SparkFun Forums

[nixdorf]

I'm considering starting a project and need a little guidance.

The project will be a GPS unit that wirelessly transmits the data to an RS232 interface. So far, I've figured up the following:

UV40 with magnetic antenna, SMD connector, and Carrier Board.

The UV40 will send it's output to a basic High-Speed RF Link transmitter (SKU: RF-KLPA). The matched receiver for this transmitter would then output to a basic UART ( more on that later ). The output from the UART would be sent to a RS232 connector and sent down a serial cable to a PC, which will have Hyperterminal (or a similar program) running.

Anyone see problems with this idea? The reason for using a dedicated UART is that I don't have, or have access to, a PIC programmer.

Thanks,

Pete

[sparky]

You are on the right track. We did exactly this but had to have two PICs, one on either end.

The UV40 speaks 3.3V while the transmitter is expecting 5V levels. We used a PIC running at 5V to be the interim communicator.

On the base station side we used another PIC to receive the incoming serial signals and filter out all the extra trash. The receiver will *always* output data, much of it is just noise. The PIC sits there and scans for the correct series of bytes and passes it onto the computer via MAX232 or equivalent circuit. I've even bit-banged RS232 directly from the PIC.

-Nathan

[Guest]

You are on the right track. We did exactly this but had to have two PICs, one on either end.

The UV40 speaks 3.3V while the transmitter is expecting 5V levels. We used a PIC running at 5V to be the interim communicator.

On the base station side we used another PIC to receive the incoming serial signals and filter out all the extra trash. The receiver will *always* output data, much of it is just noise. The PIC sits there and scans for the correct series of bytes and passes it onto the computer via MAX232 or equivalent circuit. I've even bit-banged RS232 directly from the PIC.

-Nathan

Nathan,

Stupid question, but would using the SMiRF fix these problems, since it accepts 3-10V on the remote end?