AeroElectric-List Digest Archive

Mon 10/29/12


Total Messages Posted: 6



Today's Message Index:
----------------------
 
     1. 09:08 AM - Re: Hand-Held NAV-COM (Lynn Cole)
     2. 09:34 AM - Re: B&C alternator diagnosis (Robert L. Nuckolls, III)
     3. 12:32 PM - Re: turn coordinator causing noise in headset (jerrytex)
     4. 01:11 PM - radio interference? (thomas sargent)
     5. 02:41 PM - vhf transponder interference (jappie)
     6. 08:02 PM - Re: B&C alternator diagnosis (Henry Hallam)
 
 
 


Message 1


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    Time: 09:08:07 AM PST US
    From: Lynn Cole <LynnCole@foxvalley.net>
    Subject: Re: Hand-Held NAV-COM
    Thanks! ----- Lynn Cole LynnCole@foxvalley.net On Oct 28, 2012, at 2:22 PM, Robert L. Nuckolls, III wrote: > At 12:03 PM 10/27/2012, you wrote: >> I have an old hand-held NAV-COM marketed by Satellite Technology Services, Inc. of St. Louis, MO. It works well on 720 channels of COM and 200 channels of NAV, but the center pin of the external power-supply jack is broken. It has a removable battery pack that takes 6 AA batteries. The instruction manual talks about a 7.2-volt NiCad battery pack, but it works well using 6 alkaline batteries (9 volts). However, it uses up the batteries quite rapidly, and I would like to find a way of attaching an external power supply. >> >> I checked the web and found 3 references to the company, a BBB report, a lawsuit, and a patent assignment. Apparently they don't have a web site. I don't know whether they still support the radio. >> >> My options seem to be: >> 1. Replace the power-supply jack. It seems to be a special jack that is soldered into the main board. I have not been able to find the correct jack from any of the usual electronics suppliers. >> >> 2. Remove the jack, solder a pigtail to the board, and connect the pigtail to a new jack that would dangle from the case. >> >> 3. Modify the battery pack, possibly by making a pair of dummy batteries that would connect to an external power jack. This is attractive because the instruction manual says to disconnect the battery pack (to avoid damaging it) when the external power supply is used. >> >> Whichever option I choose I will need two power supplies, one to connect to connect to the cigarette-lighter in the airplane, and the other to connect to the 120-V AC power. Any suggestions for these? > > Search on STS "AV-7600" and you'll get more hits. > > A friend of mine in Wichita works on hand-helds and > might be able to repair/replace the existing jack. > > If you go the pigtail route, you can power up from > a/c mains with a power supply like this: > > http://tinyurl.com/963xg74 > > there are many similar models at very reasonable prices > on eBay. > > You probably don't want to apply a 14-15 volt bus > directly to this radio. Some sort of boost-buck > dc/dc converter that will give you a constant 12v > out for a range of inputs that goes both above and > below the output setting. > > http://tinyurl.com/9dqt39k > > Bob . . . > > > >> ----- >> Lynn Cole >> LynnCole@foxvalley.net >> >> >> >> >> >> AeroElectric-List Email Forum - >> >> http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List >> - MATRONICS WEB FORUMS - >> http://forums.matronics.com >> - List Contribution Web Site - >> -Matt Dralle, List Admin. >> >> http://www.matronics.com/contribution >> >> >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> 10/27/12 > > Bob . . . > > > >


    Message 2


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    Time: 09:34:38 AM PST US
    From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" <nuckolls.bob@aeroelectric.com>
    Subject: Re: B&C alternator diagnosis
    >Adjusting the regulator's screw while all >this was happening didn't seem to change much. This alternator output is too small to be set reliably at combinations of low rpm and significant load. >So now I'm at a loss - it seems to be working again. Do you think >it's still a good idea to replace the regulator? The only other thing >I noticed is that one screw terminal on the battery was not tight - >not terribly loose, but I could undo it with just my fingers. I guess >I will put it all back together with a trusted voltmeter in the >cockpit and go fly in VMC for a while, but I'd love to hear ideas. The regulator can be accurately adjusted ONLY with a fully charged battery, very light sytem loads (suggest 2A or less) and SIGNIFICANT rpm, like something 2000 or better. The alternator is exceedingly robust . . . very unlikely to fail. The rectifier/regulator has a very low parts count, is potted for mechanical ruggedness and is vulnerable to few stresses OTHER than overheat. If it has a history of good performance (Not accurately known without an accurate voltmeter) what appears to be a transient failure may have been a poor connection that got 'cured' as a product of removal and replacement. If it were my airplane, I'd fit it with a voltmeter of trustworthy accuracy. Also, a low voltage warning light so that future failures are not a surprise. Find out where the system voltage stabilizes under light load after some sustained operations . . . say just before descent to land on your next trip. Make little tweeks of the potentiometer setting based on these observations. Shoot for 14.2 but settle for 14.0 to 14.5. The successful resolution starts with trustworthy measurement and observation. Where's your rectifier/ regulator mounted? Where does it tie into the electrical system? Do you have a wiring diagram for this airplane that can be scanned/shared? Bob . . .


    Message 3


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    Time: 12:32:52 PM PST US
    Subject: Re: turn coordinator causing noise in headset
    From: "jerrytex" <jery230@tconline.net>
    As I mentioned earlier, I have had my fair share of electrical issues. It appears that this noise is the result of or partially caused by low voltage directly related to another electrical problem. The original builder wired in a hotbox. In the hotbox instructions it says to run the two AC lines from the alternator to the hotbox. Apparently some of the Hotboxes had the regulator attached to them and jumpers are need to connect to the regulator. In my case, the regulator is on the firewall. The original builder split the the two AC lines with a crimp connector. He had two AC lines going to the hotbox which were not needed and then had two going to the the regulator with the 12 volt DC line output going to the charging circuit. I discovered that these crimp connectors had bad connections causing resistance and ultimately melted the AC wires together essentially shorting out the AC current. That caused the battery to not charge and caused low voltage. I eliminated the split and ran the AC lines directly to the regulator, crimped and soldered all the connections and the alternator is now charging the battery. I charged the battery with a good battery charger and flew yesterday. It appears that the noise is either gone or lessened to the point that I cannot hear over the engine. So I guess that low voltage was the main culprit with the melted wires causing the low voltage situation by not charging the battery. Thanks for all the thoughts and advice on this. Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=386225#386225


    Message 4


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    Time: 01:11:09 PM PST US
    Subject: radio interference?
    From: thomas sargent <sarg314@gmail.com>
    At Ryan field yesterday a fellow I know who has done an incredible job building a perfect Hatz bi-plane asked me for help with a very odd radio problem. He has about 10 flights on it so far. His brand new ICOM radio produces only very soft, badly garbled reception when his engine (Lyc. O-290) is running. He can't talk to the tower when he's on-airport without stopping the engine. The really odd part is that the same is true if he uses a hand-held radio. (The ICOM has been benched checked by an official shop and looks fine.) His belly mounted antenna was obviously poor since it had a 90 deg. bend it it about 2 inches after it emerges from the plane. It has what looks like a good ground plane. He's switching to a plain, straight whip antenna for next flight. But I doubt it will work any better given the performance of the hand-held. He was also going to fly it once with the magnetos shorted at the magneto (so the wires going from the mag to the switch will be disconnected, thinking they may be radiating somehow). Engine installation looks beautiful, like the rest of the plane. Grounding looks good, all parts are real aircraft parts, spark plugs, wires, etc. Any ideas? -- Tom Sargent


    Message 5


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    Time: 02:41:50 PM PST US
    Subject: vhf transponder interference
    From: "jappie" <jappie@videotron.ca>
    Hello everyone I'm a new member here and looking for some help on a problem I've noticed approx. 2 years ago. 1- When I transmit on my Garmin GNC 250XL, some gauges on my panel go haywire. ie: Mitchell fuel level indicator. 2- When I trasnmit, ATC tells me my altitude changes on his radar ( transponder Garmin GTX-320) encoder AK-350. 3- When I put my X-Ponder from Off to any position ( SBY, ON, ALT ) a "White" noise can be heard in my headset ( only while receiving). 4-Receiving deteriorate as the flight goes. airplane all fiberglass, C-GGYY to see pictures Thank you Jean-Pierre Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=386234#386234


    Message 6


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    Time: 08:02:32 PM PST US
    From: Henry Hallam <henry@pericynthion.org>
    Subject: Re: B&C alternator diagnosis
    On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 9:33 AM, Robert L. Nuckolls, III <nuckolls.bob@aeroelectric.com> wrote: > <nuckolls.bob@aeroelectric.com> > > >> Adjusting the regulator's screw while all >> this was happening didn't seem to change much. > > > This alternator output is too small to be set > reliably at combinations of low rpm and significant > load. Thanks for the insights! I also found this doc on B&C's site: http://www.bandc.biz/pdfs/sd8trbreva.pdf that agrees with everything you've said. > The successful resolution starts with trustworthy > measurement and observation. Where's your rectifier/ > regulator mounted? Where does it tie into the electrical > system? Do you have a wiring diagram for this airplane > that can be scanned/shared? > > > Bob . . . I will definitely be fitting a reliable voltmeter and warning light. Unfortunately I don't have a wiring diagram, though I'm working on putting one together from my own notes taken during maintenance and upgrades. My rectifier/regulator is mounted on the engine side of the firewall, in what I think is a relatively cool location (on the high pressure side of the updraft cooling system). The positive output goes via a 14 AWG wire to a 10-amp CB on the instrument panel and from there to the positive battery terminal (battery in the nose of the canard-pusher airplane). The negative output goes to a general ground terminal on the engine mount frame and from there via a similar 14 AWG wire to the negative battery terminal. The instrument power bus is connected to the battery terminals by another set of wires, and there's a third set for the electronic ignition. Any reason not to tune the regulator voltage setpoint on the bench with a constant-current bench supply on the blue wires and my airplane battery on the red+black? Thanks again for the advice. Henry




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