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What makes a good GNSS antenna?

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A good GNSS antenna receives right-hand circularly polarized signals over the upper hemisphere with good axial ratio, rejects multipath and interference, and covers the needed bands: GPS L1 at 1575.42 MHz (shared by Galileo E1 and BeiDou B1C), L2 at 1227.60 MHz and L5/E5a at 1176.45 MHz, plus GLONASS L1 near 1602 MHz.[1][2] Signals are extremely weak; the specified minimum received GPS L1 C/A power is −158.5 dBW (−128.5 dBm).[1]

Which antenna types are used?

Why are GNSS antennas often active?

An LNA at the antenna (typically with a SAW filter) sets the system noise figure before cable loss, and filtering protects against strong nearby cellular and Wi-Fi transmitters. Active antennas are powered over the coax.[2]

How is multipath rejected?

Reflections from the ground reverse the circular polarization sense, so a pure RHCP antenna with low LHCP response and low gain below the horizon rejects them. Choke rings and large ground planes further suppress low-elevation and back-side signals.[2]

Frequently asked questions

Is GPS signal power really below noise?

Yes; it is below the thermal noise floor in the receiver bandwidth and recovered by despreading.

Can a linear antenna receive GPS?

Yes, with about 3 dB polarization loss and weaker multipath rejection.

Why does L5 matter?

It adds a second civil frequency for ionospheric correction and better accuracy.

References

Online sources accessed October 21, 2026; printed works cited by edition. See all sources.

  1. “IS-GPS-200: NAVSTAR GPS Space Segment/Navigation User Interfaces”. U.S. Space Force. current revision.
  2. “Understanding GPS/GNSS: Principles and Applications, 3rd ed.”. E. D. Kaplan and C. J. Hegarty (eds.), Artech House. 2017.
Categories: Applications by band