Bracket for remote magnetometer

I want to fabricate a bracket for my dynon EDC-D10 remote magnetometer. What aluminum (type/thickness) do you guys use in general for fabricating brackets? does anyone have details of when you did your own bracket?

Also for the bolts to attach the magnetometer to the bracket what bolts would be best? Brass?

As per location in my RV-6, I'm thinking of mounting it in the fuselage, hanging from the second frame behind the baggage compartment. Not sure how much the antennas are going to affect the compass so I decided to position it further back.

Avery used to sell a mounting bracket (maybe from SafeAir). Cleveland has a product/kit on their website that they may have inherited from Avery but no picture.
http://www.cleavelandtool.com/Remote-Compass-Mount/productinfo/SA-07/#.WJozmSwzXq4

Sure

We just made our own. I think it is .063 2024-T3 and yes we used brass screws and nuts to attach it to the right outer wing rib. Half way from the main spar to the rear spar. Yours, R.E.A. III #80888

Thank you for the link John. The Safeair bracket won't be useful for me in the location I'm planning to mount it. I believe it is best if I fabricate one so that I can set it correctly.

one way to do it....

2 lengths of J-profile scraps, and a wedge under the longeron to produce the appropriate 8 degree tilt to match the unit in the panel. ( yours may vary)
This is behind the rearmost bulkhead, accessible, kinda, thru the tail fairing/elevator/v. stab attach point.
forward is -----> right. Not my install, but must credit the builder!

Thank you Robert and Perry for your input and sharing the picture. Gives me some perspective. I'm planning to install it in the back of the fuse, closer to the tail (If I can get the bracket finished)

Just created one out of a couple of bits of 0.040" aly, rivetted together. Thick enough to be strong/rigid - thin enough to work and not crack along the folds.
Used brass screws and aly nylocs to attach the remote compass to the bracket.

For my RV-6 with sliding canopy...
Attached it to the centre upright of the rear parcel area bulkhead, about 2/3 of the way up. Just drilled out some of the dome headed rivets and replaced them, attaching the bracket at the same time. It's going nowhere!

I replaced cad plated steel screws that attach the rear parcel area bulkhead panels with non-magnetic stainless ones to minimise the magnetic/ferrous stuff close to the compass.

When using this mount location when you do the compass swing and setup make sure the canopy is in flying position - i.e. closed.
Moving the steel canopy frame moves the compass slightly, but it's not a problem if it doesn't move in normal operations (flying with canopy closed and latched!!!)

I used silicone caulk to glue mine to a rib. Clamped in place for overnight. It's been there for 4 years. No issue.

If it ever needs service, I can easily remove it with a pocketknife.

Don

Magnetometer mounted

Don, I don't feel comfortable trusting silicone caulk to hold it for me but interesting to hear it worked for you.

Thank you for the post Rob.
This weekend, I made a bracket out of 0.063 6061T6 I had left from a panel upgrade, pop riveted it all the way in the back of the fuselage and it looks pretty solid. I won't be able to test the magnetometer fully for a while since I'm in the middle of some major well needed upgrades for the plane. But I'm sure it will work much better than my existing compass which I cannot see that the builder decided to mount under the experimental sign in the back

I only suggested it to point out that sometimes the solution can be much simpler than fabricated brackets and rivets

If you ever want to test how well silicone caulking can be for mounting, spread a thin layer on a scrap sheet of aluminum and sandwich another piece on top. You won't be able to separate them without a pocketknife (or a heat gun).

It's similar to using Sikaflex to fasten your canopy to the frame.

Respectfully,

Don

nylon screws

I used nylon screws.

Not sure how much room there is on a -6 ahead of the horiz. stab, but my magnetometer (on a -9A) works great there.

Dead simple to make the mount:

rightrudder said:

Not sure how much room there is on a -6 ahead of the horiz. stab, but my magnetometer (on a -9A) works great there.

Dead simple to make the mount:

Click to expand...

Nice. I know with the GRT system the magnetometer and AHRS are supposed to be aligned with each other to within .5*, and this mount would give you a lot of adjustability. Couple of questions (okay, three): Is that velcro attaching the unit to the mount? Also, is the front of the mount hard-mounted, or is the only hard attachment to the airframe the bolts at the back? One more: how and where did you end up mounting your AHRS? I have a GRT HX system sitting on my work bench in the hangar right now, and I am trying to figure all these things out. Thanks for posting.

Hi Gerry,

Yes, Velcro for attachment. For extra security, I lashed it down to the mount with two Velcro straps (not shown). It's not going anywhere, and the Velcro probably offers a slight vibration damping effect.

The front of the mount is riveted to the structure. After figuring out the necessary angle, I bent the leading edge of the mount so it would lay down nice and flush. There is a corresponding bend on the trailing edge so the brass adjusting nuts will seat squarely.

I've got the Sport SX system with an internal AHRS, so I didn't have to fab a mount for this.

I cut off the ends of the brass adjusting bolts after the photo was taken...gotta keep that tail light!!