Fixing the Transponder with Duct Tape and Aluminum Foil

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 03:02:57 GMT, Richard Lamb
wrote:

Ron Wanttaja wrote:


I'm really hoping they'll work out. The idea of buying an aircraft part at
a store called "Party Universe" is almost irresistible. :-)

This is just too cool for school, Ron!

After fifteen minutes fiddling with my multimeter, my guess is that the
aluminum layer is too thin to count on. Touching the probes on the shiny
exterior, the DVM readout never *did* stabilize...down to 40 ohms, back to
infinity, down to 100K, back to infinity, etc. The LCD screen spent more
time blanked than displaying any value.

I did a less-scientific test...I sliced open a balloon and inserted a cell
phone inside. The signal-strength readout did drop from full to just one
bar.

I may try it anyway, just because installation is fairly easy. But I
suspect the points of contact will rub away rapidly, losing the ground
connection and causing the noise level to rise again.

By now, I've collected material for several approaches, like the 1/2"
copper tape the RST winged-but-definitely-heterosexual-mythical-creature
left me and the aluminum window screening I shelled out $5 for last
weekend. I even got some of that "holy grail" copper tape I mentioned on
an earlier posting...it's 16" wide and 4 feet long, with a peel-off
adhesive backing. So I certainly don't lack options....

Ron Wanttaja