Hi everyone,
I dont know if this is the correct place to put my question, but here goes:
I am trying to read my Sparkfun Venus634 GPS board using my arduino duemilanove 328.
Since the serial line in my project is already in use for logging and debugging I have tried to
connect it using the NewSoftSerial library (v10c).
Trouble is I am not getting any readings at all using the software serial port (running at 9600
baud, which is the venus's default speed).
I am aware that there is a logic level incompatibility between the arduino and the venus chip (5v vs 3v3),
so I am using an I2C style level shifter using 2 mosfets and 4 pullup resistors.
For anyone that might stumble upon this last remark after a websearch: Yes, an I2C bidirectional style
mosfet level shifter works like a charm for logic level conversion on plain jane vanilla serial lines too.
I use one mosfet per line instead of a voltage divider on the Rx line like the sparkfun level shift board uses.
When I pull the Atmega chip off my arduino board and plug my whole project board into the hardware serial
ports it seems to be communicating just fine through the FTDI chip (@9600 baud I might add).
I suspect NewSoftSerial is not doing anything at all, and I doubt I am the first to have had trouble with it.
Havent found any answers yet so I though I'd ask. I am using the TinyGPS library's example by the way.. it
uses newsoftserial.