Reddit mentions: The best gps antennas

http://car-part.com/

You just have to find a junkyard that's willing to sell you one.

Basically you need the following:

APIM
GPS Antenna (Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R6NL5G6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
USB Port Replacement (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HC84V8D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
The USB Port isn't REALLY necessary for Android Auto, but it's cheap and easy to change, the 2016 doesn't actually need an adapter like the older fusions, it's just drop in and the new ports also enable CarPlay. if you decide to keep the old one, it will throw an error on the screen every time it starts but will still work with Android Auto.

Pry Tools - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D7XNQHG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A 7mm Socket Wrench

A ForScan Compatible ODB2 Programmer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHNX57D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And you'll have to reprogram the Car Computer. You can google that and there's a dude out there that will give you a ready made programming file for $50.

The APIM you can find by looking for a model number xxxx-14G370-xxx

There are also 14G371 Modules, and I believe those are the Navigation enabled ones but I'm not 100% sure. I don't particularly care since I just use Android Auto anyway and that just uses the Phone GPS.

Once you have all the parts it's honestly not too hard of a swap. I was scared of doing it but I think it was definetly worth it. the Sync 3 system is SOOOO much better than Sync 2 just because the way it interacts with the phone is excellent.

Also one thing I DID notice is that while all Fusions from 2017 onwards have Sync 3, it looks like the 2017 APIMs (and 2018 too maybe) are stuck on Sync 3 version 3.0 where as the newest one is 3.2 or so. It doesn't matter for Android auto strictly since that's updated on the Phone, but if Ford does decide to add features, we likely won't get them. Not without an APIM swap, and there are some reported issues with swapping newer APIMs.

I dont really know much about antennas, but this is the one I bought.

Diymall 2.4G WiFi Antenna with... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBJNO9O?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Maybe this will help for determining the DBI gain needed.
http://www.l-com.com/content/Article.aspx?Type=N&ID=10213

To install it you have to unscrew the the base and pry open the bottom and back. Remove the antenna. Drill a hole big enough for the antenna to go though in the back cover. Clamp the antenna to the back cover using the antennas nuts. Connect the SMA cable to the location where the old antenna connected. Put the whole thing back together. Youtube has some good videos of how to disassemble.

Note this mod voids any warranty. Worked for me. If you try it I hope it works for you.

They don't really exist in that format, or if they do, they're extremely expensive and specialized. GPS is unidirectional, meaning a GPS device knows its own position, but can't transmit that position back to anything else without another component, typically a cell radio or something like that. While [a GPS receiver around the size of a quarter is feasible] (https://www.amazon.com/GlobalSat-BR-355-Serial-GPS-Receiver/dp/B000VUFGF8) , the data that such a receiver gathers is useless without some way of storing it (for later analysis) or sending it back to you (for real time analysis). Likewise, the power consumption of most GPS devices is far greater than what a quarter-sized battery could provide for a week. The transmitter part takes up quite a bit more space and a ton more battery life, which just compounds the issue.

Most GPS units are geared towards outdoor enthusiasts, and therefore aim to get as accurate track coverage as possible (thereby reducing battery life). If all you needed was a point location every couple hours or something, the battery life becomes less of an issue, but you'd still need the transmission component and to know how to connect them together to do what you want.

So, in short, relax your requirements for size, battery life, and portability and you may be able to piece something together (with a considerable degree of know-how, considering these things aren't just a single component).

The easiest would probably be using GPS. It's just distance / time. Just get something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Gowoops-Ceramic-Passive-Antenna-Raspberry/dp/B01AW5QYES/ref=br_lf_m_t23j7ut62m6vspk_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&s=pc

It should be easy to find instructions online on how to get the current location from many programming languages.

You need a cheap GPS patch antenna like this to provide some gain: http://www.amazon.com/HitCar-Active-Antenna-Connector-Stereos/dp/B00JE4GV8S/

and a bias tee mod on your rtlsdr (or an external LNA with a bias tee like LNA4ALL)

this is documented in section 6 of the paper linked in the article.

If you are using a whip you aren't likely to get any GPS satellites.

The SiRF III chipset was (is?) pretty popular. I've used this particular one for projects. It's just the chipset with an antenna and a long cable. Speaks 2.8v serial @ 4800 baud. I think that manufacturer has serial (over usb) versions.

Most GPS devices will be serial (actual serial, serial over usb or serial over bluetooth) and use the NMEA protocol which should work with damn near anything. If you want it to work over TCP/IP, grab gpsd. Many linux applications that use GPS are designed to use gpsd.

I do something completely unusual.

In my right hand: a 6dof input device

In my left hand: a half keyboard

Between I have a regular keyboard/mouse but I don't use them during normal flying, just messing around the maps and UI screens while docked.

you're getting a lot of replies for the connector between the black cables, they might be right.

​

I just want to point out that the white connector looks like a farka GPS connector, which I've used before https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006AKVX2S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't have any real experience but I could make a suggestion. You can get a gps module for about $15 on amazon. It says it works with raspberry pi. This would be assuming the copter is outside. It reports an accuracy of 2m. While not accurate enough to land in the 4'x4' target, once you reached the gps target you could switch to a optical system for landing.

It's also called U.FL. For example this one definitely works:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZBJNO9O

I used these for bluetooth - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZBJNO9O/

and these for wifi - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MJU6X5U/

trying to determine mounts for them still. Most likely I will modify the 3d case provided to offer some sort of mount for the SMA connector to the antenna itself.

These are all the parts that I bought

APIM (This includes programming): https://www.ebay.com/itm/292966106828?ViewItem=&vxp=mtr&item=292966106828

Screen (Sourced from an Expedition): https://www.ebay.com/itm/2016-2017-FORD-EXPEDITION-Display-Screen-front-8-0-GL1T-18B955-SB-OEM/132934546195?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Cable to connect the APIM to the screen: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SYNC-3-Touchscreen-to-APIM-Cable-Replacement-Screen-Cable-New-GL1Z-10E929-AA/232295171035?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

USB Hub: https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Genuine-Ford-APPLE-CARPLAY-Interface-Module-Sync-3-Only-HC3Z-19A387-B-Blue/273501842611?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

GPS Antenna to keep compass and 911 assist: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006AKVX2S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Total cost: ~$640

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071XY4R26/ref=pd_luc_rh_spmrai?psc=1

Radio

GPS module

GPS adapter

High capacity battery

Antenna

Paracord

Thanks! I ended up just going one by one.

1. I unplugged all antennas and tested. Controllers didn’t work at all. Wifi didn’t work. This at least told me I wasn’t losing my mind.
   
   
2. I plugged the adapter that I mounted to the case into F. Still nothing worked.
   
   
3. I then plugged the antenna I purchased into the adapter and the controller worked. So at least I knew that I was dealing with the correct antenna connection now and that my adapter was actually doing something.
   
   My next issue is that [the antenna I bought doesn’t work](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075J9V8K9 the way I expected). It’s a directional antenna and just won’t work for what I need so I’m shopping around for another one. What did you end up using?
   
   The plan is to go a little crazy and get this and mount it on the wall outside of the media closet or I might try this too but not sure about the voltage requirement. Do you have any idea?

It is this device
I do not currently know how to receive the NMEA data on OCM3 not COM2 though. I don't have a datasheet for it though, but I have connected it to a raspberry pi running Linux with the NMEA data through the RXD pin and the PPS though a GPIO pin. For that, the NMEA works no problem and the uart is enabled in the preboot and then the kernel loads pps_core and pps_gpio