Antenna work for the radio
04/06/2013
Fuselage
Worked on installing my antenna for the radio this weekend and wiring it up into the cabin of the airplane. Yesterday, I went to Industrial Metal supply and purchased a 1'X4' sheet of 6061 .033" aluminum. Next, went to Fry's Electronics and got two BNC connectors for the cable, one BNC connector for a panel mount, and 25' of RG-58 50-ohm cable. It's not the best cable but I'm not sure where I can buy any that's better and Spruce Aircraft is stupid expensive. Just because FAA is stamped on the side of the product, the price is doubled or tripled for the same exact cable.
Next day, opened up one of the BNC cable connectors and discovered the pin was missing in the package. Went back to Fry's and exchanged the broken for a new one hopefully with all the parts included with it this time. Dropped by Ace to pick up some sheet metal screws to hold the aluminum on and some wood screws to hold the tie downs on. Cut out the pattern and drilled all the holes for the sheet metal screws into the aluminum sheet. Took a coat hanger and mounted it to the rear of the turtle deck to act as an antenna.
I didn't have a crimping tool as mine was lost in the last move despite my best efforts in trying to track it down. Decided to use the vice grips instead and it worked fine on the first BNC connector but on the second one I cut the pin in half when trying to crimp it on. Instead, I soldered the pin back on and filed down the excess. After a couple time filing off solder, was able to fit it into the connector. Connected it up and put a piece of safety wire for a makeshift antenna and was able to get ATIS at Falcon Field.
The next step was to mount the antenna somehow onto the airplane so as not to cause interference with the instruments. I decided to use a metal clothes hanger. Ended up mounting it on the rear of the turtle deck. This gave it both vertical and horizontal stability. Soldered a short piece of coax to the feed off the BNC and soldered the other end to the antenna. Cut it to 23 5/8" which is the tuned length of the antenna. Fired up the radio and not only could I get ATIS, but the tower and ground at Falcon Field crystal clear.
