ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

Finally; three weeks of 95+ temperatures and 30+ mph winds stopped...for a day (yesterday). I was ready to fly with the temperature at 85 degrees and wind was 3 mph and variable. After doing about an hour's worth of Annual Condition Inspection (will do more later) I made a short .6 hr local flight. It was a great feeling to be airborne again and look at the farmland and trees below. 

A longer flight was planned but in the near distance (10 miles?) I could see humidity building in the air with its associated loss of visibility. Not wanting to get caught in that, I shortened my flight and returned to the airport. 

I was trying out my new Yaseu radio with my existing headset; results were unsatisfactory. Lots of static and transmission was almost impossible due to wind and engine noise. This headset's boom mic does not have a sponge and boot. I will need to get my helmet with earphones and boom mic working, then try again. 

Radio noise has always been a problem in my AirBike, what do you guys who have open cockpit planes do for a radio? Do you make an external antenna to use in place of the rubber ducky antenna on the handheld radio?

Photos describe the general area including wheat fields, round hay bales and a horizontal "tornado," that being a vehicle zooming down a gravel road. Note that the dust is not drifting away. At ground level the wind was zilch.

Paul Fiebich

Looks like a nice day for flying

Great you've got some good flying weather, Paul. And those are very pretty pix of your local patch. Looks to be quite a few emergency landing areas if you ever need them!

Regarding your radio problems, I'm fairly sure a good external antenna will make a worthwhile difference. I built a dipole antenna into my fin (vertical stabiliser) which works well, but I still get huge amounts of electrical noise from the electronic ignition on my engine. I found a thread on the Mosquito helicopter forum where a guy with my MZ engine went all through his system, gradually eliminating all the sources of noise. It worked for him, but it looked like an awful lot of hassle to me.

My solution is much simpler: I just close the throttle when I want to transmit a message. I can receive ok, but people tell me the transmit is unclear at normal engine rpm. Since I keep my radio transmissions as short as possible, I don't find a brief close of throttle a problem, although I suppose I should really work on suppression. . .

Anyway, attached is a document that details how to make a 1/4 wave dipole external antenna. I based my 'built in' design on this, it's pretty straightforward & cheap to build.

Hope you get your radio sorted.

Bruce

edit: file too big to attach - I'll email it to you (after I've fed the chickens)

I have had great luck with an external antenna.  I use the aviation antenna from Bear Perkins, along with the mike foam and have had excellent results.

http://www.bearperkins.com/accessories.htm

http://www.bearperkins.com/images/aviation_antenna.jpg

Bruce, thanks for the information about the 120 degree angled antenna. I have it built and installed on the plane. Have yet to make the BNC connector so it will attach to the radio. The 5 little cylinders on the coax next to the antenna are ferrite chokes, they replace the Pawsay wire that was with the original design.

My Annual Condition Inspection has been completed, I hope to fly and test the radio within then next few days.
Paul Fiebich

Looks great Paul.  I'll be very interested to hear how it works. Where did you get the ferrite rings? I may try them if your system doesn't suffer from electrical /ignition noise.

Bruce, I bought the ferrite cylinders at Radio Shack, cost $4.00 each. I hope to fly this evening if the temps get down to 90.

Paul

Well you sure won't be buying any more from Radio Shack! They're gone. Dang it.

I purchased my material from a local Radio Shack that is an independent owner of that retail market.  Other Radio Shacks that were part of the chain are indeed gone. There are independent Radio Shacks just like there are independently owned McDonalds, Burger King, etc. If a Radio Shack is not available to you, there most likely are other electronics-only stores that may carry these items.

My radio test so far in inconclusive as I have yet to have a direct two-way conversation, however cold broadcasts requesting a "Radio Check" have responded crystal clear as a delayed response. With these ferrite items on the antenna, there is NO static or hissing as there was without them.

It is way too hot to fly here, temps are close to 100 F every day and DA is over 4000'. It is too uncomfortable to fly, if cooler temps occur by next week I will make more flights. If not, I will be at AirVenture for a week and not able to fly locally. If you ride the trams, I will be either your driver or conductor. See you there! I will wear a red shirt and have a name badge: Paul Fiebich EAA chapter 88

Paul