FLARM Antenna Hall of Shame?

[Dave Nadler]

Not to be confused with the Soaring Hall of Fame
for which nominations were just requested...
Though some FLARM installations perhaps deserve
nominations there too!

I've recently received a lot of requests for the FLARM
Antenna Hall of Shame advice, but sadly the original
web page got trashed. Urs and I started a technical
note with this information, never quite got finished,
but I've put the latest draft on my
Soaring Publications web page:
http://www.nadler.com/public/NadlerSoaringIndex.html

The direct link is:
http://www.nadler.com/public/PowerFLARM_Application_Note_ANTENNAS_July_2012_dra ft.pdf

The bottom line is:
- use the dipole antenna above your instrument glare shield/cover
- mount it as high as possible, usually back towards
the pilot to get well above instruments and front canopy edge
- mount it so it is vertical in cruise flight attitude
- run the coax cable diagonally away from the antenna;
keep it away from the antenna elements
After the first few minutes you'll never notice it,
and you'll get MUCH better range than alternatives.

Hope this helps,
Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

[Darryl Ramm]

On Saturday, July 19, 2014 12:37:05 PM UTC-7, Dave Nadler wrote:
> Not to be confused with the Soaring Hall of Fame
>
> for which nominations were just requested...
>
> Though some FLARM installations perhaps deserve
>
> nominations there too!
>
>
>
> I've recently received a lot of requests for the FLARM
>
> Antenna Hall of Shame advice, but sadly the original
>
> web page got trashed. Urs and I started a technical
>
> note with this information, never quite got finished,
>
> but I've put the latest draft on my
>
> Soaring Publications web page:
>
> http://www.nadler.com/public/NadlerSoaringIndex.html
>
>
>
> The direct link is:
>
> http://www.nadler.com/public/PowerFLARM_Application_Note_ANTENNAS_July_2012_dra ft.pdf
>
>
>
> The bottom line is:
>
> - use the dipole antenna above your instrument glare shield/cover
>
> - mount it as high as possible, usually back towards
>
> the pilot to get well above instruments and front canopy edge
>
> - mount it so it is vertical in cruise flight attitude
>
> - run the coax cable diagonally away from the antenna;
>
> keep it away from the antenna elements
>
> After the first few minutes you'll never notice it,
>
> and you'll get MUCH better range than alternatives.
>
>
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Best Regards, Dave "YO electric"

Educational and entertaining. Thanks Dave!

[Ramy[_2_]]

For non carbon gliders, or carbon gliders with carbon free nose, the nose seem to be the best place. No ugly antenna in front of you and excellent coverage. My 27A which has carbon free nose (I think maybe only early 27a had carbon free nose) gets at least 6 miles range in most directions except behind (rudder pedal) where it is 2-3 miles.
I believe with some creativity and only little compromise one can normally come up with an acceptable aesthetic solution.

Ramy

[[email protected]]

I mounted the antennas up in the nose on my ASW-15B (attached to the fiberglass bulkhead that is forward of the rudder pedals and contains the pitot and nose vent plenum). I was relieved to find it delivered good range in all directions when tested with other Powerflarm equipped gliders and evaluated with the online tool. There's not near enough space between the glare shield and canopy to mount it up top. I was worried that the rudder pedals would be close enough to the antenna to have an unacceptable adverse effect but even though I fly with the pedals all the way forward this is not the case.

I'm using an LX8080 Simple (which doesn't have a built in GPS and logger) set up to communicate with the Powerflarm so it can act as the GPS source and logger. The display is a Flarmview 57. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was to get set up and running. It was "plug and play" really. Fabricating the brackets and properly running the wiring for the Powerflarm was the only hard part. The units all talked to each other properly right out of the box with no configuration problems. The 8080 even provides switched power to the Powerflarm. I'm impressed with how useful the Powerflarm is and don't want to fly without one now. Above all else it's a great adjunct to the visual scan. I find the alerts from powered traffic transponders useful too despite the fact that in my area the only time they are triggered is when a TCAS equipped aircraft is passing over and is interrogating them.

I do wish the Flarmview could command the Powerflarm to copy the igc. file to the USB drive the way the Butterfly displays do though. I'm told that's coming in the next update. I prefer it to the Butterfly display in all other ways but I do have to switch the units off, plug in the USB drive and switch them back on again in order to download the trace of my flight.

[JS]

My current installation could be the poster child of the hall of shame.
It doesn't work at all!
This is my third FLARM: one OzFLARM and two PFs.
Only put it in for W+B purposes, will finish the installation this coming winter. There are only a handful in the area who have bought a FLARM anyway.
Antennas are still below the glare shield. They will eventually be mounted using the Williams Soaring mount that looks like a scoop, with one half of the dipole poking through the glare shield.
Previous PF mount was the typical 26E or early 27 in the nose, and the OzFLARM sat on the glare shield with a piece of clear tubing instead of the black plastic protecting the antenna. That was nearly invisible in flight. So was the later stick-on antenna, mounted on the canopy.
If I was ever to order a new glider, the leading edge of the vertical fin would be used for FLARM antennas, where the optional flashing LEDs would go.
Jim