Glider electrics etc

On Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 10:04:03 AM UTC-5, John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote:
On Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 11:32:52 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Thanks !
What about cutting and reconnecting (quick disconnect) the GPS antenna wires. What connector would you use ?
Dan

Dan,

It might be OK to shorten the GPS antenna's coax cable at the puck end (if you are particularly handy with a small tipped soldering iron) - but better to just loosely wrap up the excess cabling. The other end of the cable has the tricky and tiny SMA or MCX coaxial connectors which (unlike BNC and TNC connectors) requires some rather special expertise and tooling.

As to your idea of "cutting and reconnecting (quick disconnect) the GPS antenna wires [really coax]" I would give a definitive NOT. The beauty of coax is that the outer shield protects the very small signal from interference riding on the inner conductor. Cutting the cable to properly insert a COAXIAL quick disconnect connector on the thin coax can interfere with that protection and is difficult to properly accomplish to say the least. Commercially made quick disconnects of this size are available from Craggy Aero (FLARM only?).

My US$0.02.

John DeRosa OHM

The coax is very thin, and the shield is very, very thin. Take care not to pinch the cable while wrapping up ('loosely' in John's words). Sharp corners with any coax should be avoided.

You'll have at least one at your presentation, John, if the weather doesn't slam this Little Rock convention like it did last time...

Dan