Cellular IoT App Shield - Unable to Obtain GPS Lock

Morning,

Over the last few weeks I have been experimenting with your Cellular IoT App Sheild with a Raspberry Pi 4. For the most part is has been a straightforward process but I have yet to be able to obtain a GPS lock. Regardless of antennae, antennae location (i.e. access to open sky), and configurations, I have consistently only returned a +CME Error: 516. It should be noted I have already worked with our cellular IoT data provider and can connect to their LTE network just fine (I am aware it is unrelated to the GPS functionality but figured it was worth a mention).

Q1: Any additional troubleshooting that you can recommend to try and get a loc?

Q2: I ordered an active antennae (https://sixfab.com/product/external-active-gps-antenna-29db-sma-plug/) with my unit. Is there anything I need to change on the Shield so that it will work? After reading through more documentation it looks like the Shield is setup for passive antennae only.

Specs:
Raspberry Pi 4

  • Kernel 5.4.51-v7l+
  • Raspbian 10.4

Cellular IoT App Shield

  • BG96 Firmware BG96MAR02A10M1G_01.013.01.013
  • Running through PPP interface currently via ttyUSB3

Physical Location

  • Alberta, Canada

Hi @john.dubitz,

A1: Unfortunately, we don’t have. Please make sure testing under the open sky so that GPS signal can be received.

A2: Active GNSS/GPS antenna can be used with the Cellular IoT App Shield. In order to use it, you will need to solder it as in the picture below.