Ham radio in aircraft

As my .signature attests, I'm also a ham radio operator. I'd like to be able
to use a 2 meter/440 MHz dual-band radio in the aircraft. While, ideally,
that radio would be an Icom IC-2820H, like the one in my car, practically
speaking it'll be a handheld. An external antenna would seem to be a useful
thing, with the cable brought forward to some convenient spot so I can hook
the radio up to it.

What are other hams doing in their aircraft?
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
http://www.hercules-390.org (Yes, that's me!)
Buy Hercules stuff at http://www.cafepress.com/hercules-390

It all depends on

a) if it is your aircraft and you can hang things permanently where you
want

and

b) how technically inclined you are.

Jim
WX6RST


What are other hams doing in their aircraft?

On 2008-01-09, RST Engineering wrote:
It all depends on a) if it is your aircraft and you can hang things
permanently where you want

Yes. I'm going to be buying an LSA some time this year.

and b) how technically inclined you are.

The ham radio part of this doesn't hold any mystery to me at all: I've been
a ham for 35 years, and do my own installation of stuff in cars and the
like. What I don't know is what's possible, good, or legal in an aircraft.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
http://www.hercules-390.org (Yes, that's me!)
Buy Hercules stuff at http://www.cafepress.com/hercules-390

"Jay Maynard" wrote in message
...
The ham radio part of this doesn't hold any mystery to me at all: I've been
a ham for 35 years, and do my own installation of stuff in cars and the
like. What I don't know is what's possible, good, or legal in an aircraft.

I don't believe that there are any laws against operating a ham radio in an
aircraft. Permanent installations are a whole 'nother kettle of fish, but that
is not what you seem to have in mind.

I have also been a ham for over 40 years. My feeling has always been that I
can do all of the hamming on the ground that I want, but my time aloft is too
precious (and potentially dangerous) to do anything else but aviate. I have
never had any interest in mixing ham radio and aviation but YMMV.

Vaughn WB4UHB

Jay Maynard wrote:
On 2008-01-09, RST Engineering wrote:
It all depends on a) if it is your aircraft and you can hang things
permanently where you want

Yes. I'm going to be buying an LSA some time this year.

and b) how technically inclined you are.

The ham radio part of this doesn't hold any mystery to me at all: I've been
a ham for 35 years, and do my own installation of stuff in cars and the
like. What I don't know is what's possible, good, or legal in an aircraft.

First you have to get permission from the pilot/owner/operator; that part
should be easy....

Basically, anything permanently installed needs to be done, or at least
"supervised", and signed off by someone with the appropriate FAA holy
papers.

To keep it simple, don't permanently mount the radio and power it from
the cigarette lighter plug.

Install a second COM antenna, which will work good enoungh for 2M even
without filing off a little on the end when no one is looking, with a
cable run to a convenient place, which could also double as the antenna
for an air band hand held back up. This is the part that needs the FAA
paper.

Or, build the A/C yourself and do anything you want.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Jay Maynard wrote:
On 2008-01-09, RST Engineering wrote:
It all depends on a) if it is your aircraft and you can hang things
permanently where you want

Yes. I'm going to be buying an LSA some time this year.

and b) how technically inclined you are.

The ham radio part of this doesn't hold any mystery to me at all: I've been
a ham for 35 years, and do my own installation of stuff in cars and the
like. What I don't know is what's possible, good, or legal in an aircraft.

Legal is physically separate from the aircraft radios. A ham
installation isn't a major modification. Use normal accepted
aircraft practices.

On 2008-01-10, Ron Natalie wrote:
Legal is physically separate from the aircraft radios.

How separate? Just not in the radio stack, or not in the panel, or...? Can
it share aircraft power? (I have no intention of trying to share any
aircraft antennas; that's too much work for too little reward.)

A ham installation isn't a major modification.

I know this is a Good Thing, but just what does it mean?

Use normal accepted aircraft practices.

I'd planned to do that in any case; I may well simply have the manufacturer
include the antenna and cabling when the aircraft is built, so that I know
that it's all done to the same standard.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
http://www.hercules-390.org (Yes, that's me!)
Buy Hercules stuff at http://www.cafepress.com/hercules-390

There is an FAA Advisory Circular 20-98 "Auxiliary Two-Way Airborne Radio
System Installations" dated 5/23/77 that speaks directly to this issue.
Your local FSDO should have a copy and if not, I suppose I should get my act
together sometime in the next semester and scan it in to our website
www.rstengineering.com Just don't make me promise to do it by a particular
date.

In the blue-on-blue-182, the Kenwood TM-231 is mounted on the right side of
the instrument panel in the radio rack just above the Radio Shack AM-FM
cassette player and below the Garmin GPS patch panel and the XM radio patch
panel. All are powered from ships power through the avionics breaker and
are routed through the aircraft audio panel and use the headset and speaker
of the aircraft. It is necessary to do a little matching-magic to get the
aircraft microphone to mate with the Kenwood's microphone input, but is
certainly not rocket science to do so.

The antenna is a piece of 19" brazing rod soldered into a BNC connector out
in the plastic wingtip. A 3/8" hole in the outermost rib holds the mating
BNC connector and the rib along with the whole starboard wing is the ground
plane. The other wingtip holds the random wire used as the antenna for the
AM-FM radio. THe XM antenna (with magnets removed) is a small lump under
the glare shield blanket. THe GPS antenna is a hockey puck on the top of
the fuselage just aft of the windshield mounted in the hole that used to be
the hole for the ratty old paper-cone speaker hold-down screws. The speaker
is now a weatherproof trumpet mounted in the wing root just port of the
pilot's ear and behind the headliner.

The only problem that I have is that there is no sidetone with the Kenwood,
so in my next audio panel design the #3 radio will use the audio panel
intercom for sidetone.

Your biggest problem right now is to find a very friendly A&P/IA that
understands minor modifications and logbook entries instead of major
paperwork blizzards.

Jim
A&P/IA
WX6RST
1958 C-182 N 73 CQ

--
"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."
--Henry Ford




The ham radio part of this doesn't hold any mystery to me at all: I've
been
a ham for 35 years, and do my own installation of stuff in cars and the
like. What I don't know is what's possible, good, or legal in an aircraft.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
http://www.hercules-390.org (Yes, that's me!)
Buy Hercules stuff at http://www.cafepress.com/hercules-390

BTW, Dave Martin K6KOW and the former editor of Kitplanes Magazine and I did
the "Aircraft Mobile" chapter of the ARRL publication on mobile operation.
You may want to get ahold of a copy of that ARRL book.

Jim

--
"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."
--Henry Ford

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
There is an FAA Advisory Circular 20-98

On 2008-01-10, RST Engineering wrote:
BTW, Dave Martin K6KOW and the former editor of Kitplanes Magazine and I did
the "Aircraft Mobile" chapter of the ARRL publication on mobile operation.
You may want to get ahold of a copy of that ARRL book.

Thanks for the tip; I just ordered a copy.

I think I can get AC 20-98 online from the FAA, as well, but their server
appears to be having problems.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC http://www.conmicro.com
http://jmaynard.livejournal.com http://www.tronguy.net
http://www.hercules-390.org (Yes, that's me!)
Buy Hercules stuff at http://www.cafepress.com/hercules-390