DIY GPS

I have been on a mission to reduce the power consumption and cost of getting Mischief ready for adventures and to this end I had a success. I have made a GPS module that draws 60mA, cost less than £20 and feeds GPS NMEA info in a format that my VHF can read. This module also works on my laptop. My previous GPS feed was a Gamin 72H which draws over 100mA and cost around £100.


One attempt at this resulted in a spare GPS module for my AIS unit. I bought a GPS receiver through ebay that cost £2.92 so I wasn't expecting much. It turned out that the GPS receiver didn't have a UART and the USB connector had no power connections. I tried removing the USB plug and pressing the bare wires against the GPS connector on the Matsutec. Within 30 seconds I had a GPS fix. After fitting a TNC connector I now have a back-up GPS unit. The official Matsutec GPS units cost £45!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is it all about?

This blog is my account of a sailor of modest ability who has a desire to sail single-handed to the Azores and back. The budget is tight and ingenuity will have to be plentiful to overcome the many problems that I am expecting.
Read more

Achilles Owners Group

I have joined the Achilles Owners Group  www.achillesyachts.co.uk , and requested some support with planning the refit and offshore preparations. Received an excellent response. This is testament to an active and interested group who make use of their boats.   https://www.flickr.com/groups/achilles24/discuss/72157690184213752/ Some of the feedback is a bit of a worry; masts rotting and rudder weakness but as they say, better to know now before I put to sea.
Read more

BUST, I am not the skipper to take Mischief to the Azores

Having given it some thought and sought various opinions I am going to pass Mischief on to someone who can make better use of her than I can. I need more space and comfort. While I feel confident that Mischief would be a safe enough boat to make it to the Azores with minor modifications (see Job List ), she isn't the boat for me. My plan is to see if Mischief is of interest to a prospective Jester Challengers and discuss options for sale / transfer. The bare hull and rig owe me nothing but the gear I have added will be needed for my plans going forward.
Read more