A word of caution. I fitted a dipole aerial in the fin and tuned it with a
VSWR meter to give the strongest signal in the mid-range. I subsequently
fitted a strobe at the top of the fin. Recently I have found that ground
stations with mid-range frequencies have had difficulty in receiving my
transmissions. I checked the aerial again only to find that the mid-range
was by far the worst sector. Ferg has been advising me and says that this
could be some sort of harmonic effect, and that a dipole is very sensitive
to any metal alongside the aerial. Rather than re-site the strobe I am
currently fitting a quarter wave aerial inside the fuselage, mounted on the
upper surface and facing downwards. I have fitted a 6mm radius copper disc
at the base of the aerial to act as a ground plane, but if this is not
satisfactory I intend attaching two or three strands of co-ax sheath about
22" long to the inside of the fuselage. Work in progress!
Roger A. (G-BXTD)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony S. Krzyzewski" <tonyk@kaon.co.nz>
Subject: Re: Position lights - wires after the fact
>
>
> >> Mounting he strobe on the fin had occurred to me, but I was concerned
> that the line of sight of top of the cabin is less than 30 degrees from
> a light mounted on the top of the tail. Is the PFA approving this
> installation in the UK?
>
> I have many photos of UK Europas with fin based strobes so I would say
> that the answer to that is a definite yes.
>
> I was going to make a comment that, since you can't fly at night in a
> Europa in the UK, the only time the strobe would be effective would be
> when you have a dark backdrop or are flying in murky weather. As this
> seems to be standard for a major part of the year over there the strobe
> is probably still a good idea. I decided against saying it however as I
> thought I'd get too much stick :-)
>
> Tony
>
|