ELT Mounting for an ASW20-C

[Papa3]

Hi,

I offered to help out a friend. He wants to install a 121.5mhz TSO'd
ELT in his 20C. Looking for successful solutions for this specific
ship in terms of:

- Location
- Make and model of ELT

Not interest in a debate on the merits of PLBs, 406MHZ or whether the
PW5 is in fact a sign of the coming Apocalypse.

Rgds

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)

[5Z]

Just helped a friend install one in his ASW-20B.

On the right side of the fuselage just below where the pushrods enter,
there's a plywood shelf. An ACK (don't recall the model, but this one
runs on 8 D cells) fits just fine. Routing the cable for the remote
control panel is the most difficult part of the installation.

Antenna is installed (without ground plane) by drilling a hole in the
right forward part of the baggage shelf and arcs around the inside of
the fuselage.

I'll try to get some pictures of this and an ASW-19 we did last weekend
and post them on my website next weekend.

-Tom

[Tim Mara]

I'll send you some images of how I installed one in an ASW20C last
year.ACK-E01 mounted below mixer on the fixture originally intended by
Schleicher for a capacity bottle......reinforced .made a very tidy
installation.though a real b-----h to install.....
you'll like the installation.....
I'd be happy to send these same images to anyone who has a 20 and would like
to see how it was done
Best Regards
tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at:
www.wingsandwheels.com



"Papa3" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I offered to help out a friend. He wants to install a 121.5mhz TSO'd
> ELT in his 20C. Looking for successful solutions for this specific
> ship in terms of:
>
> - Location
> - Make and model of ELT
>
> Not interest in a debate on the merits of PLBs, 406MHZ or whether the
> PW5 is in fact a sign of the coming Apocalypse.
>
> Rgds
>
> Erik Mann
> LS8-18 (P3)
>

[[email protected]]

Strongly suggest you follow Tims lead on this.
The obvious place is on the horizontal bulkhead below the push rods
UNTIL you look at the motion of the pushrods which is not straight
line. Only a small ELT will fit there.
Learned the hard way.
UH

[[email protected]]

Erik,
No recommendation is implied but the ELT Tom mentioned is an ACK EO-1,
dim. 7.75x2.75x2.75 inches with a little careful prep.; it fits well on
my 1985 20B and was use on Toms old ASW20B as well but you must set it
aft & clear of the spoiler rod/arm! The Flap and Aileron control
pushrods run over the top of this model installed ELT with some room to
spare. As UH mentioned only a small ELT will fit in this location, I
don't know if the height of the shelf varies slightly from ship to ship
and or model to model, but it may so beware. The ELT mounting location
Tim mentions, UH recommends and was used on one of our BFSS club
members ASW19s is well out of harms way.
Best regards,
Rick Culbertson - 21

[Papa3]

Thanks to everyone. Looks like the results are pretty much unanimous.


Okay - now the fun begins... :-))

[Papa3]

Thanks to everyone. Looks like the results are pretty much unanimous.


Okay - now the fun begins... :-))

[5Z]

Finally got the photos taken and uploaded online:
http://www.ash26e.com/scgi-bin/gallery/album02

First one is the installation in Rick's ASW-20B and the rest are the
ASW-19.

-Tom

[Papa3]

Tom,

Thanks. Really slick (especially the one mounted in the capacity
slot). Really like the idea of using the mounting doubler as the
ground plane. The only downside is that I'm now ashamed of the setup
in my LS8, so there's ANOTHER project for the last month or so before
flying starts up again :-))

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)

[Eric Greenwell]

5Z wrote:

> Finally got the photos taken and uploaded online:
> http://www.ash26e.com/scgi-bin/gallery/album02
>
> First one is the installation in Rick's ASW-20B and the rest are the
> ASW-19.

Tom, did you measure the SWR of the ASW 19 antenna installation? 3 or
less would be optimum. The ground plane looks quite small, but it would
be easy to rivet on another piece of thin aluminum to increase it around
the antenna mounting. Radial wires could be used, also, but might be
harder to restrain. Still, a clean installation.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

[5Z]

I think SWR is the least of one's problems after a crash....

In my ship the ground plane is a metal tab a bit smaller than a
matchbook and the antenna curls around the inside of the baggage
compartment. In either case, I'm just hoping things don't get torn up
too much and the thing works after a crash.

So, I'm not really worried about how well it works, as long as it stays
reasonably intact.

-Tom

[bumper]

"5Z" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I think SWR is the least of one's problems after a crash....
>
> In my ship the ground plane is a metal tab a bit smaller than a
> matchbook and the antenna curls around the inside of the baggage
> compartment. In either case, I'm just hoping things don't get torn up
> too much and the thing works after a crash.
>
> So, I'm not really worried about how well it works, as long as it stays
> reasonably intact.
>
> -Tom
>

121.5 MHz ELTs don't have so great a track record when it comes to working
properly after a crash. Assuming the thing survives, gets triggered by the
crash G-forces (or manually, pre-impact) and remains attached to its
antenna, the signal still needs to reach an overhead satellite. It's
reasonable to assume that the antenna may not be oriented optimally post
crash, nor may it be ideally situated at least a wavelength away from
conductive material, nor will it always have a nice clear view of the sky.
Getting that signal through won't always be easy.

Since reflected RF energy is wasted, I'd think minimizing SWR is important.
To help insure the signal gets through, why not go for best installation
practicable, given the constraints imposed by the typical modern glider? An
adequate ground plane isn't usually too difficult and may make the
difference.

bumper