Hello.
Which GPS receiver can be used with Raspberry USB or GPIO connection? I want to buy a receiver with a magnetic compass.
I understand the presence of an accurate magnetic compass in the GPS receiver is critically necessary? KRAKENSDR will accept packets from gpsd?
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Any GPS receiver that’s compatible with gpsd should work, although we haven’t tested all of them so can’t be totally sure. I’ve not tested a GPS/magnetic compass hybrid device yet though, I was under the impression from it’s documentation that gpsd does not support such devices.
A magnetic compass is not necessary as you can get the heading from the GPS while moving. But if you intend on not moving and don’t want to manually input a heading, a compass could help.
A GPS receiver by itself can only give you heading when you’re actually moving, so if you need a stable direction while stationary, a magnetometer/compass is usually the way to go. Just keep in mind that nearby electronics, antennas, and metal parts can throw the compass off and may need calibration.
When I was testing heading accuracy, I found it useful to compare readings against a simple reference tool like 123compass.org to see whether the issue was the sensor or the setup. Might be worth a quick check if you’re experimenting with different GPS/compass combinations.