@felmue
Thanks for confirming it. It's a puzzle.
@teastain
Yes I have, including with use of the antenna.
The things is, the esp board was unable to get any communication data from the gps, despite trying different baud rates. It is as if the board is not recognising that there is a module trying to communicate with it.
Any other ideas guys, anyone able to make suggestions, please.
Thanks for all the input.