If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
antenna
Electrically it would work just fine. The problem is how to get the
grounding bolts of the antenna base to mechanically connect to the aluminum and not corrode over a long period of time. A secondary problem is that the antenna gets as much "connection" to the metal skin of an airplane through the capacitance between the metal base and the skin through a very thin rubber gasket acting as a dielectric as it does with the metal screw contact. WItness the fact that most of those fiberglass whip antennas have a rather sturdy epoxy paint job on the base. 99 out of 100 times you take the antenna off and you find that the paint in the bolt holes is still quite intact, meaning that the screw never DID cut through that paint to give you the ground you were hoping for. Me? If it is a tupperware airplane or toothpicks and tissue paper airplane I go down to the hardware store and buy some thin (1 or 2 mil) shim brass or copper. Cut me a plate using the base of the antenna as a template and four strips 22.5" long. Solder the strips to the brass plate near the center, stuff the strips through a hole in the fuselage where the antenna is going to go, leaving the plate on the OUTside of the fuselage, bolting the antenna through the brass plate and through the fuselage, and then tidy up the brass strips by "attaching" (glue, RTV, epoxy) them flat to the underside of the fuselage. Jim -- "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." --Aristotle "Dan" wrote in message ... Would perforated aluminum foil or aluminum screen embedded in the skin and bonded to ground do the job? I'm assuming it wouldn't make for a strong lamination, but as a ground plane it seems kind of tidy. Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
GPS Antenna | 150flivver | Owning | 14 | December 11th 05 05:38 AM |
Best VHF Antenna | Steve | Home Built | 6 | January 25th 05 02:04 PM |
ELT Antenna | Gary | Home Built | 18 | November 5th 04 02:17 AM |
VHF Antenna | David Wilson | Home Built | 1 | June 14th 04 03:25 AM |
ADF antenna | Dan Luke | Owning | 3 | August 14th 03 02:48 PM |