No light on Neo 6M GPS MODULE

Other Hardware Sensors
1

Hi there

I would like to receive GPS data through the setup but there no information is shown in serial monitor and upon connection, there is no light being seen on the GPS module. I have attached the actual photo (to show that there is no light), fritzing diagram to show my connections (cannot find icon with ceramig antenna but in actual there is an antenna) and a screenshot of my code and empty serial monitor.

This module is being bought from a genuine retailer. The code is from a youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmktWTCgmmo) and my connections are as follows:

RX = Pin 3
TX = Pin 4
VCC = 3.3 Volts
GND = GND

#include "SoftwareSerial.h"
#include "TinyGPS++.h"

TinyGPSPlus gps;

SoftwareSerial ss (4,3);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(4800);
  ss.begin(4800);

}

void loop() {
  while(ss.available()>0){
  if(gps.encode(ss.read())){
    if(gps.location.isUpdated()){
      Serial.println(String(gps.location.lat(),3) + "," +String(gps.location.lng(),3));
    }
    delay(1000);
  }
  }

}

9600.JPG
9600.JPG1920×1025 142 KB

Empty serial monitor.jpg
Empty serial monitor.jpg1920×1025 143 KB

Actual Connection_snipped.JPG
Actual Connection_snipped.JPG515×741 57.8 KB

2

Hello bittercoffee.

A few comments:

. I have a board like this one; I always connect my GPS boards to 5v -- won't work on less (light won't come on). While the u-blox receiver specifies 3.3v, the boards (at least mine) require 5v; ask around for opinions if you're worried about burning the receiver with 5v

. I see you've changed the baud rates from the 4800 in the example to 9600 -- this shud be correct

. you have an advantage with the Mega of 4x h/w serial ports; the s/w serial approach will work, but the h/w serial port is said to be technically superior

. Arduino isn't a particularly good platform for learning GPS technology -- it's what we use when we want to do something useful with the positional data from the GPS. But to learn about GPS from the ground up, the u-center software from u-blox is much better; it's more reliable than sketches, more informative and more interesting (and more fun).

Hope that helps,
John.

3

The code you are using will only help, if the GPS is actually getting a fix.

The GPS will need to be outdoors with a good view of the sky to be sure of getting a fix.

Do you have the GPS RX and TX the right way round ?