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

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)