I have an arduino (interrupt pin) listen to the 1PPS signal from this GPS (from the Adafruit ultimate GPS breakout).
However, sometimes it doesn't pick up the signal. Occasionally, I've been able to make it pick up a signal by fidgeting with the electrical connections, making me think a loose connection somewhere could be the problem.
The GPS is connected to the ATMEGA328P by a combination of screw terminals, male-female headers, and IC socket. I'm certain that these are fine for ordinary arduino use, but maybe the 1PPS pulse is so brief that it requires stronger connections?
Does anybody know best practices for carrying the 1PPS signal?
Best Answer
The 1-pps pulse is not particularly brief; I've never seen one that is less than 100 µs, and some as long as 1 ms or even 10 ms. The key is the timing of the rising edge of the pulse, and how accurately you want to capture it. If you're just triggering a microcontroller timer or interrupt using it, it shouldn't require any special treatment; just a reliable connection.