[aprssig] Potential For Some Really Tiny APRS Gadgets --- Space Daily Story on Supersmall GPS Receiver

[Dave Baxter]

Sorry Steve..  Old news..

There were things like that kicking around the UK
commercial/aeronautical market a few years ago.  The antenna patches
were not much bigger either.   I forget the spec's but they looked nice,
however were horrendously expensive of course.  A friend of mine worked
for the company selling them over here at that time, he showed me a dev'
kit, with something like that stuck to the back side of a small patch
antenna.  Plug it into a PC serial port, it'd power itself and start
spitting out NMEA data, amazingly seeing one or two satellites from
inside a metal clad building, not even near a window!

Guess someone has now kicked out a "consumer grade" part?   I have to
say, some of the later "consumer" GPS devices have remarkably sensitive
receivers.  A "NavMan" gadget I have, will reliably lock to the signals
while on a high up shelf in my shack, well away from the window and
surrounded by all sorts of other stuff.

I discovered that by accident as it'd beep when it lost lock.  I
probably inadvertantly turned it on while putting it "somewhere safe"
and I then spent a day or so trying to figure out what was going "Beep"
once in a while.

I hate to imagine what the original intended use was for those micro
miniature receivers, but I'd guess they would have a very fast one way
trip somewhere....

73.

Dave G0WBX.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen H. Smith
> A complete GPS receiver only 6.5 x 8 x 1.2 mm....
>      
> <http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/u_blox___World_Smallest_Compl
> ete_GPS_Receivers_999.html>
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