GPS for the Beaglebone Black: D2523T 50 Channel Helical GPS Receiver

The 50 Channel D2523T Helical GPS Receiver is a pricier GPS choice at $79, but I find that it works better than the cheaper 50 Channel GP-635T GPS Receiver ($39). I live in a multistory building in downtown Minneapolis. I can only get the GP-635T to work (sometimes) out on my balcony.  D2523T Helical GPS Receiver works inside near a window or glass door. Once it has acquired a signal, I can move it 12 to 15 back from the door or window without losing the signal.

[Note: As of October, 2013, Sparkfun no longer carries thie D2523T, but a Google search will locate other sources.]

I'm using this interface cable to connect the D2523T GPS module to this GPS breakout on a breadboard.

Connections 

GPS Breakout  Beaglebone Black
Pin 3 (3V3)   P9 3
Pin 4 (GND)   P9 1
Pin 5 (TX)    P9 26
Pin 6 (RX)    P9 24

See this post for the configuration needed to use the Beaglebone Black's pins for serial (UART) communication.

Python Code

The following code pulls the latitude and longitude from the $GPRMC sentence.

import serial

import time

import datetime

import re

import os

os.system("echo uart1 > /sys/devices/bone_capemgr.9/slots")

serial = serial.Serial("/dev/ttyO1", baudrate=9600)

resp = ""

while True:

        while (serial.inWaiting() > 0):

                resp += serial.read()

                if "\r\n" in resp:

                        if "$GPRMC" in resp:

                                data = resp.split(',')

                                info = data[3] + " " + data[4] + " " + data[5] + " " + data[6]

                                print info

                        resp = ""