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Troubleshooting Tips

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If you need technical assistance or more information on a product that is not working as you expected, we recommend heading on over to the SparkFun Technical Assistance page for some initial troubleshooting.

SparkFun Technical Assistance Page

If you can't find what you need there, the SparkFun Forums is a great place to search product forums and ask questions.

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Electrostatic Discharge

The mosaic-X5 module is sensitive to ESD. Use a proper grounding system to make sure that the working surface and the components are at the same electric potential.

ESD Precaution

As recommended by the manufacturer, we highly recommend that users take the necessary precautions to avoid damaging their module.

    • The Tri-band GNSS RTK breakout board features ESD protection on the USB-C connector and breakout's I/O:

      • USB data lines
      • I/O PTH pads
      • JST connector's pins

    • The mosaic-X5 module features internal ESD protection to the ANT_1 antenna input.

USB Driver

A USB driver is only required for Windows PCs (see the USB Driver section).

GPS Antenna

Power Input

Active Antenna

Never inject an external DC voltage into the SMA connector for the GPS antenna, as it may damage the mosaic-X5 module. For instance, when using a splitter to distribute the antenna signal to several GNSS receivers, make sure that no more than one output of the splitter passes DC. Use DC-blocks otherwise.

A 3 - 5.5V DC voltage can be applied to the main antenna from the VANT pin, obviating the need for an external antenna supply or bias-tee.

Supported Frequency Bands

For the best performance, we recommend users choose a compatible L1/L2/L5 (tri-band) GNSS antenna and utilize a low-loss cable. Utilizing an antenna that doesn't match all the supported frequency bands of the mosaic-X5, will result in reduced performance and capabilities.

Data Logging

For data logging issues, here are some simple troubleshooting tips:

  • Make sure that your SD card is formatted to a FAT32 file system.
    • The FAT32 file system also limits the maximum capacity of the card to less than 32GB (i.e. a 256GB SD card will not work).
  • Make sure that the mosaic-X5 module has a configured data stream output.
  • Use the mosaic-X5 web page to verify that the SD card is mounted as a storage drive.