Nada Labs

The system is now up and running. It is capable of communicating with the GPS receiver to get it into a known protocol (NMEA) and baud rate from an arbitrary starting configuration. I had to determine the pinout for the receiver as it was a USB GPS receiver. A check with the multimeter quickly identified the pinout of the four wires, TX was easy to spot as it was a constantly changing voltage whereas RX only changed when a command was sent. Once the prototyping is finished the USB receiver will be restored to its former glory. A few challenges were involved in figuring out the receivers startup configuration. It looks like at reset it outputs NMEA at 4800 baud but expects to receive NMEA configuration commands at 9600. This ‘interesting’ configuration was overcome by sending NMEA and SiRF configuration commands to the receiver at all supported baud rates. (continue reading…)

I like hiking, its a good excuse for getting outside, exploring the countryside, getting fit and having fun. While I can remember the places I’ve been and have photos as well, I would like to be able to record more information about the hike and be able to display the route taken in mapping applications. I have previously used a Laptop and USB GPS receiver in the car to record camping trips, however this is impractical when hiking as weight is an issue and the laptop battery only lasts a few hours. (continue reading…)