Cheap GPSDO Buying Help 2024?

[807]

Very nice!  Do the NMEA sentences show up on the USB/serial port, and if so, how do you switch between configuration mode and NMEA mode?  Or are there two virtual ports?
When will this show up on the Mini and Dual units?  Is a firmware upgrade to existing mini's possible?

Yes, the firmware upgrade adds CDC interface to the existing HID interface. NMEA messages flow through virtual COM port and HID configuration works like before, independently of NMEA.
I would say in a month or two both Mini and Dual will have the same functionality upgrade.
Thanks to all, Leo

Sorry for bumping a 5 month old thread, but is the firmware upgrade for the Mini still in the pipeline? There's no mention of an update on the website yet.

[Leo Bodnar]

Yes, mini GPS clock supports NMEA now.

Here is the link to v1.20 of the firmware with NMEA capability: https://leobodnar.com/files/miniGPSclock-v120.zip

Please let me know if you have any problems using it.

Thanks
Leo

[pdenisowski]

Yes, mini GPS clock supports NMEA now.

Is / will this be supported on the "classic" (dual output) model?  Looking for an excuse to buy one of the newer models

Honestly, given the price point of the newer model, I would prefer it over any "Aliexpress" GPSDO.  I've been very happy with the "Classic" model, and having access to NMEA data is a nice feature.

[807]

Yes, mini GPS clock supports NMEA now.

Here is the link to v1.20 of the firmware with NMEA capability: http://leobodnar.com/files/miniGPSclock-v120.zip

Please let me know if you have any problems using it.

Thanks
Leo

That's great. Thanks for the link. I'll play with it over the weekend.

I changed the link address slightly as my browsers were complaining about a potential security risk downloading from an unsecure address. So changed it to:-

https://leobodnar.com/files/miniGPSclock-v120.zip

[Leo Bodnar]

Is / will this be supported on the "classic" (dual output) model?  Looking for an excuse to buy one of the newer models
Honestly, given the price point of the newer model, I would prefer it over any "Aliexpress" GPSDO.  I've been very happy with the "Classic" model, and having access to NMEA data is a nice feature.

Paul, "Classic" dual port model NMEA support is on the back burner at the moment. Its hardware is different enough to need extra firmware rewrite to demux NMEA from binary data coming from the GPS chipset.
Leo

[807]

Can you give a few pointers how to flash the upgrade? The file you linked to contains 5 files:-

DeviceCleanupCmd.exe
install mini GPS serial port drivers.bat
miniGPSclock.bin
miniGPSclock.exe
miniGPS-clock.inf

I have dowloaded Firmware Doctor & HID flash from your website. I can see how to update using HID & selecting the .bin file from your link, but before I do so, I was wondering what the other 4 files were for?

[Leo Bodnar]

Can you give a few pointers how to flash the upgrade? The file you linked to contains 5 files:-

DeviceCleanupCmd.exe
install mini GPS serial port drivers.bat
miniGPSclock.bin
miniGPSclock.exe
miniGPS-clock.inf

I have dowloaded Firmware Doctor & HID flash from your website. I can see how to update using HID & selecting the .bin file from your link, but before I do so, I was wondering what the other 4 files were for?

Unzip all the files into a folder. They will not work from inside the .zip
If you are on Windows 8 or earlier, run "install mini GPS serial port drivers.bat". This will clean registry and install .inf file
Windows 10 and 11 should not need drivers installation
Run miniGPSclock.exe and reflash the mini GPS clock to v1.20. Alternatively, you can use HIDflash for this as well.
You might need to OK Windows to use a driver without signature if it asks. (There isn't really a driver per se, just the .inf file to direct Windows to use its own one.)

Leo

[pdenisowski]

Paul, "Classic" dual port model NMEA support is on the back burner at the moment. Its hardware is different enough to need extra firmware rewrite to demux NMEA from binary data coming from the GPS chipset.
Leo

Thanks Leo.  Honestly, given the lower price and smaller size of the new models, I will just buy one of the newer ones if I need NMEA - it's probably not worth the engineering effort to retrofit it to the "classic" model.

I also have plenty of other sources of NMEA data if I really need them

[807]

Can you give a few pointers how to flash the upgrade? The file you linked to contains 5 files:-

DeviceCleanupCmd.exe
install mini GPS serial port drivers.bat
miniGPSclock.bin
miniGPSclock.exe
miniGPS-clock.inf

I have dowloaded Firmware Doctor & HID flash from your website. I can see how to update using HID & selecting the .bin file from your link, but before I do so, I was wondering what the other 4 files were for?

Unzip all the files into a folder. They will not work from inside the .zip
If you are on Windows 8 or earlier, run "install mini GPS serial port drivers.bat". This will clean registry and install .inf file
Windows 10 and 11 should not need drivers installation
Run miniGPSclock.exe and reflash the mini GPS clock to v1.20. Alternatively, you can use HIDflash for this as well.
You might need to OK Windows to use a driver without signature if it asks. (There isn't really a driver per se, just the .inf file to direct Windows to use its own one.)

Leo

Thanks. I have W10 so only had to run miniGPSclock.exe to update to ver1.20.

Now to download Lady Heather. I assume I can get it to work with that program?

[807]

After a lot of faffiung about with Lady Heather, I finally got it to run after a lot of Googling about the "extra" heather.cfg file hidden in the documents folder. It now runs from the desktop shortcut, but when I run it through the "Start" menu, it runs with the default heather.cfg (or perhaps can't see the cfg file at all?) & says that no receiver can be found. I'll start another thread about that.

I notice that the mini GPS clock configuration program v1.20 only updates every 10 seconds. Did v1.17 update that slowly? Perhaps it's my dodgy memory, but I thought v1.17 updated every second.

[Leo Bodnar]

I think the latest Lady Heather software is here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/lady-heather-v6-beta-for-windows-exe/

I will have a look at v1.20 update rate. It's possible that GUI needs a tweak to bring it back to 1 update/sec.

Leo

[Leo Bodnar]

I notice that the mini GPS clock configuration program v1.20 only updates every 10 seconds.

I have fixed this and it updates every second now, you can download the configuration app again from https://www.leobodnar.com/files/mini%20GPS%20clock%20configuration.exe
Leo

[807]

I notice that the mini GPS clock configuration program v1.20 only updates every 10 seconds.

I have fixed this and it updates every second now, you can download the configuration app again from https://www.leobodnar.com/files/mini%20GPS%20clock%20configuration.exe
Leo

Cheers. 

[Conrad Hoffman]

I just updated my mini with no problems and I'm thrilled that Leo took the trouble to do it. It updates fast enough and puts out NMEA strings no problem. Various programs read them correctly, but for some reason I can't get Lady Heather to read latitude and longitude correctly. There's also a 15ish second error in the time with LH, though my offset is correct at 18 and the config utility is dead on. Probably something simple but I won't have time to troubleshoot it until later in the week.

(edit)- Ha! I was using LH with a connection to a remote GPS, not even my mini! Connected to the mini now and working perfectly. Yes, I'm an idiot.