GPS antenna comparison

[cszasss]

Hi all, I have a few questions about getting the right antenna for my project. I want to get an antenna for a NEO-M9N module. There are two of them that I can’t decide which to buy right now.

One antenna can receive signals from GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou, and has a 38dB LNA gain. The other one can receive GPS and GLONASS signals only, and has 28dB LNA gain.

Because of the nature of my project, the GPS has to be placed inside of a vehicle, right behind the windshield. It has to get a stable and accurate location reading (~2.5m - 5m) even in downtown areas. I would like to know if the first antenna is overkill for the project? I don’t know if it’s worth it getting this one, it’s almost 50 dollars more expensive than the other one after all.

How much does BeiDou signal help with the data stability and accuracy? How much is 38dB gain better than 28dB? How much does a ground plate improve the performance of the antenna/GPS?

Here are the links to the two antennas:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14987

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14986 (The ground plate that is suggested to use with this one to achieve the best performance:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/17519)

Thank you!

[TS-Russell]

I would like to know if the first antenna is overkill for the project? - That’s sort of up to you to determine, but I wouldn’t say it’s overkill

I don’t know if it’s worth it getting this one, it’s almost 50 dollars more expensive than the other one after all. - all depends on what the budget allows!

How much does BeiDou signal help with the data stability and accuracy? - Having multiple ‘fixes’ on reduces the measurement error; more is better

How much is 38dB gain better than 28dB? - decibels are a logarithmic scale; 38dB is twice as powerful as 28dB

How much does a ground plate improve the performance of the antenna/GPS? - dramatically! Tough to give estimates, as they are very dependent on location, view-of-the-sky, etc…it’s a must-have for a roving unit

Hope this helps!