I just received from China (Yarbo direct) the latest antenna that I have been told is much better than the stock antenna all of us have and is being introduced to resolve GPS issues (I guess?). These are not the new flexible antennas as Yarbo confirmed last week. I have many posts talking about the GPS problems I have had since I received my bundle so I won’t go into any of that, but hence why I received.
Anyways - I swapped them out and took Yarbo for a drive. Unfortunately, I listed to the weatherman and swapped tracks and put the snow blower on for our first 3 inches of expected snow, but not a flake was seen. With changing things out I cannot do a run on the lawn (too lazy to swap things back) but did manually drive it around the perimeter of our mapped areas (about 5 acres). Now, as I have indicated one day I have zero issues then the next this thing can’t find its way for more than 5 feet. Was today one of the “good days” I guess time will tell. From a “space weather” point of view things are about as calm as they come, but that doesn’t seem to matter for me.
On my manual run I had my iPad up with Smart Vision and drove it around using the diagnostic screen via iPhone so I could watch the GPS signal. Certainly not scientific or real-world test, but it does seem to be better. It stayed pretty much at either 91.5% GPS or 40.5% with L2 at 19-25 and 28-30+ birds above. The L2 numbers and satellite count has always been about that. I saw it drop a few times down to 10% but for just a few seconds. Interesting if it dropped like that and I stopped movement it would jump up to 92%. If this holds, I think I would be in excellent shape. I have attached pictures of the antennas and what info I could find with AI on them for your viewing pleasure.
This is what our friend in AI identified about this antenna:
This is a HA-609 GNSS antenna – basically a small, high-precision GPS-style puck used for RTK and other accurate positioning.
Here’s what we can tell from the markings and from its model:
Type: Multi-band GNSS (GPS-style) antenna, not Wi-Fi or cellular. It’s meant to receive satellite navigation signals.
Model:GNSS Antenna HA-609 – sold as a high-precision helix RTK antenna for GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, etc.
Bands: Advertised as covering GPS L1/L2/L5 and equivalent bands on GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo, so it’s suitable for modern multi-frequency receivers (including RTK modules).
Gain & pattern: Specs list about 25–35 dBi active gain with an omnidirectional pattern (vertical “puck” style helix), designed to give stronger, cleaner signals than a tiny patch antenna on a device.
Connector: The center pin you see means the antenna side is SMA male; your cable/receiver needs an SMA female connector.
Power:DC 3–16V printed on the base means it’s an active antenna with a built-in LNA. Your GNSS receiver must feed it DC power over the coax (anywhere in that range – common values are 3.3 V or 5 V).
Size:φ40 * 82.8 mm → about 40 mm diameter, 82.8 mm tall, which matches a small mast-mount “stubby” GNSS antenna.
Impedance & match: Rated 50 Ω, VSWR ≤ 1.5 per listings, so it’s designed to be a good match to normal RF coax/receivers.
Use cases: Marketed for UAVs, unmanned vehicles, boats, agriculture guidance, survey/RTK bases or rovers – anywhere you want better GNSS performance than the tiny embedded antenna.
Hi there, thanks for sharing your feedback. Please keep us updated on whether the new antenna continues to improve your GPS performance once you’ve had more time to test it!
I also did just ordered this same type of antennas. Had a Joice of buying HX-609 and HA-609 type. Didn’t really understand what’s the difference. The connection pin looked the same and also data sheet numbers where all the same on the listings…
It is out blowing snow now. Our driveway is just over 15K sqft so it is going to be a while before its done. So far so good - I will report back when I have more details. Its going to take a few runs I think to get some solid data which means more snow but I sure will let everyone know results.
@rgloverii and the hits just keep on coming, 24 hours and we have 43% of the drive done, canceled its run. Today, on the 4th charge of the job the core would charge up to 50% then stall until it dropped to 48% then charge back to 50%. Wash, repeat, wash, repeat. Went on for 4 hours. Called and was told the voltage and the battery coefficient are misaligned. Now instructed to put on the wired charger for 2 hours then pull the plug on the battery for 4 hours.
Just what the doctor ordered after a Midwest snowstorm. First snow (about 7 inches, started the job when we had maybe an inch) and what a surprise, Yarbo failed. The snowblower was the very reason I got this thing.
I will get my New Holland Skid Steer Yarbo out and plow the driveway that way, I guess.
On the flip side the new GPS Antennas are reporting 21 satellites and 41% quality inside my garage with the door closed. So, in traditional Yarbo fashion, wacamole, fix one thing and you get another.
Oh wow. Sorry to hear about your battery issues! That seems to be a new ‘known issue’ as of late. I’d assume they will have it resolved shortly, but in the interim it sounds like quite a pain in the neck when it happens.
My Yarbo did very well today for its first snow day. The snow here was super wet and heavy, so it’s like worst case scenario for any snowblower to deal with. Even still, it got the driveway done ‘automatically’, and without any issues.
Then when Yarbo stared to try and tackle the apron at the end of the drive, it ended up breaking a set of sheer pins due to gravel ingestion. My fault. Had it lowered too far in that area. So now I’m modifying my apron strategy so hopefully that won’t happen again.
Fingers crossed that next time, we both will have greater success!
No sure how new, but after sitting on hold for an hour a supervisor finally came on the line and seemed like he was aware of the issue, but it is “rare”. If this lemon could get it, it will.
Hi there, thanks a lot for the detailed update, and we’re really sorry to hear that a new issue has appeared. Could you please let us know if the problem still occurs after following the instructions from our support team? If the charging issue continues, please reach out and we’ll be more than happy to keep assisting and follow up further.
@Yarbo-Forum - I did just follow up on the ticket. Did not work. I am documenting here for the next poor fellow that runs into this issue.
I charged on cord for 2 hours which the unit jumped from 63% to 100% after 1.5 hours. Let it sit in the garage with battery unplugged for 4 hours. Connected battery and sent out to do a job. Ran and went back to docking station. Would not power this time past 75% after sitting all night on the dock.
While talking with the tech on this issue, all of a sudden, I could not connect via Halo or Bluetooth. “Is your DC online, is the light green”? Are you kidding me? Put on hold - then, “we are getting a lot of calls that we are having connectivity problems”. Again?
DOES ANYONE AT THIS COMPANY HAVE A STAFF MEETING TO DISCUSS QUALITY? DOES ANYONE RUN THIS ASYLUM? I feel bad for these level one techs, all day listening to this.
So, here we go again, “I have escalated your ticket to our senior engineerging team (aka China)”. @Yarbo-Forum will this be 6 months like it was on the GPS issue to fix the battery? Here is a suggestion, how about you H1B some of these “senior engineers” to the USA so they are on your largest markets schedule? Better yet, how about you vest some trust and authority to your USA team to resolve issues / replace defective equipment?
@mike1 Hi Mike, please rest assured that we will make sure this gets resolved for you as soon as possible. Once the root cause is confirmed, we will provide a solution or arrange a replacement if needed.
This case will not be as complicated as the previous GPS issue, since the GPS problem was more dependent on environmental conditions. We appreciate your patience, and we’ll continue to follow up until everything is sorted out for you.
First - Already not the case - was told resolution in 12 hours, no email as promised. I called again and was told “you will have to wait”. Supervisor then says it will be another 24 hours, but it is being personally handled; just like the last person said. So @Yarbo-Forum we are going to be 48 hours. Then it will be 72, then 144, are you following the pattern? It is time for you to get some resources in your #1 market!
Second - how does an antenna affect the environment? With those powers, you should stop selling defective equipment and connect with Greta Thunberg and change the planet.
@mike1 I’ve reviewed all of your support tickets in our system, and I completely understand your frustration with the delays — thank you for your patience through this process. For the battery issue, we’ve arranged a replacement battery for you, as mentioned in the ticket, and we truly appreciate your patience while it makes its way to you.
I also checked the other two tickets you submitted regarding different issues. Both have now been escalated to our field service engineer team for deeper investigation. We know how important it is to get everything working properly, and we’re doing our best to move things forward as quickly as possible.
@Yarbo-Forum I do not know what your definition of replaced is but I just got off the phone again and nothing has been done. I was just told it was still being evaluated. What are they evaluating? The virtues of FedEx vs UPS? You have determined the battery is defective and needs to be replaced, so you call your warehouse to send it. No discussion, no evaluation. Heck, at one point the guy today said he didn’t know if you even had batteries in stock and maybe that is the issue. None in stock, how do you sell units without a battery?
