Here3 Dual GPS setup?

Here GPS
1

I’m installing two Here3 GPS units in a fixed wing VTOL using Cube Blue H7, i have 4 questions.

  1. Should i mount them close together or far apart?

  2. Should i use blended mode or use auto switch 1 (use the best GPS)?

  3. Should i use CAN 1 and CAN 2, or CAN 1 and GPS1, or a CAN splitter on CAN 1 only?

  4. Can they both be powered by the Cube or do i need a separate 5v power supply?

Thanks

2

Should i mount them close together or far apart?

It doesn’t matter, as long as you are not stick them together. But you should mount them as far as possible from autopilot and any other high power devices.

Should i use blended mode or use auto switch 1 (use the best GPS)?

Blended mode gives worse result if 2 GPS are 1 good and 1 bad, because it blends them.
Auto mode depends on the GPS’s self-reporting status. It is better in most of them time as long as the GPS correctly report its health status.

Should i use CAN 1 and CAN 2, or CAN 1 and GPS1, or a CAN splitter on CAN 1 only?

As far as I know ardupilot doesn’t support dual CAN GPS yet, so you need 1 GPS in CAN mode and another in I2C mode.

Can they both be powered by the Cube or do i need a separate 5v power supply?

It depends on how many peripherals you have connected. You can check the maximum current draw allowed from Cube from docs.cubepilot.

1 Like
3

As far as I know ardupilot doesn’t support dual CAN GPS yet, so you need 1 GPS in CAN mode and another in I2C mode.
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I thought the HERE3 was CAN only and was told that I could use two HERE3’s on a single CAN port using a I2C splitter???

4

Yes. Here3 is CAN only.

two HERE3’s on a single CAN port using a I2C splitter???

This is possible. The problem is Ardupilot firmware don’t support dual CAN GPS at the moment. You can mount an extra one as redundant, but in this case it doesn’t count as “Dual” GPS.

5

It works fine as dual CAN
But Ardupilot is yet to add the capability to set which one is GPS1 and gps2, so each startup may be different.

This doesn’t matter too much for most builds

But if you want to set the exact offset, this feature must be added h the o Ardupilot

6

Thanks, is it better to use blended or switch between the two? I really just want one as a backup in case the primary fails. If that is the case should I use CAN 1 and 2 or CAN 1 and GPS1? Thanks

Kyle

7

If you want one as backup, using switch mode should be more suitable for you.

Here3 can only be in CAN mode, so you can’t use CAN1+GPS1 but only any CAN port+splitter board or CAN1+CAN2.