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Hardware Assembly

At a minimum, you will need to attach an external antenna to the MAX-M10S, supply 3.3V power, and connect to one of the board's peripherals.

Attaching an External Antenna

Plug in one of our patch antennas with SMA connector to the GPS board. Secure the connection using the hex nut until it is finger-tight.

Finger Tightening the SMA GPS Antenna to the MAX-M10S

I2C

One method to communicate with the MAX-M10S is through I2C. The Qwiic connect system makes it quick and easy to connect the board to your system using a polarized cable. For embedded projects, you can use a Qwiic-enabled Arduino development board like the RedBoard Plus and its associated USB cable. Then plug a Qwiic cable between the RedBoard Plus and the SparkFun MAX-M10S.

RedBoard Plus Connected to the MAX-M10S via Qwiic Cable

Note

The RedBoard Plus includes a switch to adjust the logic levels to either 5V or 3.3V. It does not matter what side the switch is on for this setup to communicate with the MAX-M10S since there are logic level converters included before the Qwiic connector.

If you're going to be soldering to the through hole pins for I2C functionality, then just attach the following lines between your chosen microcontroller's I2C and the MAX-M10S:

  • SDA to SDA
  • SCL to SCL
  • 3.3V to 3.3V
  • GND to GND

UART

A second method to communicate with the MAX-M10S is through its serial UART. You can directly connect the GPS to the computer by connecting a USB-to-serial converter to the industry standard serial connection (aka the 'FTDI' pinout). In this case, we used an FTDI but you can use another USB-to-serial converter like the CH340. Just make sure to match the silkscreen (GRN to GRN and BLK to BLK). For a secure connection, you'll need to solder male header pins or wires to the MAX-M10S.

USB-to-Serial Converter to MAX-M10S

You could also connect the pins to a microcontroller like the RedBoard Plus as long as the switch for the logic levels are flipped to the 3.3V side before powering the board up. You'll need to do a little bit more work as opposed to using Qwiic connect system. You'll need to attach the following lines between your chosen microcontroller's UART and the MAX-M10S:

  • Tx to Rx
  • Rx to Tx
  • 3.3V to 3.3V
  • GND to GND