A while back, I posted to the Arduino Forums about the trouble I was having getting actual data from the GPS to the Arduino. If you scroll down a couple of entries, you’ll see that I was getting a ton of gibberish.
The response from the Forum was that the RS232 output was not only not understood by the board, but potentially at a higher voltage than the board could handle. The board is designed for a TTL signal, which is at a lower voltage.
Browsing around the internet finds a ton of schematics for RS232 to TTL circuits, all centered around the MAX232 chip. An order to Mouser and a week later, and I’ve breadboarded this:
One MAX232 chip and five capacitors. That’s it, and now I get this lovely screen when the GPS is hooked up to the converter, which is then connected to the Arduino:
I’d say that makes the last day of the year pretty good! Thanks Arduino Forum!
2 responses so far ↓
1 Robert // Jan 31, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Hi There,
Would you please post a bit more information around how you got this setup to work?
Im trying to do a similar project and am struggling at the same points you did. I have attempted to wire up the MAX232 however even after following X number of circuits available I am still no getting the Etrex to communicate.
Even a larger photo of the setup above would be excellent.
Many thanks
Robert
2 Roger Asbury // Feb 22, 2010 at 10:48 PM
Hiya, sorry for taking so long to respond. The circuit you see in the image above follows this exact diagram:
http://www.8051projects.net/e107_files/public/1208135039_5483_FT8010_circuit_232.jpg
A larger image of the circuit breadboarded can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanraven/4188862732/sizes/o/in/set-72157610165686375/
I haven’t posted an update to this project in over a month. I’ll try and get some better information up in the near future. It’s been fun and educational.
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