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ELT antenna

T

texdog

Well Known Member
My AmeriKing ELT is mounted inside the aft tail compartment where the rudder and horizontal stab meet. The fairing is glass so it seems to work and I have tested it. Will the ACK 406 Elt antenna work in the same place? I don't want to cut a hole in the aft fuselage and put in a doubler if I don't have to. It does look sleeker without the external antenna.

Thanks for your help.
 
Exactly how did you test it? How do you know what the radiation pattern is like? I doubt very much that it is very effective.
 
The 406 signal is 5 watts. It is a periodic data burst. The old swept tone device was about a hundred mw. Very weak signal strength and often the antenna busted off in a crash. If you get into advanced studies of antenna radiation patterns... you are lost already.
Mount it under the fairing and be done with it. And if you need to be rescued... and have any warning of trouble, turn it on before you hit the ground.
 
I agree; go with the under-fairing installation and be done with it.
Many studies have been done about where best to install an ELT antenna. If you put it on top, but your plane flips over in the crash, the antenna snaps off. If you put it on the belly and you snap off your gear and belly in, your antenna snaps on. In my opinion, having it in the empennage fairing is the most protected location. How many flipped RVs have we seen where the vertical stab stays intact? Most of them, I think. It's not a perfect location, but I believe it is the lesser of most evils.

Just my two cents worth, your mileage may vary.
 
ELT ANTENNA

you gentlemen do great work, thank you very much for your replies. It stays inside.
 
The standard ACK 406 antenna is longer and mounts at an angle. At least on the RV-8, one would be hard pressed to fit it under the empennage fairing.
 
N941WR said:
Check out this thread and jump down to post #35.

There are antenna options.
Click to expand...

Just what I did on my certified Tiger installation.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/elts_0elts_zrant/ant200.php

However if you are going to quote the ACK installation manual like post 35 does -

http://www.ackavionics.com/pdf/E-04 Install Man Single Page Reduced.pdf

You should read the antenna requirements that say it must be mounted within 30 degrees from vertical.

The ELT is one of the few TSO required items on our experimentals.
 
az_gila said:
Just what I did on my certified Tiger installation.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/elts_0elts_zrant/ant200.php

However if you are going to quote the ACK installation manual like post 35 does -

http://www.ackavionics.com/pdf/E-04 Install Man Single Page Reduced.pdf

You should read the antenna requirements that say it must be mounted within 30 degrees from vertical.

The ELT is one of the few TSO required items on our experimentals.
Click to expand...

But how do you know you will end up with in 30 deg after a crash?
 
aerovin said:
The standard ACK 406 antenna is longer and mounts at an angle. At least on the RV-8, one would be hard pressed to fit it under the empennage fairing.
Click to expand...

Here's one way.

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I have crashed 3 times. Once on fire, twice with engine failures. None of those situations fell withing TSO guidlines of any angles of mounted antennas.
I also carry an EPIRB that is tiny, waterproof... has GPS built in.... has antenna folded around it... deploys in seconds and cost about $300.
If I survive... it will bring help soon. If I am dead.... there is no hurry.
 
flightlogic said:
I have crashed 3 times. Once on fire, twice with engine failures. None of those situations fell withing TSO guidlines of any angles of mounted antennas.
I also carry an EPIRB that is tiny, waterproof... has GPS built in.... has antenna folded around it... deploys in seconds and cost about $300.
If I survive... it will bring help soon. If I am dead.... there is no hurry.
Click to expand...

Note to self: don't fly with Nick! :D

Kidding, of course. That sounds like some pretty awful luck.
 
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