[Thumbgps-devel] antennas and such

[Dave Taht <dave.taht@gmail.com>]

I'm fully aware that adding an external antenna can blow the costs out
the window. However, getting a gps receiver with integral antenna to a
window is something of a problem. So far as I know 5 meters is the
outer limit without active regeneration of the signal.

http://reviews.ebay.com/USB-Cable-Length-Limitations-and-how-to-break-them?ugid=10000000001067998

I have no idea how usb 'active regeneration' works or if it can affect latency.

So moving onto the antenna problem, I note that the length of a patch
antenna has a direct relationship as to the quality of it's signal,
so this is a determining factor as to the overall size of the dongle.

(this is a most-excellent manual, and has details that apply to all gps designs)

http://www.u-blox.com/images/downloads/Product_Docs/LEA-6_NEO-6_MAX-6_HardwareIntegrationManual_%28GPS.G6-HW-09007%29.pdf

There are also outboard antennas with varying features (like the
ability to be mounted oddly) and active antenna designs. I don't know
enough about the active antenna designs to know if they can be powered
by a usb source.

-- 
Dave Täht
SKYPE: davetaht
US Tel: 1-239-829-5608
http://www.bufferbloat.net