Best Antenna for NEO-M9N?

GPS/GNSS Development Boards
1

Hi,

I am a begginer so I apologize for the stupid questions I may make. I studied Computer science but know almost nothig about antennas and GNSS.

I am thinking about buying a NEO-M9N board but first I have several questions.

I see there are multiple version: Chip Antenna (15733), U.FL (15712) and SMA (17285)

My first question is: Has the Chip Antenna version less precision compared with mounting an external antenna?

My guess is an external antenna will have a better performance, so Which antenna shoud I buy?. There are big diferences in price.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14986 This one looks good but It says nothing about Galileo and EGNOS so I am not sure if I can get the 1.5m precision the NEO M9N promises with this antenna.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15246 This one looks good. Will it be enough? I plan to use it inside of a car so not sure if it should have a longer cable to put the antenna outside.

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15192 This one looks like the best one, Is this one needed? It is much more expensive and I am not sure if I need all it has.

Thanks for your help

2

Precision depends on the current satellite constellation and the presence of obstructions (trees, buildings) or reflecting surfaces that interfere with reception. No antenna can guarantee 1.5 m precision, or even whether the GPS receiver will work at all.

That said, chip antennas usually do not perform as well as more expensive ones, limiting the number of satellites the receiver can “see”. A good antenna gives you the best chance of receiving all the satellites that are in position to be useful.

3

You need an antenna that covers the L1 and L2 bands for high accuracy, of the three you listed only GPS-15192 does that. Other options are SPX-17383 and SPX-17751.

4

Thanks you both for the quick answer.

I have read about L1 and L2, and I understand for best accuracy you should use both.

GPS-14986 has a frequency range of 1575 - 1610MHz while GPS-15192 has a full L1(1559-1606MHz) and L2 (1197-1249MHz) frequency range.

However, the NEO-M9N according the Product summary from U-Blox (https://www.u-blox.com/sites/default/fi … 207%29.pdf) only uses L1 (1559-1606MHz).

So if I am using the NEO-M9N then I only need an antenna able to receive L1.

Am I Wrong?

I think the only difference when using these antennas with the NEO-M9N is that GPS-15192 can receive BeiDou B1l (1561.098GHz) while GPS-14986 can not (but it still can receive BeidDou B1C at 1575.42MHz ).

This defference looks too small for me so I think the GPS-14986 is the best option.

I apreciate every comment if I am wrong.

Thank you again for the help

5

IMO, you should get the largest antenna you can afford, space and $ wise. GPS signals are very quiet and when your tracking satellites that are low on the horizon, you need every bit of help you can get with good low noise amplifies in the antennas and a good ground plane. The u-blox antenna’s are good quality and are a good place to start. Plus, if you get an L1/L2 antenna and only use it for L1, you’ll have something usable when you want to upgrade to L2.