Thingy91 GPS antenna recommendation?

[Allen]

Hello,

Is there any official recommendation for an external antenna, or other solution to getting better GPS performance?

Thanks

[bojan]

Simonr said:

Both the Siretta MIKE3A, the Maxtena MEA-GPS-S, and the Tallysman TW4020 should work as external antennas on the Thingy:91. Keep in mind that you'll need an adapter (like the MXHS83QE3000) from the connector on the board to the antenna itself.

Simonr, you should be clear enough and specify that all the external antennas you mentioned are active antennas and all of them need a Bias Tee for proper work. So it is not only antenna and adapter but antenna + adapter cable + Bias Tee if antenna is active (all antennas you listed are active).

A lot of confusion is distributed over the forum (from thread to thread) when you share the infos that are partly correct.

Cheers!

Bojan.

[Simonr]

Hi Bojan

I have now updated my previous reply to clarify that all three components (antenna, adapter cable, and Bias Tee) are needed for an external active antenna. As for your request on alternatives for the MXHS83QE3000, I'm afraid there aren't any alternatives.

Best regards,

Simon

[bojan]

Hello, Simonr.

Thanks for clarifying the things to the benefit of the community! One more important thing should be added as well. According to the info from this thread, we will have a hard time using external active antennas with the Thingy:91 board (due to added loss by the required external components). If this is already proven from your in-house and some user experiences, please share that info with us in a clear and obvious manner (e.g. with the bold red notification on Thingy:91 home page).

Concerning the the MXHS83QE3000 adapter, I found a 100mm alternative at Mouser - MXHS83QE1000.

Regards,

Bojan.

[Simonr]

Hi Bojan

I have contacted the Thingy:91 team, and we will certainly update the documentation to specify that all these components are necessary in order to get the external GPS up and running on our Thingy:91s. I have also passed on your suggestion regarding a notification. I'm sorry you've been struggling with this for so long now, and I want to assure you that we're working on improving the documentation. 

We really appreciate your feedback, both positive and negative, as we strive to make our customers satisfied and deliver great products that are easy to use even though this always isn't the case.

Best regards,

Simon

[Allen C]

Tallysman also manufactures Bias-Tees