* [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
@ 2012-03-23 21:08 Ron Frazier (NTP)
[not found] ` <cJ7br.8104$dq4.6080@newsfe23.iad>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Ron Frazier (NTP) @ 2012-03-23 21:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: questions, thumbgps-devel
Hi all,
YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived. I ordered on 03/05/12 and
it arrived on 03/23/12, so it took 18 days.
My configuration is:
GPS USB port --> PC 2nd USB port - for power only
GPS serial port --> Trendnet TU-S9 (Prolific based) serial - USB adapter
--> PC 1st USB port (same as I had the BU-353 on)
GPS antenna port --> included antenna
Using Terje's NMEA-MTK program, I sent the commands to the unit to
engage WAAS, send only GPGGA, and change the baud rate to 57600 as follows.
You can get help from the program as follows:
nmea-mtk /?
The board was already at 9600 baud transmitting several sentences.
I sent this command to enable WAAS and set for GPGGA sentences only (the
default action):
nmea-mtk -p \\.\COM5
I verified that it's working with SirfDemo. This is OK as long as I
don't send any commands from SirfDemo and use it for display only. I
set the SirfDemo data source for COM5 at 9600 baud, connected to the
GPS, and observed the NMEA data sentences. Then I disconnected SirfDemo.
I sent this to change baud rate to 57600:
nmea-mtk -p \\.\COM5 -c PMTK251,57600
I verified that it's working with this command. Now I have to send the
new baud rate in the command so nmea-mtk will read the port and match
the baud rate of the GPS. This reads out NMEA data for 10 seconds.
nmea-mtk -p \\.\COM5 -b 57600 -t 10
I also verified that it's working with SirfDemo after settings its baud
rate for the data source to 57600.
At the moment, I'm using NMEA only through the serial port of the GPS.
I haven't tried NMEA through the GPS's USB port, but I assume it would
be similar, since, either way, I'm going though a serial - USB
converter. The Sure board uses a CP2102 usb to uart chipset, whatever
that is, but I never loaded the driver for it. Since my external TU-s9
adapter uses the same Prolific driver that the BU-353 GPS did, I'm just
using that. I am currently testing in Windows.
Preliminary graphs indicate I'm getting a variance of + / - 25 ms from
my PC's clock to the GPS polling it every 8 sec. That's a bit
disappointing, since I was getting + / - 10 ms from the BU-353 going
through it's internal serial - USB converter. I'm going to monitor it
for about a week and see how stable it is relative to the internet
servers. Also, I'm hoping it doesn't have periodic heart attacks like
the BU-353 did. I am testing indoors, as before.
I have a question for someone with experience with the board. If I
unplug the board, will it retain it's programming, or will it lose it?
If it retains it, how long will it keep the data? If it loses it, how
can I prevent that?
Sincerely,
Ron
--
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
Ron Frazier
timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
[not found] ` <4F6D285C.1070505@c3energy.com>
@ 2012-03-24 3:25 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 6:38 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 15:22 ` tz
0 siblings, 2 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Ron Frazier (NTP) @ 2012-03-24 3:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: questions, thumbgps-devel
Hi all,
I just discovered an interesting thing about the Sure board's serial -
USB converter. I went ahead and installed the driver. With this serial
- USB converter, which is a Silicon Labs CP210x chipset, no matter which
USB port I plug it into, it becomes COM6, which was the next one
available. With the Prolific based devices, including the TU-S9 and the
BU-353, each subsequent USB port I plug into becomes a new com port, so
those devices became COM3, COM4, and COM5 respectively as I plugged them
into succeeding USB ports. I can see pros and cons either way.
With the Prolific way, if I move the device to a different port, I have
to have a different setup in the ntp.conf file, although you could
probably have multiple setups, and if nothing is attached to a given
port, then it gets ignored.
With the Silicon Labs way, I only have to have one set of configuration
options in ntp.conf. However, what happens if I plug in another device
with the same chipset? I'm assuming the next one will become COM7.
But, now, if I unplug both and plug them back into the same ports, but
in the opposite sequence, I'll bet the original 1st device will now be
COM7 and the original 2nd device will be COM6. I can see how this would
cause some problems.
I have not tested yet whether this board's USB port has a built in
driver in Linux.
Sincerely,
Ron
--
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
Ron Frazier
timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
2012-03-24 3:25 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
@ 2012-03-24 6:38 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 8:21 ` Andrew McGregor
2012-03-24 15:22 ` tz
1 sibling, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Ron Frazier (NTP) @ 2012-03-24 6:38 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: questions, thumbgps-devel
I now have the PPS circuit working on the Sure board. I have not
soldered it yet. I just taped a jumper wire between the PPS test point
at the edge of the board and the DCD pin 1 on the RS-232 port. The
serial data is coming in through the Trendnet TU-S9 serial - USB
converter, which is passing DCD. I'm getting + .5 / - 1.5 ms offsets.
The PPS is nowhere to be seen on the statistics screen, but it is
obviously working. I don't know why it's not more centered around zero,
and maybe that will change. However, my total peak to peak range of
offset variance is 2 ms, and that's coming through USB. If I can
maintain that level of accuracy, and it's consistent with UTC, then I'm
very happy. That's plenty good for my purposes. I still may try to run
it through a real serial port on another machine just for kicks.
Sincerely,
Ron
--
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
Ron Frazier
timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
2012-03-24 6:38 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
@ 2012-03-24 8:21 ` Andrew McGregor
2012-03-24 14:14 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
0 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Andrew McGregor @ 2012-03-24 8:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Ron Frazier (NTP); +Cc: questions, thumbgps-devel
[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1679 bytes --]
I know why it isn't centered... it's because it is taking a USB polling round trip to get the signal back. The PPS happens somewhere between two polls every 1 ms, and it takes another 1 ms to come back.
On 24/03/2012, at 2:38 PM, Ron Frazier (NTP) wrote:
> I now have the PPS circuit working on the Sure board. I have not soldered it yet. I just taped a jumper wire between the PPS test point at the edge of the board and the DCD pin 1 on the RS-232 port. The serial data is coming in through the Trendnet TU-S9 serial - USB converter, which is passing DCD. I'm getting + .5 / - 1.5 ms offsets. The PPS is nowhere to be seen on the statistics screen, but it is obviously working. I don't know why it's not more centered around zero, and maybe that will change. However, my total peak to peak range of offset variance is 2 ms, and that's coming through USB. If I can maintain that level of accuracy, and it's consistent with UTC, then I'm very happy. That's plenty good for my purposes. I still may try to run it through a real serial port on another machine just for kicks.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
> --
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
> I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
> such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
> reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thumbgps-devel mailing list
> Thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/thumbgps-devel
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^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
2012-03-24 8:21 ` Andrew McGregor
@ 2012-03-24 14:14 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 15:06 ` Dave Taht
0 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Ron Frazier (NTP) @ 2012-03-24 14:14 UTC (permalink / raw)
Cc: thumbgps-devel
Since I wrote that, it seems to have centered itself around zero. I now
have a very nice + 1.2 ms / - 1.2 ms offset pattern. Since I've been
struggling to get anything under 50 ms with other technology, this looks
really sweet to me.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9879631/Sure%20board%20first%20night%20pt1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9879631/Sure%20board%20first%20night%20pt2.jpg
Conversion of these images to jpeg reduced the clarity a bit, but you
can still see what's happening.
Sincerely,
Ron
On 3/24/2012 4:21 AM, Andrew McGregor wrote:
> I know why it isn't centered... it's because it is taking a USB polling round trip to get the signal back. The PPS happens somewhere between two polls every 1 ms, and it takes another 1 ms to come back.
>
> On 24/03/2012, at 2:38 PM, Ron Frazier (NTP) wrote:
>
>
>> I now have the PPS circuit working on the Sure board. I have not soldered it yet. I just taped a jumper wire between the PPS test point at the edge of the board and the DCD pin 1 on the RS-232 port. The serial data is coming in through the Trendnet TU-S9 serial - USB converter, which is passing DCD. I'm getting + .5 / - 1.5 ms offsets. The PPS is nowhere to be seen on the statistics screen, but it is obviously working. I don't know why it's not more centered around zero, and maybe that will change. However, my total peak to peak range of offset variance is 2 ms, and that's coming through USB. If I can maintain that level of accuracy, and it's consistent with UTC, then I'm very happy. That's plenty good for my purposes. I still may try to run it through a real serial port on another machine just for kicks.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
--
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
Ron Frazier
timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
2012-03-24 14:14 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
@ 2012-03-24 15:06 ` Dave Taht
0 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Dave Taht @ 2012-03-24 15:06 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Ron Frazier (NTP); +Cc: thumbgps-devel
My kvetch is that I never know what units anything is in anymore.
On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 7:14 AM, Ron Frazier (NTP)
<timekeepingntplist@c3energy.com> wrote:
> Since I wrote that, it seems to have centered itself around zero. I now
> have a very nice + 1.2 ms / - 1.2 ms offset pattern. Since I've been
> struggling to get anything under 50 ms with other technology, this looks
> really sweet to me.
>
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9879631/Sure%20board%20first%20night%20pt1.jpg
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9879631/Sure%20board%20first%20night%20pt2.jpg
>
> Conversion of these images to jpeg reduced the clarity a bit, but you can
> still see what's happening.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> On 3/24/2012 4:21 AM, Andrew McGregor wrote:
>>
>> I know why it isn't centered... it's because it is taking a USB polling
>> round trip to get the signal back. The PPS happens somewhere between two
>> polls every 1 ms, and it takes another 1 ms to come back.
>>
>> On 24/03/2012, at 2:38 PM, Ron Frazier (NTP) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>> I now have the PPS circuit working on the Sure board. I have not
>>> soldered it yet. I just taped a jumper wire between the PPS test point at
>>> the edge of the board and the DCD pin 1 on the RS-232 port. The serial data
>>> is coming in through the Trendnet TU-S9 serial - USB converter, which is
>>> passing DCD. I'm getting + .5 / - 1.5 ms offsets. The PPS is nowhere to be
>>> seen on the statistics screen, but it is obviously working. I don't know
>>> why it's not more centered around zero, and maybe that will change.
>>> However, my total peak to peak range of offset variance is 2 ms, and that's
>>> coming through USB. If I can maintain that level of accuracy, and it's
>>> consistent with UTC, then I'm very happy. That's plenty good for my
>>> purposes. I still may try to run it through a real serial port on another
>>> machine just for kicks.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Ron
>>>
>>>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
> I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
> such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
> reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thumbgps-devel mailing list
> Thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/thumbgps-devel
--
Dave Täht
SKYPE: davetaht
US Tel: 1-239-829-5608
http://www.bufferbloat.net
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived.
2012-03-24 3:25 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 6:38 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
@ 2012-03-24 15:22 ` tz
1 sibling, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: tz @ 2012-03-24 15:22 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Ron Frazier (NTP); +Cc: thumbgps-devel, questions
[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2334 bytes --]
The skytraq EVBs (direct from skytraq) all use the SiLabs chip - you cannot
plug more than one in at a time under XP. It won't enumerate the second as
a com port and it confuses everything.
On Mar 23, 2012 11:25 PM, "Ron Frazier (NTP)" <
timekeepingntplist@c3energy.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I just discovered an interesting thing about the Sure board's serial - USB
> converter. I went ahead and installed the driver. With this serial - USB
> converter, which is a Silicon Labs CP210x chipset, no matter which USB port
> I plug it into, it becomes COM6, which was the next one available. With
> the Prolific based devices, including the TU-S9 and the BU-353, each
> subsequent USB port I plug into becomes a new com port, so those devices
> became COM3, COM4, and COM5 respectively as I plugged them into succeeding
> USB ports. I can see pros and cons either way.
>
> With the Prolific way, if I move the device to a different port, I have to
> have a different setup in the ntp.conf file, although you could probably
> have multiple setups, and if nothing is attached to a given port, then it
> gets ignored.
>
> With the Silicon Labs way, I only have to have one set of configuration
> options in ntp.conf. However, what happens if I plug in another device
> with the same chipset? I'm assuming the next one will become COM7. But,
> now, if I unplug both and plug them back into the same ports, but in the
> opposite sequence, I'll bet the original 1st device will now be COM7 and
> the original 2nd device will be COM6. I can see how this would cause some
> problems.
>
> I have not tested yet whether this board's USB port has a built in driver
> in Linux.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> --
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, don't be concerned.
> I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy mailing lists and
> such. I don't always see new messages very quickly. If you need a
> reply and have not heard from me in 1 - 2 weeks, send your message again.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com
>
> ______________________________**_________________
> Thumbgps-devel mailing list
> Thumbgps-devel@lists.**bufferbloat.net<Thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net>
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/**listinfo/thumbgps-devel<https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/thumbgps-devel>
>
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2012-03-23 21:08 [Thumbgps-devel] YEA! My Sure Electronics GPS just arrived Ron Frazier (NTP)
[not found] ` <cJ7br.8104$dq4.6080@newsfe23.iad>
[not found] ` <4F6D285C.1070505@c3energy.com>
2012-03-24 3:25 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 6:38 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 8:21 ` Andrew McGregor
2012-03-24 14:14 ` Ron Frazier (NTP)
2012-03-24 15:06 ` Dave Taht
2012-03-24 15:22 ` tz
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