PowerFLARM updates and installation notes

On 6/5/2012 11:09 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
On 6/5/2012 10:15 PM, Ramy wrote:
Hopefully not hijacking this thread, but electronic compensation
such as the one my 302 is using seem to be as good as the TE
compensation my winter is using, so looks like I could get rid of the
TE probe (except that in many cases it is also the pitot).

Works for me! It's particularly valuable for a motorglider like I have,
because the prop wash drives the TE nutty. My glider uses the nose pitot
for the airspeed indicator, not the one on the TE probe, and I think
that is common.

Possibly, those of us that no longer use the fin-mounted TE probe could
mount our PowerFlarm antennas in it's place. Held out in front of the
fin, the two antennas would have an excellent view of the world, and the
coax could be run beside the TE probe tubing and through the same holes
it uses.

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

On 6/6/2012 6:25 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:

the two antennas would have an excellent view of the world, and the
coax could be run beside the TE probe tubing and through the same holes
it uses.

Yes that's all true, but that sounds like a long coax run. Have you
considered coaxial cable loss at that frequency?

Vaughn

On 6/6/2012 6:37 PM, Vaughn wrote:
On 6/6/2012 6:25 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:

the two antennas would have an excellent view of the world, and the
coax could be run beside the TE probe tubing and through the same holes
it uses.

Yes that's all true, but that sounds like a long coax run. Have you
considered coaxial cable loss at that frequency?

Vaughn

The long run requires very good coax to keep the signal low. That
usually means the easy to pull skinny coax can't be used; also, the
tubing might be tied glued in a few places, so it's not obvious the idea
is practical.

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

On 6/6/2012 7:33 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
On 6/6/2012 6:37 PM, Vaughn wrote:
On 6/6/2012 6:25 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:

the two antennas would have an excellent view of the world, and the
coax could be run beside the TE probe tubing and through the same holes
it uses.

Yes that's all true, but that sounds like a long coax run. Have you
considered coaxial cable loss at that frequency?

Vaughn

The long run requires very good coax to keep the signal low. That
usually means the easy to pull skinny coax can't be used; also, the
tubing might be tied glued in a few places, so it's not obvious the idea
is practical.

That should be "to keep the signal losses low".


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

On Jun 6, 10:23*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
On 6/6/2012 7:33 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:









On 6/6/2012 6:37 PM, Vaughn wrote:
On 6/6/2012 6:25 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:

the two antennas would have an excellent view of the world, and the
coax could be run beside the TE probe tubing and through the same holes
it uses.

Yes that's all true, but that sounds like a long coax run. Have you
considered coaxial cable loss at that frequency?

Vaughn

The long run requires very good coax to keep the signal low. That
usually means the easy to pull skinny coax can't be used; also, the
tubing might be tied glued in a few places, so it's not obvious the idea
is practical.

That should be "to keep the signal losses low".

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

This prompted me to Google "low drag antennas" and "conformal
antennas". There's a lot to choose from but I can't say which is
best.

It occurs to me that the actual conductors inside a "rubber ducky"
antenna is extremely fine. Could these fine wires be attached to the
inside of a canopy and be essentially invisible?

Years ago, I fabricated an antenna out of stick-on aluminum foil that was about the same thickness as vinyl letters. It worked great on my fiberglass fuselage and adjusting the length to get a good SWR reading was a snap.

You might have a challenge finding somewhere on a modern glider that doesn't have carbon fiber, which is too conducting for this to work. (A colleague suggested that cutting a slot antenna in the fuselage might be an alternative!)

Mike

colleague suggested that cutting a slot antenna in the fuselage
might be an
alternative!)

Mike


That was a good one! Thanks