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Question For Jim Weir
Jim,
Is it practical, possible and legal to build a radio for your own homebuilt airplane? I can't see paying 1000 bucks for a panel mount unit for a volksplane. -- Patrick Dixon student SPL aircraft structural mech |
#2
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"W P Dixon" wrote Jim, Is it practical, possible and legal to build a radio for your own homebuilt airplane? I can't see paying 1000 bucks for a panel mount unit for a volksplane. Yeah, I see a future Kitplanes article! g -- Jim in NC |
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"W P Dixon" wrote in message ... Jim, Is it practical, possible and legal to build a radio for your own homebuilt airplane? Practical? No. I have been in the radio business all my life and I would not even consider it, probably not even a kit. Possible? Yes. Legal? I don't think so. I can't see paying 1000 bucks for a panel mount unit for a volksplane. Use a portable. Fasten it on the side of your cockpit and use a headset. I have flown gliders for hundreds of hours with a tiny portable on a light lanyard around my neck, but that may not work well over engine noise. Vaughn -- Patrick Dixon student SPL aircraft structural mech |
#4
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"W P Dixon" wrote in message
Practical? No. I have been in the radio business all my life and I would not even consider it, probably not even a kit. Absolutely agree! I've got a couple of receiver protos I've lashed together and have been playing with. Great fun but not very practical. There are a few cheapo kit receivers out there (e.g. Ramseyelectronics.com, Hamtronics.com...) but not exactly "industrial" - and not adequate for aircraft use. You could build something much better but the search for decent components is a real hassle. Possible? Yes. Certainly possible (as noted above) but for a one-off you'll have way more than the $1000 in it when you're done (and that's counting your time at a mere $0.50 per hour 8-)....... Even then, you'll probably be disappointed in the result. Legal? I don't think so. And this is the major rub. You can build receivers all day long and pretty much do whatever you want with them (most of mine will become paperweights!)... but then there's the transmitter! You'll need lots of expertise and *FCC approval* - which is where the whole concept comes to a screeching halt. Licensed hams can build their own transmitters *for use in the ham bands* - but the FCC and FAA are understandably concerned about what happens in the aviation bands. The only "kits" I've ever seen were from RST and I actually built one some 20 years ago. BUT - it stopped being a kit when you finished the construction because, to be *legal*, it had to be returned to RST for alignment, checkout and - most importantly - provision of the FCC label that was then attached. Maybe Jim can enlighten us as to how he managed to pull this off - and how much hassle it was...........8-) Use a portable. Fasten it on the side of your cockpit and use a headset. I have flown gliders for hundreds of hours with a tiny portable on a light lanyard around my neck, but that may not work well over engine noise. A reasonable "kit" might be something that made the handheld more "permanent like" (tied in to the intercom, better audio, clean power, etc.) but it would no doubt have to involve NO modifications to the portable (or you're back to the FCC certifcation problems)... Bill |
#5
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Vaughn wrote:
Practical? No. I have been in the radio business all my life and I would not even consider it, probably not even a kit. Possible? Yes. Legal? I don't think so. Back a long time ago, in the first incarnation of RST, Jim actually did have a kit radio. The "legality" was dealt with by sending the radio off to RST after you finished building it for it's test and alignment stage. Jim has felt the market out for radios again a few times over the years, but it's a hard market. Frankly, what I suggested to him maybe 10 years ago, and I think would still be intersting in pursuing is to have a com radio unit where the radio parts were preassembled/certificated but with no real user interface parts, just a digital interface of some sort that avionics hackers could integrate with their own electronic panel. Use a portable. Fasten it on the side of your cockpit and use a headset. I have flown gliders for hundreds of hours with a tiny portable on a light lanyard around my neck, but that may not work well over engine noise. I ferried my Navion around (it was between having the new panel cut at one shop and the radios installed at another) with my headphones, a portable intercom and my Yazoo handheld. Worked passably (would have been better with a real antenna rather than the rubber coated dummy load), but such would work well in a homebuilt. Cabin noise you fix with a headset. The bigger problem with a lot of these small planes is ignition noise. That can lay waste to the AM signal in any radio. |
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"Ron Natalie" wrote in message Frankly, what I suggested to him maybe 10 years ago, and I think would still be intersting in pursuing is to have a com radio unit where the radio parts were preassembled/certificated but with no real user interface parts, just a digital interface of some sort that avionics hackers could integrate with their own electronic panel. This is exactly what got me started on my own project! What I really wanted was a set of very small "modules" (e.g. Com, Nav, GPS, etc.) that were "headless" black boxes. No user interface - rather a serial (Rs232/422) or, preferably, CAN I/O scheme. Then the user control, display, et. al. can be as simple or as sophisticated as you'd like. Advantages are that the modules can be mounted anywhere it's convenient while taking up very little space. The panel space needed can be user selectable dpending on how fancy they want to get. And the level of integration with other systems opens up some really interesting possibilities. Still working on it - but who knows if it will go anywhere. The possibilities are really intriguing however so I continue to bash on the things. In a perfect world if I could get someone like Jim to collaborate and/or critique the RF portions I'd be *very* tempted to move forward with the FCC and other certifications. Surely there are others who could use these widgets - particularly if the cost can be held to some reasonable level. Would probably always be a niche market with relatively modest volumes but that's fine with me.......8-) Already did the big-ticket, high-volume drill for years and don't care to go back! If anyone here has any comments or wants to get involved let me know........ Bill |
#7
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If anyone here has any comments or wants to get involved let me
know........ I know absolutely nothing about electronics, but I'm an expert at plastic injection molds. Let me know if you need some help with your cases. |
#8
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"LCT Paintball" I know absolutely nothing about electronics, but I'm an expert at plastic injection molds. Let me know if you need some help with your cases. Great! Maybe we can start a grassroots movement to build widgets. Drop me an email and maybe we can see how to get started............. Aren't you the one in San Diego? Bill |
#9
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Ron Natalie wrote: Vaughn wrote: Practical? No. I have been in the radio business all my life and I would not even consider it, probably not even a kit. Possible? Yes. Legal? I don't think so. Back a long time ago, in the first incarnation of RST, Jim actually did have a kit radio. The "legality" was dealt with by sending the radio off to RST after you finished building it for it's test and alignment stage. Jim has felt the market out for radios again a few times over the years, but it's a hard market. Frankly, what I suggested to him maybe 10 years ago, and I think would still be intersting in pursuing is to have a com radio unit where the radio parts were preassembled/certificated but with no real user interface parts, just a digital interface of some sort that avionics hackers could integrate with their own electronic panel. Use a portable. Fasten it on the side of your cockpit and use a headset. I have flown gliders for hundreds of hours with a tiny portable on a light lanyard around my neck, but that may not work well over engine noise. I ferried my Navion around (it was between having the new panel cut at one shop and the radios installed at another) with my headphones, a portable intercom and my Yazoo handheld. Worked passably (would have been better with a real antenna rather than the rubber coated dummy load), but such would work well in a homebuilt. Cabin noise you fix with a headset. The bigger problem with a lot of these small planes is ignition noise. That can lay waste to the AM signal in any radio. ************************************************** ********************************** Ron; Back in 1983 I built one of RST's 360 Nav / Com radios. It was a fun job with over 1000 parts on 9 circuit boards,as I remember. I sent it back for calibration/certification and they found I had a couple of diodes installed backward - otherwise OK. I flew our Rv-4 for 700 hours with it and a Communications Specialists handheld, with a slide-in can and connections for power and antenna and wired into my intercom. Bob Olds RV-4 Charleston,Arkansas ************************************************** ********************************** |
#10
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Yeah I worry about the small cockpit in the VP and just not having alot of
space to put things on the sides of the cockpit..after all there has to be room for me in there too! I'd really like to have a panel mount. Not only for the reason above but for better performance in general. I have not seen any portable units installed using a real antenna to compare , just the little rubber whip things that I do not like. Patrick student SPL aircraft structural mech |
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