UBlox ZED-F9P L1/L2 GNSS Unit

General
#1

Have any of you guys seen this new (well new to me at least) UBlox receiver?

If I’m reading this right it sounds like a multiband, multiconstellation RTK receiver. I sent UBlox an email for some more information. I couldn’t find a price anywhere.

Could be snake oil, but this video makes it sound like the holy grail of centimeter level positioning in a high multipath environment. The video below looks like they slapped the unit on a model train running in a 1m circle and managed to get an RTK fix INDOORS. Like I said, could be snake oil.

Anybody seen or heard anything about this module? If it’s priced anywhere close to the M8P and performs as advertised, Emlid and Swiftnav’s days are numbered…

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#2

Even if the video is a bit “pumped” it is still an L1/L2/L5 unit and coming from ublox it is probably going to be priced on the lower side. Hopefully we will have units integrating this new chip very very soon. It definitely looks like L1/L2 RTK will be available for masses at a reasonable price very soon.

Corrado

#3

I emailed the folks at U-Blox and they said the module will be for sale in Q4 of this year, guess we’ll know here soon enough. They said the evaluation board part number will be C099-F9P. They couldn’t give me any pricing information though (understandable).

#4

If you are interested in a lightweight board for testing ZED-F9P with pixhawk gps connector, we just launched a kickstarter campaign:

#5

Hello very interesting project. Will it be possible to use an ethernet connection we already have on the aircraft to comunicate with base station?

#6

Hello Corrado, the simpleRTK2B shield uses two UARTs that are fully configurable (from baudrate to protocol and messages), so you can connect any radio module that supports serial connection.
We offer two starter kits with medium (2.4GHz) and long range (896-900MHz) radios from Xbee, which they communicate with the shield via a serial connection.

Can you be more specific about your aircraft configuration? Are you asking to use your existing radio link for telemetry with the simpleRTK2B shields? Which radio link are you using?

#7

@jolivart not sure if you are aware but official connector for Pixhawk families is JST-GH. Maybe you could add that on the board too.

JST-GH is a DroneCode Standard that most of the manufacturers are following.

DC Wiki: https://wiki.dronecode.org/workgroup/connectors/start

Production of the original Pixhawk 1 (made by 3DR) with DF13 connector ended about 2 years ago.

#8

@jpkh Thanks a lot for your feedback!
We are still in pre-production so we will be able to include the JST-GH connector in the shield.
We will replace the old DF13 by the new JST-GH and if someone wants to use it with the original Pixhawk they can use an adapter like this https://bit.ly/2Igqj0N.

#9

@jolivart great to hear that you are still able to change it. Yes those DF13-GH cables are good way to interface between old and new connector bases.

One side note, pay attention on the pin order on GH connectors as they are swapped between side and top connectors. On DF13 this was NOT the case, you could use either one on same footprint.

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#10

We are using an ipmesh radiolink for telemetry and video so we would like to use that for all data going up and down

#11

@jpkh, I have read the GH connector specs and I noticed the top/side pin order inversion, thanks again!

@anon67614380, the simpleRTK2B shield does not support Ethernet connection. If you want to use your existing radiolink you will have to use a serial to Ethernet adapter.

#12

@jpkh we just received the pre-production prototype with the connector you suggested.
Thanks again!

simpleRTK2B%20prototype
simpleRTK2B prototype.png756×600 482 KB

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#13

Just to clarify ZED-F9P does not have L5 its E5b

1 Like
#14

What does this mean in terms of performances?

#15

Hi @anon67614380 in this webinar u-blox explains why right now L1+L2+E5b is better than L1+L5.
You will need to register to view the webinar.

1 Like
#16

Very interesting project @jolivart
Is there a way to get Rinex rawdata from the board ?

#17

@Pascal_P yes, the message UBX-RXM-RAWX contains the information to generate a RINEX3 observation file:
pseudorange, Doppler, carrier phase, phase lock, …

The ZED-F9P interface description document in u-blox website contains more information.

#18

thanks @jolivart so I have to add SD card through Arduino or direct logging is possible ?

#19

@Pascal_P, simpleRTK2B doesn’t support data logging directly.
You can use an Arduino to log the data or you can connect a data-logger (likes this one) directly to the simpleRTK2B UART.
The data-logger can be powered from the simpleRTK2B board.

#20

great solution, thanks for your very quick answer !