Portable gps device with bluetooth

GPS/GNSS Development Boards
1

Hi,

I’d like to start working on my first electronics project.

I have no experience in electronics but i do know how to code in a few languages.

I chose to use an arduino board because it seems most of the work has been cut down for me.

However i need to know a few things before i buy anything.

I have listed the big lines of my project below and tried to make it clear for everyone.

Goal

Make a portable bluetooth gps.

I’m gonna use it in my car for navigation. Any device paired to it will receive gps data. I will mainly pair it with my smartphone to have a better gps.

I want to add a lipo battery in case i want to carry the gps with me and an on/off button.

Parts list

(These 3 boards have bt but i don’t know which one to use)

  • sparkfun redboard artemis nano

  • SparkFun Pro nRF52840

  • SparkFun Thing Plus - Artemis

(Based on your answers, i’ll choose one of the two gps modules)

Issues

Which of these boards is the best for my project ?

Are the boards compatible with older bt versions ? I dot not own a device with bt 5.0

Is ble good enough for my project or do i need standard bluetooth ?

Is the sparkfun arduino library for u-blox compatible with these boards ? I ask because i have seen some board aren’t fully compatible with arduino. I’d rather not have to write all the code to talk to the gps myself.

Is it possible to charge these boards with the car charger even though it is 5v ?

I understand that the M8U has the udr feature and must be calibrated but if i disable that feature, which gps works the best ?

If i buy the M8U and decide to enable udr, do i absolutely have to calibrate it ?

I have seen in the tutorials that the M8U has to be placed behind the steering wheel. Can it be placed anywhere else on the dashboard ?

Both antennas are active except one has a magnetic mount system and the other a better gain.

The patch antenna frequency range is 1559MHz - 1610MHz and the magnetic one is 1575 - 1610MHz

If i understand correctly, the patch has access to more kind of satelites ? Is it the only difference ?

Is the patch antenna gonna work if it’s placed on the dashboard ? More precisely on top of the case i’ll print for my project. Does it work better if it slightly sticks out of the case ?