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TINY LED beacon

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GalinHdz

Joined: 08 Nov 2017
Posts: 150

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:18 am Post subject: TINY LED beacon

I found a super tiny, yet incredibly bright red LED beacon on Aircraft Spruce that only costs $67.00. 



https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/navstrobeac-ws-45w-1350.php.



But they are designed for ultra-lights and powered hang gliders, IOW slow flying aircraft. Therefore they attach with sticky tape and velcro, something I wasn't very convinced with. So I made an aluminum mounting bracket and modified the beacon so I can use #4-40 stainless mounting screws. I will bond the mounting bracket on the inside of the fuselage making a more robust installation. I hope to install one on my airplane's underbelly in the next few weeks. You can see what I did on my webpage with a short video of how bright these little suckers are. Once I complete the installation I will post more photos.



http://puertoricoflyer.com/beaconled.html 



If you want to add a beacon to your airplane I would consider these.

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GalinHdz

Joined: 08 Nov 2017
Posts: 150

Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:42 pm Post subject: Re: TINY LED beacon

I added more photos of the installation.



The most challenging part was how to align the new lower beacon with the upper beacon so it looked good without drilling into some critical internal component. After much thought I decided to press a strong magnet on the outside location where I wanted the lower beacon to be. Then using another magnet inside the fuselage, it would align itself to the outside magnet.



While inside the fuselage I placed the magnet where I thought the location should be but nothing happened. After unsuccessfully trying to put the inside magnet to where I thought it should be I decided to just push the inside magnet around. Suddenly the magnet slid from my fingers, went off to the right of where I had it and locked on. The actual location was now clearly identified.



I marked the place the magnet indicated and drilled a test hole. The test hole was almost perfectly aligned with where I wanted the beacon to be. You can see this sequence in photos 14 - 19. Now I have a method of finding almost exact locations inside the fuselage of something that is on the outside.



I hope to complete the installation in the next few days, post more photos and another video.

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GalinHdz

Joined: 08 Nov 2017
Posts: 150

Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:57 pm Post subject: Re: TINY LED beacon

Final installation update:



I tested the beacon after completing the installation. They are very bright and look great. Unfortunately I found they have extremely poor RF filtering, something I should have tested before installing them. The strobes interfered with both of my comm radios making them useless. I tried some ferrite beads and active DC low pass filters but nothing lowered the interference to an acceptable level. Every time the strobes flashed, both radios broke squelch with a loud noise. I will be removing it from my airplane before I fly.



These might be great for ultra-light, powered hang gliders or aircraft that don't have radios, but not for my airplane. Live and learn.

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Last edited by GalinHdz on Sun Apr 17, 2022 2:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

Robert Reed

Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Posts: 331
Location: Dallas/Ft.Worth

Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2022 1:02 pm Post subject: TINY LED beacon

Thanks for the update Galin. 



Bob Reed

Sent from my iPhone



 	  Quote: 	
		   On Apr 15, 2022, at 10:57 PM, GalinHdz <GalinHdz(at)gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

 

 Final installation update:

 

 I tested the beacon after completing the installation. They are very bright and look great. Unfortunately I found they have extremely poor RF filtering, something I should have tested before installing them. The strobes interfered with both of my comm radios making them useless. I tried some ferrite beads and active DC low pass power filters but nothing lowered the interference to an acceptable level. every time the strobes flashed, both radios broke squelch with a loud noise. I will be removing it from my airplane before I fly.

 

 These might be great for ultra-light, powered hang gliders or things that don't have radios, but not for my airplane. Live and learn.

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=506560#506560

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mikepienaar09(at)gmail.co
Guest

Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2022 10:43 am Post subject: TINY LED beacon

Made the same mistake with LED's for the garage, super bright strips as

replacement for my old fluorescents but now I get interference on the radio

in the house.

Thanks for the warning



--

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GalinHdz

Joined: 08 Nov 2017
Posts: 150

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 6:52 pm Post subject: Re: TINY LED beacon

After putting an honest review about the RF interference of this Beacon, I got an E-Mail from Aircraft Spruce requesting clarification. I provided it so they contacted the manufacturer who promptly replied. Here is my review and their answer.



Review: Purchased one for my experimental airplane and it had horrendous RF interference. Completely wiped out both Comm radios. No amount of RF filtering fixed the issue. Will not buy another for aviation installation.

Answer: The manufacturer got back on this with: "The 11-12424, 11-12986, and 11-12985 do have some RFI issues and are not TSO'd. They are for experimental use only."



So they acknowledge there is some RFI issues with this unit.



I have now ordered this different unit since several persons have used it with no RFI.



https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-hideaway-strobe-lights/led-hideaway-strobe-lights-mini-emergency-vehicle-led-warning-lights/1905/4487/?utm_campaign=Child+-+Organic+Shopping&utm_source=Vehicle+Lighting+%3E+LED+Hideaway+Strobe+Lights&utm_medium=MSTRB-180-P&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI86-K39Km9wIVGlNyCh0C9AckEAQYAyABEgI8PvD_BwE



I will test this one before doing the installation and post the results here.

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GalinHdz

Joined: 08 Nov 2017
Posts: 150

Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 1:20 pm Post subject: TINY LED beacon

After talking to several persons about this LED issue they all recommended the MSTRB-360-R strobe as a viable replacement. I ordered one but this time I did some RF interference testing. Using my Icom IC-A14 radio I tested frequencies 121.175, 121.500, 122.850 and 127.625. The unit passed with flying colors. I had to turn the squelch all the way down to pick up any interference from the unit. I then turned on both radios in my airplane and placed the beacon right up where the main antenna is. Again, absolutely no RF interference.



You can watch a short video of the testing at:  https://youtu.be/fSEQ4u6RVG4

Next step is to remove the old beacon and install this one in its place.  

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GalinHdz

Joined: 08 Nov 2017
Posts: 150

Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 3:27 am Post subject: Re: TINY LED beacon

I finally got around to removing the noisy LED beacon and replacing it with the MSTRB-360-R strobe. It is tiny, extremely bright with no RF interference. The best part was my nephew Kiki, who just got his A&P license, officially did the installation. I am proud to have his signature in my logbook, the first job he officially signed off as an A&P mechanic..



Here is a link to the photos of the new installation. IMHO if you are looking for an inexpensive yet very bright beacon for your airplane I can recommend this one.



http://puertoricoflyer.com/beaconled.html

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