Circuit Falcom FSA03 Smart Antenna with uBlox 5 GPS Chipset

The Falcom FSA03 GPS module is an extremely cost effective GPS solution for embedded systems. Retailing for about $50 USD in small quantities, the FSA03 includes an uBlox 5 single chip GPS module integrated with a Sarantel quadrifilar helix antenna to make a tidy single board solution. Official documentation from Falcom indicates the FSA03 has an asynchronous 3.3V serial port for communications using NMEA or UBX binary protocols, a time pulse output and reset input. What the official documentation doesn't indicate is that a USB port and external interrupt pin is routed out but recorded as N.C. (not connected) on the documentation. No. Name Function 1 nReset Input – External Reset. Pulled high with 3.3K. 2 CFG_GPS0 / PIO21 3 EXTINT0 / PIO7 External Interrupt In. 4 TM Output – Timepulse (1PPS). 5 VBatt VBatt Backup Supply (1.4V – 4.8 VDC). 6 GND Ground. 7 VCC Supply 3.3VDC +/-5% 8 GND Ground 9 USB_DM USB Data Negative. 10 USB_DP USB Data Positive. 11 VDDUSB USB Power Supply. (3.3V) 12 TX Transmit – Serial Port 1. 13 RX Receive – Serial Port 1. Pulled high with 330K. Documentation Beyond logic FSA03 Breakout Board Schematics Falcom FSA03 Brochure Falcom FSA03 Application Note / Datasheet

C# Sample Application

The sample software below has been designed to work with any NMEA GPS receiver, such as the FSA03/uBlox 5. Released as open source under the General Public Licence V2, it can be used as the foundations for your custom applications.
Once your GPS receiver has obtained a fix, you can display your location in Google Earth or Google Maps. The Google Earth interface is via KML files, or Keyhole Markup Language.. The Google Maps interface simply submits a http URL encoded with the coordinates as per this API.

Downloads

• Executable (Requires .Net 4.0 Framework)
• C# Source Code (Source licenced under General Public Licence (GPL) V2)