Mailing List lml@lancaironline.net Message #38013
From: Steve/Claudette Colwell <colwells@comcast.net>
Sender: <marv@lancaironline.net>
Subject: ELT Antenna location
Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:56:40 -0400
To: <lml>

Thought this would be of interest so I am forwarding it to LML. 

 

Steve Colwell  Legacy

 

 

Bob,

 

I bought a Artex ME406 ELT http://www.artex.net/me406.html that transmits on both 121.5 and 406.  My project is a carbon fiber Lancair Legacy.  I don’t want to hang another antenna on the outside of the airframe and this airplane is all carbon fiber.  Can I place the supplied antenna http://www.artex.net/documents/110-773.pdf diagonally (21.5” exposed length) across the rear window without too much loss of signal?  Any alternative ideas?

 

Thanks,

Steve Colwell

 

 

From: Steve/Claudette Colwell

Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 3:02 PM

Subject: ELT Antenna

 

Hi Colwells;

 

Unlike most ELT antennas this one looks like it has some science incorporated. Most ELT antennas are very poor. This one is surely meant to be installed externally on a metal aircraft. I would guess that the cylindrical object a bit above the conical base is a choke that keeps the 406 mhz from continuing out the antenna. That antenna should work ok if you install it in the window as you suggest. Make a bracket to accept the antenna base at one corner of the window, making sure it is grounded to the graphite and bond it in some way across the window. It would be best to try to keep it as far away from the graphite frame as possible. It is not necessary to have the antenna vertical because the satellites looking down like to see horizontal polarization anyway.

Hope this helps. Too bad Lancair didn't incorporate more fiberglass windows so you wouldn't have so many external antennas. They do cause quite abit of drag.

 

Regards

 

Bob

 

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