Posted by Bob Brock on Monday, November 16, 2009 @ 08:48 PM:
Taking Bob Grimstead's suggestion on mounting the antenna inside the aircraft to reduce both noise and drag, I removed the antenna and came up with what I hope will be a mounting solution, however, I really don't know how antennas work best. I understand that the ground for the antenna needs to be a metal sheet or base. Please click on the link below to see where I intend to mount... on the backside of a metal box that extends the storage areas. This box and another longer box we designed for camping gear and used for only light wt. items. Anyway, if it works, I would like to mount the antenna on the back side of the box, inside the fuselage.... it should clear everything.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Bomar1&target=PHOTO&id=5404861609873444162&aid=5404861605836163105&authkey=Gv1sRgCLfLvMrZ3smhlQE&feat=email
The questions are: 1) is the angle of the antenna OK?, 2) is this a big enough metal base for the antenna to work properly?, 3) if I need more base metal or wires (like an "x" shape where the antenna mounts, how long should they be... same length as the antenna or shorter?? and 4) dose the shape of the base make a difference or does the entire metal box suffice?
Thanks for any ideas... I know very little about radios.
Cheers,
Posted by SteveBeaver on Monday, November 16, 2009 @ 10:49 PM:
Bob,
An installation like that will not allow the radio to operate to its full potential, but it will probably work sufficiently well. Yours is a 1/4 wave antenna and ideally the ground plane should be horizontal and of approximately the same sort of size as the antenna. - So about 2 ft across.
In a wooden aircraft, its nice to use an antenna that is designed to operate without a ground place. Like this one:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php
This is the system specified for that wonderful wooden aircraft the Sequioa Falco.
It could be installed in the fin or in the fuselage at an angle that allows it to fit with a minimum or curvature.
For the lowest cost way to achieve similar results, check out the antenna kits from RST. They work well:
http://www.rstengineering.com/rst/catalog/airplane_antenna.html
Steve
Posted by Bob Brock on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 @ 06:28 PM:
Steve:
I may do both... but it depends on if/when I recover the tail fin... it is actually in very good condition and was done after the wings. I will know much more after the lay up with fiberglass. If it goes OK, I may do the tail feathers in fiberglass. Thanks for the link... my crew is coming together and West technical experts have been helpful. A few people...even in my club have questioned fiberglass, so I made a note on the covering thread.
Additionally I am thinking about mounting a High Resolution Bullet Cam in at the top of the VS... which would require some minor modifications. I just purchased the camera to see how it would work... the Bullet Cam has 420 lines, very light wt. (about 3 oz) is weather proof and is only 1" by about 3"... so it could fit. Additionally when I do the wings, I may build in the another camera or two... at least put in the wires, mounts, etc. along with the wires for lights... perhaps the LED lights. The old strobes and transformers are coming out.
Again, I am trying to think of things that are doable at this stage of rebuilding that might not be worth it later. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Bob
