Ublox6/NEO6Q GPS modules

GPS/GNSS Development Boards
1

I have been using UBLOX GPS modules for some years and they are really great. The new NEO-6Q seem very interesting from a power consumption point of view and the 5 Hz update rate. Also the binary output is so much more useful than the NMEA messages IMHO. I would hope that Sparkfun one day stocks these modules (they are really easy to solder, so need for a board). At the moment I buy them at RF Design in South Africa http://www.rfdesign.co.za. The only problem is the high shipping cost for a few modules (UPS or other fast carrier), so best is to buy a lot of them at once. They also sell the great Sarantel helix antennas, which have a good omnidirectional sensitivity and do not detune close to human body. I need this for my GPS that I designed for Skydiving purposes (a fancy altimeter).

Are more people interested to buy such GPS modules? Maybe we can convince Sparkfun to store them as well as the Sarantel Geohelix SL1300.

2

Has anyone in the US investigated purchasing these units? The price from South Africa actually looks pretty good, but the shipping is a bit much. Has anyone talked with u-blox here in the US to get a price quote? Min order quantity is 250, I’d be in for 50 or 100.

Or, if you only wanted a handful we could share shipping from South African which runs about $100

Group buy anyone???

– Greg

3

What I find shocking is that the I can order 10 parts from South Africa, pay $100+ in shipping, and still get a better price then I was quoted from Ublox. They wanted $49 each, and a 250 minimum order quantity.

I guess u-blox isn’t interested in selling to small customers.

– Greg

4

Have any of you looked at the new Fastrax IT430 module? I thought it looked pretty exciting and I’m working on a PCB for one now. It’s based on the new SiRFstar 4 architecture. It also seems to be available through pwsstore.com here in the US for only $35.

http://www.fastraxgps.com/products/gpsm … ies/it430/

Has anyone worked with Fastrax modules in the past and have an opinion on them?

5

well, if it’s sirf based, it probably doesn’t work well for environments where the altitude changes rapidly (rockets) or the altitude exceeds 18K meters (balloons). Both are requirements for me, which is why I chose u-blox.