---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Fri 09/16/11: 6 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 10:44 AM - DIY comm antenna . . . (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 2. 11:05 AM - DIY comm antenna . . . OOPS (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 3. 12:17 PM - DIY comm antenna . . . Plan-B (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 4. 01:01 PM - Re: Something Special For You (Martymason) 5. 07:43 PM - Re: Re: Something Special For You (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 6. 10:17 PM - Re: Re: Something Special For You (Hadley Heinrichs) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 10:44:07 AM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: AeroElectric-List: DIY comm antenna . . . On several occasions I've cited a commonly marketed insulated feed-thru mounting for CB antennas as suitable for doing your own comm antenna. I've seen this part in blister packs in lots of stores for prices ranging from 8 to 12 dollars. Here's an offering I just spotted on Ebay http://tinyurl.com/3bq5uhv Emacs! The price is right. You can put a UHF connector on your feedline and it will connect directly to this mounting. Alternatively, a UHF-M/BNC-F adapter will let you use the more common BNC-CM connector on your coax. The other end of the adapter is 3/8-24 thread hole. Silver solder your stainless antenna whisker into a hole drilled in a stainless 3/8-24 hex bolt. Bugger the threads on the bolt pretty good (poor boy's lock screw). Chisel works good, just leave first three threads untouched so you can get it to start. Coat the threads with grease and screw it into the adapter. The internal tooth lock washer goes inside between the doubler and the connector. The skin+doubler thickness should be .09" or better and braced against stringers and/or bulkheads if possible. Make your antenna 22 inches long (base to tip of whisker). Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 11:05:53 AM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: AeroElectric-List: DIY comm antenna . . . OOPS Sent this before I was finished . . . here's the whole message . . . --------------------------------------------------- On several occasions I've cited a commonly marketed insulated feed-thru mounting for CB antennas as suitable for doing your own comm antenna. I've seen this part in blister packs in lots of stores for prices ranging from 8 to 12 dollars. Here's an offering I just spotted on Ebay http://tinyurl.com/3bq5uhv Emacs! The price is right. You can put a UHF connector on your feedline and it will connect directly to this mounting. Alternatively, a UHF-M/BNC-F adapter will let you use the more common BNC-CM connector on your coax. The other end of the adapter is 3/8-24 thread hole. Silver solder your stainless antenna whisker into a hole drilled in a stainless 3/8-24 hex bolt. Bugger the threads on the bolt pretty good (poor boy's lock screw). Chisel works good, just leave first three threads untouched so you can get it to start. Coat the threads with grease and screw it into the adapter. The internal tooth lock washer goes inside between the doubler and the connector. The skin+doubler thickness should be .09" or better and braced against stringers and/or bulkheads if possible. Make your antenna 22 inches long (base to tip of whisker). Before you mount the antenna in the hole, you need to make sure the lockwasher doen't migrate and short the antenna whisker to ground. Emacs! Assemble to this configuration, center the washer up on the hex and then use spot of super-glue to stick the washer to the adapter. Not too much. You don't want it to wick under and run into the theads. After the glue is set, disassemble and install in the hole. Emacs! Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 12:17:12 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: AeroElectric-List: DIY comm antenna . . . Plan-B A reader asked if there was enough 'meat' in the connector base to cut an indexing relief for the lockwasher . . . as opposed to using glue to fixture the washer. The answer is 'yes'. See Plan-B version below. Thanks Bill! --------------------------------------------------- On several occasions I've cited a commonly marketed insulated feed-thru mounting for CB antennas as suitable for doing your own comm antenna. I've seen this part in blister packs in lots of stores for prices ranging from 8 to 12 dollars. Here's an offering I just spotted on Ebay http://tinyurl.com/3bq5uhv Emacs! The price is right. You can put a UHF connector on your feedline and it will connect directly to this mounting. Alternatively, a UHF-M/BNC-F adapter will let you use the more common BNC-CM connector on your coax. The other end of the adapter is 3/8-24 thread hole. Silver solder your stainless antenna whisker into a hole drilled in a stainless 3/8-24 hex bolt. Bugger the threads on the bolt pretty good (poor boy's lock screw). Chisel works good, just leave first three threads untouched so you can get it to start. Coat the threads with grease and screw it into the adapter. The internal tooth lock washer goes inside between the doubler and the connector. The skin+doubler thickness should be .09" or better and braced against stringers and/or bulkheads if possible. Make your antenna 22 inches long (total length of base+whisker). An improved methodology for keeping the lockwasher centered on the connector is to cut away .015 to .020" of material off the face of the hex down to a diameter of .500" as shown here. You can grip the part in a 3-jaw chuck directly onto the threads. Don't mash 'em and take very light cuts. A couple of .005" passes produced this end result with no damage to threads. Emacs! This modification of the base will keep the lockwasher centered while you bolt everything up. After all is said and done, here's what your ready-to-install antenna looks like. Emacs! Here's the order of installation on your airplane. Emacs! Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 01:01:18 PM PST US Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: Something Special For You From: "Martymason" Someone must have hacked my address list on the server. My other e-mail addresses were not affected. This was not my post. Apologies Marty -------- Marty Mason Europa XS Mono 10% Norcross, GA Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=352483#352483 ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 07:43:49 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Re: Something Special For You At 02:53 PM 9/16/2011, you wrote: > > >Someone must have hacked my address list on the server. Figured as much. No problem. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 10:17:50 PM PST US From: Hadley Heinrichs Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Re: Something Special For You YOUR LINK COMPLETELY,-MELTED DOWN MY MACHINE!!! - 29 HOURS OF WORK WITH NO RESOLUTION.............((((=0A=0A=0A=0A>_______________________________ _=0A>From: Martymason =0A>To: aeroelectric-list @matronics.com=0A>Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 2:53 PM=0A>Subject: Aero Electric-List: Re: Something Special For You=0A>=0A>--> AeroElectric-List m essage posted by: "Martymason" =0A>=0A>Someone must have hacked my address list on the server. My other e-mail addresses w ere not affected. This was not my post.=0A>Apologies=0A>Marty=0A>=0A>------ --=0A>Marty Mason=0A>Europa XS Mono=0A>10%=0A>Norcross, GA=0A>=0A>=0A>=0A> =0A>Read this topic online here:=0A>=0A>http://forums.matronics.com/viewtop ======================0A>=0A>=0A> =0A>=0A>=0A> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message aeroelectric-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/AeroElectric-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/aeroelectric-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/aeroelectric-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.