Add GPS to a T-Deck

I picked up a LILYGO T-Deck a while back and it is pretty feature packed for it’s price but one noticeable feature is missing out of the box. Namely, GPS. Location seems pretty integral to the mesthastic experience. For other Meshtastic devices, it makes sense to share your phone’s GPS to keep costs down. With the T-Deck, that’s different as it is meant to be a stand alone experience.

Inspiration

Inspired by this youtube video I set out to add an HGLRC Mini M100 GPS Module to my T-deck.

Issue

The video does a good job showing you how to hook up the hardware, but doesn’t mention a key detail that tripped me up. After you wire up the module, you need to adjust a setting in the software so the unit will even try to use your new GPS module.

Solution

With your device ready to be paired with your computer, visit https://client.meshtastic.org/ and connect. Once you see your T-Deck is connected, navigate to Config and select the Position tab. Under Position Settings you’ll find GPS Mode. Select Enabled and hit save. After your device reboots you should be good to go.