sparkfun ZED-F9P Hook-Up Manual

Micromod gnss carrier board

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MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board (ZED-F9P) Hookup Guide
Introduction
The SparkFun MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board (ZED-F9P) combines high-precision GPS and the flexibility of
MicroMod onto one board. Utilizing u-blox's ZED-F9P module, MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board is capable of 10mm
3 dimensional accuracy. Yes, you read that right, these boards can output your X, Y, and Z location that is roughly
the width of your fingernail. With great power comes a few requirements: high precision GPS requires a clear view
of the sky (sorry, no indoor location) and a stream of correction data from an RTCM source. We'll get into this more
in a later section but as long as you have two ZED-F9P breakout boards, or access to an online correction source,
your ZED-F9P can output lat, long, and altitude with centimeter grade accuracy.
SparkFun MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board (ZED-F9P)
 GPS-17722
Required Materials
To follow along with this tutorial, you will need the following materials at a minimum to get started. You may not
need everything though depending on what you have. Add it to your cart, read through the guide, and adjust the
cart as necessary. To get the most out of the ZED-F9P, you will need a correction source. Depending on your
setup, you may need a second ZED-F9P or access to an online correction source.
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  • Page 1 (sorry, no indoor location) and a stream of correction data from an RTCM source. We’ll get into this more in a later section but as long as you have two ZED-F9P breakout boards, or access to an online correction source, your ZED-F9P can output lat, long, and altitude with centimeter grade accuracy.
  • Page 2 MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board (ZED-F9P) Wishlist SparkFun Wish List SparkFun Mini Screwdriver TOL-09146 This is just your basic reversible screwdriver - pocket sized! Both flat and phillips heads available. Comes with pin c… GPS Antenna Ground Plate GPS-17519 (2) USB 3.1 Cable A to C - 3 Foot CAB-14743 MagmaX2 Active Multiband GNSS Magnetic Mount Antenna - AA.200...
  • Page 3 SparkFun MicroMod SAMD51 Processor SparkFun MicroMod Artemis Processor  DEV-16791  DEV-16401 Antenna We recommend using a GNSS multi-band magnetic mount antenna for the full RF reception. The length of the antenna cable was also useful in mounting it. GNSS Multi-Band Magnetic Mount Antenna -...
  • Page 4 At a minimum, you will need a USB C cable to power and program the boards. Depending on your application, you may want to grab a Qwiic cable to connect a Qwiic-enabled device. SparkFun Qwiic Cable Kit USB 3.1 Cable A to C - 3 Foot ...
  • Page 5: Suggested Reading

    SparkFun Mini Screwdriver  TOL-09146 Suggested Reading If you aren't familiar with the MicroMod ecosystem, we recommend reading here for an overview. We recommend reading here for an overview if you decide to take advantage of the Qwiic connector. MicroMod Ecosystem Qwiic Connect System If you aren’t familiar with the following concepts, we recommend checking out these tutorials before continuing.
  • Page 6 MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board. the M.2 Connector! This tutorial is based on the GPS-RTK2's ZED-F9P. Make sure to check out the breakout boards for more information on GPS-RTK. Be sure to checkout our What is GPS RTK? tutorial. What is GPS RTK?
  • Page 7: Hardware Overview

    Get precision down to the diameter of a dime with the new ZED-F9P from u- blox. Hardware Overview One of the key differentiators between the ZED-F9P and almost all other low-cost RTK solutions is the ZED-F9P is capable of receiving both L1 and L2 bands. MicroMod Processor Board Socket The MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board (ZED-F9P) includes a location for a MicroMod Processor Board.
  • Page 8 MicroMod Processor General Pins Next to the MicroMod Processor Board are extra pins if you need to use a digital or analog pin. Power There are a few ways to power the board. Voltage is regulated down to 3.3V with the AP7361 voltage regulator. The square IC next to the USB C labeled as processor is where you will find the AP7361.
  • Page 9: Backup Batteries

    RTC running when the external power is removed. Depending on the processor, it may not be connected. The other one that is closest to the USB C connector labeled as u-center is for the ZED-F9P module. The rechargeable battery maintains the battery backed RAM (BBR) on the GNSS module. This allows for much faster position locks (a.k.a.
  • Page 10: Communication Ports

    Communication Ports The ZED-F9P is unique in that it has five communication ports which are all active simultaneously. You can read NMEA data over I C while you send configuration commands over the UART and vice/versa. The only limit is that the SPI pins are mapped onto the I C and UART pins so it’s either SPI or I C+UART.
  • Page 11 I C (a.k.a DDC) The u-blox ZED-F9P has a “DDC” port which is really just an I C port (without all the fuss of trademark issues). These pins are shared with the SPI pins. By default, the I C pins are enabled. Be sure the SPI jumper on the rear of the board is open.
  • Page 12 UART/Serial The classic serial pins are available on the ZED-F9P but are shared with the SPI pins. By default, the UART pins are enabled. Be sure the SPI jumper on the rear of the board is open. TXO/SDO = TX out from ZED-F9P...
  • Page 13 RTCM. If you’ve got the ZED-F9P setup for base station mode (also called survey-in mode) the UART2 will output RTCM3 correction data. This means you can connect a radio or wired link to UART2 and the board will automatically send just RTCM bytes over the link (no NMEA data taking up bandwidth).
  • Page 14 RTK: The RTK LED will be illuminated constantly upon power up. Once RTCM data has been successfully received it will begin to blink. This is a good way to see if the ZED-F9P is getting RTCM from various sources. Once an RTK fix is obtained, the LED will turn off.
  • Page 15 Jumpers Note: If this is your first time working with jumpers, check out the How to Work with Jumper Pads and PCB Traces tutorial for more information. There are jumpers located throughout the board. Below are the jumpers on the top side of the board. Bypass (BYP): By default, the BYP is left open.
  • Page 16 Control Pins These pins are used for various extra control of the ZED-F9P: TX READY: Transmit ready output pin. Can be configured using U-Center to indicate that the transmit buffer is full and ready to be transmitted.
  • Page 17 To configure, you can use the u-center to adjust The NEO-F9P's setting under View > Conviguration View > TP (TimePulse). SMA Connector  WRL-00593 $1.95 Hardware Pinout GNSS ZED-F9P CARRIER PINOUT TABLE MICROMOD GENERAL PINOUT TABLE MICROMOD GENERAL PIN DESCRIPTIONS AUDIO UART GPIO/BUS...
  • Page 18 Function Bottom Function (Not Connected) 3.3V RTC_3V VIN/3...
  • Page 19: Board Dimension

    SWDIO RXI2 SWDCK TXO2 BOOT TX_READY RESET USB_D- 3.3V_EN USB_D+ 3.3V Board Dimension The board is about 2.24"x2.60" and includes four mounting holes on each corner. If you include the length of the connectors sticking out from the edge of the board, the overall size of the board is about 2.52"x2.60". Hardware Assembly...
  • Page 20 GNSS Multi-band Antenna As stated earlier, you'll need a multi-band antenna and a metal ground plate to make the best use of the ZED-F9P. Connect the two SMA connectors together and tighten the nut. You'll simply need the nut to be finger tight.
  • Page 21 Be sure to mount the antenna on a 4”/10cm metal ground plate to increase reception. Of course, you could also attach the ground plate on a camera tripod. Just make sure to secure it with weights if there are heavy winds when using the ZED-F9P. USB-C Cable To program and power the microcontroller, insert the USB-C cable into the USB-C connector labeled as Processor.
  • Page 22: Software Installation

    The SparkFun u-blox Arduino library enables the reading of all positional datums as well as sending binary UBX configuration commands over I C. This is helpful for configuring advanced modules like the ZED-F9P but also the NEO-M8P-2, SAM-M8Q and any other u-blox module that use the u-blox binary protocol.
  • Page 23 NMEA has. Arduino Examples Example 1: Positional Accuracy As a quick test, we will be using the first example in the ZED-F9P folder (located in File Examples > SparkFun u- blox GNSS Arduino Library > ZED-F9P > Example1_GetPositionAccuracy).
  • Page 24 If you have not already, select your Board (in this case the SparkFun ESP32 MicroMod), and associated COM port. Upload the code to the board and and set the Arduino Serial Monitor to 115200 baud. Give the ZED-F9P a few minutes to get a satellite lock. The GPS coordinates and the accuracy will be output in the Serial Monitor.
  • Page 25 TAKE ME THERE! Now that you've successfully got your MicroMod GNSS Carrier Board (ZED-F9P) up and running, it's time to incorporate it into your own project! For more information, check out the resources below:...
  • Page 26 Product Summary (PDF) (ZED-F9P) Release Notes - FW1.00 (PDF) (ZED-F9P) Example RTCM output (PDF) from the ZED-F9P u-blox ECCN (PDF) Arduino Library GitHub Hardware Repo Need some inspiration for your next project? Check out some of these related tutorials: Three Quick Tips About Using U.FL...
  • Page 27 AUGUST 4, 2020...

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