I used the Garmin eTrex. It's about $90 to $100 new (95$ on gpscity.com), plus the data cable you'd need. Looks like some NIB ones are going for $60 or so on Ebay. The version I had could output an ascii text string, which was super-easy to parse through. NMEA sentences aren't too hard to parse through.
You can get dirty cheap ones for sure....but the really cheap ones don't have the rs232 ports.· Because you want that, you're pretty well stuck at the prices achilles posted.
There are GPS engines you can buy for projects....but I can't say if they're cheaper or more $$....certainly you don't have·a display or anything like that.·
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Steve http://members.rogers.com/steve.brady "Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
One of the possibilities is the Trimble Lassen SQ. This is an engine only. I've not used it, but am looking at it for a project. I haven't found pricing for it in the US either. You can find info at:
They are in Australia, so depending on what country you live in, shipping could be expensive. They quoted me $13.63AUD (no vat) and $12.00AUD in shipping. Works out to about $20.00US at the present exchange.
They are also working on a version of the card for direct connection to 5vdc which would make life a little easier, but they haven't done a production run of the board yet.
$80, and no cable needed. Configuring it might be a little harder, b/c I think you need to output a configuration sentence prior to it sending data. But after you've configured it once, you're up and running.
On parallax's website there is a customer application that involves using a GPS Antenna. You can go through it and pic out some code and get a few ideas.
The basic Garmin eTrex (no mapping) costs $83 at amazon.com and does NOT ship with a serial cable. The special serial cable will cost you another $10 to $30. The Garmin eTrex Legend (built-in maps with 8MB of free space to load more maps) costs $131 at amazon.com and SHIPS with the serial cable.
There are companies that sell kits so that you can make your own eTrex cables at the fraction of the cost of the Garmin cable. I've used both with success.
I just bought the Garmin GPS-18LVC for my high altitude project I am working on. It is an OEM model without a display and is WAAS compliant. It comes in 3 versions: USB, Car adapter, and straight wires. Smaller then eTrek, WAAS compliant, low power consumption and only requires one line of code to extract your GPS coordinates. I picked it up for $80 on the web.
Nice. I almost bought one of Garmin's GPS OEM sensors... ($79.99 on gpscity.com, plus s&h). Tempting, but my eTrex still works for what I use it for... so I figure if it's not broke...
That will probably depend on what NMEA sentence you want data from. It's a SERIN command. There's lots of documentation about NMEA sentences. Just look up what characters you need to SERIN to get what you want.
ebf306, one question though. What is the one line of code?
I have one of the GPS18LVC's too.· There's nothing·you have to do to get the unit to start talking; it will do that automatically when power is applied.· The "line of code" ebf was talking about is for configuring the unit; i.e. changing the data rate, which GPS sentences to be sent, etc.· That can be done through a terminal program or through the free configuration software from Garmin.· The unit defaults to transmitting NMEA protocol at 4800 baud and it transmitts the standards few sentences that have lat, long, alt, time, etc.· Unless you need something specific, or to change the data rate, you won't need any "lines of code".
i bought one on ebay. the guy has really good docs and it works with the stamp great. infact he moded Jon's basic gps code so that i works with it. it is a Sandpiper GPS made by axiom. it is an oem unit. it has rs-232 output also. i bought it for 20 dollars. the guy is als on this forum. do a search for axiom or sandpiper. great little unit.
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It's Only A Stupid Question If You Have Not Googled It First!!
musictech
Posts: 54
Comments
Dave
Is the cable included or do I need to purchase that also? If I need to purchase it, what kind of cable do I require?
Post Edited (musictech) : 1/25/2005 4:55:14 PM GMT
There are GPS engines you can buy for projects....but I can't say if they're cheaper or more $$....certainly you don't have·a display or anything like that.·
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Steve
http://members.rogers.com/steve.brady
"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
www.trimble.com/lassensq.html
The guys at Embedtronics developed a GPS device around the Lassen. They also have made a surface mount prototype adapter card for it:
www.embedtronics.com/GPS/lassenSQ.html
They are in Australia, so depending on what country you live in, shipping could be expensive. They quoted me $13.63AUD (no vat) and $12.00AUD in shipping. Works out to about $20.00US at the present exchange.
They are also working on a version of the card for direct connection to 5vdc which would make life a little easier, but they haven't done a production run of the board yet.
Jim
http://www.gpscity.com/gps/brados/5460.10.9581449345569823476/oem18lvc.html
$80, and no cable needed. Configuring it might be a little harder, b/c I think you need to output a configuration sentence prior to it sending data. But after you've configured it once, you're up and running.
Dave
http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/resources/custapps/app_gps_track.asp
http://pfranc.com/projects/g45contr/emap/index.htm
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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
Dallas, TX· USA
Is yours going on a high altitude balloon?
Dave
I think i am going to try the Garmin OEM model.
ebf306, one question though. What is the one line of code?
Dave
Mike
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It's Only A Stupid Question If You Have Not Googled It First!!
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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax