SparkFun
GNSS Multi-Band L1/L2/L5 Surveying Antenna - TNC (SPK6618H)
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$376.34
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The SPK6618H is the latest advancement in GNSS antenna technology allowing tri-band (L1/L2/L5) reception for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou constellations...
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The SPK6618H is the latest advancement in GNSS antenna technology allowing tri-band (L1/L2/L5) reception for GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou constellations. These 'UFO' antennas have incredible performance for the money. The antenna has a built in ground plane with significant filtering and amplification of both L1, L2, and L5 frequencies for all GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou satellites. Excellent for surveying or fixed antenna applications.
For automobile applications please see our u-blox ANN-MB-00 GNSS antenna. For weight sensitive applications (like RTK Drones) checkout the BT-560 helical GNSS antenna.
Designed for the latest u-blox F9 platform it provides a fast, easy, and reliable multi-band antenna solution but can be used with any GPS/GNSS receiver that can benefit from the L1/L2 dual or L1/L2/L5 triband reception. While this antenna works great with normal L1 GPS/GNSS receivers it will not make your $20 receiver into a $200 receiver. Please check your receiver to verify it is capable of using the L1 and L2 signals that this antenna outputs. If your receiver is not compatible with L5, that is ok too, there is no harm using this tri-band antenna.
We disassembled a unit because we love to see how things work! The antenna incorporates a 130mm ground plane with six hybrid couplers to obtain signal phasing which makes this design a lot more insensitive to manufacturing-imposed issues (e.g. board material with inconsistent dielectric).
It is important that you are also aware of the unique connection points on this antenna as the data and mounting connectors may be new to some users. This antenna has a TNC female connector found on nearly all surveying antennas. We recommend a TNC Male to SMA adapter or cable when using with our GNSS receivers. Also, this antenna uses a standard 5/8"-11TPI (threads per inch) connector found on surveying equipment. This is not compatible with a camera tripod. We recommend a 5/8" to 1/4" tripod adapter. You can also find 5/8"-11TPI threaded rod in most hardware stores in North America. For information about permanently fixing this antenna to a roof, please see our tutorial on How to Build a DIY GNSS Reference Station.
Note: An RTK Express, tripod, and all other accessories are not included with the GNSS Multi-Band L1/L2/L5 Surveying Antenna. These parts will need to be purchased separately.
Features:
- Overall antenna weight: 473g
- Bare antenna element weight (including MMCX connector): 124.5g
Documents:
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- 5G
- A mobile network standard used for high-speed wireless data links. If a project uses a 5G gateway, its power system must be able to supply enough current reliably for outdoor or remote operation.
- Galileo
- Europe’s satellite navigation system. Galileo support can improve satellite availability and accuracy, especially when combined with GPS and other constellations.
- GLONASS
- Russia’s satellite navigation system. A receiver that can also use GLONASS has more satellites to choose from, which can improve positioning reliability when the sky view is partly blocked.
- GNSS
- GNSS stands for Global Navigation Satellite System, covering positioning systems such as GPS and similar satellite networks. It matters here because high-precision GNSS modules can output lots of serial position data that this product can send wirelessly to a computer or phone.
- GPS
- The US satellite navigation system used by GNSS receivers to calculate position and time. Support for GPS is important because it is widely available and often used together with other constellations for more reliable positioning.
- ground plane
- A ground plane is a large area of copper on a circuit board connected to ground. It helps provide a stable return path for signals and is especially important for reducing noise in high-speed connections.
- L5
- A modern GNSS signal band used by several satellite systems for more accurate and robust positioning. Dual-band receivers that include L5 can often perform better than single-band receivers, especially for RTK and areas with reflected signals.
- RTK
- Real-Time Kinematic positioning is a GNSS technique that uses correction data from a base station to greatly improve location accuracy. It matters if you need centimetre-level positioning for robotics, mapping, surveying, or tracking rather than ordinary metre-level GPS accuracy.
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