[time-nuts] Cheap LEA-6T [was: Re: Precise Time transfer and relative position over ashort baseline]

[Attila Kinali]

On Mon, 11 Apr 2016 13:47:36 -0500
Scott Newell <newell+timenuts at n5tnl.com> wrote:

> BTW, there are some LEA-6T modules (with patch antenna, compass, 1PPS 
> led, and USB connector) intended for drone autopilot use on eBay for 
> around $30 shipped from China. (Search for "LEA-6T".) Mine showed up 
> on the day of my lightning strike, so I've barely played with it. It 
> has the 6.something ROM, connects to u-center, and appears to output 
> the +/-10 ns sawtooth error correction message and the RTKLIB 
> compatible raw data.

There is something strange with these. For one thing, they are way too
cheap. LEA-6T is still quite expensive when bought from u-blox directly,
eventhough it came down from 180eur/pcs to 140eur. The prices these
modules are selling are lower than the cheapest price i've ever seen
for LEA-6T's, when bought in the 100s. So, either they bought them in
swats of 10k or there is something amis...

Also, why would anyone use LEA-6T in navigation module? That does
not make sense. The power of the LEA-6T is as a timing module, not
for navigation. 

And last, but not least, the pictures seem wrong. All the LEA modules
i've seen, had two shield covers, one over the RF part and one over
the digital part. Yet these shown in the pictures have only a single
shiled. It might be that u-blox decided to use a single shield
for them... though it would seem strange to do that to an already launched
product that sells in relatively low volumes. Even more so, as I know
that u-blox itself warned users of their modules to ensure an electrically
quite enviornment around their modules, for maximum performance.


So, i would warn people buying those that they might be fakes...


			Attila Kinali
-- 
Reading can seriously damage your ignorance.
		-- unknown