Man, have I studied this one, as U.S. rules are strict as to light
output/coverage, and the required high-power units can suck the
limited alternator juice.
Since I assume you're after daytime visibility, and even though I
personally think strobes won't be seen before the outline or color of
the A/C is visible, you should consider only the 400-candle units.
The older 100's are really of little value daytime, and non-aviation
types can be dimmer yet. Consider the fact that obstruction lighting
here on antenna towers and such require only 2,000 candles at night,
but up to 270,000 daytime!
But two such units are costly and power-hungry, so I'm taking the drag
and aesthetic penalty of placing one atop the tail. For that
location, Whelen sells a 1/2-red, 1/2-clear lens, but there goes your
intensity in the forward direction (down about 2/3). For either fuse
or tail location, reflection off the back of the prop with a 100%
clear lens should be a problem only at night, but if it is, a little
piece of duck tape inside the lens should fix it.
Radio interference is all over the place. Whelen sells RFI shields
for the lamp itself, remote power supplies have a necessary cable run
to the lamp to give you more RFI, and even the 14v power to the thing
should be shielded. Beyond mounting as far away from antennae as
possible, I think there's little can be done. The RFI affects ADF the
most, and at least the discharge "pops" happen too quick to break
squelch on a good VHF comm unit. So that to me says worry about the
power supply's placement re antennas, as that charging "whine" can
affect nav and comm, and maybe GPS.
Regards,
Fred F., A063
Paul & Liz Atkinson wrote:
>
> Has anyone fitted strobes to top and bottom fuselage,
> and what have been your experiences with regard to
> interference? I have been warned that this could be a
> problem. If anyone has experience of this how did you
> combat it?
> Finally, are self-contained units less of a problem
> then remotely powered ones?
> Even more finally, does anyone have suggestions about
> sighting the top flasher to avoid annoying reflections
> in the cockpit (do I even need to worry about this?).
>
> Answers to any of these would be much appreciated.
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