by

|   Sep 18, 2009 at  6:57am

Very cool! DIY Drones sells a pretty cool adapter/regulator/backup battery module for this GPS too

http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/ublox-gs406gs407-available-for

http://store.diydrones.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BR-0008-01

by

|   Oct 28, 2009 at  8:17am

Sparkfun should sell them!

by

|   Oct 31, 2009 at  2:51pm

What's the difference in weight with and without the antenna shield?

by

|   Nov 29, 2009 at  5:41pm

From what I've dug off of u-blox.com:

The LEA-5H model has I2C-compatible "DDC", USB and UART out; however, the funny pin header only has UART. You'd have to wire up to the module directly (Though that's not hard to do, assuming they've left the pins floating. VDDUSB should be the only one grounded.) See "LEA-5, NEO-5, TIM-5H Hardware Integration Manual"

The LEA-5H has Windows certified drivers for the USB. (For Linux, you can use the usbserial kernel module, or others. There is a link from the usb-drivers page below to Linux instructions.)

LEA-5H Product Page: http://www.u-blox.com/en/gps-modules/pvt-modules/lea-5h.html
USB Drivers Page: http://www.u-blox.com/en/usb-drivers.html

by

|   Jan 24, 2010 at 10:30am

What is the proper mounting orientation of the antenna? Should the helical antenna be vertical?

by

|   Jan 24, 2010 at  2:37pm

Probably vertical.

This thing costs $90, buy one individual module from U-blox.com costs $120. Is it worth trying to un-reflow (desolder) the module from the board so I can use it else where?

by

|   Jan 25, 2010 at  9:04pm

billiam,

I can tell you that the antenna pcb is attached to the ublox chip by 5 healthy blobs of solder. I can't tell if the pcb is also glued on, but there are no visible gaps in my module. You just want the ublox chip?

by

|   Jan 26, 2010 at  1:59pm

Right, just the chip. Who bought 19 modules since last night!?!?

by

|   Feb 10, 2010 at  5:42pm

update rate is only 2hz.

by

|   Mar 30, 2010 at  2:25am

Does this module also has a 2Hz VTG update rate?
Since most of the GPS modules/chips provide e.x 5Hz fix update rate, but only 1Hz VTG update rate....

by

|   May  3, 2010 at  7:36am

Hi Guys,

I've tried all the GPS modules of the Sparkfun website:

- This is the best GPS.
- 4Hz TRUE update rate with WAAS (or EGNOS in Europe), 5Hz without.
- Real Doppler ground speeds (3 axes : North, Est, Down)
- Completely configurable with the very easy to use Ublox UCenter software.
- You can enable / disable every single data packet.
- All the configuration can be saved to non volatile on board Flash memory.
- The optional backup battery is only here to improve Time To First Fix when started within 4 hours after last use (after, the GPS needs to download ephemerids one more time which takes 29s).
- I suggest using the proprietary data packets (binary) because it's REALLY easier to use, it takes less CPU time, it's already well structured for direct reading in C language, and it provides you more information (doppler speeds for example), the transmission is quicker (and then the time between measurement and transmission is shorter).
- The GPS software can be updated and the configuration can be saved on PC.

Answers to questions:
- All the NMEA data packets are available at 4Hz (but be careful, you need high speed serial transmission).
- The antenna (and then the module) has to be mounted vertically.

The only negative thing is the connector.

I recommend this module.
Antoine

by

|   May 12, 2010 at  9:41am

Fantastic! Glad it works out for you so well! It is a pretty nice unit.

As for the connector, we are working on a breakout board for this, so stay tuned.

by

|   Jun 25, 2010 at  5:04am

Is there any breakout board or connector within SparkFun yet? if not, what else stores provide it?

by

|   Jun 25, 2010 at  1:40pm

I would expect it in the next month.

by

|   Aug 12, 2010 at 10:11am

Ok, your month is up! B.O.B. available?

by

|   Aug 12, 2010 at 10:34am

Ask and you shall receive*:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9692

*not applicable in all cases

by

|   Aug  7, 2010 at  2:25pm

I've been less impressed with GS407 compared to the GS405 (GPS-08621). I used a GS405 in my reverse geo-caching box and it it worked like a charm. While it may take longer to cold start, it was stable as a rock. Found plenty of satellites in light tree cover, the NMEA was showing strong signals from many of them, and I had no problems wiring it up to a simplistic power supply.

In my next project, I upgraded to the GS407 and it has presented me with a bunch of problems. The GS407 connector is tiny and very difficult to solder. Once I had it soldered down, I eventually lifted the traces off my pcb board because I disconnected the GPS module too many times (had to remove it to reprogram Arduino ATmega via shared serial line). I now glue it down. Even with it connected, it seems to be much more sensitive to power line jitter causing it to find few satellites with low signal and no lock. Had to add more decoupling caps and upgrading the power supply. It finally died (probably due to me shorting it somehow). The low profile connector also presents a problem as you have to mount this GPS module at the very edge of the PCB compared to the GS405 which offers much more flexibility. I've reclaimed the GS405 from the geocaching box and its working great.