---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Mon 05/14/12: 8 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 12:42 AM - Re: Z-13/8 (user9253) 2. 04:32 AM - finding buried ac line (CardinalNSB@aol.com) 3. 05:04 AM - Re: finding buried ac line (Harley) 4. 05:19 AM - Re: finding buried ac line (ROGER & JEAN CURTIS) 5. 05:35 AM - Intermittent no radio reception (bakerocb) 6. 06:41 AM - Re: Re: Z-13/8 (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 7. 10:12 AM - Re: finding buried ac line (Ken) 8. 08:35 PM - Re: finding buried ac line (mmayfield) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 12:42:14 AM PST US Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: Z-13/8 From: "user9253" > How can I place a small light bulb to indicate that the E.bus switch is closed Connect the lamp in parallel with the E-Bus Relay COIL. Joe -------- Joe Gores Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=373014#373014 ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 04:32:49 AM PST US From: CardinalNSB@aol.com Subject: AeroElectric-List: finding buried ac line I didn't see any message that answered the question, did I miss it? The last time the power company "located" my service line for the fence company, they totally missed it by 100 feet, and the fence company was about to power drill right into the service line. Luckily I came home for lunch and yelled to stop and had to argue with the crew chief "I don't care what the power company said, I was personally here when the line was run 15 years ago and its right along this line". So I too would be interested in this off topic answer. Skip Simpson In a message dated 5/14/2012 3:07:13 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, aeroelectric-list@matronics.com writes: * ================================================= Online Versions of Today's List Digest Archive ================================================= Today's complete AeroElectric-List Digest can also be found in either of the two Web Links listed below. The .html file includes the Digest formatted in HTML for viewing with a web browser and features Hyperlinked Indexes and Message Navigation. The .txt file includes the plain ASCII version of the AeroElectric-List Digest and can be viewed with a generic text editor such as Notepad or with a web browser. HTML Version: http://www.matronics.com/digest/digestview.php?Style=82701&View=html&Chapter 12-05-13&Archive=AeroElectric Text Version: http://www.matronics.com/digest/digestview.php?Style=82701&View=txt&Chapter 2012-05-13&Archive=AeroElectric =============================================== EMail Version of Today's List Digest Archive =============================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sun 05/13/12: 19 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 04:28 AM - Re: ATC on a bracket (Jay Hyde) 2. 04:28 AM - Intermittent no radio reception (bakerocb) 3. 06:21 AM - Re: Intermittent no radio reception (Bill Bradburry) 4. 09:38 AM - Re: Intermittent no radio reception (Ed Holyoke) 5. 09:40 AM - SSF-1 WIG WAG Flasher (Dick Wildman) 6. 11:08 AM - Finding a 220 volt buried line (DCS317@aol.com) 7. 11:36 AM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (Dick Wildman) 8. 11:53 AM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (JOHN TIPTON) 9. 11:58 AM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (ROGER & JEAN CURTIS) 10. 12:01 PM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (Bob McCallum) 11. 12:18 PM - Re: SSF-1 WIG WAG Flasher (Joe Dubner) 12. 12:42 PM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (Michael Welch) 13. 12:55 PM - Re: Intermittent no radio reception (Bill Bradburry) 14. 02:26 PM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (F. Tim Yoder) 15. 02:33 PM - Re: Intermittent no radio reception (David Lloyd) 16. 04:12 PM - Re: Intermittent no radio reception (Henador Titzoff) 17. 04:16 PM - Re: Finding a 220 volt buried line (Paul Millner) 18. 06:17 PM - Re: Re: SSF-1 WIG WAG Flasher (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 19. 06:29 PM - Re: Z-13/8 (fedico94@mchsi.com) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 04:28:37 AM PST US From: "Jay Hyde" Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: ATC on a bracket That's a great idea- you could also cut away the little circular bits on the side and gang the fuses in a row... Jay -----Original Message----- From: owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Robert L. Nuckolls, III Sent: 11 May 2012 09:48 PM Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: ATC on a bracket At 02:19 PM 5/11/2012, you wrote: Interesting! Looks like this could be a rather useful discovery. Roger Not all holders have that much free plastic and you'll want to sand away the proposed mounting meat to make sure no fuse wiring extends into the boss. I considered just bonding this holder to the bracket but wasn't sure about storage temperature extremes. Decided to bond it to fixture and then re-enforce the bond with screws. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 2 __________________ ___________________ Time: 04:28:37 AM PST US From: "bakerocb" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception 5/13/2012 Hello Bill Bradbury, You wrote: "This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with receive." Are you absolutely certain that you don't have an intermittent wire connection problem in your headset? 'OC' Baker Says: "The best investment we can make is the time and effort to gather and understand knowledge." ============================================================ Time: 09:16:24 AM PST US From: "Bill Bradburry" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception I had a problem with my radio reception today and I am not certain where to look for the cause. I was flying and the radio was working fine. I was listening to Approach while I flew around and I could hear them fine. I decide to land, so I dialed in ATIS. I didn't get anything. I noticed that I didn't have the "RX" showing on the radio. At the time I was about 25 miles away and 2K feet. I thought maybe I was too low and far away, although I had been listening to Approach when I dialed in ATIS. As I got closer, I climbed a little and suddenly I could hear them so I didn't think much more about it. But I am pretty sure that I should have been able to hear them because I could almost see the airport from where I was. After I contacted approach and was handed off to Sanford tower, I didn't hear from the tower for several minutes, then they asked me "how do you hear?". I replied "Fine". I didn't think much more about that incident either, but after I got home, I listened to the tower archives and I found that the tower had asked me 4 times how do you hear and I only heard the last one. This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with receive. Everything else was working on the radio that I know of. It seems to be just an intermittent receive problem. Do you have any ideas where I should look for something like that? I have this type of antenna. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php It does not have a ground plane as it is a half wave antenna. The one I have it the 5T which allows the coax to come out and be supported on the side of the fuselage with mounting brackets. The antenna is inside the fuselage just behind the rear bulkhead on the Lancair Legacy. It is mostly vertical, but the ends (top and bottom) curve following the shape of the fuselage and become horizontal for the last 4-5 inches. I think the antenna is something like 41-42 inches long. My plane is all fiberglass. The only carbon fiber is in the horizontal stabilizer, leg fairings, and the wheel pants. None of this carbon is closer than three feet or so to the antenna. But what ever this is, it is intermittent. The receive and transmit seem to work fine until they don't work at all. I have heard others tell me that my transmissions were staticy from time to time, which is why I have been trying to hear myself by listening to the recordings from ATC. If I had not done that I would not even have known that I missed 3 radio calls from ATC. I was probably close to 5-6 miles out and heading directly toward the airport when I was missing the calls. Also, unrelated, I noticed that if I am on autopilot, (TruTrak Digiflight II GPSVG) that the autopilot goes haywire when the radio transmits. I have heard of this problem on the internet but have not looked up what may be causing it. Maybe you know off the top of your head?? Thanks for all you guys help! Bill B ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 06:21:43 AM PST US From: "Bill Bradburry" Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception OC, No I don't know if the headset is the problem, but it is a Lightspeed Mach 1 that I have had for less than a year. I could try and move wires around to see if I can duplicate the problem. B2 -----Original Message----- From: owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of bakerocb Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 7:28 AM Subject: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception 5/13/2012 Hello Bill Bradbury, You wrote: "This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with receive." Are you absolutely certain that you don't have an intermittent wire connection problem in your headset? 'OC' Baker Says: "The best investment we can make is the time and effort to gather and understand knowledge." ============================================================ Time: 09:16:24 AM PST US From: "Bill Bradburry" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception I had a problem with my radio reception today and I am not certain where to look for the cause. I was flying and the radio was working fine. I was listening to Approach while I flew around and I could hear them fine. I decide to land, so I dialed in ATIS. I didn't get anything. I noticed that I didn't have the "RX" showing on the radio. At the time I was about 25 miles away and 2K feet. I thought maybe I was too low and far away, although I had been listening to Approach when I dialed in ATIS. As I got closer, I climbed a little and suddenly I could hear them so I didn't think much more about it. But I am pretty sure that I should have been able to hear them because I could almost see the airport from where I was. After I contacted approach and was handed off to Sanford tower, I didn't hear from the tower for several minutes, then they asked me "how do you hear?". I replied "Fine". I didn't think much more about that incident either, but after I got home, I listened to the tower archives and I found that the tower had asked me 4 times how do you hear and I only heard the last one. This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with receive. Everything else was working on the radio that I know of. It seems to be just an intermittent receive problem. Do you have any ideas where I should look for something like that? I have this type of antenna. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php It does not have a ground plane as it is a half wave antenna. The one I have it the 5T which allows the coax to come out and be supported on the side of the fuselage with mounting brackets. The antenna is inside the fuselage just behind the rear bulkhead on the Lancair Legacy. It is mostly vertical, but the ends (top and bottom) curve following the shape of the fuselage and become horizontal for the last 4-5 inches. I think the antenna is something like 41-42 inches long. My plane is all fiberglass. The only carbon fiber is in the horizontal stabilizer, leg fairings, and the wheel pants. None of this carbon is closer than three feet or so to the antenna. But what ever this is, it is intermittent. The receive and transmit seem to work fine until they don't work at all. I have heard others tell me that my transmissions were staticy from time to time, which is why I have been trying to hear myself by listening to the recordings from ATC. If I had not done that I would not even have known that I missed 3 radio calls from ATC. I was probably close to 5-6 miles out and heading directly toward the airport when I was missing the calls. Also, unrelated, I noticed that if I am on autopilot, (TruTrak Digiflight II GPSVG) that the autopilot goes haywire when the radio transmits. I have heard of this problem on the internet but have not looked up what may be causing it. Maybe you know off the top of your head?? Thanks for all you guys help! Bill B ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 09:38:18 AM PST US From: Ed Holyoke Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception Squelch set too high? Ed Holyoke On 5/12/2012 9:15 AM, Bill Bradburry wrote: > --> AeroElectric-List message posted by: "Bill Bradburry" > > I had a problem with my radio reception today and I am not certain where to > look for the cause. I was flying and the radio was working fine. I was > listening to Approach while I flew around and I could hear them fine. I > decide to land, so I dialed in ATIS. I didn't get anything. I noticed that > I didn't have the "RX" showing on the radio. At the time I was about 25 > miles away and 2K feet. I thought maybe I was too low and far away, > although I had been listening to Approach when I dialed in ATIS. As I got > closer, I climbed a little and suddenly I could hear them so I didn't think > much more about it. But I am pretty sure that I should have been able to > hear them because I could almost see the airport from where I was. > > After I contacted approach and was handed off to Sanford tower, I didn't > hear from the tower for several minutes, then they asked me "how do you > hear?". I replied "Fine". I didn't think much more about that incident > either, but after I got home, I listened to the tower archives and I found > that the tower had asked me 4 times how do you hear and I only heard the > last one. > > This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with > receive. Everything else was working on the radio that I know of. It seems > to be just an intermittent receive problem. Do you have any ideas where I > should look for something like that? > > I have this type of antenna. > > http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php > > It does not have a ground plane as it is a half wave antenna. The one I > have it the 5T which allows the coax to come out and be supported on the > side of the fuselage with mounting brackets. The antenna is inside the > fuselage just behind the rear bulkhead on the Lancair Legacy. It is mostly > vertical, but the ends (top and bottom) curve following the shape of the > fuselage and become horizontal for the last 4-5 inches. I think the antenna > is something like 41-42 inches long. My plane is all fiberglass. The only > carbon fiber is in the horizontal stabilizer, leg fairings, and the wheel > pants. None of this carbon is closer than three feet or so to the antenna. > > But what ever this is, it is intermittent. The receive and transmit seem to > work fine until they don't work at all. I have heard others tell me that my > transmissions were staticy from time to time, which is why I have been > trying to hear myself by listening to the recordings from ATC. If I had not > done that I would not even have known that I missed 3 radio calls from ATC. > I was probably close to 5-6 miles out and heading directly toward the > airport when I was missing the calls. > > Also, unrelated, I noticed that if I am on autopilot, (TruTrak Digiflight II > GPSVG) that the autopilot goes haywire when the radio transmits. I have > heard of this problem on the internet but have not looked up what may be > causing it. Maybe you know off the top of your head?? > > Thanks for all you guys help! > > Bill B > > ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 09:40:29 AM PST US From: "Dick Wildman" Subject: AeroElectric-List: SSF-1 WIG WAG Flasher I built my RV using a B&C SSF-1 wig wag. Wired it per Aeroelectric recommendations and it worked fine. I changed one light to a Xenon lamp using a Philips Xen Drive XLD912 Standard power supply. This does not load the SSF-1 flasher as required so my wig wag no longer works. I would like to keep the Xenon on one side and the incandescent lamp on the other. I would be happy with flashing one lamp if not both. Any solutions? Dick Wildman ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 11:08:33 AM PST US From: DCS317@aol.com Subject: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! Do not archive! Don RV-8 pilot ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 11:36:30 AM PST US From: "Dick Wildman" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line Don; Where I live the power company is more than happy to locate the cable at no charge. It's much cheaper for them to tell you where the cable is than to fix it after it has been damaged. Call them and verify the $$$ Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: DCS317@aol.com Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 11:07 AM Subject: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! Do not archive! Don RV-8 pilot ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 11:53:28 AM PST US From: "JOHN TIPTON" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line I'm not sure what you require here: why do you need to shut off the power - surely the power company knows where their cables are if they are competent - if they don't they should be ashamed, and only too willing to find them at no cost ----- Original Message ----- From: Dick Wildman Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 7:34 PM Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line Don; Where I live the power company is more than happy to locate the cable at no charge. It's much cheaper for them to tell you where the cable is than to fix it after it has been damaged. Call them and verify the $$$ Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: DCS317@aol.com Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 11:07 AM Subject: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! Do not archive! Don RV-8 pilot href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List">http://www. matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List href="http://forums.matronics.com">http://forums.matronics.com href="http://www.matronics.com/contribution">http://www.matronics.com/c ________________________________ Message 9 _____________________________________ Time: 11:58:37 AM PST US From: "ROGER & JEAN CURTIS" Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! Do not archive! Don We have a system called "Dig Safe" which is a no charge service. They will come and mark all of the buried utilities for you. Check that out. Roger ________________________________ Message 10 ____________________________________ Time: 12:01:04 PM PST US From: Bob McCallum Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line Don; Don't know where you're located, but here in Ontario (and in many other Canadian provinces) it is a legal requirement to call "Ontario One Call" a non-profit corporation before doing any kind of digging in the province. They locate, telephone, cable, electric and gas lines free of charge before any work which might damage underground utilities is done. Check with your local municipality as they may have a similar service. Bob McC _____ From: owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of DCS317@aol.com Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 2:07 PM Subject: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! Do not archive! Don RV-8 pilot ________________________________ Message 11 ____________________________________ Time: 12:18:57 PM PST US From: Joe Dubner Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: SSF-1 WIG WAG Flasher Dick, If you truly would be satisfied with flashing one lamp and if you have enough power budget for the additional current the Xenon lamp requires and if you don't mind a little re-wiring, you could substitute a power resistor for the incandescent lamp that was removed. The resistor will keep the flasher happy. Think of it as a non-illuminating lamp :-) Assuming you're using a 55W lamp at 14V, you would need 3.6 ohms capable of dissipating 55 watts half of the time (50% duty cycle). A couple of 10-ohm, 20-watt resistors in parallel should be close enough to fool the flasher and if not, add a third one. FYI, those resistors will get very hot; don't put then in your lighting switch panel. My wig-wag uses an electro-mechanical flasher too and this is what I plan to do when I upgrade my lights unless I spring for a new (solid-state) flasher. But that's not going to happen until after the airplane's flying . -- Joe Independence, OR http://www.mail2600.com/cgi-bin/webcam.cgi Dick Wildman wrote: > I built my RV using a B&C SSF-1 wig wag. Wired it per Aeroelectric recommendations and it worked fine. > > I changed one light to a Xenon lamp using a Philips Xen Drive XLD912 Standard power supply. This does not load the SSF-1 flasher as required so my wig wag no longer works. I would like to keep the Xenon on one side and the incandescent lamp on the other. I would be happy with flashing one lamp if not both. > > Any solutions? > > Dick Wildman ________________________________ Message 12 ____________________________________ Time: 12:42:06 PM PST US Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line From: Michael Welch Don, Having spent the biggest part of my career in digging, including a few hundred buried "whatevers", the first thing you are required to do is called your local free utility locating service. They are ALWAYS listed in the front of the phone book! I'm sorry to admit, but the last one I found my 2"PVC conduit 200A service to my shop, it was with my backhoe. Funny thing about 2" PVC conduit, and service entrance cable...it rips out like you never knew it was there!! The locating service can give you a very close approximation of the utilities location DIRECTLY below their detector. They will NOT, however, tell you how deep the line is! (although I have had a couple of guys cheat and tell me anyway). The reason they aren't suppose to give you a depth is, let's say he says it's 48". You fire up the Case 580, dig down to 46" and snag it! Maybe where YOU dug it WAS 46" (obviously, it was, since you just tore it out). The point is, the locator does not want the responsibility of everybody using any machine to dig down 98.45% of the way. Generally, they don't mention any depths. I have used my backhoe many, many times to expose water lines, electric lines, etc. The trick is have a spotter watching the hole like a hawk!! You absolutely have to dig INLINE with the service, because there is a much less likely way of tearing it up, compared to digging transversely. The BEST way, and easiest and safest, is to have your locator guy mark the service on the ground. Then paralleling his paint line about 24" off to the side, (and assuming nothing else is located--like gas or phone lines, etc), dig a really big hole. Really big!! Dig your hole big enough to drop a car down into it, and extra deep. Then, after you have your big, deep pit "next" to the service, carefully dig in the direction of your electric service......letting all the dirt fall down into your extra deep pit. The dirt will easily cut away and fall your direction. This is a hellava lot better then having to excavate all the dirt with a pick and shovel. Digging down 4' and finding a buried line is never easy, but that last suggestion is the best I've found. In some areas, you have to be careful about getting into pits. Many people have been hurt or killed because the walls collapsed. Mike Welch On May 13, 2012, at 1:07 PM, DCS317@aol.com wrote: > This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). > > My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! > > Do not archive! > > Don > RV-8 pilot > > > ________________________________ Message 13 ____________________________________ Time: 12:55:39 PM PST US From: "Bill Bradburry" Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception Ed, I don't think so. I didn't change it between the works and don't work phases.?? Bill _____ From: owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Ed Holyoke Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 12:37 PM Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception Squelch set too high? Ed Holyoke On 5/12/2012 9:15 AM, Bill Bradburry wrote: I had a problem with my radio reception today and I am not certain where to look for the cause. I was flying and the radio was working fine. I was listening to Approach while I flew around and I could hear them fine. I decide to land, so I dialed in ATIS. I didn't get anything. I noticed that I didn't have the "RX" showing on the radio. At the time I was about 25 miles away and 2K feet. I thought maybe I was too low and far away, although I had been listening to Approach when I dialed in ATIS. As I got closer, I climbed a little and suddenly I could hear them so I didn't think much more about it. But I am pretty sure that I should have been able to hear them because I could almost see the airport from where I was. After I contacted approach and was handed off to Sanford tower, I didn't hear from the tower for several minutes, then they asked me "how do you hear?". I replied "Fine". I didn't think much more about that incident either, but after I got home, I listened to the tower archives and I found that the tower had asked me 4 times how do you hear and I only heard the last one. This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with receive. Everything else was working on the radio that I know of. It seems to be just an intermittent receive problem. Do you have any ideas where I should look for something like that? I have this type of antenna. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php It does not have a ground plane as it is a half wave antenna. The one I have it the 5T which allows the coax to come out and be supported on the side of the fuselage with mounting brackets. The antenna is inside the fuselage just behind the rear bulkhead on the Lancair Legacy. It is mostly vertical, but the ends (top and bottom) curve following the shape of the fuselage and become horizontal for the last 4-5 inches. I think the antenna is something like 41-42 inches long. My plane is all fiberglass. The only carbon fiber is in the horizontal stabilizer, leg fairings, and the wheel pants. None of this carbon is closer than three feet or so to the antenna. But what ever this is, it is intermittent. The receive and transmit seem to work fine until they don't work at all. I have heard others tell me that my transmissions were staticy from time to time, which is why I have been trying to hear myself by listening to the recordings from ATC. If I had not done that I would not even have known that I missed 3 radio calls from ATC. I was probably close to 5-6 miles out and heading directly toward the airport when I was missing the calls. Also, unrelated, I noticed that if I am on autopilot, (TruTrak Digiflight II GPSVG) that the autopilot goes haywire when the radio transmits. I have heard of this problem on the internet but have not looked up what may be causing it. Maybe you know off the top of your head?? Thanks for all you guys help! Bill B ________________________________ Message 14 ____________________________________ Time: 02:26:27 PM PST US From: "F. Tim Yoder" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line Call Blue Stake. ----- Original Message ----- From: DCS317@aol.com Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 11:07 AM Subject: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! Do not archive! Don RV-8 pilot ________________________________ Message 15 ____________________________________ Time: 02:33:54 PM PST US From: "David Lloyd" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception Ed, ...good suggestion..as if that has never happened to all of us. Especially when the plane comes out of some work at an avionics shop. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Holyoke Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 9:36 AM Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception Squelch set too high? Ed Holyoke On 5/12/2012 9:15 AM, Bill Bradburry wrote: I had a problem with my radio reception today and I am not certain where to look for the cause. I was flying and the radio was working fine. I was listening to Approach while I flew around and I could hear them fine. I decide to land, so I dialed in ATIS. I didn't get anything. I noticed that I didn't have the "RX" showing on the radio. At the time I was about 25 miles away and 2K feet. I thought maybe I was too low and far away, although I had been listening to Approach when I dialed in ATIS. As I got closer, I climbed a little and suddenly I could hear them so I didn't think much more about it. But I am pretty sure that I should have been able to hear them because I could almost see the airport from where I was. After I contacted approach and was handed off to Sanford tower, I didn't hear from the tower for several minutes, then they asked me "how do you hear?". I replied "Fine". I didn't think much more about that incident either, but after I got home, I listened to the tower archives and I found that the tower had asked me 4 times how do you hear and I only heard the last one. This makes me feel that I have some kind of intermittent problem with receive. Everything else was working on the radio that I know of. It seems to be just an intermittent receive problem. Do you have any ideas where I should look for something like that? I have this type of antenna. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php It does not have a ground plane as it is a half wave antenna. The one I have it the 5T which allows the coax to come out and be supported on the side of the fuselage with mounting brackets. The antenna is inside the fuselage just behind the rear bulkhead on the Lancair Legacy. It is mostly vertical, but the ends (top and bottom) curve following the shape of the fuselage and become horizontal for the last 4-5 inches. I think the antenna is something like 41-42 inches long. My plane is all fiberglass. The only carbon fiber is in the horizontal stabilizer, leg fairings, and the wheel pants. None of this carbon is closer than three feet or so to the antenna. But what ever this is, it is intermittent. The receive and transmit seem to work fine until they don't work at all. I have heard others tell me that my transmissions were staticy from time to time, which is why I have been trying to hear myself by listening to the recordings from ATC. If I had not done that I would not even have known that I missed 3 radio calls from ATC. I was probably close to 5-6 miles out and heading directly toward the airport when I was missing the calls. Also, unrelated, I noticed that if I am on autopilot, (TruTrak Digiflight II GPSVG) that the autopilot goes haywire when the radio transmits. I have heard of this problem on the internet but have not looked up what may be causing it. Maybe you know off the top of your head?? Thanks for all you guys help! Bill B ________________________________ Message 16 ____________________________________ Time: 04:12:54 PM PST US From: Henador Titzoff Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception Bill,=0A=0AI would follow Ed's advice, because it's a very easy fix if that 's what's wrong. =C2-You never know who went into your hangar and decided to make zoom zoom noises.=0A=C2-=0AHenador Titzoff=0A=0A=0A=0A__________ ______________________=0A From: Bill Bradburry =0ATo: aeroelectric-list@matronics.com =0ASent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 3:53 P M=0ASubject: RE: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception=0A =0A =0A =0AEd,=0AI don=99t think so.=C2- I didn=99t change=0Ait b etween the works and don=99t work phases??=0A=C2-=0ABill =0A=C2-=0A=0A________________________________=0A =0AFrom:owner-aeroelectr ic-list-server@matronics.com=0A[mailto:owner-aeroelectric-list-server@matro nics.com] On Behalf Of Ed Holyoke=0ASent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 12:37=0APM =0ATo: aeroelectric-list@matronics.com=0ASubject: Re: AeroElectric-List:=0A Intermittent no radio reception=0A=C2-=0ASquelch set too high?=0A=0AEd Ho lyoke=0A=0AOn 5/12/2012 9:15 AM, Bill Bradburry wrote: =0A--> AeroElectric- List message posted by: "Bill Bradburry" =0A=C2 -=0AI had a problem with my radio reception today and I am not certain wh ere to=0Alook for the cause.=C2- I was flying and the radio was working f ine.=C2- I was=0Alistening to Approach while I flew around and I could he ar them fine.=C2- I=0Adecide to land, so I dialed in ATIS.=C2- I didn't get anything.=C2- I noticed that=0AI didn't have the "RX" showing on the radio.=C2- At the time I was about 25=0Amiles away and 2K feet.=C2- I thought maybe I was too low and far away,=0Aalthough I had been listening t o Approach when I dialed in ATIS.=C2- As I got=0Acloser, I climbed a litt le and suddenly I could hear them so I didn't think=0Amuch more about it. =C2- But I am pretty sure that I should have been able to=0Ahear them bec ause I could almost see the airport from where I was.=0A=C2-=0AAfter I co ntacted approach and was handed off to Sanford tower, I didn't=0Ahear from the tower for several minutes, then they asked me "how do you=0Ahear?".=C2 - I replied "Fine".=C2- I didn't think much more about that incident=0A either, but after I got home, I listened to the tower archives and I found =0Athat the tower had asked me 4 times how do you hear and I only heard the =0Alast one.=0A=C2-=0AThis makes me feel that I have some kind of intermi ttent problem with=0Areceive.=C2- Everything else was working on the radi o that I know of.=C2- It seems=0Ato be just an intermittent receive probl em. Do you have any ideas where I=0Ashould look for something like that?=0A =C2-=0AI have this type of antenna.=0A=C2-=0Ahttp://www.aircraftspruce. com/catalog/avpages/antennasystems.php=0A=C2-=0AIt does not have a ground plane as it is a half wave antenna.=C2- The one I=0Ahave it the 5T which allows the coax to come out and be supported on the=0Aside of the fuselage with mounting brackets.=C2- The antenna is inside the=0Afuselage just be hind the rear bulkhead on the Lancair Legacy.=C2- It is mostly=0Avertical , but the ends (top and bottom) curve following the shape of the=0Afuselage and become horizontal for the last 4-5 inches.=C2- I think the antenna =0Ais something like 41-42 inches long.=C2- My plane is all fiberglass. =C2- The only=0Acarbon fiber is in the horizontal stabilizer, leg fairing s, and the wheel=0Apants.=C2- None of this carbon is closer than three fe et or so to the antenna.=0A=C2-=0ABut what ever this is, it is intermitte nt.=C2- The receive and transmit seem to=0Awork fine until they don't wor k at all.=C2- I have heard others tell me that my=0Atransmissions were st aticy from time to time, which is why I have been=0Atrying to hear myself b y listening to the recordings from ATC.=C2- If I had not=0Adone that I wo uld not even have known that I missed 3 radio calls from ATC.=0AI was proba bly close to 5-6 miles out and heading directly toward the=0Aairport when I was missing the calls.=0A=C2-=0AAlso, unrelated, I noticed that if I am on autopilot, (TruTrak Digiflight II=0AGPSVG) that the autopilot goes haywi re when the radio transmits.=C2- I have=0Aheard of this problem on the in ternet but have not looked up what may be=0Acausing it.=C2- Maybe you kno w off the top of your head?? =0A=C2-=0AThanks for all you guys help!=0A =C2-=0ABill B=0A=C2-=0A=C2-=0A=C2-=0A=C2-=0A=C2-=0A=C2-=0A=C2 =============== ________________________________ Message 17 ____________________________________ Time: 04:16:46 PM PST US From: Paul Millner Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Finding a 220 volt buried line Try dialing 811 for "underground services alert" (USA) and the utility should come out and locate the cable for you! Paul On 5/13/2012 11:07 AM, DCS317@aol.com wrote: > This is way off the topic, but how do I find a live (in 2" plastic > conduit) 220 volt cable buried 4' deep in the ground. I have no way of > shutting off the power without calling the electric company (read > $$$). I know the general location, but need to drill some 4' deep > holes for a pole building and don't want the surprise of a short > lifetime or have to splice cable. What sort of gizmo can I > construct? A short Google search shows cable locators for greater > than $600 and rentals for $90 (fifty miles away). > My apologies, but the group is so good at not wasting $$$ or EMF! > Do not archive! > Don > RV-8 pilot > * > > > * -- Please note my new email address! millner@me.com ________________________________ Message 18 ____________________________________ Time: 06:17:21 PM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Re: SSF-1 WIG WAG Flasher At 02:17 PM 5/13/2012, you wrote: Dick, If you truly would be satisfied with flashing one lamp and if you have enough power budget for the additional current the Xenon lamp requires and if you don't mind a little re-wiring, you could substitute a power resistor for the incandescent lamp that was removed. The resistor will keep the flasher happy. Think of it as a non-illuminating lamp :-) Assuming you're using a 55W lamp at 14V, you would need 3.6 ohms capable of dissipating 55 watts half of the time (50% duty cycle). A couple of 10-ohm, 20-watt resistors in parallel should be close enough to fool the flasher and if not, add a third one. FYI, those resistors will get very hot; don't put then in your lighting switch panel. My wig-wag uses an electro-mechanical flasher too and this is what I plan to do when I upgrade my lights unless I spring for a new (solid-state) flasher. But that's not going to happen until after the airplane's flying . If your new HID lamp/pwr-supply combo will tolerate flashing, then you can also consider adding some dummy-load resistance in parallel with the wires to the HID power supply. We did a patch to the B&C Wig-Wag instructions to accommodate LED lamps, same fix should work with your HID too. http://tinyurl.com/7d5u7ny There's a solid state wig-wag controller development program under way right now http://tinyurl.com/77ungjg . . . parts I had on order to finish the proof of concept boards spiraled down the USPS black hole when an error in zip code left my parts looking for a Medicine Lodge address . . . in spite of the fact that the printed address was correct. Lessons learned, USPS mailed with a confirmation track is delivered by USPS bar code . . . Address mail to me at 67104-0130 as the ONLY address and it will get here. Have an error in the zip code then it doesn't matter what the rest of the address says . . . anywho, that all got sorted out and the parts should be here Tuesday. In the mean time, you could put 75 ohms across the HID lamp supply . . . I think the B&C electronic flasher will get happy again. Bob . . . Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 19 ____________________________________ Time: 06:29:46 PM PST US From: fedico94@mchsi.com Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: Z-13/8 Note drawing with "main batter bus" connectoed to "endurance bus". An E-bus Alternate Feed Switch is shown on schematic. How can I place a small light bulb to indicate that the E.bus switch is closed and conducting to the E-bus ? This is for visula reminder in low light conditions that be be present as an emergency ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 05:04:14 AM PST US From: Harley Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: finding buried ac line Morning, Skip... First, as a reminder to all when replying to messages received in the daily digest format, try not to send in the entire digest, as you did. I don't know how it works in other email programs, but in Thunderbird it's easy without doing any deleting...just highlight the portion of the message you want to reply to, then when you hit the reply button, it only uses the highlighted text...as I have done here. Anyway...the same thing happened to my father about 15 years ago when he was digging a ditch to install a water curtain. The local power company marked the location of his underground service, but the backhoe still broke the main line, even though he was digging 10 feet from it! However, they apparently have better sensing equipment now, as when Dad's neighbor expanded his pond a few years ago the power company got their lines marked exactly. I've also seen a couple here in my neighborhood, and at a friend's house across town, where they got it located perfectly...in two cases, to actually dig up the line to replace it. When they dug down, they were right on top of what they wanted to repair. So, they have gotten better over the years, and I definitely would call the power company, gas company, cable company, whatever you have buried in your yard (and don't forget the septic system, if you have one!) before digging or drilling. At least if you hit their service after they mark it in the wrong place, you can blame them! Harley Dixon Long EZ N28EZ...IT'S ALIVE! Powered up the newly wired, all electric instrument panel yesterday... and it all worked! Next...reinstall the engine. ----------------------------------------------------------------- On 5/14/2012 7:30 AM, CardinalNSB@aol.com wrote: > I didn't see any message that answered the question, did I miss it? > The last time the power company "located" my service line for > the fence company, they totally missed it by 100 feet, and the > fence company was about to power drill right into the service > line. Luckily I came home for lunch and yelled to stop and had > to argue with the crew chief "I don't care what the power > company said, I was personally here when the line was run 15 > years ago and its right along this line". > So I too would be interested in this off topic answer. Skip > Simpson ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 05:19:02 AM PST US From: "ROGER & JEAN CURTIS" Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: finding buried ac line I didn't see any message that answered the question, did I miss it? Yup, you missed it!! Short answer is, call your utility and ask about the free buried utilities locater service. They may not be right, occasionally, but most of the time they hit it. In most cases it is the law that you must contact them before digging or be liable for damages to buried lines. Roger Do not archive ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 05:35:44 AM PST US From: "bakerocb" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception 5/14/2012 Hello Bill, You wrote: "I could try and move wires around to see if I can duplicate the problem." Or carry along another headset known to be good and plug it right while you are having the problem. I had a "reception" problem with an older model Lightspeed headset that I fussed with for a time. Finally identified the headset as the cause. Sent the headset off to Lightspeed. They fixed it and updated it both at no cost to me -- great customer service. 'OC' Baker Says: "The best investment we can make is the time and effort to gather and understand knowledge." ===================================================== Time: 06:21:43 AM PST US From: "Bill Bradburry" Subject: RE: AeroElectric-List: Intermittent no radio reception OC, No I don't know if the headset is the problem, but it is a Lightspeed Mach 1 that I have had for less than a year. I could try and move wires around to see if I can duplicate the problem. B2 ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 06:41:45 AM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Re: Z-13/8 At 08:29 PM 5/13/2012, you wrote: > >Note drawing with "main batter bus" connectoed to "endurance >bus". An E-bus Alternate Feed Switch is shown on schematic. How >can I place a small light bulb to indicate that the E.bus switch is >closed and conducting to the E-bus ? This is for visula reminder in >low light conditions that be be present as an emergency Not sure what the concern is. The whole idea for the endurance bus is to keep an electrical system failure (alternator or battery contactor) from becoming an emergency. If the e-bus alternate feed switch is closed, then items powered from the e-bus remain active irrespective of conditions for the main bus. If you've not used the e-bus alternate feed for any particular flight, it will already be off when you park the airplane. If you DID need the alternate feed path for comfortable termination of flight, then you not only need to remember to turn the alternate feed switch off, you you have some failure issues to repair as well. If the alternate feed switch is inadvertently left in the ON position after shutdown, then items feed from the e-bus will remain powered . . . it seems this fact would serve the same function as adding a light to annunciate the switch position. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 10:12:28 AM PST US From: Ken Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: finding buried ac line I've used a oscilloscope to find buried 220 volt lines down a couple of feet. Don't remember details but believe I just used a coil. Might have been an AM antenna out of an old radio, the kind with a coil wrapped on a ferrite rod directly connected to an old oscilloscope. For drain pipes I've pushed in a solid length of fence wire and connected it to a bench top homemade signal generator putting out around 15.7 khz. Then I used an scope as above but with a similar wound antenna that I had made for picking up (and syncing) to crt tube TV scanning frequencies of around 15.7 khz. THose scanning frequencies were extremely accurate for national tv networks and could be used for fine tuning crystal oscillators. This might have been the same antenna that I used for the AC line location. Perhaps I was lucky but I was surprised at how simple it was to find ac lines with a sensitive receiver or scope on my own property. Ken do not archive On 14/05/2012 7:30 AM, CardinalNSB@aol.com wrote: > I didn't see any message that answered the question, did I miss it? > The last time the power company "located" my service line for the fence > company, they totally missed it by 100 feet, and the fence company was > about to power drill right into the service line. Luckily I came home > for lunch and yelled to stop and had to argue with the crew chief "I > don't care what the power company said, I was personally here when the > line was run 15 years ago and its right along this line". > So I too would be interested in this off topic answer. Skip Simpson > In a message dated 5/14/2012 3:07:13 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > aeroelectric-list@matronics.com writes: > > ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 08:35:34 PM PST US Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: finding buried ac line From: "mmayfield" My local sparky located our 240v underground mains cable to within a few cm both laterally and depth. He has a cable locating device. He charged a very modest fee (can't remember how much). So try calling a couple of friendly neighbourhood electricians. If they don't have the gear, they may know someone who does. -------- Mike Your political opinions are noted. And ignored. 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