---------------------------------------------------------- AeroElectric-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Thu 09/14/17: 7 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 06:30 AM - Off line for a few days (Robert L. Nuckolls, III) 2. 11:08 AM - Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 (N804RV) 3. 12:29 PM - Re: Off line for a few days (Robert Borger) 4. 01:50 PM - Re: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 (Rob Turk) 5. 02:52 PM - Re: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 (Charlie England) 6. 05:12 PM - Re: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 (user9253) 7. 07:14 PM - Re: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 (Gerald Farek) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 06:30:02 AM PST US From: "Robert L. Nuckolls, III" Subject: AeroElectric-List: Off line for a few days Need to pick up an order of books in Denver this afternoon. Dr. Dee and I are tacking afew days on the end of the trip for some Rocky Mountain down-time . . . back Monday. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 11:08:48 AM PST US Subject: AeroElectric-List: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 From: "N804RV" I have a tube and fabric EAB aircraft that currently has no radio. It also has no convenient surface for mounting a traditional antenna, so it won't be a simple task. I want to install an MGL VH6 radio and a simple antenna set up. I've seen gliders rig homemade half wave length antennas that are taped to the inside of their canopies. Was wondering if the little 1/4 wavelength (2 meter) Diamond antenna that I just happen to have would work for this application, if I mounted it to the inside of the canopy rail in a vertical orientation. I know the antenna isn't perfectly matched. But, its rated for 10 watts/50 Ohms and the VH6 puts out 6 Watts nominal. Its gotta be better than a handheld with the short rubber-ducky, right? -------- Ken W. N804RV(reserved) RV-8 Empennage in work Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=472877#472877 ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 12:29:09 PM PST US Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Off line for a few days From: Robert Borger Yall have a great time away! On Sep 14, 2017, at 8:28 AM, Robert L. Nuckolls, III wrote: Need to pick up an order of books in Denver this afternoon. Dr. Dee and I are tacking afew days on the end of the trip for some Rocky Mountain down-time . . . back Monday. Bob . . . ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 01:50:27 PM PST US Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 From: Rob Turk The antenna is tuned for 146MHz. When operating in the lower part of the aircraft band (118MHz), the antenna will be way out of tune. The VSWR may be 2:1 or higher, reflecting a fair deal of the 6W back into the output stage of your VH6. Besides risk of damaging the output stage, you may observe 'weirdness' such as interference on instruments and headset noise. If you really want to try, get a local ham to borrow a VSWR meter and check. On 9/14/2017 8:08 PM, N804RV wrote: > > I have a tube and fabric EAB aircraft that currently has no radio. It also has no convenient surface for mounting a traditional antenna, so it won't be a simple task. I want to install an MGL VH6 radio and a simple antenna set up. I've seen gliders rig homemade half wave length antennas that are taped to the inside of their canopies. Was wondering if the little 1/4 wavelength (2 meter) Diamond antenna that I just happen to have would work for this application, if I mounted it to the inside of the canopy rail in a vertical orientation. I know the antenna isn't perfectly matched. But, its rated for 10 watts/50 Ohms and the VH6 puts out 6 Watts nominal. Its gotta be better than a handheld with the short rubber-ducky, right? > > -------- > Ken W. > N804RV(reserved) > RV-8 Empennage in work > > > Read this topic online here: > > http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=472877#472877 > > ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 02:52:36 PM PST US Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 From: Charlie England I'd hope that since the VH6 is a relatively new design, it would protect itself from damage (just about all modern radios do that). It would still be inefficient, but so is a rubber ducky. A better option might be to just roll your own. 1/4 wave whips are stupid simple to make, and the ground plane can be anything from nothing (poor performance) to 3 or 4 radial arms roughly the same length as the whip, to a disc of metal with the same radius as the whip. The whip can be virtually any metal object, but wider (fatter) strips will tune over a wider band than skinny strips like thin wire. A couple of adel clamps slid around the fuselage tubing and screwed to the metal disc can provide mounting. It isn't a sure thing, but many rag/tube builders have mounted the entire antenna inside the fuselage and reported adequate performance. If you don't need 50 mile range (who really does?), then build one, duct tape it in the back of the fuselage, and go flying to see how well it works. https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+aircraft+comm+antenna&oq=diy+aircraft+comm+antenna&aqs=chrome..69i57.8849j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 A half-wave can be almost as simple to make, but tougher to mount in a rag/tube fuselage. Antennas are a black art, but they ain't rocket surgery. You'd be amazed at what works 'good enough'. And better is the enemy of.... Charlie On 9/14/2017 3:48 PM, Rob Turk wrote: > > The antenna is tuned for 146MHz. When operating in the lower part of > the aircraft band (118MHz), the antenna will be way out of tune. The > VSWR may be 2:1 or higher, reflecting a fair deal of the 6W back into > the output stage of your VH6. Besides risk of damaging the output > stage, you may observe 'weirdness' such as interference on instruments > and headset noise. If you really want to try, get a local ham to > borrow a VSWR meter and check. > > On 9/14/2017 8:08 PM, N804RV wrote: >> >> I have a tube and fabric EAB aircraft that currently has no radio. >> It also has no convenient surface for mounting a traditional antenna, >> so it won't be a simple task. I want to install an MGL VH6 radio and >> a simple antenna set up. I've seen gliders rig homemade half wave >> length antennas that are taped to the inside of their canopies. Was >> wondering if the little 1/4 wavelength (2 meter) Diamond antenna that >> I just happen to have would work for this application, if I mounted >> it to the inside of the canopy rail in a vertical orientation. I >> know the antenna isn't perfectly matched. But, its rated for 10 >> watts/50 Ohms and the VH6 puts out 6 Watts nominal. Its gotta be >> better than a handheld with the short rubber-ducky, right? >> >> -------- >> Ken W. >> N804RV(reserved) >> RV-8 Empennage in work --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 05:12:44 PM PST US Subject: AeroElectric-List: Re: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 From: "user9253" A com antenna should be somewhere between 22 and 23 inches long. Bob N has directions for making your own antenna: http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/Antennas/DIY_Comm_Ant/DIY_Comm.html -------- Joe Gores Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=472893#472893 ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 07:14:18 PM PST US From: Gerald Farek Subject: Re: AeroElectric-List: Diamond RH77CA for MGL VH6 What is the rail made of, any metal near? If metal you could ruin the output of the radio. Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 14, 2017, at 3:48 PM, Rob Turk wrote: > > > The antenna is tuned for 146MHz. When operating in the lower part of the aircraft band (118MHz), the antenna will be way out of tune. The VSWR may be 2:1 or higher, reflecting a fair deal of the 6W back into the output stage of your VH6. Besides risk of damaging the output stage, you may observe 'weirdness' such as interference on instruments and headset noise. If you really want to try, get a local ham to borrow a VSWR meter and check. > >> On 9/14/2017 8:08 PM, N804RV wrote: >> >> I have a tube and fabric EAB aircraft that currently has no radio. It also has no convenient surface for mounting a traditional antenna, so it won't be a simple task. I want to install an MGL VH6 radio and a simple antenna set up. I've seen gliders rig homemade half wave length antennas that are taped to the inside of their canopies. Was wondering if the little 1/4 wavelength (2 meter) Diamond antenna that I just happen to have would work for this application, if I mounted it to the inside of the canopy rail in a vertical orientation. I know the antenna isn't perfectly matched. But, its rated for 10 watts/50 Ohms and the VH6 puts out 6 Watts nominal. Its gotta be better than a handheld with the short rubber-ducky, right? >> >> -------- >> Ken W. >> N804RV(reserved) >> RV-8 Empennage in work >> >> >> >> >> Read this topic online here: >> >> http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=472877#472877 >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > .. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.