GPS Ant

N395V · #1 03-27-2006, 07:21 AM

Has anyone glassed/epoxied their antennaes flush or otherwise enclosed them.

I am tired of having them stuck to the turtle deck and glareshield but also do not want those bumps sticking up from the fuselage.

Any suggestions?

sf3543 · #2 03-27-2006, 07:36 AM

Mount it on a bracket, on the firewall, just under the top cowling. GPS signals pass directly through the fiberglass/epoxy just fine.

Kahuna · #3 03-27-2006, 10:52 AM

Yes,
Under fiberglass works with no signal loss noticable on the unit.
Best

N395V · #4 03-27-2006, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by william weesner

seems like checkoway did this after the fact. check his site rvproject.com

Exactly what I needed to see.

Thanks

gvgoff99 · #5 04-03-2006, 06:21 PM

I thought of doing this and called Garmin. They were OK with it but told me that the antenna is only tested to 180 degrees F. I do not know how hot the area next to the firewall gets. In flight probably not 180 degrees but after flight probably pretty close to that if not more. So I started asking myself if that heat would degrade the antenna over time. I don't know.

Sorry to be the potential doubt inducer here.

Maybe someone has run tests to see how hot the area gets after shutdown on a hot day.

Ironflight · #6 04-03-2006, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gvgoff99

I thought of doing this and called Garmin. They were OK with it but told me that the antenna is only tested to 180 degrees F. I do not know how hot the area next to the firewall gets. In flight probably not 180 degrees but after flight probably pretty close to that if not more. So I started asking myself if that heat would degrade the antenna over time. I don't know.

Sorry to be the potential doubt inducer here.

Maybe someone has run tests to see how hot the area gets after shutdown on a hot day.

This is a good quesiton - how hot DOES the area in front of the firewall get? If you've sealed the baffles properly, you'd think that it is cooler behind the baffles, but I really have no numerical idea. Has anyone ever put a temp probe there in flight?

My GNS 430 antenna is mounted here, and hasn't had any problems, or shown any signs of distress.

Paul

rv8ch · #7 04-04-2006, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironflight

My GNS 430 is mounted here, and hasn't had any problems, or shown any signs of distress.

I'm happy to hear your GNS430 antenna is mounted in front of the firewall!

Seriously, there is not much space between the panel and the forward baggage area on the 8, so I'm surprised you could get all that stuff in your panel!

Ironflight · #8 04-04-2006, 08:06 AM

Don't know what you're talking about Mickey....

(One other reason this format is better than Yahoo!)

Paul

FlyerJumper · #9 04-04-2006, 01:47 PM

Why not in the wing tip? Seems like there's plenty of space out there.

kevinh · #10 04-04-2006, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyerJumper

Why not in the wing tip? Seems like there's plenty of space out there.

The signal on the cable to the GPS antenna is very high frequency and suffers disproportionally to long cable runs. For instance my GNS 430 install manual recommended a max run of something like eight feet.