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I am new to electronics and learning how to play around with arduino. I recently purchased the Arduino ultimate GPS Logger, and despite also buying an external anntenae the GPS data shows that it does not fix at all. Despite leaving the unit powered for more than 5 minutes. Please advise on what could be wrong. Is it normal to take so long to get a GPS fix? This is the Arduino in question. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ultimate-gps-logger-shield/overview

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This style of antenna can be very finicky. GPS on this module may take 15 or 30 minutes to lock, not just 5. I would suggest you take this outside away from any walls or buildings and see if it will lock then. I also suggest that you run it off a battery. (one of those USB battery packs for charging your phone will work great). Once you get a lock try changing one variable at a time (power supply / location) and see if you can get it to look again.

The reason this module takes longer to lock than your cellphone is that your cellphone is cheating by doing a warmstart. The cellphone can get a semi-accurate time/date and also your regional location. This warm start data improves GPS lock time down to 5 seconds or less sometimes.

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  • Thanks. Is there a place where I can reference locations vis a vis GPS modules available and with high sensitivity for those locations?
    – Jude Mwenda
    Commented Apr 21, 2015 at 4:29
  • If you want the best GPS signal, just go outside with a good wide view of the sky (no trees near or tall buildings)
    – benathon
    Commented Apr 21, 2015 at 4:55

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