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Oil on transponder antenna



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 2nd 04, 10:34 PM
Bob
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Default Oil on transponder antenna

Is it possible that some oil on the transponder antenna would cause it
to transmit intermittently?

I would have wiped it clean and tried it out but it's 5 OVC today....

Thanx
  #2  
Old May 2nd 04, 11:46 PM
rip
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Yes it is. Before I got an air/oil separator that actually worked, my
transponder was very unreliable unless I kept the antenna clean.

Bob wrote:
Is it possible that some oil on the transponder antenna would cause it
to transmit intermittently?

I would have wiped it clean and tried it out but it's 5 OVC today....

Thanx


  #3  
Old May 3rd 04, 01:47 AM
Tom Jackson
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For what its worth, I also had an intermittant transponder, and finally
concluded that it was due to the coax cable getting damaged by the heat in
the heater duct.

In my Warrior, the coax routes down through the heater ductwork to the belly
of the plane. Every winter, I would experience transponder trouble. I
finally insulated the antenna wire, and now there are no more problems.

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Is it possible that some oil on the transponder antenna would cause it
to transmit intermittently?

I would have wiped it clean and tried it out but it's 5 OVC today....

Thanx



  #4  
Old May 3rd 04, 03:19 PM
Bob Chilcoat
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Interesting, I just posted the same question on RAP. See
"Pinging Jim Wier - X-Ponder Antenna Question"

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney to love America
(Or Kerry, for that matter)

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Is it possible that some oil on the transponder antenna would cause it
to transmit intermittently?

I would have wiped it clean and tried it out but it's 5 OVC today....

Thanx



  #5  
Old May 3rd 04, 04:23 PM
MikeM
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Default

Bob wrote:
Is it possible that some oil on the transponder antenna would cause it
to transmit intermittently?

I would have wiped it clean and tried it out but it's 5 OVC today....

Thanx


No!

Oil is a pretty good insulator. Oil is used as a coolant in transformers.
It is used to conduct heat away from the non-inductive resistor in a 1Ghz Bird
wattmeter/dummy load that I own.

If your transponder is intermittent, then there is about a 0.1% probability
that wiping the antenna will fix it...


MikeM

  #6  
Old May 3rd 04, 05:54 PM
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MikeM wrote:
Bob wrote:
Is it possible that some oil on the transponder antenna would cause it
to transmit intermittently?

I would have wiped it clean and tried it out but it's 5 OVC today....

Thanx


No!


Oil is a pretty good insulator. Oil is used as a coolant in transformers.
It is used to conduct heat away from the non-inductive resistor in a 1Ghz Bird
wattmeter/dummy load that I own.


If your transponder is intermittent, then there is about a 0.1% probability
that wiping the antenna will fix it...



MikeM


Clean oil is an insulator.

An oil film with who knows what gunk in it is not such a good insulator.

So, if you change the oil on your antenna regularly...

--
Jim Pennino

Remove -spam-sux to reply.
  #8  
Old May 4th 04, 01:13 AM
John
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A film of oil with some dirt attached is still transparent to the RF.


HOWEVER if you wipe the antenna that is attached to a thin skinned
aircraft you will MOVE the antenna slightly. Maybe just enough to
restore connection in the rusty connector joint or the broken solder
joint.
Wiping works just not for the reason stated.
JF

On Mon, 03 May 2004 17:49:46 -0600, mikem wrote:



wrote:


Clean oil is an insulator.

An oil film with who knows what gunk in it is not such a good insulator.

So, if you change the oil on your antenna regularly...


Nevertheless, I stand by my statement.

In order for dirty oil to effect the transmission, it would have to
carbonize the oil into a conductive track shorting across the insulator
at the base of the monopole. The peak power output from the transponder
is about about 250W, which puts about SQR(250*50)=~110V across the
antenna base.

A little dirty oil will not arc over at 100V!

MikeM


 




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