MAX-8 / MAX-M8 - Hardware Integration Manual 
UBX-15030059 - R05  Hardware description  Page 9 of 31 
Production Information     
1.5.6  ANT_DET: Open Circuit Detection (MAX-M8) 
Antenna open circuit detection (ANT_DET) is not activated by default on the MAX-8 / MAX-M8 
modules. ANT_DET can be mapped to PIO13 (EXTINT).  
ANT_DET is an input used to report whether an external circuit has detected an external antenna or 
not.  
"high" = Antenna detected (antenna consumes current); "low" = Antenna not detected (no current 
drawn).  
Antenna supervision is configurable using message UBX-CFG-ANT. 
☞  Refer to the 
u-blox 8 /
 
u-blox M8 Receiver Description Including Protocol Specification
  [3]  for 
information about further settings. 
1.6  Electromagnetic interference on I/O lines 
Any I/O signal line with a length greater than approximately 3 mm can act as an antenna and may pick 
up arbitrary RF signals transferring them as noise into the GNSS receiver. This specifically applies to 
unshielded lines, in which the corresponding GND layer is remote or missing entirely, and lines close 
to the edges of the printed circuit board.  
If, for example, a cellular signal radiates into an unshielded high-impedance line, it is possible to 
generate noise in the order of volts and not only distort receiver operation but also damage it 
permanently. 
On the other hand, noise generated at the I/O pins will emit from unshielded I/O lines. Receiver 
performance may be degraded when this noise is coupled into the GNSS antenna (see Figure 19).  
To avoid interference by improperly shielded lines, it is recommended to use resistors (e.g. R>20 Ω), 
ferrite beads (e.g. BLM15HD102SN1) or inductors (e.g. LQG15HS47NJ02) on the I/O lines in series. 
These components should be chosen with care because they will affect also the signal rise times.  
Figure 2 shows an example of EMI protection measures on the RX/TX line using a ferrite bead. More 
information can be found in section 4.3. 
 
Figure 2: EMI Precautions