SparkFun
GPS Antenna Ground Plate
Many magnetic mount GPS antennas rely on being mounted on a car or other large metallic object to provide a good ground plane. But what if you want to use an...
Many magnetic mount GPS antennas rely on being mounted on a car or other large metallic object to provide a good ground plane. But what if you want to use an antenna not on a car? The GPS Antenna Ground Plate is the solution! This plate significantly increases the performance of GPS and GNSS antennas.
We're always trying to improve things here at SparkFun. This updated design features a 1/4-20 UNC nut welded to the bottom of a thinner plate (1/8" is now 1/16"). The nut adds additional thickness so now the tripod screw is no longer prone to the plate. We've also decreased the thickness of the plate to reduce weight.
The steel disc provides a ground plane for a low cost u-blox ANN-MB-00 antenna and enables centimeter-level positioning when coupled with a L1/L2 capable GNSS receiver such as the ZED-F9P.
The 1/16” thick steel plate fits onto the standard ¼-20 UNC camera mounting screw. While it is not the cleanest piece of steel and weighs in at a hefty 0.4211 lbs, it does provide a solid base to allow a GPS Magnetic Mount Antenna to sit flat on the ground plane while mounted to a tripod.
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- 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.
- ZED-F9P
- A u-blox GNSS receiver module designed for high-precision positioning, including RTK rover and base-station use. The exact module matters because it determines the supported satellite bands, update rates, correction formats and achievable accuracy.
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u-blox Antennas for RTK White Paper
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