Ada Fruit GPS Ultimate Breakout Board for PineA64

[MarkHaysHarris777]

   

My active antennae arrived today with at least one undamaged and functional u.fl to SMA adapter pigtail. The active antennae draws 10ma from the ada fruit ultimate gps breakout board and immediately gives the receiver an instant 20dB gain over the built-in ceramic antennae. 

The active end (not shown , in the ceiling) is magnetic so that it can be fastened easily to the top of a moving vehicle. The other end of the 5M cable is attached to the receiver by way of a u.fl to SMA connector ( which I had to fiddle with because the pigtail was designed to be male or female ) and the receiver detects the antennae presence and automatically goes into active mode. One of the optional NMEA sentences tells you whether the active antennae is currently being used, and if there are any shorts or problems.

I noticed immediately that the relative signal strength of all SVn increased dramatically ( most of them into the high 30(s) or mid to high 40(s);  within just a few seconds of being plugged in the receiver stabilized with 10 SVn in view and the receiver went into Differential GPS Fix. This is the first time I've seen my receiver in differential mode. The lat., long., and el., readings stabilized to within +|- (1) in the last place and remained stable. 

I'm spoilt now... the active antennae is a must-have especially for indoor use, or inside a vehicle.