US Power FLARM Antennas

The data sheet for the PFBrick FLARM TX/RX and PCAS/ADS-B antennas
can be found here :

http://www.linxtechnologies.com/reso...-mhw-xxx-x.pdf

One has to wonder if an antenna tuned for 915MHz is the best choice
for PCAS/ADS-B. Maybe that antenna would be best used as the FLARM RX
only antenna?

Andy

On Jun 12, 10:00*am, Andy wrote:
The data sheet for the PFBrick FLARM TX/RX and *PCAS/ADS-B antennas
can be found here :

http://www.linxtechnologies.com/reso...nt-916-mhw-xxx...

One has to wonder if an antenna tuned for 915MHz *is the best choice
for PCAS/ADS-B. *Maybe that antenna would be best used as the FLARM RX
only antenna?

Andy

Picked up several PCAS hits this weekend with PF brick. The range
seems adequate, but not convincingly so. I think I'd like a little
more than what I am currently seeing. I'd like to be seeing pcas
targets at at least 3 miles, I don't think I'm getting that much
reliably. I don't know if this is a hardware limitation or the way
the software is set up.

Evan Ludeman / T8

On 6/12/2012 7:00 AM, Andy wrote:
The data sheet for the PFBrick FLARM TX/RX and PCAS/ADS-B antennas
can be found here :

http://www.linxtechnologies.com/reso...-mhw-xxx-x.pdf

One has to wonder if an antenna tuned for 915MHz is the best choice
for PCAS/ADS-B. Maybe that antenna would be best used as the FLARM RX
only antenna?

I thought the dipole was only for the Flarm A antenna, not the PCAS
antenna, as PCAS already has acceptable range. Remember, PCAS is
receiving signals from 130 to 250 watt transmitters, while Flarm
transmitters are 20 milliwatts or so.

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

On Jun 12, 2:55*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
I thought the dipole was only for the Flarm A antenna, not the PCAS
antenna, as PCAS already has acceptable range. Remember, PCAS is
receiving signals from 130 to 250 watt transmitters, while Flarm
transmitters are 20 milliwatts or so.


Ah yes, but the PFB comes with 2 dipoles according to someone that
recently received theirs. The difference only being that one has a
standard SMA and the other an RPSMA.

Anyone with a new brick like to confirm that?

Andy

On Jun 12, 6:42*pm, Andy wrote:
On Jun 12, 2:55*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:

I thought the dipole was only for the Flarm A antenna, not the PCAS
antenna, as PCAS already has acceptable range. Remember, PCAS is
receiving signals from 130 to 250 watt transmitters, while Flarm
transmitters are 20 milliwatts or so.

Ah yes, but the PFB comes with 2 dipoles according to someone that
recently received theirs. *The difference only being that one has a
standard SMA and the other an RPSMA.

Anyone with a new brick like to confirm that?

Andy

That's correct.

T8

Wanted to follow-up on the Antenna(s) for the PowerFLARM "Brick": Got
mine today and the updated installation manual on the www.powerflarm.us
website is decent; though there's still room for improvement.

In the manual, they mention that the dipole antenna mounted on the
glareshield should be "at least 4 inches ahead" of the compass. From
the "Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame" photos, it would appear that this is
referring to the dipole being placed between the pilot's head and the
compass.

In my DG-300 my compass is not in quite the extreme-forward position
as shown in some of those photos. So I may be able to mount the FLARM
dipole 4-6 inches forward of the compass (between the compass and the
nose of the glider). Any PowerFLARM insiders care to comment on
whether this is a bad idea/location?

Also: Between my 2 loggers' GPS antennae and the PowerFLARM antennae,
I'm running out of places to stick them all, while maintaining good
separation. Any comments on whether the ADS-B antenna would work OK
if I stick it to the inside the "roof" of the turtledeck? The ship is
all fiberglass, but I wonder about the landing-gear metal below, the
nearby speaker in the turtledeck, the proximity to the wing-spars
(8-12 inches away), etc. Thoughts/comments/ideas?

Thanks!

--Noel

Mounting the FLARM antenna in front of the compass is by far the best location unless you have metal or carbon vent outlets forward of it at the same height.

We will publish an 'Antenna Installation' application note this week.
Don't worry too much about the ADS-B antenna, the signals it receives are pretty strong.

FLARM

I spent the day installing my FLARM brick today. The antennas were added to the side of the glare shield (Discus 2b) VIA a $1 door stop and Velcro to give it a reasonable vertical orientation without banging on my canopy. I was leaning to balsa wood, but in my small town I couldn't find any. I will spruce up the installation a bit by painting the door stops with textured black paint. Since independent analysis shows the antenna orientation only marginally affects reception and rotating the antenna in the same location does more damage than moving it off of vertical, this should be good enough. It isn't blocking my forward view like some of the "recommended" installations have shown. Of course, it is a work in progress like all other folks out there. If things go to pot, I'll make changes and let you know the results.

Craig