How to choose receivers and antennas for cars?

Lost? Use the clue

Antennas for cars.

These antennas have an SMA connector at the end of the cable, IP67 protection rating, and L1/L2b frequency ranges. Therefore, the choice of antenna does not depend on the choice of the receiver.

Antenna for heavy conditions:

The most reliable car antenna is the ELT0153. The rod of this antenna is fixed in a hole and securely screwed to it with a nut. The antenna is grounded by what it screws into. The cable with a TNC connector is connected through the rod. This antenna is resistant to everything except snow, heavy rain, and meteorite impacts. Recommended for tractors, construction equipment, agricultural machinery, and quarrying equipment.

Antenna against snow and water:

In snowy conditions, a different design is used. The ELT0123 antenna is screwed onto a rod and can be raised above the roof to the desired distance. Therefore, it is needed in conditions when the roof is flooded with water or covered with snow. It has its own groundplane and is attached to a geodetic pole, while the TNC cable is connected separately. This antenna is recommended as a cheap geodetic antenna, base station antenna, and antenna for conditions with heavy snowfall or waterlogging.

Antennas with screw mounting:

Antennas with screw mounting may be suitable for cars driving on highways and streets. These include the ELT0158 antenna and the cheaper ELT0012. Both have IP67 rating, L1/L2b frequency range, and an external groundplane is desirable for both. However, ELT0158 is slightly larger in size, has higher LNA gain, and smaller phase center dimensions. Additionally, ELT0158 can be attached with double-sided tape. Both antennas are recommended when low frontal resistance is required (e.g., for racing cars) or when resistance to natural phenomena is simply not needed.

Antennas with magnetic mounting:

Antennas with magnetic mounting are suitable for testing various GNSS devices. They allow you to install the antenna on the roof of the car, conduct tests, and remove it. In addition to the above-described ELT0158 and ELT0012, there is also ELT0157, which differs from ELT0158 by the absence of mounting ears for screws.

Receivers for cars.

There are only 4 suitable receivers for cars, but there are quite a few boards available. You need to choose three parameters: 

• Whether centimeter-level accuracy is needed 
• Whether coordinates are needed when satellite reception is unavailable (Dead Reckoning) 
• Whether high update rates are required (e.g., for racing cars)

It is important to note that for automotive dead reckoning (ADR), you need to somehow obtain output from the odometer (e.g., through the OBD-II bus). Currently, this is a challenging task, but a solution is being prepared.

For high accuracy and ADR, the ZED-F9R receiver is recommended.

The solution rate can be up to 30 times per second. The board for this is ELT0117, which has mini-USB and 14-pin outputs.

For just high accuracy, the ZED-F9P receiver is suitable.

There are three boards with SMA connectors:

• ELT0087 (mini-USB and JST SH with 12 pins)
• ELT0092 (14 pins)
• ELT0112 (mini-USB and 14 pins)

There is also one board with an IPEX connector for installation inside the device, which is ELT0128 (14 pins). To connect it to the antenna, a patch cord ELT0126 is required. Due to the presence of a stabilizer with extremely low noise levels, ELT0087 is the best among them.

For normal accuracy and ADR, the NEO-M9V receiver is suitable.

It also supports UDR (without odometer sensor) and has a solution rate of up to 50 times per second. There are two boards with SMA connectors:

• ELT0165 - regular (horizontal) with 12 pins
• ELT0173 - vertical with mini-USB and 6 pins

Additionally, there is ELT0159 with an IPEX connector (a patch cord ELT0126 is required to connect it to the antenna) and a JST SH connector with 12 pins. It is only possible to physically connect the wheel rotation sensor through the "wheeltick" and "dir" contacts in ELT0165 and ELT0159. In ELT0173, only software transmission is available through the UBX-ESF-MEAS packet of the UBX protocol.

For just normal accuracy, the NEO-M9N receiver is suitable.

There are also two boards, both with SMA connectors, mini-USB, and 6 pins. These are the regular (horizontal) ELT0101 and the vertical ELT0107.

© Eltehs SIA 2023