SparkFun Forums

[williamrdg]

Hey i have a gps module working and i been getting the coordination, but when i go in google maps the map is in the ocean. i was wondering if theres any formula to find the exact coordination

[plecharts]

Well, there are two possibilities:
1) You are getting factory-default coordinates, which are transmitted when the GPS receiver does not have a lock at at least three sattellites.
2) You have dead GPS receiver. This has happened to me too, and you can try to compensate it software-side, but you will only have a precision of about +- 300m. Basically the GPS module sends you your position, but it divides the coordinates by a close-to-1 number and it can cause the coordinates to be off by an order of kilometres.

ALSO: You may be parsing it wrong, but if you are using some libraries that are known to work, it is almost sure the problem is explained in the two reasons above.

[skimask]

Guess where a LAT/LONG of 0d0m0s/0d0m0s is located?!?!

[plecharts]

Coordinates 0.0 N 0.0 E would just mean the GPS receiver does not have a fix on the sattellites, in real-life application you would probably never have an exact 0.0 0.0 location with ordinary GPS receiver.