GPS

Posted by Paul N Braida M.E on March 19, 2016 at 7:52am

I recently took delivery of an APM 2.6 flight control and an M8N gps/compass module.

The wires on the module are only about 7" long and are not long enough to reach the mounting pole. Has anyone ever extended these wires by soldering in extensions or is there another way of making them longer?

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Replies

  • Bernardo Espinosa March 19, 2016 at 10:05am

    It is a data cable, so you can put it as long as you need.

    If you want to extend a GPS cable antenna (GPS antenna to GPS receiver) then you would need to use a coaxial wiring and some extra care.

    Cheers!

    • Paul N Braida M.E > Bernardo Espinosa March 19, 2016 at 10:20am

      ok thanks. I have no problems with soldering cables. The present wire has both GPS and compass (5) wires in one cable but ends in two different plugs that obviously plug into the Apm 2,.6. I don't know if this cable is shielded or not. Again it's the M8N gps/compass module. Would the whole cable need to be shielded?

    • Bernardo Espinosa > Paul N Braida M.E March 19, 2016 at 10:52am

      In short, if you are using the integrated module that outputs "data" it is not shielded. If you use a remote GNSS Antenna (not a remote GNSS Receiver) then it needs to be shielded.

      Please note that the GPS Antenna is one thing (the ceramic antenna) and the receiver is the circuit that process and outputs the position data that may or may not have the Compass.

    • Paul N Braida M.E > Bernardo Espinosa March 19, 2016 at 5:05pm

      Thanks for your input. I opened up the round black housing and found that the cable is not shielded from the manufacturer, so I guess I would be ok to go non shielded?

    • Paul N Braida M.E > Bernardo Espinosa March 19, 2016 at 1:47pm

      This is an M8N named device which has a black cable about 7 " long coming out of it that terminates in two plugs that both plug into the APM 2,.6 flight control.

      One plug has 3 wires on it the other larger one has 4 wires. The large one fits the GPS socket and the other fits the compass socket. There is no intermediate GPS receiver in between. The main cable is split for about 2 inches with the plugs being on them. The other is sealed inside the round black case that is to mount onto the fol.ding mount. Both the controller and the M8N are stamped with Arducopter on them.

      I have tried Mission Planner and need to rotate the M8N to calibrate the compass. I may try to open the case to see if the cable is shielded inside, but there is no shield where it plugs into the APM 2.6

  • David Pulvermacher March 19, 2016 at 8:54am

    Hi Paul..

    Yes, I've soldered extension on and they work fine, both with the Neo7M and the 8M.

    Best DP.

    • Paul N Braida M.E > David Pulvermacher March 27, 2016 at 5:42pm

      I have one more wee question you may offer insight too.

      I just connected an APM 2.5 to my computer and when I used mission planner to connect, it timed out and said no heartbeat packets received. The com port is set properly.

      Any idea on this one?

      thanks again.

    • Paul N Braida M.E > David Pulvermacher March 19, 2016 at 10:25am

      Just wondering. Another fellow says the GPS cable needs to be a shielded cable?

      At present as you would probably know both GPS and compass wires are in the same cable.2 wires terminate for the compass and 4 wires for the GPS into separate little plugs

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