Abstract
Abstract For a few years now, GNSS multi-frequency quadrifilar helix antennas (QHA) are available to be used for precise GNSS applications. We performed test measurements with two types of multi-frequency QHA and compared them with a geodetic patch antenna. Although code and carrier phase noise and high-frequent multipath was determined to be larger as compared to the geodetic antenna, the fast-static horizontal coordinate accuracies are on the same level and demonstrate cm-accuracy capability. One of the QHA types exhibited an increased susceptibility to near-field multipath effects which resulted in a degraded accuracy of the vertical coordinate component.
Highlights
Quadrifilar helix antennas (QHA) consist of an array of four helically shaped resonant antenna elements wrapped around a cylinder [6, 4]
Whereas single-frequency quadrifilar helix antennas (QHA) have been in wide use for handheld GNSS devices [4], only recently multi-frequency stand-alone antennas have been offered mainly for precise GNSS positioning of light-weight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
The two tested multi-frequency QHA antennas perform slightly worse as compared to the geodetic patch antenna with respect to code and carrier phase noise and high-frequent multipath, the fast-static horizontal positing results are all on the same quality level
Summary
Quadrifilar helix antennas (QHA) consist of an array of four helically shaped resonant antenna elements wrapped around a cylinder [6, 4]. The QHA are especially suited for UAV because of their low weight as compared to high-quality patch antennas. The applications we had in mind when testing two types of QHA were classical GNSS surveying work either as real-time (RTK) or in post-processing mode. In these applications the cylindrical shape and the antenna size causes no limitations whereas the low antenna weight can be of advantage. Another asset of the multi-frequency QHA that have become available in the past few years is their reasonable retail price. Refer to [7] for more information on these abbreviations
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