Hey everyone, I tried again this afternoon (since it was raining all morning) and honestly is the clearest the sky's been lately, I tried again with the changes @groundFungus told me about but COM3 was empty (been here 20/30 min, still am as I'm writing this just in case) but nothing:
I changed the code for both RX TX pins thinking it'd be that since I'm using the Arduino Pro mini and not UNO but still nothing (I also did tests with only the RX pin but the results were the same). I don't know if there's anything else I can do, I'm almost convinced my GPS module isn't working at all, searched for more information but it added little help or similar stuff to what you guys already told me, thanks again.
You have set the baud rate for the software serial to 4600. The general consensus is that most boards like yours default to 9600. Even if they are mismatched, you should get something, just rubbish characters.
What voltage are you supplying to the GPS board -- 5v or 3.3v? I have found my boards will not work with 3.3v.
Is it feasible to detect the presence of data on the GPS TX pin by directly connecting an LED to it? If not, is there a simple way to physically detect active transmission?
Of course not, but then if you want an 'easy' way to investigate why the GPS is not working and the most basic of serial copy programs does not appear to work its kind of difficult to use other 'easy' methods to prove a GPS is working ............
A logic analyser is another alternative I guess as is a logic probe.
The GPS TX is connected to the UNO TX pin and the UNO's RESET pin is grounded (so no sketch is running).
The UNO RX LED lights at 1Hz which is each time the GPS board sends a bunch of sentences. Hence I know the GPS board is transmitting and I can then move to the next step of reading the sentences.
May I ask the reason you chose a Pro Mini for this project? You say you are new to Arduino and this your first project. A UNO is a better board for beginners. It is easier to prove your design works and easier for others to reproduce what you are doing.
