Today I fabricated a pair of mounts for the Byonics APRS RTG unit that will go in the right wingtip. The mount consists of two 2-inch lengths of U-channel aluminum (or is it C-channel? -- I guess it depends on how you're looking at it...) with a #8 nutplate installed in each one so the unit can be removed for maintenance or reprogramming. The mounting channels wil be bonded/glassed into the inside bottom of the wingtip. I laid out the J-pole antenna, power feed lines, and GPS puck antenna to get an idea how everything will be routed. I wanted to make sure the 12V power wires for the ARPS and the nav/stobes lights do not cross the APRS antenna. It's a bit tricky to make it work, but I think I solved the puzzle. More photos will be posted as this installation develops.
I initially taped the mount in place and planned to lay a couple of plies of BID glass over them (as shown in the photo), but I ended up tacking the channnels in place with glue instead. I'll layup the glass later.
