Now i'm not an RF engineer, and basic antenna math fails me on this antenna design (1/4 wavelength at a gps frequency on the L1 band of ~1.5Ghz would be 50mm) which is much larger than the antenna I designed mine after... but upon power up I had GPS lock.
So it works... which really shows how sensitive modern GPS receivers are. This is really amazing since this module is sitting inside, on my bench, located about 6 feet away from the nearest window... and I made the antenna by copying antenna designs I found online. The NMEA $GPGGA string shows that there are only 4 satellites in view (which is expected since I am indoors) so I am really looking forward to testing it outside.At some point I hope to find a good resource for GPS antenna designs to really make a proper antenna the right way, but for now it works... and I am still impressed by the sensitivity of this receiver.
I assume you powered up your receiver without the antenna to ensure it didn't receive a signal. :-)
ReplyDeleteAntenna technology is a black art. Nothing about it makes any sense to me. Congrats
Yes, absolutely no lock without the antenna. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd haha, I totally agree about how antenna design is a black art... almost magic.
my gps modul couldn't lock any sattellites. and i want to try your antenna. what kind of metal did you used?
ReplyDelete"Great blog post! RF antennas are truly fascinating and such an integral part of modern communication systems. It’s amazing how these devices, whether small ones in our smartphones or massive satellite dishes, play a crucial role in transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves. I especially appreciate how different types of antennas, like dipole, patch, and Yagi, are optimized for specific applications and frequency ranges. Looking forward to more insights—perhaps a future post on how to select the right antenna for IoT or 5G applications? Keep up the great work!"
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