After having no success in getting my Mediatek MT3329 GPS to work on my Ardupilot Mega autopilot , I decided to get it to work with the MiniGPS first and then iron out the problems from there.
Since USB to TTL converters are not readily available and after realizing that the MT3329 chip has USB Data- and Data + pins on it ( pins 6 And 7) I decided to convert it.

I know it's too late now, but if you have a FTDI cable, this comes in handy. I use mine for testing all the time.


http://store.diydrones.com/FTDI_GPS_...ca-0001-09.htm

http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot/wiki/MediaTek

No, unfortunately I don't have an FTDI cable (USB to TTL converter) and even though the price for it is around $18 ,I really don't want to pay $20 for shipping. I found out the hard way that US post doesn't ship to Canada
when I ordered missing parts for my telemetry system from SparkFun. I then
had to re order the parts and have it Fed Ex to me.
I ended up paying $98 for $33 worth of parts.
I just saved myself $38 by doing this USB conversion just by using parts that I had lying around.

In your post Larry, you suggest that USPS does not ship to Canada. I order items from various suppliers of model items in the US. Most if not all have figured out that using UPS or Fedex to ship to Canada is not very acceptable. If the vendor cannot or won't use US Postal Service, we find another vendor. USPS is fast, secure, and a lot less expensive than UPS or Fedex.

And the US Postal Service is happy to accept mail destined to Canada. I have received a laptop Battery, Brushless motor and speed control and GWS motor mounts all in the last 3 weeks from US suppliers, shipping by US Mail aka US Postal Service.

Unfortunately you usually have to e-mail the supplier and confirm they can use USPS. Many websites are not setup for shipping by USPS even though the supplier is willing to ship via USPS.

Jim H

This is a good price for USB to TTL. I ordered 4 on April 1st. They aren't here yet.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=180493947921

Thanks for the info Jim and HappyKillmore!
Those options are more reasonable.

Larry

Hello, I have a GPS Receiver G-top PA6B MTK MT3329 chipset.
As can be enabled by default 5Hz 38400? I think I need a new firmware.
But I do not have the firmware. Can you help me?

I think that the latest version of firmware is version 1.6.
Hopefully I'll be able to work on my "PA6B" GPS or MT3329 ,this
weekend. So , I'll probably be able to find a way to change the
baud rate etc.

The update rate can be changed with MiniGps software http://www.dpcav.com/data_sheets/gps_mini.zip
but to keep it at the set values your MT3329 GPS must have a backup battery.
Here's where to go to update the firmware http://code.google.com/p/ardupilot/wiki/MediaTek