Best antenna for a UAV using GPS, Glonass TW2405?

Reach Module / M+ / M2 Hardware integration
1

I have a Reach connected to a CORS network that gives me a Virtual Reference Station (VRS) so I’m getting good accuracy even though the Reach is in "float"mode most of the time.

I’ve looked at the Tallysman antennas and I’m thinking that the TW2405 the best antenna for using with an UAV. I would print a 3D a light weight container for the antenna.

Is there a better choice for an antenna when using a Reach with, L1, GPS and Glonass?

Larry

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2

Hi Larry,

Glad to hear that you are getting good results with Reach!

Our top pick is this antenna from Maxtena. It is perfect for UAV operations. Just make sure that you locate it far away from all electronics. It is pricey. TW2405 looks very good as well.

3

Igor

Thanks for responding to me so quickly.

I’ll be mounting the GNSS antenna on a gimbal to keep the antenna level. The antenna will be well away from the flight controller and other potential interference.

My octocopter weighs 15 kg so having very good RTK GNSS positioning is very important to me.

I’ll try the TW2405 first because I can get it from Digikey quickly and for a reasonable price.

Larry

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4

Larry, I would have thought the gimbal motors and sensors would have counted as interference? Or are the other antennas the only worry? I’m not knowledgeable in this area but just asking.

5

Thomas

I suppose that if you had a servo that was very close to an antenna it may cause some interference but I would think it would be unlikely. Using some linkage, the servo could be mounted a fair distance away from the antenna. A gimbal that keeps the antenna level while the UAV tilts should be a good way to get the best possible GNSS signal.

Larry

6

The Tallysman TW2405 antenna came in the mail at noon.

The good news is that the Reach is now is in the Fix mode and it’s staying there. The kit GNSS antennas are TW4721 and for me when using a CORS network the TW2405 work much better.

With the TW4721 I had the Fix mode show up for a few minutes a day for the last five days. With the TW2405 I’ve had it running for three hours and for over two hours it has stayed in the Fix mode. Altitude is only moving a few centimeters.

Larry

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7

Hi Guys, a couple of related questions if I may:

  1. why do you recommend the larger, L1/L2 variant from Maxtena - is the smaller L1 only one also any good? (M1516HCT-P-SMA)

  2. if using a passive antenna such as these, what is required to turn on the LNA in the ublox module onboard Reach?

Best Regards,
Paul

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8

@Herms Hi! We do not recommend M1516HCT-P-SMA since it is a passive antenna but it is much better to have an amplifier placed as close as possible to the feed point. There’s no need to do anything to turn on the LNA in Ublox, it’s turned on automatically.

1 Like
9

Hi Mikhail,

Thanks, for the info, the reason for the second question (re LNA) was that when I tested Reach with a different passive helical antenna the performance was very poor - I had assumed that the problem was that the internal LNA in the Ublox was off.

Best Regards,
Paul