduino nmea parsing library that I need to try out, but the chip itself is really great and couldn't be easier to use. It was so sensitive that it even worked indoors (except in my basement).

If you don't need configurability or a quick update rate this is a no brainer. It works really well, and it only costs $16. Crazy. I agree that the plug seems unnecessary. I almost feel like I should give it 5 stars, especially given the price, but I wish that the extra two pads that aren't broken out weren't gooped over. I also wish there were reasonable documentation for it (without that the rx pin is pretty useless anyway, PPS would be handy though; perhaps I'll scrape off the goop). I'm testing it side by side with the $50 venus module plus the $13 embedded antenna, and the sensitivity on this little beast is better. Only 1 Hz though. I'm going to buy a few for the drawer.

Finally, a sub $20 GPS receiver with integrated antenna! Don't know why the UP-501 isn't made any more. This comes close to being a replacement. Similar specifications, slightly smaller, same convenient 3.3 Volt supply. But you give up quite a bit: configurable baud rate, configurable update rate, 1 Hz pulse signal, 0.1 inch pin header, separate supply and battery pins (the 501 could be put into a low power state then warm-started). Some of these cons might be fixed with better documentation. And I'm wondering how many buyers actually need the connector this ships with - how about $13 without the wires/connector?

Well built and needs only power to function.

When powered up the module quickly started outputting correct data (ie, the 29s cold start spec seems likely to be accurate). Power spec is accurate too. Output data rate is 9600 baud (8N1) serial. Sentences the module sends as configured "out of the box" are: GPRMC, GPVTG, GPGGA, GPGSA, GPGSV, GPGLL (which is also what the datasheet says). An RXD pad is present on the module, as well as what appears to be a 3V button cell.

Absolutely trouble free, works per the datasheet, and overall very impressive capability for the price.

It works inside and outside. Very easy to integrate. Just add some code!

I have now built 2 projects with this product. I am pleased with its performance. Since I am using them to display GPS information to a human, the once per second update is just what I wanted. I don't miss the lack of a way to configure the unit. I did have trouble using it on a 12Mhz Arduino using SoftwareSerial, but it worked great on the hardware serial port. Seems to need a 16Mhz Arduino for it to work well with SoftwareSerial. I am using canned library microNMEA to extract data (it is available on github). The price is real nice too!

This little thing has treated me very well. For the price, I haven't come across anything of similar value. Sure, it only comes with the output wire, so there's theoretically no changing of the standard 1Hz output rate (or other customizations) but for most of my projects, this is just fine. I ended up ditching the connector right away however and soldering the cables directly. I wouldn't mind stashing a few of these away for times when I'll surely need them :P

This module is easy to use and decent to learn how to parse NMEA sentences, but it is not very reliable when it comes to actually connecting to a satellite. Good price if you are trying to learn though.

Great GPS for the money.

Covers the basics for a GPS. A little slow update, but in general great.

This is a neat thing let me tell you. Inexpensive and fun to play with. I interfaced it with an ATmega328p without a library just using assembly and it worked fine for me. Concerning getting a fix indoors, mine didn't want to get a fix but if I'd go outside and get a fix then when I came back in it seemed to hold. Warmup time wasn't horrendous either.

A note to those who may not know, you do not need a level shifter to use this with an AVR. I supplied 3v3 to the GPS and 5v to my μC and connected the signal out of the GPS directly to the μC. This works because 3v3 is a high enough voltage to be considered a logical 1 by the AVR and since we aren't trying to write back to it, all is good.

Also, as a side note, don't forget that this unit updates its data one per second. Plenty fast enough for the playing around I was doing, but for some that might be too slow.

If you need 9600bps NMEA output without giving up a lot of power, space or money, this is a nifty solution. It was just the thing for my APRS project:

http://mythopoeic.org/tm-d710-internal-gps-de-nf3h/

See above URL for detailed information about bench-testing using a Bus Pirate.

Pro: Tiny, cheap, reasonably quick to get a fix, built-in antenna, low power consumption.

Cons: RX and PPS pins hard to access. 3V3 only. Included wires are about five times as thick as they need to be. JST connector is of limited us.

A good GPS at a good price.

The TinyGPS++ library works great with this.

My major problem was the JST connector. I needed to put on a different connector and ended up destroying 2 of 3 receivers when stripping the wire for the new connector. The pad on the circuit board just ripped off. (So be very very very careful.)

It takes a short period to acquire satellites and get valid data.

Also note that you should use the SmartSerial driver and the smartDelay code from TinyGPS+++ so that you don't get checksum errors and buffer overflows. (This showed up for me as no long/lat/altitude - even though I got valid time data.)

Hallo!

I bought this GPS Modul for my Electron from Sparkle (also tried it with an Arduino Mega) and I don't get a use able NMEA data and I don't know what I am doing wrong. Maybe someone can help me with this problem...

Best greetings Stefan

I am not feeling good about this product. I bought 2 of them and both are not working. First 2 days it worked fine but not any more. I was very excited but not any more. A lot of issues.

Once I figured out that I needed to use Serial TTL instead of RS232 everything worked exactly as specified in the documentation provided. I primarily use it to update the real time clock in my processor at remote sites. Thanks to Sparkfun support to point me in the right direction.

The Receiver is easy to get going and there are many good examples available and several libraries for the Arduino series. The TinyGPSplus is fantastic! A couple of missing pieces: Although there is an input on the device (Rx) there is no documentation that I could find to talk to it. Not wired either. In the documentation, the time returned is shown as hhmmss.sss, but the decimal part is always returned as 00. That's not a big deal for me but a departure from the docs. All in all, a fine entry into the GPS Rx world.

This little GPS receiver gets a fast lock on satellites even inside a polycarbonate box under a roof. Of course out in the country there is less interference, but I am impressed with its performance. Most of the time the cold start first fix is on the order of a minute or two.

I am using this in a Raspberry Pi based NTP server. I added the resistor and LED to the empty locations on the rear and got the PPS signal from the LED. It works great and syncs quickly, even when just pointing towards a window. http://dalimonte.ca/sdalimon/projects/Pi_GPS_Time/pi_time.html

This GPS receiver works great with Arduino MEGA. I connected it to the physical serial pin. I was able to establish connection and get GPS coordinates and data by standard serial communication and TinyGPS library also.

The most economical unit I've found and it works just fine on RPI2+ using GPIO. Setup in about 15 minutes, outputs NMEA data every second. Python code in Member #912411's review works great too.

Very easy to get going with this.

Though many have posted bad things about this GPS as it has no Receive data input so it is not configurable. For a basic GPS Receiver it has worked great for my application and you can't beat the low price.. We purchase them 10 at a time and use them in a low volume product. They lock onto signals fast while near a window so no problems there. The serial data out causes a small problem as it is noisy and detectable by near by receiving equipment. We remove the white wire at the PCB and attach a 100 ohm resister and them reattach the wire after the resister. That resolved the noise issue. Out of about 50 units used, I had one unit fail to lock but no FA was done as it was potted in epoxy inside a 3D printed enclosure. Overall, for the Price and Performance, it is the best I could find.

The unit works well. We connected it to an Arduino Mega, and with some test code, and the TinyGPS library we were off and running with data showing location on the serial monitor. The problem seems to crop up when we set the Arduino with a wireless board, and wanted to just relay the position without attaching a serial monitor. This could be an issue with the tinygps library, but we have not figured out the issue yet. Any input on how to connect this unit without a serial monitor attached to the Arduino, will help .

Really easy to get to work with my arduino project. A great beginners GPS receiver.

I bought this to try as an inexpensive PPS reference for the reciprocal frequency counter I am designing. It works great! My counter has a resolution of 6 digits, and I get a stable reading of 1.000000Hz. The original calibration of the counter was done with a calibrated OCXO, which now gives me extra confidence that the OCXO calibration is good.

To use the PPS output, you have to install an LED and a current limiting resistor, or at least a resistor and short out the LED pads, since the output is open-drain. I used a garden variety 0603 LED, and an 0402 330 Ohm resistor. The LED will light steady when power is first applied, then you will see it pulse after the GPS syncs (takes a couple of minutes for me).

Very easy to use and accurate. Great product for the price.

No surprises. Follwed the directions for hooking it up to an arduino and had a good gps fix in and 30 seconds insde the house

This was super easy to get going, and it’s a great value.

I do like the compact size of this GPS Rx'er, fits right in with the other components of our project. Does provide good signal recognition and GPS data as expected!

I enjoy working with SparkFun, they provide great technical support and a wide variety of products for us hackers!

This was easy to get up and running, but required a little sleuthing, as the SparkFun page for this device doesn't include any links to the code you need to see the data streaming from the module. Here is a link to the page on the SparkFun site for that information: tinyurl.com/y9kl7mcx
You need to download and install the TinyGPS++ library from the link shown at the top of that section, and then copy and past the code for the "Sketch: TinyGPS Serial Streaming" into the Arduino user interface. Connect the black ground wire to GND on the RedBoard, and the red power wire to the 3.3V pin (NOT the 5v pin. You will destroy the GPS module!). Then connect the white data wire to Pin 8. Connect the USB cable to your computer, open the "Serial Monitor" under "Tools." Compile and upload the code to the RedBoard, and you should start seeing the GPS data streaming on the Serial Monitor window, updating once per second. It takes a minute or so for the data fill out all the fields, depending on how well the GPS module can see the sky. Being near a window, if you are inside, helps. Place the module with the gray antenna patch facing up, and the wire connections facing down. Hope this helps. And... Sparkfun team, you should place a link to the code on the page for this device.

Impressive sensitivity, worked thru my window, facing down toward the table! Wire connections/strain relief doesn't look very robust.

Nice and simple GPS for arduinos, working well with every arduino GPS library I have found.