Skyviper Journey DGPS

ArduCopter SkyViper
1

Hello Guys, I have just ordered a few units of Skyviper Journey to try it out.

I was wodering if the gps chip of the Journey quad is capable or DGPS as it was with the older version.

If so what is the rtcm version that needs to be injected via mavlink ?

as huibean was doing here Why skyviper can get DGPS 3D lock with it’s original EvaM8M gps chip without receiving RTCM message?

is it still rtcm2 ?

could you please recommend any gps precise hardware to get the reference gps to mavlink inject to the drones for dgps ?

in the case the hardware does not have rtcm2 , does anyone how to convert from
rtcm3.2 like standard rtk to rtcm2 ?

Basicly in the end i,m looking for a nice gps hardware that provides a solution to inject the Journay dgps posible function.

Thanks a lot in advance.

2

The GPS chip in the Journey is the same as the V2450GPS. The only difference in hardware was the porcelain antenna on the module and a wire harness order reversal.

That last point is important to note… While the connectors are the same, the order of the Journey wiring is a perfect reversal in order of the V2450GPS module wiring.

Hope that helps!

3

Hello Matt_M,

Thank you for confirming the gps model and the wiring hint. For sure very helpfull.

Trying to find out how to inject proper data and find proper gps hardware for gps reference.

Huibean shared this other link related to that topic
https://forum.u-blox.com/index.php/18714/how-to-convert-the-rtcm3-2-from-m8p-to-rtcm2-3-for-m8n

But still not final solution.

Thanks

4

Does the newer GPS module also include a battery? I thought I saw what looked like one in the FCC filing.

Thanks,

–Brad

5

Hi Brad,

Yes, the newer module on the Journey does have a cell battery onboard. The GPS table is stored on the SD card in the ublox file, though.

We were hoping the battery would help speed along the lock procedure but in initial tests and evaluations the modules were the same with signal and lock acquisition between the two models. Both from cold start to a quick restart.

In talks with the module dev team, they admitted that the battery ‘didn’t have to be there’ but since we were happy with similar lock time as the previous year (and ever tightening production schedules) we didn’t have time to explore if it was worse without it, so we kept it as is.

(it’s located under the shielding if you want to find it)

6

Interesting. I assumed the battery would be used to maintain the time between starts and would allow slightly faster lock since knowing the time should help in locating the signal. I guess either I misunderstand how it works or some implementation detail got in the way.

Thanks for responding!

–Brad

7

Hi Brad,

You are correct in your assumptions and that’s EXACTLY what it should do. It just wasn’t built that way on our particular GPS module, apparently, and we didn’t have the time to troubleshoot it and suggest/test refabs of the boards.