On 6/20/2012 5:29 PM, Andy wrote:

Hope the antenna installation guide considers that most pilots like
to clean the inside of the canopy before every flight. On many
modern gliders the glareshield is attached to the canopy leaving
little space for a hand and cloth even when no antenna is present.

"Most"? I'm really curious about what is making the inside of your
canopy so dirty it requires such frequent cleaning? Do you tow from a
dirt airstrip?

I clean mine once a year, and I usually can't tell the difference;
however, if I cleaned it before every flight, I'd worry the
inside would be covered with fine scratches after 17 years and 100's of
flights.

Just to be clear, I'd like the antennas to be smaller or placed
somewhere else, so I'm not looking or taking pictures through them. But,
I'm getting use to them.

It's a bit surprising that people think the PCAS antenna
positioning is not important. I understand that the signal is
stronger that the FLARM signal, but ZAON is quite emphatic about the
need for proper positioning of the MRX PCAS antenna.

The signal is about 150watts/0.020watts = 7500 times stronger -
transponder signals are a lot stronger! My MRX manual isn't as emphatic
as yours, apparently, saying only:

"The preferred placement for MRX is on the glare shield of your aircraft
with the antenna angled vertically. This configuration affords MRX the
best possible sensitivity and accuracy. Position MRX at least 2” away
from any magnetic compass to avoid potential magnetic interference."

It also has a shorter antenna, and perhaps that makes it's positioning
more important than the PowerFlarm PCAS antenna.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)