[Thumbgps-devel] Build vs. modify vs. what should we be doing anyway?

[Ron Frazier (NTP)]

Hi all,

Regarding the sky view.  Maybe you can route the RF from an external 
antenna, or even an amplified antenna, after disconnecting the patch 
antenna.  I have a Globalsat BU-353 USB GPS, which is a Sirf III 
product.  It happily runs inside in a residential wood framed home.  
It's 10 feet away from the nearest window.  Except, it goes phycho every 
few days with large offsets for a few hours, then resumes normal 
operation.  The point being, the chipset is very sensitive and the patch 
antenna can do a pretty good job.  It would probably not work in a data 
closet in a commercial building.  The other point being, if you set up 
an external antenna, you can put your logic board where ever you want.

Sincerely,

Ron


On 3/12/2012 6:23 PM, tz wrote:
> OK, it is a 2 sided board, but you would have to find the 1PPS pin
> (and it looks hard to solder to), attach a wire and and route it
> somewhere - it is a SiRF III so has the larger jitter.
>
> Since the GPS patch antenna is on the board, the board would have to
> be in the sky view so you would have to run the PPS all the way to the
> router if one of the pins isn't DCD, CTS or some other line.
>
> On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 6:10 PM, Patrick Maupin<pmaupin at gmail.com>  wrote:
>    
>> On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 4:39 PM, Eric S. Raymond<esr at thyrsus.com>  wrote:
>>      
>>> Sorry, my eyes aren't educated enough. (I'm an ex-mathematician; what
>>> relatively little I know about electronics design I've picked up by
>>> osmosis doing software). What does it say?
>>>        
>> It says:
>>
>> I am a very simple board.  My major components are:
>>
>> - USB module
>> - USB patch antenna
>> - Small PL2303 clone (fitting in with your lawsuit theory)
>> - Simple 5v ->  3.3v voltage regulator
>> - Coin cell battery
>> - Diode so as not to drain battery during operation
>> - USB connector
>>
>> There is nothing there that would require 4 layers, and all the
>> traces seem to "go somewhere".
>>      


-- 

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Ron Frazier
timekeepingdude AT c3energy.com