Kannad 406 ELT Mounting Location RV6

[SFlyBoy]

I am installing a Kannad 406 ELT in my RV6 and am trying to figure out the best place to mount it. Since it only gets GPS from the internal antenna I don?t think it will work very well inside the tail? The best place I can come up with is in the baggage compartment so it can look through the canopy. I am thinking about making a bracket so it can mount just behind the copilot head rest

https://www.dropbox.com/s/os2npmg4d5...29.54.jpg?dl=0

The other option is to install it on the baggage compartment floor but I am worried that luggage will block the GPS signal or something will catch on the wires and pull them out

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqz98z46z4...30.12.jpg?dl=0

Were have other people installed it?

Thanks
Shane

[Canadian_JOY]

First question... Kinda obvious but I have to ask... Is that an Integra? If so, great. If not, if it's just a straight Compact 406AF, then you don't have an internal antenna to worry about.

(Apologies for being Captain Obvious, but in truth I have answered this question before in conversation with another builder, only to realize he didn't have an Integra with its built-in GPS antenna!)

As much as I hate to say it, neither mounting proposed mounting location is particularly good, for the reasons you've already pointed out. The baggage area is an area where the contents get squished, bashed etc in day-to-day use. The wiring will get snagged and yanked. The switch will get crushed. Every time I see an ELT mounted in the baggage compartment I cringe. I also cringe because I've seen inadvertent activations because something snagged a switch and turned the unit on.

If you really want to install an Integra it might be worth considering making a bracket for it high up in the turtle deck area just aft of the baggage bulkhead so it is close to the skin, then fabricate a doubler ring for the skin and install a composite "window" much like an inspection panel to allow the GPS antenna a view of the sky. I don't have the capacity to determine how big the doubler ring would have to be to support the installation of something like a 4" square composite "window"... Seems like a lot of work.

[Snowflake]

Of course none of that will matter when the plane is upside down on the ground and the GPS is pointing at the dirt with a metal can over it and can't get a position fix...

[SFlyBoy]

Hi Canadian_JOY,

Yes it's an Integra. Part number 11-09325 from Aircraft Spruce
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...ad-1202502.php

Not thrilled about making a composite "window" in the tail. Sounds like a lot of work and also makes the ELT inaccessible if there is a crash.

The big thing I like about the Kannad Integra is that it has a built in GPS and internal 406MHz antenna. If the plane gets flipped over or the antenna is broken off in a crash the unit can be removed and activated without needing any wiring or the external antenna. For that reason I want to make sure its easily accessible.

I think I am going to try and make an easily removable cover for the switch and wiring.

[Canadian_JOY]

If making a cover for switch and wiring, please be extra vigilant in regards to the potential for the cover to act like a shear, cutting the very wiring it's intended to protect. A composite cover might end up being the easiest way to get what likely will end up being a somewhat complex shape to cover those sensitive bits outside the ELT.

BTW, I selected the Integra for the same reasons as you have stated. I have a straight 406AF in my other all-aluminum airplane, but for the Sportsman with its composite fuselage the Integra was pretty much a no-brainer.