HC990EXF

The HC990EXF embedded helical antenna is designed for precision positioning, covering the GPS/QZSS-L1/L2/L5, QZSS-L6, GLONASS-G1/G2/G3, Galileo-E1/E5a/E5b/E6, BeiDou-B1/B2/B2a/B3, and NavIC-L5 frequency bands, including the satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) available in the region of operation [WAAS (North America), EGNOS (Europe), MSAS (Japan), or GAGAN (India)], as well as L-band correction services.

Key Considerations

The HC990EXF embedded helical antenna is designed for precision positioning, covering the GPS/QZSS-L1/L2/L5, QZSS-L6, GLONASS-G1/G2/G3, Galileo-E1/E5a/E5b/E6, BeiDou-B1/B2/B2a/B3, and NavIC-L5 frequency bands, including the satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) available in the region of operation [WAAS (North America), EGNOS (Europe), MSAS (Japan), or GAGAN (India)], as well as L-band correction services.

The patent-pending HC990EXF utilizes Calian’s latest wideband helical element design. The antenna element provides 67 MHz of signal bandwidth supporting the entire upper GNSS band and L-Band corrections (1539 – 1606 MHz) and 136 MHz of the lower band signal bandwidth (1164 – 1300 MHz). The other key component of the antenna is the axial ratio, which is a measure of how well the antenna captures the broadcast Right Hand Circular Polarized (RHCP) signal and mitigates the reflected LHCP signals. The Calian HC990EXF has a high peak gain of 3dBi, full bandwidth and 0.5 dB axial ratio at zenith, enabling excellent multipath mitigation and a very precise phase centre.

Weighing only 11 g, the light and compact HC990E features a precision-tuned helix element that provides excellent axial ratios and operates without the requirement of a ground plane, making it ideal for a wide variety of applications, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The HC990EXF features an industry-leading low current, low-noise amplifier (LNA) that includes an integrated low-loss pre-filter to prevent harmonic interference from high-amplitude signals, such as 700 MHz band LTE and other near-band cellular signals. As the radio frequency spectrum has become more congested, the signals or harmonic frequencies of new LTE bands [e.g. 800MHz x 2 = 1600MHz (GLONASS-G1)] can affect GNSS antennas and receivers. In North America, planned Ligado signals at 1525 – 1536 MHz can especialy impact GNSS antennas that support space-based L-band correction services (1539 – 1559 MHz). New LTE signals in Europe [Band 32 (1452 – 1496 MHz)] and Japan [Bands 11 and 21 (1476 – 1511 MHz)] have also been observed to interfere with GNSS signals. In addition, Inmarsat satellite communication (uplink: 1626.5 – 1660.5 MHz) can also affect GNSS signals. The new Calian XF antennas have been designed to mitigate out-of-band signals and prevent GNSS antenna saturation. Tallysman’s custom XF filtering mitigates all existing signals and new Ligado and LTE signals, enabling the antennas and attached GNSS receivers to perform optimally.

Care must be taken in installing the HC990EXF as ground planes below the antenna can affect its tuning. To facilitate a successful installation and optimum antenna performance, Calian also provides an Embedded Helical Antenna Installation Guide.

A housed version is also available. Click here to learn about the HC990XF.