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Bob Archer VOR Antenna

N

NewGuy

Member
I am planning to use the Bob Archer VOR Antenna in the right wingtip. Does anyone have a picture of their installation?

The installation instructions say to "sandwich" the inboard edge between the wingtip and the wing skin or to just ground it in at least 3 places.

If I "sandwich" the antenna between the nut plates and the fiberglass, will that give adequate grounding? I'll just drill and rivet the nutplate to the antenna and bond the outboard portion of the antenna.

Anybody got a picture?

Currently installing the wingtip lights; 75 watt halogen taxi lights and 35 watt HID for landing lights.
 
Antenna Position & wires

Sam installed his antenna and wires the way Bob Archer recommends but it also looks like -6 wingtips need to do it this way.

I like the way Dan C. installed his antenna. Mounting the antenna in the back half of the wing tip and well clear of all the wires seems to be cleaner and easier way to do it. For those of you that have done it like Dan, does the antenna still perform well?
 
Things changed when the wing tips changed. With the old style wing tips with no cut-out for lighting, you tended to mount your strobes and what not on the outside of the tip...and those wires had to pass by the antenna pretty much regardless.

With the "newer" sheared wing tips that Van's put out, they started including a lighting cut-out.

When I went to install my antennas, the instructions were pretty clear...you gotta run the lighting wires along the front of the antenna on their way to the lights. But given that the lights were way up in front now, it didn't seem necessary.

My Archer VOR antenna on my RV-7 works flawlessly in my estimation.
 
dan said:
But given that the lights were way up in front now, it didn't seem necessary.

My Archer VOR antenna on my RV-7 works flawlessly in my estimation.
Click to expand...

Dan,

How farback did you mount the VOR antenna?

Half way?

All the way toward the aft edge?
 
Ken,

I have the new style tips and I pushed it to about 1 inch from the light indent on the new tips. All the wiring for the lights will attatch to the antenna so there is now feedback. Then the coaxial will have the loop that goes toward the front and then get put with all other wires. I hope this makes sense.
The pixs that Sam posted show the loop and all wires running together.

Good luck
 
wingtip antennas

I installed an Archer com antenna in one wing of my RV-6A and a nav antenna in the other. The com reception was not very good and the nav did not work at all. I replaced the com antenna with a whip and have been happy with that change. I would like to know how others have installed the "cat-whisker" type nav antennas on their RV's. It seems the balun is too wide to install on the top of the vertical stabilizer.

Jay Erickson, new to forum, RV-6A flying, RV-7A just started
 
I understand replacing the COM.

Wolf said:
I installed an Archer com antenna in one wing of my RV-6A and a nav antenna in the other. The com reception was not very good and the nav did not work at all. I replaced the com antenna with a whip and have been happy with that change. I would like to know how others have installed the "cat-whisker" type nav antennas on their RV's. It seems the balun is too wide to install on the top of the vertical stabilizer.

Jay Erickson, new to forum, RV-6A flying, RV-7A just started
Click to expand...

I will be doing that myself soon, but the NAV antenna has work every well. Other have reported getting good results from the NAV antenna.

I would recommend checking the installation again. Make sure that is grounded, check all the connection. It should work for you.

If you decide to change over to the whiskers, many have put them on the top of the tail. It sticks out a little, but that won't hurt things much (speed).

Kent
 
I have checked everything and I just can't receive a VOR. It shouldn't be the radio as it's a brand new Apollo slim line. I will probably go with the cat whiskers if I determine there is nothing wrong with the radio.
 
Wolf said:
I have checked everything and I just can't receive a VOR. It shouldn't be the radio as it's a brand new Apollo slim line. I will probably go with the cat whiskers if I determine there is nothing wrong with the radio.
Click to expand...

I really doubt the problem is the antenna, if a VOR is on the airport, you should be able to receive it with just the coax.

I too had a non-op nav the first time I fired up my new KX125 and the Archer antenna. Problem was resolved once I discovered a couple of obscure jumpers in the radio connectors had been overlooked by the installer. :eek: The jumpers were to connect pins that would normally be hooked to remote CDI's and stuff.

Take a hard look at your schematic to make sure nothing is missing from your installation. :)

The Archer antenna is a nice unit and should give you good performance.
 
Can you use the Archer antenna for GS?

Not to hijack the thread, but can you use the Archer wing tip antenna for a glideslope receiver? I plan to install this antenna and I want to utilize a Garmin SL-30 NavCom in the panel. Can anyone tell me if this will work, or will I need a separate GS antenna?
 
Steve Ashby said:
Not to hijack the thread, but can you use the Archer wing tip antenna for a glideslope receiver? I plan to install this antenna and I want to utilize a Garmin SL-30 NavCom in the panel. Can anyone tell me if this will work, or will I need a separate GS antenna?
Click to expand...

Yup! The SL30 has an internal diplexer. Works grrr-reat!!
 
smithhb said:
Dan, do you (or anyone else) know if the GNS430 has an internal diplexer?
Click to expand...


No, it doesn't - you need an external diplexer to split the signal before feeding it into the two separate antenna inputs - VOR/LOC and GS.

Paul
 
As a matter of fact.

My Archer NAV antenna is split twice once to my SL30 and then again to feed the 430 loc and GS.

I works just great.

Kent
 
Bob Archer Antenna & HID Landing lights

Of those who report good reception with the Bob Archer VOR Antenna in the wingtips, do any of those installations also have the Xenon HID landing lights and power supply also installed in the forward portion of the wingtip?

The HID data states that it must not be installed near antennas.

I will place he antenna about half way towards the rear and I'm wondering if the 18 inch spacing will be adequate.
 
cat whiskers

Saw a couple of cat whisker installations mounted under the tail ahead of the tail tie down. Both drivers said that they worked just great there. Nice clean easy installation, and looks a whole lot better too. I was planning to use this config, but ended up with Archer in the right wingtip. Haveny flown it yet, it's hooked up through a diplexer to my Val INS 422...Review to come!!

Food for thought...Chris
 
NewGuy said:
Of those who report good reception with the Bob Archer VOR Antenna in the wingtips, do any of those installations also have the Xenon HID landing lights and power supply also installed in the forward portion of the wingtip?

The HID data states that it must not be installed near antennas.

I will place he antenna about half way towards the rear and I'm wondering if the 18 inch spacing will be adequate.
Click to expand...

Duckworks HID lights desensitizes my Archer Nav antenna. The ballasts are mounted forward of the spar in the outboard bay. Does anyone have any data to share about interference if the Archer antenna is moved as far aft in the wing tip as possible? If moving the antenna aft does not help then I have two choices:

Go back to halogen lights in lieu of HID's, or

Install cat whisker antenna such as the Comant CI-157P on the aft belly of the airplane (ugh!!!)

I would like to stay with the Archer antenna, but I lose a lot of range when the HID's are illuminated with the current installation. The Archer antenna is mounted in the wing tip as far forward as possible per Archer's instructions. When the HID's are turned off the Archer works great. Thanks
 
Jim,

I have played around with my wing tip antennas quite a bit, and after discussions with Bob Archer himself, I realized that it is vitally important to keep any wires in the tip either tacked right on th antenna leading edge (per the drawing), or well clear of the antenna. I got good results by clamping the lighting wires right to the tip rib, running them as far forward as possible. My antennas are about mid-way back. None of this is ideal (per Bob), but I am getting about 80 mile VOR range and no change when I flip on the HID's.

Paul
 
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