RTC not working for Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D

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jwtadmin
 
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RTC not working for Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D

Post by jwtadmin »

I am building a project with my daughter using the Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D. The idea was to use the GPS to grab time wherever it may be and have the RTC hold it so when the project is indoors it still keeps the time.

However - I'm not sure this unit has an RTC - when I pull power and plug it back in, the RTC time shows 1/1/2000 - I've set the RTC using rtc.datetime = gps.datetime when I have a fix.

The learn guide doesn't mention the RTC feature other than to say to solder the battery holder on. The NPI video from Limor doesn't mention the RTC and the data sheet says it retains the satellite fix data - but doesn't mention the RTC

Perhaps I am doing something wrong? But I think the guide and description are misleading calling it an RTC

Has anyone gotten it to be an RTC?

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: RTC not working for Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

The GPS module has an internal RTC, but you can't set it. The GPS firmware uses the clock to estimate locations of the satellites, and sets the clock every second when it has a fix.

The internal RTC continues to run when the module doesn't have a fix, to make it easier to estimate satellite positions when it tries to get a fix the next time. The clock runs from the coin cell when the main power source is disconnected. There's still no interface to set it.

If you want a parallel RTC, you'll want something like the DS3231:

https://www.adafruit.com/?q=DS3231&sort=BestMatch

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jwtadmin
 
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Re: RTC not working for Adafruit Mini GPS PA1010D

Post by jwtadmin »

Thanks for the confirmation - might be a good thing to add this to the product description and the learn guide since there isn't a full explanation of the RTC features of the mini gps.

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