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jbario(at)sbcglobal.net
Guest

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject: New Guy questions

Howdy to all.  I have been reading the postings to this list for a few weeks and have learned a lot.  My partner and I have been working on the tail feathers for a RV-8A since 2/1 and expect to finish in a week or so.  We will then start on the QB wings which leads me to a few questions



1.  I noticed in Vans Catalog an Airtech Wingtip Lens Kit.  We looked at the Vans QB wing tip and lenses briefly this evening and (naively perhaps) it didn't appear to require an mod kit such as the Airtech.  Any feedback?



2.  Some people apparently using the Nav AV antenna in the wingtips. Are these antennas also useful for Localizer and Glide Slope signals?  We assume one needs to install one of these antennas in each wingtip (total of 2).  Any reports on their effectiveness vice externally mounted NAV/LOC/GS antennas?  What is the best type of coax to use these days for a rookie airplane builder?



Jim Barrilleaux

Grass Valley, CA

RV-8A  tail feathers

jbario(at)sbcglobal.net

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wskimike(at)mchsi.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:18 am Post subject: New Guy questions

 	  Quote: 	
		  From what a very experienced tweet told me you will have reception problems 

with the antenna in one wing when the station is on the opposite side. Yes, 
	


you will need two or an external one positioned in a better position.



Mike

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khorton01(at)rogers.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:07 am Post subject: New Guy questions

But you can't connect two antennae together.  Don't even think about  

trying it.  That will not work unless you have some sort of switching  

box to only have one antenna connected to the receiver at a time.  If  

two antennae are connected together, there will be phasing problems,  

and you will have a very strange set of lobes in your antenna pattern.

If you use a wing tip antenna, you need to accept the fact that there  

might be a very small area off the other wing tip where you might not  

have reception.  I have seen reports from several builders with wing  

tip antenna who reported that they had good reception off the other  

wing tip.  I don't understand how that could be so, but I'll take  

their reports at face value until I can flight test my wing tip antenna.

If you are navigating using VOR, or shooting an ILS approach, how  

often is the station of interest off one wing tip?  The only case I  

can think of is if you want to fly a DME arc approach.  I'll use my  

IFR GPS to navigate the arc, and use the LOC once I've turned onto  

final.

Kevin Horton

On 4 Mar 2006, at 08:17, wskimike wrote:

[quote] 

> From what a very experienced tweet told me you will have reception  

> problems

 with the antenna in one wing when the station is on the opposite  

 side. Yes,

 you will need two or an external one positioned in a better position.

 Mike

 ---

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sbuc(at)hiwaay.net
Guest

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 9:17 am Post subject: New Guy questions

wskimike wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

>From what a very experienced tweet told me you will have reception problems 

 with the antenna in one wing when the station is on the opposite side. Yes, 

 you will need two or an external one positioned in a better position.


	




My experience with the Sportcraft internal NAV antenna is that is works 

very nicely, regardless of the plane's position in regard to the VOR. It 

  also works well with a glideslope receiver.



Bob Archer, the designer of the antenna, is emphatic on NOT using two 

NAV antennae. Apparently all sorts of out-of-phase issues arise if two 

antennae are feeding the same receiver.



Details on my installation:



http://thervjournal.com/sportcraft.htm



An article by Bob about his antennae:



http://www.tvrvbg.org/Tip6a.doc



Sam Buchanan

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Rick Galati

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Lake St. Louis MO.

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:23 pm Post subject: Re: New Guy questions

 	  jbario(at)sbcglobal.net wrote: 	
		  ...Some people apparently using the Nav AV antenna in the wingtips. Are these antennas also useful for Localizer and Glide Slope signals?  We assume one needs to install one of these antennas in each wingtip (total of 2).  Any reports on their effectiveness vice externally mounted NAV/LOC/GS antennas?  What is the best type of coax to use these days for a rookie airplane builder?



Jim Barrilleaux

Grass Valley, CA

RV-8A  tail feathers

jbario(at)sbcglobal.net 	




Jim,



Your choices in antennas may depend upon your intended mission profile and installed avionics capability.

As a data point , my RV is equipped with a Garmin 430 suite and fitted with a Bob Archer NAV/LOC/GS antenna in the left wingtip and the MB antenna (a tuned length of copper foil) in the right wing tip.  I have not had any reception problems to date though I've never purposely positioned the aircraft in flight so the NAV antenna is completely blocked by the opposite wingtip (LOS) to the station in a purposeful effort to observe (potential) signal degradation.  If such a loss did occur and I still found it desirable to navigate based upon that particular VOR, (why?) I suppose I "could" deselect the VOR (via a button on the 430) and select the GPS function and continue to navigate via the installed GI-106A CDI in much the same way.  Of course that would require programming in the coordinates of the VOR station as a GPS waypoint.  Such flying is possible but a bit too sophisticated for this VFR pilot.  Also in my neck of the woods, VOR signal acquisition does not occur on the ground but comes alive just a few hundred feet AGL....mere seconds of time in an RV.  If your anticipated mission requirements demand the very best NAV reception possible, many would argue that externally mounted antennas would probably be a better choice.   For my purposes which is overwhelmingly VFR flight with occasional IFR training, the hidden wingtip mounted antennas suit me just fine.  One more thing....despite occasional reports that some builders experience signal problems,  I located the Comant bent whip Comm antenna almost perfectly centered and in line with the gear legs and have yet to experience any problems.  I installed standard RG-58A/U coax cable throughout.  More expensive coax cable is available 

and only you can determine if it is worth the extra cost or not.

 

Rick Galati  RV-6A  "Darla"  112 hours

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flyeyes(at)mac.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:13 pm Post subject: New Guy questions

Another data point:  My sportcraft antenna in the right (only)  

wingtip works well, regardless of heading to station.



  On my Garmin (nee Apollo) SL-30 NavCom you just need to run one  

coax from the antenna to the radio, there is an internal splitter for  

the Nav/glideslope signals.



The AirTech kit is for the older type wingtips, and is not necessary  

for the newer "sheared" tips that are currently shipping.



James Freeman

RV-8 flying

http://web.mac.com/flyeyes/iWeb/

On Mar 4, 2006, at 11:15 AM, Sam Buchanan wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 wskimike wrote:

> 

>

>> From what a very experienced tweet told me you will have  

>> reception problems

> with the antenna in one wing when the station is on the opposite  

> side. Yes,

> you will need two or an external one positioned in a better position.

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martin(at)gbonline.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:37 pm Post subject: New Guy questions

---

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martin(at)gbonline.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:07 pm Post subject: New Guy questions

Jim.,

I have over 1200 hours on my rv8 in 6 years now.  I have the nav and 

glideslope antennas in the wingtips. Also the transponder antenna in the 

;wing tip .  They work well both the VOR and the glidslope aswell as the 

xpndr.  However the transceiver portion didnot work well.  I finally gave up 

and installed a DM outside antenna on the belly of my RV8 and it works 

perfect.

Dick Martin

RV8 N233M

the fast one

---

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